Voter Suppression watch

I’m going to monitor Google News for mentions of voter suppression today. We all remember Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004.

Rachel Maddow: Long lines – the new Poll Tax

Expect delays in Virginia

NE Pennsylvania already has long lines

Briguy out…here’s hoping I have nothing more to report throughout the day.

update 1:

Long lines in Maryland

Pennsylvania callers giving voters the wrong polling addresses/locations

lunch update:
Fake flyer tells Virginian Democrats to vote on November 5th

post-lunch update:

Voter docs found on Tampa highway

2 p.m. update:

How McCain could win

Florida redux: people who’ve recently moved are being forced to use (useless) provisional ballots because electoral office phone lines are busy (or off the hook?)

5 p.m.

Not getting many google hits, but here’s a Huffington Post story:

GOP officials targetting student voters in Iowa.

and another, with celebrity appeal!:

Tim Robbins struck from voter rolls in his NYC district

The I just got home update:
A tale of two districts

Morning update: Yay! Reason won over fear of The Other. Colour me a little surprised. There are surprisingly few mentions of voting problems on the intertubes. Most instances (even those mentioned above) appear isolated and, most importantly, uncoordinated. I guess the machine that elected Bush stayed home, or perhaps felt too intimidated to flip votes, illegally challenge minority voters, and strike people from the voting rolls en masse. I think kudos are owed to Obama’s charisma, and also to the efforts of individuals such as Kennedy and Palast, for really defusing these tactics long before they could be put in place. As Cohen sang: Democracy is coming, to the USA.