More on the CT GOP's efforts against Voter Registration

by: Aldon Hynes

Sat Oct 11, 2008 at 10:42:42 AM EDT

More and more people are sending me information about this and about the RNC efforts across the nation to suppress voter registration and voter turnout.  This included a PDF of a letter from Lucy Corelli, the Republican Registrar of Voters to Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal about a complaint she filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC).  In her letter she writes

I am filing this complaint because I believe in the fair and democratic process.  I feel fraudulent behavior should be discouraged and eliminated.  Everyone who is eligible has the right to register and vote but this abuse of our system makes a mockery of one of our most precious rights.

On or about August 1, 2008 we received from the Secretary of the State's office approximately 1200 voter registration cards from ACORN.  Over 600 of these were rejected because of duplicates, underage, illegible, and invalid addresses.

As part of the complaint, Ms. Corelli submitted about twenty questionable voter registration cards.  Some of them were illegible or incomplete, and were probably properly rejected.  However, writing illegibly or failing to fill in a form completely is not normally considered a criminal offense.

Other cards had conflicting information.  For example there were five voter registration cards for Tyree Winfrey which were rejected because he had a different signature on each card.  I called the number on the registration card and a woman answered the phone.  She said that Tyree couldn't come to the phone and asked what the call was about.  When I explained, she said that Tyree has muscular dystrophy and it is not surprising that his signature is considerably different on each card.

Two cards were submitted for Jerry Berrouet, one from June 13th and another from July 15th.  I called the number listed on the phone on the June form, and it was not in service.  A woman answered the phone number Mr. Berrouet had provided in July.  She said that she had not seen him in about two months and no longer associates with him.  It is not clear why Mr. Berrouet has moved, yet like the case of Mr. Winfrey, it appears that there is most likely a better explanation for the differing cards than fraud.

Even if some of the cards are found to be fraudulent, there is no evidence presented that the people collecting the cards on behalf of ACORN took part in the fraudulent activity.

ACORN explains that they collect voter registration cards and review them for possible problems.  The cards that are problematic are submitted separately with a note about the possible problems.  They do this because it would be inappropriate, if not illegal, for them to hold onto voter registration cards that they find questionable.  It is the responsibility of the Registrar of Voters to determine voter eligibility.

What is more concerning are the six hundred cards that were rejected.  Were they rejected because they were incomplete or illegible?  Did the Registrar make a best effort to determine the validity of the cards?  Are there six hundred people that think they are registered to vote that are not because of some problem at the Registrar of Voters office?

I will be submitting a Freedom of Information Act request to the Stamford Registrar of Voters Office to obtain copies of the six hundred rejected voter registration cards to try and find out more information.

If this were the end of the story, it would be bad enough.  However, there's more.

I also received a copy of a letter sent to Fourth Congressional Candidate, Jim Himes from Christopher Healy, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party.  It starts off

I am writing you to ask for your help in support in calling for an end to the voter registration campaign initiated in the Fourth Congressional District by ACORN - Action for Community Organizations for Reform.

This week, two complaints have been filed by Republican Registrars in Bridgeport and Stamford concerning the efforts of ACORN representatives.

This is problematic in many different aspects.  Perhaps most troubling is that it shows a disregard for due process and the American belief that people, and organizations are innocent until proven guilty.  Yes, two complaints have been filed.  As noted above, there is good reason to question these complaints, and I believe that the SEEC will do an appropriate job in investigating the complaint and taking proper action.

The other concern is that instead of trying to make sure that "Everyone who is eligible has the right to register and vote", Mr. Healy is calling for an end of a very successful and at least by every indication I've seen, properly run, voter registration effort.

We do need to make sure that there is no abuse of our electoral system, and this includes making sure that allegations are properly investigated and rash actions which would suppress voter registration are not taken.