2008 election summary

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Introduction

Many people have the impression that the 2008 election had fewer problems than previous elections, and that efforts to rig, suppress, cheat, steal, manipulate, block or otherwise suppress the rights of people to vote were not in evidence to the extent seen in prior election years. In fact these factors did play a significant role in the 2008 election, but Barack Obama's margin of victory was much larger than the number of voters who were in one way or another disenfranchised. So even though the manipulations occurred they did not change the election results.

Future elections, however, might not yield the kind of victory margin seen in the 2008 election. The danger remains that election results may be influenced by efforts to prevent citizens from expressing their choices. In 2008, just as in previous elections, there was mass voter-roll purging in several states, voter caging schemes were used as a basis for challenging voters, there was inadequate distribution of voting machines in targeted precincts, there was felon disenfranchisement targeting voters who might support particular candidates, there was partisan election administration and there were various forms of Election-Day deception that tricked an unknown number of people into believing they could vote on another day or at another location. Unless steps are taken to reduce the ability to manipulate the election process the country could again experience unclear and contested election results.

This article summarizes the major manipulations of the 2008 election and provides links to expanded articles on each of the subjects. It also summarizes election reform suggestions, linking to a more comprehensive article. Readers are invited to participate in this effort by adding referenced reports to these articles and suggestions for reforms.

The 2008 Election Protection effort

Main article: Election protection and reform organizations

There was a broad-scale election protection effort for the 2008 elections. The Election Protection Coalition recruited over 10,000 volunteers, with over 100 partner organizations participating in the coalition. Many other organizations contributed their own efforts to protecting the 2008 election.

The Election Protection Wiki provided a central clearinghouse for election protection information, and remains as an ongoing repository of documentation of the election for media, policymakers and researchers.

Election Protection in the primaries

• Caucus issues
• Closed vs. open primaries
• Primary election dates set by the states: consequences
  • Florida, Michigan stripped of delegates

In the news

Several 2008 election topics were widely-publicized by the news media. These include:

ACORN and accusations of “voter fraud”

The organization ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, registeres poor people to vote. ACORN was the target of a coordinated campaign by conservatives to depict the organization as a criminal enterprise engaged in massive-scale voter fraud.. (A January 5, 2009 Google search for the words ACORN, voter and fraud returned more than 400,000 results.) The hyperbole became so heated that during the October 15, 2008 presidential debate, candidate John McCain said of ACORN,

"We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy. The same front outfit organization that your campaign gave $832,000 for "lighting and site selection." So all of these things need to be examined, of course."

In reality a total of two (2) actual ACORN voter registration-related criminal cases were filed during the 2008 election cycle, and those involved employees falsely filling out multiple voter forms to boost their pay.

Main article: ACORN and elections

Voter caging, including from foreclosure lists

Main article: Voter caging

Main article: Michigan foreclosure vote suppression scheme

Early voting

Many states offered early voting, and this provided a preview of the extraordinary turnout that occurred on Election day.

High turnout

Due to the large number of new registrations and high interest in this year's campaign, many analysts predicted a record-shattering turnout. While an unprecedented number of voters did cast ballots -- an estimated 131 million voters -- the percentage of those eligible to vote who did so was approximately 61.6%, which is lower than high levels reached in the 1960s. This is attributable in part to lower turnout levels among registered Republicans.

In the states

• Colorado: In Colorado, more than 44,000 individuals were purged from the voter list. Courts ordered the Secretary of State to stop the purges and in late October a settlement with the Advancement Project forced the state to reinstate up to 35,000 voter registrations previously removed.

• Florida: In Florida a [no-vote law] removed tens of thousands of voters from the rolls if their names did not exactly match a federal database. If a voter was "David" on one list and "Dave" on another, he was removed. Minor spelling errors or simple typos disenfranchised others.

• Georgia: In Georgia thousands of voters were disenfranchised with claims they could not prove they were citizens, others were purged because of typos and non-exact matches with other databases, and the Secretary of state asked citizens to challenge voters' eligibility at the polls.

• Louisiana: In Louisiana thousands of voters, mostly Democrats, were purged, and motor voter registrations never found their way to the voter rolls.

• Michigan: In Michigan there was voter caging based on foreclosure lists.

• Montana: In Montana, The State Republican Party attempted to block voters in primarily Democratic districts. The move was widely publicized, and in the subsequent protests the Party's Executive Director was forced to step down.

• Ohio: In Ohio there was extensive voter purging attempted. As many as 200,000 new voters were threatened to be removed from the voter rolls before the election, but the courts and new Secretary of State restored these citizens to the rolls in time to vote.

For a complete list, see 2008 Voter Purges

Election day summary

On election day the Election Protection Coalition received and handled over 80,000 calls, and entered over 86,000 reports into their Our Vote Live database.

Issue summaries

Voter purges

2008 saw attempts to purge the states' voter rolls on a massive scale, with some states removing tens of thousands of voters at a time based on criteria such as too-common name, returned voter registration card, or unproven citizenship status.

While early and aggressive legal action by election monitoring and community watchdog groups resulted in the restoration of thousands of voters to the rolls, hundreds of thousands who were unaware of their registration status showed up at the polls to vote. Many were required to vote using provisional or challenge ballots, which are not included in the vote totals on election day.

2008 saw a new method of voter purge attempted, one which reflected the economic conditions of the year. Several local and state party groups announced their intention to challenge voters based on published lists of foreclosed homes in their area. With seven of the ten states nationwide with the highest foreclosure rates being considered "battleground" states (Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and Ohio), these voters were seen as particularly vulnerable and open to challenge. Some of the most prominent examples included:

• In Michigan, a Republican party official announced their intention to challenge foreclosed voters on election day. After the Obama campaign filed suit to stop the challenges, the official denied making the statement or that any such challenges were under consideration. In a settlement, both sides agreed that foreclosure rolls do not provide a reasonable basis for voter challenges and would not be used on election day.

• In Indiana on election day, a judge ruled that the state Republican party was violating a previously issued court order specifically banning challenges based on home foreclosure lists.

For a full list of all voter purge activity in the 2008 election, visit 2008 Voter Purges

Main article: Voter roll purges

Voter suppression and deceptive practices

The Election Protection Wiki tracked a widespread effort in which text messages were sent to Democrats in several states, advising them they should avoid the lines and vote Wednesday. This happened in Missouri, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, Idaho, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Virginia and other states. Similarly voters in Missouri and other states reported receiving robo-calls with a similar message. Also, in Florida Democratic voters were called and told they could avoid lines by voting by phone, given a number to call, and after "voting" were told they didn't have to go to the polls.

Main article: Voter suppression

Voter caging

Voter caging is a term for sending mail to voters and using those that are returned to challenge voters at the polls.

Main article: Voter caging

Ongoing controversies

• Minnesota

As of January 6, 2008 the Minnesota election appears to be resolved. A recount shows candidate Al Franken winning by 225 votes. However it is expectd that candidate Norm Coleman will take this to the courts. Senate Democrats have said they will not seat Franken until the court case is resolved.

Election reform proposals

Main article: Election reform proposals

There are numerous proposals for reforming the election process, including:

• Election Day reforms

Election Day reform proposals include a national Election Day holiday, extending the voting period over several days, unlimited absentee voting - also called "vote by mail" - and expanding the role of international monitors.

• Registration reforms including universal national voter registration, automatic voter registration and several other proposals.

Main article: Voter registration reform

• Voting machine reforms
• Recount reforms
  • Extending safe-harbor deadline for presidential elections
• Election audit reforms
  • Mandatory election audits
• Election administration and pollworker reforms
  • Election administration reforms
• Polling place reforms
  • Mandating sufficient voting machines
• Election law reforms including improving laws to combat deceptive practices and updating felon disenfranchisement laws.
• Structural reforms such as replacing the Electoral College and making voting compulsory.

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• All indexed EP Wiki articles