"We need to vote like our lives depend on it, because they do." - Justin Dart

Report Refutes Claims of Elections Fraud 

Voter fraud may not be as widespread as many are claiming. Citing an epidemic of votes being cast by deceased, incarcerated, or fictitious voters, many states and localities have instituted strict new voter identification laws where people must show a government issued ID, such as a driver's license or passport, in order to register, or to cast a vote. Opponents of these new laws say that they target people with low incomes, minorities, seniors, and people with disabilities; preventing them from voting because many of these people may not have acceptable forms of identification readily available. Reporter Richard Wolf did some investigating into this supposed widespread voter fraud and discovered that a recent study conducted for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which was not released to the public, found many claims of voter fraud are largely unsubstantiated. 

In his USA Today article, entitled "Preliminary Report to U.S. Election Assistance Commission Refutes Fraud at Poll Sites," Wolf writes: "At a time when many states are instituting new requirements for voter registration and identification, a preliminary report to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission found little evidence of the type of polling-place fraud those measures seek to stop." 

Click on this link to read the preliminary report to the EAC: http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/10/skepticism_abou.html and click on "a link to the preliminary report itself" For more information on how strict new laws are impacting voter

registration: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-10-voter-registration-laws_x.htm

Problems Voting on Election Day? The Election Protection Hotline

(1-866-OUR-VOTE) is a non-partisan election hotline that will be staffed by People for the American Way Foundation, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under the Law, the NAACP, the National Bar Association and the American Bar Association. In addition to the DOJ hotline (1-800-253-3931) reported in the last edition of WhAM, this is another way to protect the voting rights of people with disabilities. Immediate assistance will be provided by volunteer attorneys, paralegals and law students.

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON INDEPENDENT LIVING (NCIL) WEEKLY ADVOCACY MONITOR (WhAM). Vol. 4, No 20, October 23, 2006