Senators Seek DOJ’s Help in Preventing Disenfranchisement of Voters Losing HomesAfter reports that the Michigan Republican party planned to challenge voters whose homes had been foreclosed, thirteen senators have petitioned Attorney General Michael Mukasey to ensure that such voters would not be harassed or intimidated at their polling places.
“Foreclosures are devastating enough for affected families and neighborhoods without adding the outrage of disenfranchisement,” wrote Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Barack Obama (D-IL), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
In their letter, the senators called the tactic “simply a new variant of the destructive practice of voter ‘caging.’” Voter caging is a term used to describe discouraging eligible voters to vote.
“In the middle of the worst economy in recent memory, with so many Americans fighting to stay in their homes, these allegations suggest a mean-spirited and desperate attempt to suppress the vote,” said Whitehouse, who has authored legislation on voter suppression.