Forum Post: #OWS "Voter Suppression And Discouragement Tactic Exposed"

Voter Suppression And Discouragement Tactic Exposed

From Kevin Potts to Election Protection http://www.866ourvote.org/contact :

Registered Voters ( in Missouri ) who have not voted in any local elections within the past 2 years are considered INACTIVE and their names are taken off the registered voter list.

I’ve been a registered voter in my state since the last presidential election 4 years ago. I showed up to vote today at the local Court House and was told my name was not on their registered voter list and they redirected me to another voting location at the local Middle School, informing me that the various voting locations (in our small town) had been divided, depending upon what area of town we lived in and our address. So I went to the local Middle School, as I was directed, and they again told me there that my name was not on the list and again I was redirected to another voting location at the local Catholic Church (which was located directly across the street from the local Court House where I started). Again at the Catholic Church voting location they told me that my name was not on the registered voting list. Why? They told me that since I had not voted in any local elections within the past 2 years that my “status” as a registered voter had become INACTIVE and therefore I was no longer considered a registered voter and that’s why my name was not on their registered voter list. I immediately understood this as just another tactic to discourage and prevent people from voting. Luckily there was someone there to help me, who made a phone call that somehow re-activated me as a registered voter (?) and I was finally able to vote. But had that person not been there or had that person been unwilling to help me, I would NOT have been able to vote and I would have been totally lost concerning “what to do” or to the reason “why” I was no longer registered - I would have been given the run around and turned away and my “right to vote” as an American citizen would have been totally violated.

Why would they do this? Why would they change the status of registered voters to INACTIVE and No Longer Registered (?) just because we haven’t voted locally within the past 2 years?? Is this even LEGAL? Why should I (as a registered voter) be required to show up every 2 years (?) just to let them know that I would still like to be a registered voter (?) for every upcoming presidential election? This is an outrage and to me it’s just another slap in the face to discourage what little is left of our so called “democracy”.

It makes me wonder, how many other states are doing this (?) to discourage registered voters? How many millions of registered voters got turned away from the polls because of this? I noticed this particular issue was not mentioned on the website (http://www.866ourvote.org/issues) and I strongly feel it’s one of those unknown issues that voters need to be educated and informed about prior to elections, concerning Voter Registration and Deceptive Practices.

I have never heard of this happening to anyone in my entire life. Why did this happen? And what can be done to stop this particular voter suppression tactic? There is no logical or legitimate reason to change a registered voter’s status to INACTIVE and to remove that person from the registered voter list just because that person has not voted in the last 2 years, other than to suppress voting and to make it more difficult for registered voters to vote.

Sincerely,

Kevin Potts