At it again Millions of voters lost 75% minorities

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071118/NEWS0107/711180401/1075



Many would-be Florida voters 'lost'
Computers leave thousands in the dark

By PAIGE ST. JOHN
news-press.com capital bureau
Originally posted on November 18, 2007


news-press.com


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HOW IT WAS DONE
The analysis for this story compared voter registration records kept by the Department of State with Florida's statewide voter roll. One tracks applicants and the other is the list of who is able to vote.

Not all "lost" registrations mean a voter card wasn't issued. And not all voter cards mean the right voter was registered.

The Department of State database itself is complex and often incomplete, with parts intended to explain why applications are rejected often left blank.

Sometimes election officials registered a voter under a new name or application without closing out the first. There were other variations, including an applicant denied because someone was already registered under that name.

Residents who have filled out applications but not received voter cards should contact their county supervisor of elections. To vote in the Jan. 29 presidential primary, Floridians must complete the registration process by Dec. 31.

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TALLAHASSEE — Katherine Figueroa was born in Colombia, but after 20 years growing up in the United States, she feels "more American."

When she was granted U.S. citizenship, the Naples woman filled out a voter registration card.

Then, nothing.

Like thousands of other would-be Florida voters, Figueroa's application went astray in a state registration process that since 2006 has become more computerized, circuitous and complex.

County election officials say the number of voters lost through Florida's central registration system is small — 90 percent of applications get voter cards.

The result is applications from more than 43,000 Floridians hoping to become eligible voters over the past 21 months were rejected by state computer programs and kicked out for special review.

More than 14,000 initially rejected — three-quarters of them minorities — didn't make it through that last set of hoops.

Blacks were 6 1/2 times more likely than whites to be rejected at that step.

Hispanics were more than 7 times more likely to be failed.

Unaccepted but also not denied, they remain in limbo as "incomplete" or, often, sitting in Florida's new statewide voter registration system with no designation at all.

State law requires those "lost" voters to be notified; most contacted said they were unaware of the problem.

Figueroa — who did not know the outcome of her voter registration until called — came to her own conclusion about why she had been left in the

dark since January 2006.

"It's not seen as important," she said. "They just drop you."

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If they had any courage they would wear white sheets and stand outside the polls with burning crosses.

challenge any or all non repugs they can. The heck with the sheet.

Oh, wait a minute.

Never mind.