Originally posted 2008-09-15 10:17:05 -0600 - a subject dear to many of us - standingup

Published this morning the next in what is becoming a series about the GOP's voter suppression tactics this election cycle:

Former GOP operative explains why Republicans will use foreclosure lists to block voters

By Eartha Jane Melzer, Michigan Messenger 15-SEP-08

Unfair but "probably" legal, using foreclosure lists provides cheap and effective strategy for McCain campaign

Last week we reported about Republican plans to use home foreclosure lists to block voters from the polls after James Carabelli, chair of the Macomb County Republican Party, told Michigan Messenger that on election day Republican volunteers will “have a list of foreclosed homes and make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses.”

Republican leaders have since disavowed plans to use foreclosure lists as part of their plan to challenge the eligibility of some voters, but an attorney for the party, Eric Doster, did confirm that the party would use returned mail to challenge voters based on residency. As veteran Republican activist Allen Raymond told Michigan Messenger in a recent interview, holding down Democratic turnout is a key part of Republican strategy for victory in November.

Raymond knows about Republican campaign tactics.[1] For almost a decade he managed campaigns for Republicans running for state and national office. In the 2002 New Hampshire elections, he ran a phone-jamming operation aimed at blocking elderly people from arranging rides to the polls, an illegal action that he says was approved by the highest levels of the party. He spent five months in federal prison. Earlier this year Raymond published a book about his life and work as a Republican operative, titled “Confessions of a Republican Operative: How to Rig an Election.”[2]

As for our report that the Michigan GOP planned to use foreclosure lists to block likely Democratic voters, Raymond said: “It's a very good tactic. It works.”

“It is actually a very smart thing to do," he went on, "particularly in this climate with so many foreclosures.”

The rest of the article can be found at this link.