A guide to voter intimidation and how to report it
A guide to voter intimidation and how to report it
By Sari Horwitz The Washington Post
On the eve of Election Day, civil rights groups and local election officials were reminding voters of the state and federal laws protecting against voter intimidation and advising them where to go if they experience threats or harassment at the polls.
Anyone trying to keep a person from voting or to get them to vote a certain way constitutes voter intimidation, according to Election Protection, a nonpartisan voting rights coalition.
Voter intimidation is prohibited under federal law, which states that “no person . . . shall intimidate, threaten, coerce . . . any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of [that] person to vote or to vote as he may choose.”
The American Civil Liberties Union says that one example of such intimidation is aggressively questioning a voter about his or her citizenship, criminal record or other qualifications to vote. Other examples include falsely presenting oneself as an elections official and spreading false information about voter requirements, such as the need to present a certain type of photo identification when there is no such requirement, according to the ACLU.
Shouting and abusive language is also considered intimidation, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. If a voter is being followed and photographed or has his license plate numbers recorded, that also qualifies as intimidation, as does baseless or discriminatory challenges to one’s eligibility to vote and the brandishing of weapons in front of a voter.
READ MORE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-g...
By Sari Horwitz The Washington Post
On the eve of Election Day, civil rights groups and local election officials were reminding voters of the state and federal laws protecting against voter intimidation and advising them where to go if they experience threats or harassment at the polls.
Anyone trying to keep a person from voting or to get them to vote a certain way constitutes voter intimidation, according to Election Protection, a nonpartisan voting rights coalition.
Voter intimidation is prohibited under federal law, which states that “no person . . . shall intimidate, threaten, coerce . . . any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of [that] person to vote or to vote as he may choose.”
The American Civil Liberties Union says that one example of such intimidation is aggressively questioning a voter about his or her citizenship, criminal record or other qualifications to vote. Other examples include falsely presenting oneself as an elections official and spreading false information about voter requirements, such as the need to present a certain type of photo identification when there is no such requirement, according to the ACLU.
Shouting and abusive language is also considered intimidation, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. If a voter is being followed and photographed or has his license plate numbers recorded, that also qualifies as intimidation, as does baseless or discriminatory challenges to one’s eligibility to vote and the brandishing of weapons in front of a voter.
READ MORE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-g...
