Voter Intimidation and Racism

By Ben Trott

There is an article, posted to Yahoo! News yesterday by Associated Press national writer Deborah Hastings, on (amongst other things) the racist dimension of much of the voter intimidation and ‘trickery’ which has been taking place over the last few weeks. The article was forwarded to me by Dont Rhine from the sound art collective Ultra Red. ‘The success of these (and more official) tactics,’ he argued ‘is what is motivating the sense that Obama can only win if by a landslide. As for the more official tactics, long lines at the polls (due to understaffing), faulty ballots (such as in North Carolina where a vote for the Democratic party does not include the president), … all add up to massive vote suppression. Oh, and this of course doesn't even include the massive disenfranchisement that goes on legally for those who have been convicted of a Felony.’