Friday, March 25, 2005

Home Is Where Your Hatred Blooms

Republican Commissioner of Mecklenburg County Bill James is leading a crusade to crack down on a huge threat to our democracy ... homeless voters! (James is already a party to Bill Fletcher's initiative to disfranchise over 11,000 provisional voters, but having grown bored with that success, he's apparently decided to open a new front in his war against full ballot access for everyone.) What you do unto the least of these, eh, Commissioner James?

James has spent his spare time scouring the voter registration rolls of Mecklenburg, ferreting out malfeasance. He says he's found 350 homeless registrations that list as "home" addresses such places as the Urban Ministry Center and Charlotte Rescue Mission. He wants that stopped. He wants the homeless to draw a map and specifically pinpoint the chicken coop, culvert, or packing crate where they sleep.

The Board of Elections has established guidelines that allow the homeless to list Hospitality House-type sites as "home." James claims that policy is illegal.

So how did Republicans get a reputation for meanness?

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