Big Brother IS Watching

An article in yesterday's WashPost confirms what we've already seen evidence of here in North Carolina ... that Attorney General John Ashcroft intends to intimidate any state boards of election that are open to intimidation. The goal of this administration is clearly to suppress, discourage, and confuse new and inexperienced voters especially, and most especially ethnic minorities among the newly registered. You could add college students to that group, at least in N.C.

One thing Ashcroft has done is dispatch his U.S. attorneys to have friendly little "we're watching you" conversations with state elections officials. So a couple of weeks ago, N.C. State Board of Elections chair Gary Bartlett was seen having lunch with North Carolina's three U.S. attorneys (or their reps) in Raleigh. (I'm not going to go back and find that article in the Raleigh N&O; you can Google it for yourself.)

We've been dealing locally with increased red-tape for those wishing to vote absentee. Now requests for absentee ballots must be submitted on forms provided by the local Board of Elections. So a home-bound elderly person now has to write a request to the Board of Elections to get the proper form in order to write a request for an absentee ballot. Ridiculous! And NO ONE ELSE can do this for them!

The intimidation of college-age voters is especially ferocious. Someone -- wonder who? -- has been circulating a rumor that if an ASU student registers to vote, he or she will be called for jury duty immediately. And the local Board of Elections was apparently poised to demand of first-time voters (that is, college students) proof of residency, when they know very well that ASU ids do not include dorm addresses. And of course the local board also refused to move the polling place for one college precinct (Boone 3) to within walking distance for some 80 percent of that precinct, who happen to be students. The message: we'd just as soon you didn't vote.

Local Republican Party officials were recently paraphrased urging ASU students to vote ... anywhere but here. (From "The Appalachian": "[Republican Karen] Wilson welcomes any Appalachian State students who wish to register in Watauga County, but said she encourages students to vote in their hometowns either by traveling home to vote or by voting absentee. Wilson said it makes more sense for students to vote in their hometowns because they know the local candidates and issues better.")

But the process of getting and executing an absentee ballot -- with two witnesses -- has never been easy and just got harder with the new step of requesting a new form on which to request a ballot -- that few students will follow through to vote absentee.

The Republicans fear a huge turn-out this year. Their best shot, evidently, is to suppress that turn-out at every opportunity, subtle or not so subtle.