Former Congressman Denied Right To Vote In Tennesse

[cynatnite]

A former congressman said he and his wife were denied the right to vote last night in their Tennessee hometown after poll workers said he had been removed from the voting rolls. Lincoln Davis, a Democrat who served two terms, leaving office in 2011, told the The Nashville Tennessean:

“We walked in and they told me I was not a registered voter. I had been taken off the list,” said Davis, who served two terms representing the fourth congressional district of Tennessee, leaving office in 2011.

“These are people who I grew up with. I told them I live here. I went to school about 20 yards away.” [...]

“It’s always been this way and today, for some reason, they change it,” he said. “I had a sense inside of uneasiness when I was told that I was not allowed to vote. They didn’t offer me a provisional ballot, or anything, just told me I wasn’t registered.”

Like many states, Tennessee passed new voting restrictions last year, including a voter ID law. While that doesn’t appear to be the problem in Davis’ case, the incident highlights how voting restrictions, which are being heightened in statehouses across the country in a nominal attempt to crack down on voter fraud, can often ensnare legitimate voters. And while there few problems were reported with the new law in last night’s primary, there has nonetheless been a troubling pattern of the voter ID law in the state making it more difficult for citizens to vote.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/07/439521/former-congressman-denied-right-to-vote-in-tennesse/

[MagickMuffin]

1. Rep. Davis needs to make sure he gets back ON the books by November

He needs to head down to the local election's office and demand to know why he was taken off first off and demand to be put back on. He should also contact the DOJ about this injustice.

This CRAP of "voter fraud" has gotten out of hand, and we need to make sure it dies before November. It affects everyone.

[Fawke Em]

2. Unfathomable and probably purposeful.

Everyone knows who Lincoln Davis is in this state. Someone PURPOSELY took his name off the register. I doubt there are very many "Lincoln Davises" in Fentress County. That county only has 18,000 people.

[tularetom]

3. Voter fraud bad election fraud good!

Let's get everybody in an uproar that a few people may try to vote fraudulently. Then they'll all ignore the fact that votes are counted incorrectly, that voting machines are tampered with, and that large blocs of legal votes are simply thrown out.

Election fraud enabled them to steal two presidential elections, and when they were unable to steal the 2008 election, they started sniveling about "voter fraud".

That's why we need to get rid of all these republican governors.

[Justice wanted]

4. My question is WHY he was taken off the roll.

[Lars39]

8. Missing too many elections in a row perhaps.

[socialist_n_TN]

9. He must have voted in 2010..........

That was the year he lost. I sure hope you get more than 2 years before you're kicked off the rolls.

[Justice wanted]

10. True. And I can't believe he didn't vote in 2011.

[Justice wanted]

11. Maybe BUT one would think he voted for himself at least.

[progressoid]

14. Oh it was probably just a clerical error.

It happens all the time...to Democrats.

[xchrom]

5. Du rec. Nt

[FLAprogressive]

6. This voter suppression just pisses me off.

[RC]

7. They are using Voter Fraud as an excuse to commit Election Fraud.

[LiberalFighter]

12. Likely they did an illegal purge and he got caught in it.

They need to check to see if anyone else was purged as likely they are trying to reduce votes for Democrats in the general.

[DCKit]

13. I was "deregistered" last summer.

You can imagine the emails and phone calls.

Specifically, I told them I expected this kind of crap was happening in the Red states, but DC? WTF?