Indiana officials trying to block 45,000 blacks from voting
Click here for reuse options!Roughly 45,000 newly registered voters in Indiana — almost all of whom are black — may not be allowed to vote next month after state police targeted the state’s largest voter registration drive, forcing it to shut down its operation.
Police raided the Indiana Voter Registration Project (IVRP) offices on October 4, seizing documents and equipment and forcing the group to cease its get-out-the-vote efforts one week before the end of the state’s registration period. Bill Buck, a spokesperson for the liberal nonprofit Patriot Majority USA which runs the IVRP, told ThinkProgress that IVRP could have registered about 5,000 more voters in that additional week.
The IVRP is still unsure whether the 45,000 people it registered will be permitted to vote this year, or how the state will handle their applications while the police investigation is ongoing. Bill Bursten, chief public information officer for the Indiana State Police, told ThinkProgress that law enforcement is investigating whether IVRP violating fraud and forgery laws.
“It will be up to each prosecutor to review the completed investigation and take whatever action they, as the local prosecuting authority, deem appropriate,” Bursten said. “Investigations of this nature are complicated and can take an extended period of time to complete.”
Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R)’s office declined to comment, and Buck said IVRP is still unclear what law it violated or why it’s being aggressively targeted by election officials and police.
Copyright 2016 Liberaland
20 responses to Indiana officials trying to block 45,000 blacks from voting
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Budda October 26th, 2016 at 09:22
If this was politically motivated by the R’s, someone needs to go to jail.
whatthe46 October 26th, 2016 at 10:33
no “if” about it.
mea_mark October 26th, 2016 at 09:24
It’s like someone wants to start a race war. Mass suppression is not a good idea, this is how revolutions get started.
Obewon October 26th, 2016 at 09:34
Who will win Indiana’s Senate seat November 8, 2016? Liberal Patriot Majority USA (D) Evan Bayh 74.6% Vs (R) Todd Young 25.4% chance. http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/senate/indiana/#polls
Roctuna October 26th, 2016 at 09:39
“Investigations of this nature are complicated and can take an extended period of time to complete.” Left unsaid was “The investigation could last all the way through Nov. 9th” Could the Republicans be more blatant? I don’t think so.
crc3 October 26th, 2016 at 09:49
I blame Mike Pence…governor of Indiana. Shame on him…
Buford2k11 October 26th, 2016 at 10:22
we are in a power struggle here, in the USofA…We are trying to retain Power of the people…and to not give any more power to the One Percent…we need to reclaim our government from the very forces who are willing to destroy our republic for their narrow interests…that much is transparent…we are starting to see the real implications of a Republican controlled state house…the war is on…whether we like it or not…It will not stop at this election, but will continue until one side loses, totally…
granpa.usthai October 26th, 2016 at 10:26
Time for the Feds to investigate Indiana – swiftly – or republiCONs lose ALL credibility –
EVERYWHERE.
even after their 2016 losses.
anothertoothpick October 26th, 2016 at 10:44
It’s not so much the photo ID thing that pisses off people that believe in the democratic process.
It is the fact that the conservatives have been suppressing the vote since the end of the Civil war. And it continues today.
anothertoothpick October 26th, 2016 at 10:58
When the 15th Amendment granted the vote to Black men after the Civil War, Black and poor white workers overcame race divisions and made political alliances. But when their unity threatened the Southern ruling class, those rulers enacted Jim Crow segregation laws as a divide-and-conquer tactic and a means to keep Blacks down. Policies such as literacy tests and poll taxes were used to prevent Blacks and poor working-class whites from exercising their right to vote.
oldfart October 26th, 2016 at 10:45
Can you say desperate ?
“Investigations of this nature are complicated and can take an extended period of time to complete.”
Indiana = Mike Pence
Need we say more ?
anothertoothpick October 26th, 2016 at 10:56
In the first U.S. presidential election in 1789, most of the states allowed only white male property owners over 21 to vote, and some included religious restrictions. This left most people disenfranchised; only about six percent of the population could vote in the election that made George Washington the country’s first executive. Centuries later, after successive campaigns to extend and protect voting rights, the fight still continues.
oldfart October 26th, 2016 at 11:42
And dumb azz Supreme Court JUSTICE appointees eventually die.
Mike October 26th, 2016 at 13:15
I’ve gone back and forth with a bunch of baggers that believe we should go back to only business and land owners voting. Twisted thinking that only those who pay property taxes should get to elect our reps…
anothertoothpick October 26th, 2016 at 13:34
Mike! Remind them that Democracy Requires Minority Rights.
The founders worried that the majority could abuse its powers to oppress a minority just as easily as a king.
The majority not only makes the laws, but can break them as well.
Suzanne McFly October 26th, 2016 at 18:23
And I have to wonder how many of the ones who were arguing are paying property tax. Damn fools love to argue against themselves.
amersham1046 October 26th, 2016 at 13:13
Here Trump. the fix is in
Bunya October 26th, 2016 at 13:25
The repubs are correct. There IS voter fraud. Too bad the GOP is behind it.
Warman1138 October 26th, 2016 at 16:10
Happenings like this will probably occur in other states or anywhere minority, student, disabled, elderly, etc. voter reg. drives appear.
The Original Just Me October 27th, 2016 at 22:50
It is Obvious that the Republicans have their Filthy Little Finger in this.