Plot to Disenfranchise Voters Facing Foreclosure
September 22, 2008
 Is there anything more outrageous than sub-prime lenders who deliberately sold mortgages to homebuyers they knew couldn’t make the payments? Read this and then decide.
The Republican Party of Macomb County, Mich., is currently raking through the records of homes in foreclosure, making lists of their owners so that, come the November elections, they can prevent them from voting.
Michigan law says that voters must be “true residents of the city or township.” The Republicans have set up an “election integrity program” to challenge the votes of residents who are facing foreclosure at the polling places. It’s a quick and dirty way to suppress the votes of Democratic-leaning voters and to create long lines that will force some voters to turn away without casting their votes.
J. Gerald Hebert, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who now runs the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest law firm, told the Michigan Messenger, “I don’t think a foreclosure notice is sufficient basis for a challenge, because people often remain in their homes after foreclosure begins and sometimes are able to negotiate and refinance.”
More than 60 percent of all sub-prime loans in Michigan were made to African-Americans, who have historically voted by overwhelming margins for Democrats.
David Lagstein, head organizer for the Michigan Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) told the Messenger. “The Republican-led state Senate has not moved on the anti-predatory lending bill for over a year and yet [Republicans] have time to prey on those who have fallen victim to foreclosure to suppress the vote.”
“It’s no longer enough just to get our members out to vote,” says President Edwin D. Hill. “All Americans need to speak up whenever citizens who are down on their luck are unfairly targeted by those who want to keep them from exercising their democratic rights.
If there were any doubts about where Republican candidate John McCain stands on the mortgage foreclosure crisis and the Macomb County action, they are answered by looking at the address of his regional headquarters. McCain’s staff is housed in an office building owned by foreclosure specialists Trott & Trott, whose founder, David A. Trott, raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for the Republican nominee.
Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user Joe Logon.
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