Election Protection Coalition Fields Over 1,000 Calls Reporting Scattered Problems...

Election Protection Coalition Fields Over 1,000 Calls Reporting Scattered
Problems Throughout Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA, April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- (10:30 p.m. Update) --
As polls closed across Pennsylvania this evening, the Election Protection
Coalition reported receiving over 1,000 calls to the Voter Protection Hotline
throughout the day. The Coalition entered more reports into its election
reporting database than in any previous state primary, including primaries
earlier this year in California, New York and other populous states.
Nationally renowned Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law together
with an extensive coalition of partners throughout Pennsylvania, including
Philadelphia-based Committee of Seventy, responded to voting problems
throughout the state through a comprehensive voter protection program. Nearly
1,000 nonpartisan citizen and legal volunteers monitored polling places
throughout Pennsylvania. Approximately 800 volunteers worked in Philadelphia.
Voters reported issues by way of the coalition hotline (1-866-OUR-VOTE) and
through hundreds of field volunteers throughout the state.
"Our coalition worked since the polls opened this morning to ensure the
integrity of the vote in Pennsylvania, and to be sure the process is conducted
fairly," said John E. McKeever, Esquire, a partner at law firm DLA Piper, who
serves on the Boards of Directors of both the Lawyers' Committee and the
Committee of Seventy. "Pooling our respective resources and strengths for this
crucial primary helped to ensure that all eligible citizens have an equal
opportunity to exercise the most fundamental of all rights -- the right to
vote."
Jonah Goldman, director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections of the
Lawyers' Committee's Voting Rights Project, said, "In this historic primary
season, voters across the country have turned out in droves to exercise their
fundamental right to vote. Today Pennsylvanians followed suit. Unfortunately,
the heartening story of record turnout is tempered by the real problems voters
face as they try to cast a ballot. Poorly trained poll workers, problems with
voting machines and inaccurate voter registration rolls caused countless
eligible voters to be needlessly refused the right to vote."
The high turnout exposed many of the fundamental problems that plague the
election administration system throughout the state, together with allegations
of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement merit further investigation. One
of the most troubling issues today was a barrage of reports from voters who
have been registered as Democrats for years, but were listed as unaffiliated
and so had to vote provisionally. When this problem surfaced earlier in the
day, the Coalition took action by alerting the county Boards of Election to
the issue and releasing a statement to the media advising voters who encounter
this problem to vote provisionally. It is unclear at this time how widespread
this problem was.
The most frequently reported problems throughout the day included general
polling place issues such as poll workers giving incorrect information, rule
violations and poor administration regarding polling locations (250+ calls);
registration issues (200); equipment malfunction at the polls (150) and voter
intimidation (80+). Some sample reports include:
-- At one location, the head poll worker asked for a voter's registration
card, and yelled out to everyone else the voter's name, that the voter
was a Democrat, the voter's address and that the machine was not set up
for a Democrat. The voter felt very disrespected and that this was an
invasion of her privacy; she does not want to go back to vote again
because of this worker's behavior.
-- One man was told that he could not vote at his polling place because he
was a Republican.
-- In Delaware County, one voter reported that the voting machines at her
precinct were set for Republicans only. She told the poll worker that
she was a Democrat and the worker replied, "Not today." The voter was
not able to cast a vote, but The League of Women Voters provided her
with the phone number of the Delaware County Board of Elections to
report and resolve the issue.
-- A voter reported that, at one location, building materials were being
thrown off the roof of the polling place to prevent voters from
entering.
-- One caller reported a polling location with only three voting machines
and no printers working. Voters were leaving without being offered
emergency ballots.
-- A voter took her child with her to vote, but the poll worker wouldn't
let the child into the voting area with her. When the child's mother
asked why, the poll worker claimed that it was because her child "can
read."

According to the Commonwealth's Department of State, there are 8,320,083
registered voters in Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, which has just over one
million voters, the City Commissioners' Office reports that nearly 114,000
individuals registered to vote between October 27, 2007 and March 24, 2008,
the last date to register before the primary. The rise in the City's voter
registrations is attributed to the intensity of the national Democratic
primary and several local contests. Seventy has already announced plans for
unprecedented oversight of high-profile and contentious primary races within
the City's First Senatorial District and the 179th and 184th House Districts.
The Election Protection coalition is the nation's largest nonpartisan
voter protection. Pennsylvania partners include The Lawyer's Committee for
Civil Rights Under Law; the Committee of Seventy; Common Cause; People for the
American Way Foundation; Avencia; Congresso de Latino Unidos; Dechert LLP; DLA
Piper; Drexel University; Greater Philadelphia Cares; KPMG International;
League of Women Voters of Philadelphia; Morgan, Lewis & Bocklus; Philadelphia
AFL-CIO; Special People in N.E.; Temple University; University of Pennsylvania
Law School; The Daily News and White & Williams LLP.
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL), a nonpartisan,
nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F.
Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address
racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to
secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the
areas of housing, community development, employment, voting, education and
environmental justice. For more information about the LCCRUL, visit
www.lawyerscommittee.org.
SOURCE Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Stacie B. Miller, Director of Communications, Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law, +1-202-662-8600, or +1-202-445-6101 (cell)