Peter Tatchell warns that the US Republican Party’s dirty tricks could prevent enough people from voting to deny the Democrats the White House – again

THE Republicans stole the 2004 presidential elections and they are now preparing to steal the 2008 poll. This is the conclusion of civil rights lawyer Robert F Kennedy junior, nephew of President John F Kennedy.

His investigation found that in the 2004 election nearly half the six million American voters living abroad never received their ballots or else received them too late to vote. A consulting firm hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters in six battleground states was discovered shredding Democratic voter registrations. In New Mexico, which was decided by 5,988 votes, malfunctioning machines failed to register a vote properly on nearly 20,000 ballots, which may have altered the final result.

Throughout the United States, according to the federal commission on election reform, up to one million ballots were spoiled by faulty voting equipment and not counted.

In the key state of Ohio, which decided the presidency last time, at least 357,000 voters, most of them Democrats, were prevented from casting ballots or did not have their votes counted. This may have handed the presidency to George Bush, given that the Ohio election was decided by fewer than 119,000 votes.

Indeed, one in every four Ohio citizens who registered to vote in 2004 showed up at the polls only to discover that they were not listed on the rolls. In addition, an estimated 80,000 votes for John Kerry were erroneously counted instead for Bush – a vote switch that was large enough to win Ohio for the Republicans and put Bush back in the White House.

Kennedy also reveals that US electronic voting machines are not reliable. They do not always accurately record votes cast and are vulnerable to hacking to fix the election result. Three of the four companies that supply voting machines for US elections and count the votes have close ties with the Republican Party.

In a poll in Tarrant County, Texas, Kennedy discovered that voting machines counted some ballots as many as six times, recording 100,000 more votes than were actually cast. In 2004, in the pro-Democratic district of Youngstown, Ohio, some voters pressed “Kerry” but saw the machines record a vote for “Bush”.

Kennedy concludes that voting malpractice in 2004 was enough to steal the presidency for the Republicans. He warns it could happen again on November 4.

His concerns are echoed by a BBC Newsnight investigation, conducted by reporter Greg Palast. He reports that in 2004, up to three million votes were cast but never counted. In the run-up to the current 2008 ballot, nearly three million voters have already been purged from the voter rolls, many in Democratic districts.

This means that Barack Obama’s chances of becoming President are much less than most Democrats and election pundits suggest. To overcome the anti-Democrat manipulation of the US electoral system, Obama needs a much bigger lead in the opinion polls than he currently enjoys.

The Democrats were caught napping and robbed in 2000 and 2004 and they are again walking into a similar electoral trap in 2008.

Palast has found massive purging of mostly poor and black voters from the electoral rolls – voters who are more likely to vote Democrat than Republican.

During elections in New Mexico earlier this year, one in nine voters found that their names had disappeared from the electoral rolls. Whole streets of voters in poor neighbourhoods vanished. In Colorado, the disenfranchisement is even greater, with 20 per cent of voters excluded from the rolls.

Another form of voter exclusion is happening in Michigan, where 62,000 lower income families, mostly Democrat supporters, face losing their homes to foreclosure. Losing their residence means losing their voting address and their right to vote. Many of the evictions are being orchestrated by a foreclosure company that donates to the Republican Party and gives the Republicans office space for their campaign headquarters. Michigan isn’t alone. In several crucial swing states, including Nevada and Florida, foreclosures and the consequent loss of voting rights could affect the outcome.

Election bias doesn’t stop there. Republican strategist Karl Rove has been behind a new law requiring voters to show a photo identity at the polling booth. No ID, no vote. One in 10 US citizens doesn’t have a photo ID. Among Afro-Americans it is one in five. This requirement will disproportionately disenfranchise poor white, elderly and black Americans, who tend to vote Democrat. In one swing state, Indiana, an estimated 100,000 African-Americans will lose their right to vote because they don’t have a photo ID. This could determine the poll result in that state – and perhaps the country.

Then there is the issue of the shortage of voting machines. In the decisive swing state of Ohio in 2004, voting machines were unevenly placed to favour rich white areas, which were more likely to vote Republican, over poor black ones, where people were more disposed to voting Democrat. In African-American districts, the shortage of voting machines meant that electors had to wait an average of four hours to cast their ballot; whereas in white precincts the waiting time was a mere 15 minutes. Was this a deliberate attempt to discourage black voters and make it as difficult as possible for them to cast their ballots? If so, it worked. Many gave up waiting and walked away. Others waited in line for hours, but still did not get to vote because the polls closed before they could cast their ballots.

In some key states, the adequate and fair allocation of voting machines is not assured for the November 4 poll.

Palast concludes that a combination of voter roll purging, photo ID requirement and shortage of voting machines could be enough to swing the presidential election in favour of John McCain – even if Barack Obama has a substantial opinion poll lead on election day.

The election will be determined not by whom the American people want as their President, but by who is allowed to vote and whose votes are counted – by the foibles and manipulations of the election system.

Many legitimate voters have already been excluded and many more will be excluded when they turn up at the polling stations. American democracy? Well, that would be a nice idea. It’s a shame about the reality.

For more information about Peter Tatchell’s human rights campaigns, please visit: www.petertatchell.net