October Surprise: Goverment Computers To Go Offline During Voter Registration Peak
By Wendy Weiser, Brennan Center for Justice. Posted September 25, 2008.
The Social Security Administration, whose databases verify new voter registrations, will be shut down in mid-October for three days for maintenance.
A recent alert by the Social Security Administration announces that the agency plans to shut down its databases for maintenance from October 11 through October 13. While this might not sound like an election issue, it turns out that this could significantly impede registration of first-time voters as well as the re-registration of eligible citizens.
Here's why. A 2002 federal law, the Help America Vote Act, requires all states to "coordinate" their voter registration databases with the Social Security database (and state motor vehicle databases) for the purpose of processing new voter registration forms. For the millions of voters who do not have current driver's licenses and register using the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, state election officials are required to try to match their voter registration information against Social Security records. But if the Social Security database is down—as it will be for four days—they won't be able to do that. Across the country, the processing of these voter registration forms will grind to a halt for four days.
More:
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/100392/october_surprise:_goverment_computers_to_go_offline_during_voter_registration_peak__/Edited for "sheesh, I'm fumble-fingered...."
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
