The Process Voter Registrations Now(!) Petition for Dutchess County

To:  Dutchess County residents

Many of us by now have long become familiar with voter suppression in 2000 courtesy of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris-- and voter suppression in 2004 courtesy of Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell-- well now right here in Dutchess County, thanks to Republican Elections Commissioner David Gamache and his cronies in county government with G.O.P. tentacles extending to many local towns-- we have voter suppression here on a local level, as the Poughkeepsie Journal and Daily Freeman have reported recently (September 2008).

Obviously there are more than a few Republicans in our county's power structure who aren't particularly thrilled about the fact that quite soon there will be more registered Democrats here in Dutchess County than registered Republicans; with all due respect to my friends across the aisle, I say "tough nuggies"-- and call on them to cut the garbage. Period.

Enough-- if you agree, sign this petition, pass it along to all you know, write a letter to the editor to local newspapers, and send a letter to dgamache@co.dutchess.ny.us telling him to stop his pathetic nonsense, abide by the law, and start making democracy truly real here in Dutchess County--which includes, at the very least, no further delay in processing paperwork to register voters!

As they say, if you're not outraged you're not paying attention, folks.

[pass it on!]

Joel Tyner
County Legislator (Clinton/Rhinebeck)
324 Browns Pond Road
Staatsburg, NY 12580
joeltyner@earthlink.net
(845) 876-2488

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This update statement was issued Friday, Sept. 26th by Dutchess County Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp (fknapp@co.dutchess.ny.us) as follow-up to Monday Sept. 22nd press conference:

"Days after claims by Republican Elections Commissioner Dave Gamache that the Dutchess County Board of Elections was on track to compete all registrations before the deadline registrations continue to pile up at the Poughkeepsie office. Despite Gamache’s claims that the office is on track and can complete up to 1,000 voter registrations a day, only 705 voters were put on the rolls since Monday while an additional 1,072 voter registration forms were received in the Board of Elections. At this rate it will be extremely hard to catch up with the backlogged registrations. We are continuing to lose ground. The closer we get to the Election Day registration deadline (October 10th) the more people will be registering daily.

Democratic staff continues to review registrations as they come in resulting in piles of several thousand voter registration forms awaiting Republican review so they can be processed. Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp said, 'It is our job to make sure all eligible voters can exercise their constitutional right. Gamache’s obstructionist tactics amount to nothing more or less than voter disenfranchisement. With the backlog building day by day, Gamache’s statement that we are 'on track' to register all qualified applicants by Election Day is patently false. The clock is ticking for these voters and the Republican Commissioner is either deliberately delaying this process or seriously misguided.'

All voter registration forms must be postmarked by October 10th and received by October 15th. Most voter registrations are received through the mail. Voters should call the board of elections to confirm their status and to verify if the Board received their application."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dutchess for Obama Coordinator Angela Valles Friday, Sept. 26th (dutchessforobama@gmail.com):

"We have all read recent articles on the voter suppression allegations in Dutchess County. This is a serious matter and one that I believe we should discuss in an open forum. As of Monday at a press conference that took place outside of the Dutchess County Board of Elections, it was disclosed that there were more than 3,000 voter registration forms that had not been processed. Many more voter registrations are expected in the coming days as the deadline of October 10th approaches. As of yesterday, my understanding is that only 100 of those had been processed. At this rate, many voter registrations will not be processed in time for the November 4th election and many people could find themselves disenfrancised this election year. This is due to the David Gamache, the Republican Commissioner's insistance on reviewing and approving personally each individual voter registration form. If you are like me, you find this to be unacceptable and outrageous.

For many of us who spent hours and many days this Summer and are currently registering new voters in Dutchess County, we know too well the challenges that we faced. Many first time voters-of all ages, races and genders- felt a resistance to registering to vote because they held the belief that their vote did not count or that their vote did not matter. We convinced them otherwise and we can't let them down now by remaining silent and passive at this time in our county's history."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From Democratic Dutchess County Family Court Judge Candidate Joan Posner (joanposner@gmail.com)...

See below this joint statement of Congressmen Hall and Hinchey:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 23, 2008
Contact: Meaghan Smith
202-225-5441

Hall, Hinchey Call on Elections Commissioner to Expedite Voter Registration

Washington, DC - U.S. Representatives John Hall (NY-19) and Maurice Hinchey (NY-22) today called on the Dutchess County Board of Elections to complete the processing of thousands of new voter registration forms that have been filed with the Board but reportedly are still pending review by the Commissioner of Elections, who is a Republican. The federal legislators expressed concern that further delays in processing the registration forms could disenfranchise voters in the upcoming election.

In a letter to Commissioners of Elections Fran Knapp and David Gamache, Hall and Hinchey wrote:

September 23, 2008
The Honorable Fran Knapp
The Honorable David Gamache
Commissioners of Elections
Dutchess County Board of Elections
47 Cannon Street
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Dear Commissioners Knapp and Gamache,

We are writing to urge you to expedite processing of all voter registration forms that are submitted to the Board of Elections before the legal deadline. We want to make certain that voters, especially new voters, not encounter difficulties at the polls on Election Day. Yet we understand that several thousand registration forms that have been approved by the Democratic Commissioner of Elections have not yet been reviewed by the Republican Commissioner.

Because 2008 is a Presidential election year, turnout will be heavy. It is critical that we ensure that those who are trusted with facilitating the voting process, especially the Board of Elections, do not become an impediment to that process. In response to the difficult circumstances Americans are being confronted with, thousands of individuals are registering to vote and looking forward to casting their first ballot. It is our duty to protect their right to do so and ensure the process is a timely and efficient one.

New voters need to know their voices will be heard. Delays in registering people on the voter rolls could jeopardize the ability to obtain an absentee ballot if one is needed, or cause delays at the polls when voters are forced to complete paper ballots. Voting is a right that should not be denied by unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles.

We ask you, as the Commissioners of Elections, to vigorously exercise your legal responsibility to encourage and facilitate voter participation. We urge you to make every effort to ensure that all legal voters are recorded in the rolls in advance and are able to vote easily and expeditiously in the November 4th election.
Sincerely,

John J. Hall Maurice D. Hinchey
Member of Congress Member of Congress

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From the September 23rd Daily Freeman...

"Battle Rages Over Dutchess Voter Registration"
by Patricia Doxsey, Freeman staff
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20132755&BRD=1769&PAG=461&dept_id=74969&rfi=6
[excerpt below]

POUGHKEEPSIE - More than two dozen Democratic officials, candidates and community activists gathered outside the Dutchess County Board of Elections Monday to decry what they say is an effort by Republican Elections Commissioner David Gamache to disenfranchise voters.

Gary Levine, an attorney and former state Assembly candidate, said he has filed a complaint with the state Board of Elections over Gamache's inaction...

Democratic Elections Commissioner Fran Knapp vowed to begin today processing voter registrations - with or without Gamache's approval.

"Since I have reviewed them and they are all eligible, I will begin entering them immediately," she said.

Knapp said thousands of voter registration forms have sat unprocessed in the Board of Elections for weeks due to an edict by Gamache that all registration forms be approved by him before being logged into the voter registration system.

"The issue here is people legitimately completed their voter registration forms and since the end of August they have been sitting in a box," said Knapp. "Commissioner Gamache has refused to allow the proper review and these people have not been put on (the rolls). Some of them have been waiting since the end of August.

"I believe this is all designed to stall us from entering these people to become qualified voters in the upcoming election. There is no other reason. Nobody reasonable can understand why he is doing this other than voter suppression," she said...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From the Sept. 23rd Poughkeepsie Journal...

"Dutchess Democrats: Voter Signups Stalled"
by Rasheed Oluwa
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200809
[excerpt below]

A backlog of voter registrations at the Dutchess County Board of Elections have local Democrats threatening to sue if significant strides in signing up voters aren't made by the end of the week.

"We will file a federal lawsuit if we don't see a substantive process in place before week's end," David Sears, a member of the New York Democratic Lawyer Council, said Monday during a press conference in front of the county Board of Elections in the City of Poughkeepsie...

Democratic elections Commissioner Fran Knapp accused Gamache of willfully suppressing nearly 3,000 registrations.

In a memo dated Sept. 11, Gamache...stated he would be the only Republican allowed to approve voter registrations until further notice...

Knapp said the directive has slowed the process.

"Since Gamache issued his directive back on Sept. 11, he has not initialed or reviewed one voter registration form," Knapp said. "His directive is a political directive designed to suppress voter registration"...

Knapp said Gamache's interpretation of election law is wrong and that he didn't have the authority to review every registration.

Knapp has instructed staff to enter all registrations into the voter database, regardless of whether they get a Republican signature, starting today.

"I have a responsibility and believe that election law supports my decision," Knapp said...

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The The Process Voter Registrations Now(!) Petition for Dutchess County Petition to Dutchess County residents was created by members of the Real Majority Project and written by County Legislator Joel Tyner (joeltyner@earthlink.net).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.