Non-Partisan Voter Engagement Group Releases Humorous Video To Highlight False Claims around Voter Registration
June 8th, 2012
STATEMENT BY THE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER
Non-Partisan Voter Engagement Group Releases Humorous Video
To Highlight False Claims around Voter Registration
Cat Video De-Claws Baseless Claims of Fraud
The non-partisan Voter Participation Center (VPC) today released a short web video to call attention to the silly environment that conservatives have created as they try to prevent efforts to register voters.
Below is the statement of Page Gardner, Founder and President of The Voter Participation Center:
About the Video
This comic video about a cat receiving a voter registration application uses humor to ‘de-claw’ conservatives’ predictable and ridiculous allegations about voter fraud.
For the past several election cycles, conservative activists have raised false and silly claims about voter fraud and tried to discredit the legitimate work of groups like the VPC, which are helping to register eligible voters
Conservatives invariably trot out a pet owner whose cat or dog has received a form in the mail to raise the specter of fraud and try to justify limiting third-party voter registration efforts.
We want to underscore the absurdity of conservatives’ assertions that election officials would purposefully register any dog or cat that mistakenly received a voter registration application in the mail. And, Fido would certainly not be able to vote, even if he had a dog tag.
“We joke in the video that this kind of thing is about as likely as dogs learning to talk, but in all seriousness, studies have shown and as election officials such as Ion Sancho, the 24-year veteran election supervisor in Leon County, FL have said, ‘Fraud simply isn’t much of an issue. You are more likely to walk out of your office and get hit by a bolt of lightning.’ [Kathleen Haughney, Sun Sentinel, June 5, 2012]
“In the coming weeks, VPC will be mailing more than 5 million voter registration applications to young people, people of color and unmarried women. As good as the enhancements are that we make to the commercial lists we use, we may end up mailing a form to a pet that will not be approved to become a registered voter. And invariably, some conservative activist will try to seize upon this as ‘proof positive’ that voter registration groups are sinister and are trying to register people who are not eligible.
Literally and figuratively – the environment around voter registration has gone to the dogs. As an example, conservative state politicians are putting up new hurdles to try to make it harder for millions of law-abiding citizens to register and to vote. These efforts are a violation of Americans’ basic rights. In Florida, a federal judge stepped in just days ago to block much of the state’s year-old law that restricted voter registration efforts by third party groups like the League of Women Voters because it was an unconstitutional infringement of voting rights and speech.
The way to strengthen our democracy is by empowering more citizens to become registered to vote, not fewer.
