4 Basic Guidelines for Americans in Foreclosure Outlined by Former DNC Chairman Fowler; "No One is Buying the Republican Backpedaling on This; History Shows the GOP Will Not Hesitate to Kick Foreclosed Americans A Second Time When They Already Are Down."
WASHINGTON, D.C.///September 17, 2008///NoVoterLeftBehind.net (NVLB) isn't buying the claims that Republican have abandoned plans to engage in a "lose your home, lose your vote" campaign to deny the vote to the predominantly African-American, Latino and low-income whites who are undergoing the pain of home foreclosure. As a result, NoVoterLeftBehind.net (http://www.NoVoterLeftBehind.net) is urging Americans in the grips of the mortgage foreclosure crisis to know their rights before Election Day and also to refuse to back down if they are challenged by Republicans at polling places.
Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Donald L. Fowler, a member of the NoVoterLeftBehind.net board of advisors, said: "You don't lose your right to vote when you lose your home. I have been studying and fighting Republican voter suppression tactics for 30 years now and, no matter what the GOP is saying today to the news media, the truth is that they won't be able to resist using a combination of fake stories, targeted mailings, physical intimidation and other sleazy tactics to discourage the maximum number of home foreclosure victims from voting."
Fowler added: "No one who knows how stop-the-vote tactics work is buying the GOP backpedaling on this. From the Jim Crow laws of old to the modern-day voter suppression tactics used in 2004, history suggests very strongly that the GOP will not hesitate for a moment to kick foreclosed Americans a second time when they already are down. The victims of home foreclosure are disproportionately African America, Latino and low-income whites, and that is exactly the line-up of votes that the GOP wants to keep out of the count."
According to the Center for Responsible Lending, one out of five subprime loans issued during 2005-2006 will fail – leaving a total of 2.2 million home borrowers facing foreclosure. (See http://www.responsiblelending.org/issues/mortgage/research/page.jsp?itemID=31214551.) Attacks on voting rights based on mortgage foreclosure status are a real concern since subprime loans were made far more frequently to African Americans, Latinos and poor whites than to affluent whites. (See http://www.responsiblelending.org/issues/mortgage/quick-references/a-snapshot-of-the-subprime.html.) The impact of foreclosure-based vote suppression could have a huge impact on swing states. For example, there are 23,000 home foreclosures in major metro areas in Ohio and 28,000 in Michigan cities. (See http://www.responsiblelending.org/issues/mortgage/research/subprime-spillover.html.)
4 TIPS: VOTING RIGHTS FOR HOME FORECLOSURE VICTIMS
NoVoterLeftBehind.net is emphasizing four things every American going through foreclosure needs to know about their vote:
* Voting is an inalienable right that you can't lose due an inability to meet mortgage payments. If any Republican tries to tell you differently, don't listen to him or her!
* If you are in the foreclosure process – but still living in your home – you still vote where you live. The foreclosure process itself does not bear on your right to vote or where you exercise that right.
* If you are forced to move due to foreclosure before the voting registration deadline, you should re-register at your new home location. Go to http://novoterleftbehind.net/knowrules.cfm to find your states rules on voter registration.
* If you move due to foreclosure after the voting registration deadline -- but before the election -- go to vote where you were last registered to vote. Keep in mind the following: You have the right to vote by signing an affirmation (or similar form) if your right to vote is challenged for any reason; and if your name isn't on the registered voter list, you have the right to vote by provisional ballot.
ABOUT NOVOTERLEFTBEHIND.NET
Launched on August 29, 2008, NoVoterLeftBehind.net is a project of Democrats for America's Future (www.americasdemocrats.org). DAF is mobilizing the NoVoterLeftBehind.net project to monitor voter registration and the actual vote on Election Day in 2008. The campaign will shine a public spotlight on every last irregularity.
NoVoterLeftBehind.net is urging every Democratic candidate to pledge not to concede a single race until every last vote is counted. Across the U.S., thousands of Democrats across the United States are receiving letters from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., urging them to support a major new effort at NoVoterLeftBehind.net to raise the funds that will be needed to challenge Republican efforts to steal the 2008 election.
In his appeal to Democrats launching NoVoterLeftBehind.net, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. writes: "No more 2000s and 2004s! … The Republican Party mounted a coordinated, criminal campaign to steal the 2004 Presidential election -- and it worked. Now, as another election approaches, you and I need to stand together to make absolutely certain it doesn't happen again … We need your support to raise the funds now to make sure that 'no voter is left behind' on Election Day!"
The NoVoterLeftBehind.net Web site shows interested Democrats how to donate to support the effort, where to learn more about how Republicans steal elections and also ways to volunteer before and on Election Day 2008. ABOUT DEMOCRATS FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE
Democrats for America's Future (http://www.americasdemocrats.org) is dedicated to getting everyday Democrats involved in returning the Democratic party to its roots – and success at the ballot box. Democrats for America's Future makes a difference by: recruiting grassroots Democrats across the country and providing them with up-to-date information; urging Democratic leaders to stand up to President Bush and his right-wing allies; and educating the public about the Bush Administration's true record. Membership sign-ups and member donations are accepted through the Democrats for America's Future Web site at http://www.americasdemocrats.org. The DAF board of advisors consists of: James Carville; former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich; Ambassador Carol Mosely Braun, former U.S. Senator from the state of Illinois and a 2004 presidential candidate; Donald L. Fowler, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee; David Bonior, former Michigan member of Congress and majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives; and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former lieutenant governor of the state of Maryland.
CONTACT: Leslie Anderson, (703) 276-3256, or landerson@hastingsgroup.com.
