This is what democracy looks like

Republicans in Michigan plan on challenging who can vote on election day, which really is no surprise to anyone who lives in the country. Of course, their method is far beyond unethical [really, there is no word to describe this move. It is just another literacy test or moral character qualification]:

The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.

I probably cannot express how much I despise this tactic right now. We are told this is the most important election and this is how the Republicans in Michigan treat voters.

Oh, I forgot, those who would most likely not be able to vote because of a foreclosure would not vote for Republicans.

The Macomb GOP’s plans are another indication of how John McCain’s campaign stands to benefit from the burgeoning number of foreclosures in the state. McCain’s regional headquarters are housed in the office building of foreclosure specialists Trott & Trott. The firm’s founder, David A. Trott, has raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for the Republican nominee.

The Macomb County party’s plans to challenge voters who have defaulted on their house payments is likely to disproportionately affect African-Americans who are overwhelmingly Democratic voters. More than 60 percent of all sub-prime loans — the most likely kind of loan to go into default — were made to African-Americans in Michigan, according to a report issued last year by the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth.

Is it legal? Possibly though it is as unethical as lying to get the country in a war.

One expert questioned the legality of the tactic.

“You can’t challenge people without a factual basis for doing so,” said J. Gerald Hebert, a former voting rights litigator for the U.S. Justice Department who now runs the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington D.C.-based public-interest law firm. “I don’t think a foreclosure notice is sufficient basis for a challenge, because people often remain in their homes after foreclosure begins and sometimes are able to negotiate and refinance.”

As for the practice of challenging the right to vote of foreclosed property owners, Hebert called it, “mean-spirited.”

In a close race, denying these citizens their right to vote can swing the election. The article notes that Republicans will try this tactic in Ohio as well. Even if they just challenge voters, which slows down the process, it could prevent people from voting. Inner-cities are notorious for having outdated machines while suburbs have plush machines that are fast and work correctly.

This must be stopped. Republicans are morally and intellectually unfit to govern.