October 30, 2012

And yet even more voter suppression

NSFW

As David noted here, as of October 26th, radio ads falsely claiming that Pennsylvania voters had to show photo ID on election day were still running on KDKA radio (and who knows where else). And then there's this. Yesterday afternoon, while everyone was still bracing for what Sandy might bring to PA and while we were in an official state of emergency, the voter suppression was ongoing -- this time, on the streets of Pittsburgh. I saw this via Facebook from a co-worker (and someone whom I trust):
OMFG!!!!! There are state trucks driving around the city today with 30ft signs that say SHOW ID!!!! This is unbelievable!!!! Anyone know what numbers would be best to contact about this...if you dont know we DO NOT NEED to show ID on the 6th
Unfortunately, he was going in the opposite direction, so no photograph was taken.

Now, I don't know if the giant ads he saw had the fine print like the one below, but even if they did, what message are you really going to get (or literally see) from something on a moving vehicle?

According to Ngani Ndimbie of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, buses displaying signs like the one below -- even if they display the fine print -- are a problem for obvious reasons and add to the misinformation:
Reports from supporters/ voting rights advocates about the new "(small text) If you have it, (big text) Show it" bus ad campaign were the tipping point before we filed the latest complaint w/ Judge Simpson about the state misinforming voters.
On top of that, what an incredible waste of state resources!

If you happen to see one of these moving billboards, please take a photo and send it to the ACLU of Pennsylvania (and me!).

An example of the new, fine print added "show it" campaign:




No comments:

Post a Comment