The myth that the 2004 elections ran smoothly has become conventional wisdom for pundits and politicians, but nothing could be further from the truth. A preliminary review released today by members of the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition demonstrates that persistent problems continue to deny millions of Americans their fundamental voting rights, and makes the case for election reform at the local, state and national level. Election Protection fielded more than 25,000 volunteers, including more than 8,000 lawyers, who monitored the polls at more than 3,500 precincts nationwide and answered the nationwide Election Protection Hotline. The program targeted heavily African-American, Latino and low-income precincts, and fielded hundreds of thousands of voter questions and complaints. The program database already includes more than 39,000 records of voter problems. Election Protection also engaged in pre-election advocacy, battling decisions by local election officials that raised barriers to the ballot box. Among the most disturbing reports were the more than a thousand reports of voter suppression or intimidation at the polls, including:

• Police stationed outside a Cook County, Illinois polling place requesting photo ID and telling voters if they had been convicted of a felony that they could not vote.
• In Arizona voters at multiple polls were confronted by an individual wearing a black tee shirt with "US Constitution Enforcer" and a military-style belt that gave the appearance he was armed. He asked voters if they were citizens, accompanied by a cameraman who filmed the encounters.
• Numerous incidents of intimidation by partisan challengers at predominately low-income and minority precincts
• Misinformation campaigns delivered through anonymous flyers or phone calls with a variety of intimidating or vote-suppressing messages, advising voters to go to the polls on November 3rd rather than November 2, or giving other false information on voting rights. A few of the most outrageous examples include:  "If you already voted in any election this year, you can't vote in the Presidential Election.""If anybody in your family has ever been found guilty of anything you can't vote in the Presidential Election "If you violate any of these laws, you can get 10 years in prison and your children will be taken away from you." (Pictured above) [more] And then there's this Jefferson County flyer (Pictured below), which cheerily tells voters "See you at the Poles![sic]"... on November 4. Election day was November 2 -- from ElectionProtection [here]

• DNC to Investigate Ohio Voting Irregularities  [more