The following is from a reader who is distinctly agitated by this tactic, and not afraid to do some digging and phone calling:
The quotes below are from the Alabama Election Handbook, Twelfth Edition (2006), emphasis added.
Chapter 6 - Voter Registration
Section: Postcard Voter Registration (p. 90), Paragraph 5 on p. 91:
“The State of Alabama’s postcard voter registration form is designed to be mailed directly to the appropriate board of registrars.”
Paragraph 7 p. 91:
“The design of these applications does not anticipate or provide for the delivery of these forms by the US Postal Service to individuals or organizations other than the board of registrars or the secretary of state. Delivery of the from by the U.S. Postal Service directly to state elections officials and the board of registrars promotes transmittal of the form in the most expeditious and secure manner.
Notes and questions:
• Registrars' offices are receiving brown mailing envelopes containing several registration forms, directly from the AL Republican Party in Birmingham.
• There is no "paid political advertising" notice on the altered side of the voter application form. Is this a violation of the law? The R Party website is listed at the very bottom of the form, so it IS advertising for the R Party.
• In altering the form and affixing prepaid postage, was a voter who identifed as a Republican given an advantage over someone who identified as a Democrat? Sounds way too picky, but this is a legal document.
• Was the sole purpose of the altered document a way of getting around the fact that Alabama does not have party registration?
• Was it pre-cleared by the DOJ? The DOJ has an office for each state. You can call the Voting Section at 1-800 253-3931 and ask for the Alabama Section.
I think this was obviously a way to get around the lack of party registration and engage in some creative list building by the Alabama Republican Party. That's important for GoTV efforts. They'll undoubtedly get away with it, since the SoS' office is not going to (and shouldn't) "unregister" the people who used these forms. The real question is, will there be a formal statement from Beth Chapman's office prohibiting future use of such modified VR forms by any party, will there be a formal statement allowing use of such forms by any party, or will they continue the "wink and nod" policy where the use is officially discouraged but nothing happens if you do it anyway.
The Secretary of State’s Office has recently learned that a voter registration form has been mailed to some Alabama residents by a state political party. These registration forms have a return address for the Alabama Republican Party, rather than the local Board of Registrars.The Secretary of State has advised the county Boards of Registrars to process these completed forms as they would any other voter registration forms they receive.
...
A political party comes up with a new form, complete with political slogan, and the Alabama Secretary of State says "OK, fine."What's up with that? Remember back in 2004 when SoS Ken Blackwell made thousands of Ohio voters register again because their VR forms weren't printed on the right weight of paper?
So what's the GOP Stop ObamaCare voter registration form look like? Here's a detailed description (I'll post an image when/if I can get one images added):
The front side - voter registration side - there are no changes.
On the back of the form on the top 1/2 of the page: Business Reply Mail Permit #4245 Return address is Alabama Republican PARY PO Box 55628 Birmingham, AL 35255-9882 (Postage is prepaid by the AL Republican Party) (On regular voter registration cards the registrant must affix a stamp.)
On the bottom 1/2 of the page : (Big letters) "I want to do my part to stop Obamacare!" with a big X in front of it (Smaller letters) Sign me up to: Make phone calls Write letters to the editor Volunteer with the Alabama Republican Party Host "NObamacare rallies Contribute Other________________________
Across from that is written: Keep up-to-date with the Alabama Republican Party! (bold letters) Sign-up today to receive e-newsletters from the Alabama Republican Party Email:___________________________
Big letters on bottom: WWW.ALGOP.ORG
FYI, the back of a normal Alabama voter registration form looks like this. No political messages, no volunteer sign-up, no email solicitation. If this turns out to be a legal form -- and I hear the SoS' office has asked the Attorney General (also Republican) for guidance -- then the Alabama Democratic Party ought to start doing the same thing. Maybe a "Stop GOP Obstructionists" registration form or a "Stop Corporate Welfare" one or, in a more positive vein, "Support the Working Class."
An image of the entire reverse side of the "Stop Obamacare!" VR form is below the fold. The quality is not great -- a scan of a fax of a copy, but it's nevertheless clear enough to be outrageous. And yes, I believe that is a portion of a cross over on the left side -- let's inject a little religion into the process, while we're at it. Clarification: A GOP spokesperson assures me that is not a cross. It's two bandaids placed in the same shape as a cross. Huge difference.
Update: A GOP spokesperson says they "did check with multiple attorneys on this before we went with it."
I touched on the voter registration surge in Alabama yesterday and would like to leave you political junkies with a little more data to chew on. Below you will see Total Registered Voters (RV) and Black Registered Voters in January 2008 and again at the end of October 2008 -- for every county in Alabama. This comes from the office of the Secretary of State.
Note that some counties have done a good job registering new voters and some have not. Generally speaking, proportionally more black voters have registered than have white voters in most counties.
Here's an Editgrid spreadsheet I've started with historical information from the 1996, 2000 and 2004 elections. It shows the total votes for each candidate, by county, as well as the percentage difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates -- positive if the Dem won. As you can see, the trend in Alabama has not been good for the Democratic ticket. I hope to see a reversal of that trend tomorrow.
Please note the last row above, total number of registered voters in the state. It didn't change an awful lot between 1996 and 2004, but it currently stands at about 3 million. If turnout is in the 78 to 81% range predicted by some, that means 2,340,000 and 2,430,000 Alabamians will vote tomorrow -- a 25% increase over the votes cast in 2004. WOW!! That's about half a million more than voted in 2004. Will that half million voters break for Barack or for McSame? I'm betting Barack is the one who inspired them to get involved and he'll be getting a majority of the "new" votes. No wonder the Republicans are whining about letting all "those people" register and vote -- it's enough for a tsunami even in Alabama.
So, you ask, what the heck is Obama Blue Day? Simple. It's the day you wear blue and register 2 new voters. How? Here are some tips:
Stop two people at the supermarket. Do it after 5 p.m. when all of the young, single people go get their food. Who knows? You might even get a date.
Call up an old friend. We all know at least two old dogs or cats that refuse to participate in the political system. Give them a wake up call and get them registered to vote.
Chat with your online friends. If you belong to a social site, chances are that one of your regular buddies isn't registered to vote. Send them to a site to get the job done. Try RegistertoVote.org.
Bug a couple of relatives. Talk to a cousin or aunt who's given up on the political system. Explain to her or him that this time things will be different. Then, get your relatives to register to vote.
Trot on down to your local Democratic party Headquarters. Help them register people to vote or help them do something else in lieu of registering voters. And you're sure to meet nice people there this time of year.
You may download the State of Alabama Postcard Voter Registration Application from this site. The form can be printed on your printer, filled out, and then mailed into your local voter registration officials. Click here for more information.
Richard Allen’s decision to halt the program Thursday afternoon came after opposition from the Alabama Republican Party.
State Republican Chairman Mike Hubbard told Allen in a letter Thursday that the party supports registering more people to vote. But he says that doesn’t extend to prisoners.
Hubbard said he was concerned about possible voter fraud.
A coalition of groups began registering inmates to vote in state prisons this week. Nearly 80 filled out registration forms in two days.
Here's the real situation, the Alabama Republican Party "supports registering more people to vote" except those who might vote for Democrats. If Rev. Glasgow wants to register voters at the Country Club or the Chamber of Commerce, Mike Hubbard will be cheering him on. Prisoners who want to participate in their government? Not so much.
Outside of the Republican Party, Rev. Glasgow's program was widely praised.
Credit the state Department of Corrections for working with a Dothan minister to uphold the law that allows some prisoners to vote.
A coalition led by Kenneth Glasgow is mounting a registration drive for Alabama inmates. Glasgow, who served 14 years on robbery and drug charges before he became a minister, said restoring voting rights is key to rehabilitating felons.
This isn't a call for felons convicted of heinous crimes or sex crimes to be allowed such rights. For far too many in prison, harsh, lifelong sentences are deserved.
But felons convicted of lesser crimes who do their time and stay clean while incarcerated deserve the chance to re-enter American society with their voting rights restored. It's one small cog in the rehabilitation of those who long to move far away from their criminal pasts.
The state attorney general's office issued an opinion seven years ago that inmates could vote from inside prison using absentee ballots. But confusion and lawsuits followed over which felons had that right because of a murky phrase in state law.
Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said no one previously had registered prisoners to vote in Alabama.
"It's something that we support and authorized for them to do," said Corbett.
Rev. Glasgow's registration program is legal, it helps those convicted of lesser crimes participate in small "d" democracy and all it took to stop the it was a letter of complaint from the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. Who knew the GOP Party Chair ran the state? Somebody better tell Bob Riley he's been superceded.
(OK y'all, get inspired and go register some voters. - promoted by mooncat)
Conventional wisdom labels Alabama a hopelessly red state. That may be true, but one thing's for certain: Barack Obama has a much better chance to win the state if his supporters work to bring in new voters and get out the vote than if we just roll over and concede the state to the Republicans.
We're not rolling over.
Last weekend our Mobile, Alabama group, AL Obamacan Change Agents, held the first in a series of voter registration events we'll be hosting over the 12 weeks remaining before registration closes in Alabama. For our first event, we set up a booth at the Mobile Flea Market because it brings in enormous foot traffic across a wide demographic.
Including Alabama! How's that for a 50 State Strategy? Steve Hildebrand, Deputy Campaign Manager of Obama for America sent me this in an email today -- I love their emails. They start off "Dear Moon," because I registered as Moon Cat and they had no problem with a rather unusual name not found on any voter rolls. Anyway, here's what Steve said:
Today, I am proud to announce that our presidential campaign will be the first in a generation to deploy and maintain staff in every single state.
The network of volunteers and the infrastructure built up during the historic primary season -- on behalf of all the Democratic campaigns -- have given us an enormous and unprecedented opportunity in the general election.
We need to register new voters and bring people back into the political process. We need to reach out to Independents and Republicans who know that our country cannot afford another four years of George W. Bush's disastrous policies.
...
As in every presidential election, some states will be more competitive than others, and we will scale our resources accordingly.
But unprecedented grassroots energy during the primary means that the list of competitive states will be longer than ever before -- and it will include states like Virginia and Montana that aren't traditionally within reach for a Democratic presidential candidate.
And in every single state, our staff will build volunteer capacity that will provide help where we need it and impact races up and down the ballot this November.
There was an Alabama for Obama Voter Registration Drive Organizational meeting this evening in Huntsville and more events are planned for Birmingham and Montgomery next weekend. If y'all aren't involved with Alabama for Obama yet, think about signing up -- it looks like there will be lots of activities this summer.
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The following is from a reader who is distinctly agitated by 
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