Vote caging

Mary at the Left Coaster alerted me to a new (to me) term -- "vote caging" -- with which I was not familiar before now. It refers to the practice of sending out mass mailings of "do not forward" letters to voters in selected neighborhoods (usually minority neighborhoods) shortly before election day. Those that are returned by the post office are then used as a basis for challenging the voter registrations of the addressees and, hence, suppressing the minority (Democratic) vote.

Apparently Monica Goodling testified that Rove's pal, Tim Griffin, who was appointed U.S. Attorney to replace one of the fired USAs but has now left that job, was actively engaged in this activity in the 2004 campaign in Florida. Also, it seems, the practice is illegal. Unfortunately, it also seems that no one in Congress knew what Goodling was talking about when she gave this testimony.

You can get the full scoop here.