Greg Palast reported on the computer system known as “Interstate Crosscheck”, which can supposedly identify anyone who commits the crime of voting twice in the same election in two different states. Twenty-seven states (most of which are Republican held) participated in its use and have compiled a list of some seven million suspects, none of which has yet to be convicted of double voting. About the only thing Interstate Crosscheck has done has been to provide justifications for the removal of tens of thousands of voters in important battleground states in the November elections.
For example, in North Carolina, Republican Thom Tillis upset current senator Kay Hagan by a mere 48,511 votes. Interstate Crosscheck targeted 589,393 names in that state alone. Palast’s six month investigation suggested that the lists were at least partly racially motivated: One in every seven people on the Crosscheck list were African American, one in eight were Asian or Latino American, compared to one in eleven being Caucasian. His investigation also documented that many of people with common last names identified by Interstate Crosscheck were in fact different people, with some having clearly different middle names, initials, and social security numbers.
Sources:
Greg Palast, “Jim Crow Returns: Millions of Minority Voters Threatened by Electoral Purge,” Al Jazeera America, October 29, 2014, http://projects.aljazeera.com/2014/double-voters/.
Greg Palast, “Voting-Rights Groups Challenge Electoral Purge.” Al Jazeera America, November 4, 2014, http://projects.aljazeera.com/2014/double-voters/challenging-crosscheck.html.
Greg Palast, “Voter Purges Alter US Political Map,” Al Jazeera America, November 14, 2014, http://america.aljazeera.com/blogs/scrutineer/2014/11/14/voter-purges-alteruspoliticalmap.html.
Student Researcher: Jacob Crabtree (Sonoma State University)
Faculty Evaluator: Peter Phillips (Sonoma State University)