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09/23/2004: "The cloning of Katherine Harris..."

Is the battleground state of Michigan turning into the next Florida? Is Terry Lynn Land - the Michigan Secretary of State and Republican co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign - about to become the next Katherine Harris?

ERROR MSGIn the last few weeks the Department of State's branch offices in Ann Arbor and Battle Creek have distributed special notices to newly registered voters. "Registering today? Please be advised that you are not eligible to vote in the November 2, 2004 General Election." Except the deadline to register for November's election isn't till October 4 and the fliers were meant for display only after October 5.

Ann Arbor's a progressive haven. And Battle Creek remains a hotly contested swing district with a one-term House Republican struggling for re-election.

What's going on here?

It's impossible to know right now whether the State's offices deliberately mislead voters or made an honest mistake. But when State Senator Mark Schauer of Battle Creek asked Land's legislative liaison what they were doing to remedy the problem, he received a stunning reply.

Nothing.

cheap hotels in BredaThat prompted a fiery news conference and rebukes from seven state legislators on Tuesday. "This is part of a consistent pattern and practice of the Republican Party," said Sen. Samuel Thomas of Detroit. Land reversed course and sent out a second notice informing new voters that their vote would count. But the damage may already have been done. Who knows how many of these voters will disregard the second notice? How many didn't register after seeing the first flier? It's still unclear how many of the 173 state branch offices followed suit. Land's office insists only two. Schauer's office already learned of a third mailing to Brighton, Michigan.

ERROR MSGThere's a precedent here. In July Republican state legislator John Pappageorge generated an outcry after labeling voter suppression the key to a Bush-Cheney victory. "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time," he told the Detroit Free Press, speaking of the eighty percent black and heavily Democratic city.

Hoteles con descuento MandaueIn 2000, the Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill requiring the address on a drivers license to match the voter registration card information, which disproportionally affects college students, immigrants and the poor, who generally lean Democratic. Combined with Pappageorge's comments, the Michigan Secretary of State's recent actions only add fuel to the fire.