The Great Disenfranchisement

In Los Angeles County, the database rejected 14,629 people — 43% of those who registered from Jan. 1 to March 15. ~ Los Angeles Times March 30, 2006

A history book will be written in England in the year 2056 titled "The Fall of the American Republic." Chapter Six will be called "The Great Disenfranchisement."

In the year 2006, enforcement in full of the ironically named Help America Vote Act (HAVA) began. In the beginning of that year, states were required to maintain centralized voter databases. A program first developed by California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson required that voter registers match exactly numerous other databases. This caused the massive rejection of voters. A discrepancy as little as a drivers licence address spelling out "Street" while the voter registration using the abbrevation "St." would be sufficient grounds to reject the voter's application. People who moved, renewed their drivers licences, and changed their political party were the first victims.

At that time, the Republican Party was growing unpopular. The effect of enforcement of HAVA was that most people who abandoned the Republican Party lost their rights to vote. This led to shocking, at the time, Republican victories in the State of California in 2006. Republican leadership quickly realized the potential of using databases to restrict voter access. By greatly increasing the complexity of the voter registration process, the right to vote could be restricted to a select group of people.

Eventually, it would cost thousands of dollars for an individual to navigate the system. Exhaustive effort was necessary to ensure that all of the databases where a voter might be lists held exactly the same information. A single, minor deviation was sufficient to end a person's right to vote. While voting, itself, was still free, a Poll Tax, of sorts, was established that ensured only the wealthiest would vote. In 2052, less than three million Americans were allowed to vote in the Presidential elections. Many believe today that this Great Disenfranchisement was a vital component in the growth of one-party rule in the United States.