Vote Caging refers to a tactic sometimes used by political campaigns to suppress voter registration and/or turnout in support of an opposing campaign.SourceWatch: Vote caging The tactic has historically been associated with mass-mailing operations targeted at minority voters.Washington Post: GOP Challenging Voter Registrations (October 29, 2004)
In the 2004 Election
Just prior to the 2004 presidential election, journalist Greg Palast claimed to have uncovered a planned Republican Party vote caging operation to suppress votes among Democrats and African-Americans in Florida.Greg Palast: New Florida Vote Scandal—Republican "Caging List" (October 26, 2004) According to Palast, letters would be mailed to the homes of military servicemen stationed overseas, marked "Do not forward - return to sender."Greg Palast: New Florida Vote Scandal—Republican "Caging List" (October 26, 2004) The returned letters would then be used to challenge the validity certain voters' registration.Greg Palast: New Florida Vote Scandal—Republican "Caging List" (October 26, 2004)
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
In 1986, the Republican National Committee was ordered by a judge to cease the practice of vote cagingSlate: Raging Caging (May 31, 2007)
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Fact:
"Caging" term comes from direct-mail industry jargonSlate: Raging Caging (May 31, 2007)
