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)