http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041508G.shtml

How Republicans Quietly Hijacked the Justice Department to Swing Elections

By Steven Rosenfeld
AlterNet

Tuesday 15 April 2008

Looking toward the 2008 election, it appears the purges - as well as the new voter ID laws, restrictions on registration drives and stricter rules for counting provisional ballots - could be a new and legal way to accomplish a longstanding GOP electoral tactic: thinning the ranks of likely Democratic voters. In numerous elections dating back to the 1960s, the Republican Party has tried to challenge new voter registrations to accomplish this goal, although since 1981 federal courts have blocked some of those efforts as illegal electioneering.

Long article, but good history and tactical use by Rs to throw elections.