And I thought Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker had a corner on lies in this area. On Saturday when challenged on the issue of "voter registration database match" killing registrations, his response was "that isn't me; it is the bipartisan Election Commission." This from the 2-term guy who slashed state expenditures on education, health care, the environment, and now, I suspect, on fixing databases that cannot determine a simple typo in an address. Emergency Services are also impacted but, only in rural underserved areas where native Americans tend to live. Lies, lies, and more lies from the GOP. Time to return dems to governorships.
1
It's very depressing to realize that at least 40% of the voters in this country, certainly most of the GOP elected officials in Washington, do not believe in major parts of the Constitution.
They don't believe in:
1. Separation of church and state.
2. The 2nd Amendment as intended and interpreted until 1970.
3. That we are all equal as citizens, regardless of race and gender.
We are a country still deeply divided by racism, even 150+ years after the Civil War.
2
I never heard these complaints when the Democrat Party held the house for nearly 40 years.
2
Gee
A review of a book on voter turnout without giving for comparison, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016:
Total national turnout for each of these elections;
Total national black turnout for each of these elections;
Total black turnout for each of these elections by "blue" state, Democrat electoral control.
The problem may not totally fall on "red" state voter rules, but apparently there's little curiosity about that even from the reviewer...
Given the acknowledged growing national polarity of the populace, why is there no movement in any state to eliminate primaries entirely, and instead require ranked voting of voter's top 6 candidates, with the additional requirement that the winner of the elective office must have a majority (51%) vice the current plurality?
Democrats along with Republicans share the same objective: Maintain the current binary choice in any election via ballot access, and call it "democratic choice".
No wonder that total national turnout for 2010, 2014 was only 37% (63% civic stiff rate).
Good luck on your 2018 "democracy". Same for 2020 and 2022.
So, are we sick and tired of republicans yet? There seems to be no end to their sleazy behavior.
4
Imagine if you went into surgery for minor work on your wrist and when you woke up, your doctor had also removed your left leg as your doctor explained that less than a billionth of a percentage of people have had cancer in their left leg?
The doctor felt like the best thing to do with those percentage was to remove your healthy left leg to spare you from getting cancer.
That's the same rationale conservatives and Republicans use for voter ID laws.
5
When three million more voted for the Democratic candidate, but 80,000 in three states put the Republican into office, how many might think that their vote does not count (and it did not) and just stay home.
4
Why not one person one vote...changing the rediculous electoral college to a direct vote. THIS is the time...after two presidents lost the popular vote to seriously address the system. Like so many advancements that have not caught up with the 21st century, our system is the most glaring. Society has
embraced technology in the extreme, yet the individual's
freedom to know that one's vote matters may be yet another reason for not showing up.
5
Liberal challenges to voter suppression should be coupled with efforts to get minorities - in the meantime - all the materials they need to vote under the rigorous requirements liberals reject. This will ensure not only that their vote counts but that they are more integrated into society (through obtaining a legal i.d./driver's license, declaration of a permanent address, and other required documentation).
4
It doesn't matter what your political viewpoint might be, you can encounter folks who pursue "winning" in a totally irresponsible way. Right now the dimensions of the problem are obviously horrific, but it would be wrong to assume it is only the Republicans who are infected with the disease of winning at any cost. I think the problem is much more general to society and it really calls for a reformation of values where we are each required to act in a responsible way that is more interested in the fate of ordinary people than in strict adherence to abstract ideals. Anti-abortion types for example routinely insulate themselves from the effects on individuals in society for the sake of adherence to their concept of what is ideal. That's a great turn on for being pure, but it doesn't justify supporting a dangerous person for president who threatens the welfare of the world.
4
I used to volunteer for the IRS helping low income and vulnerable individuals (prisoners, injured spouses, undocumented workers) resolve tax issues. This really helped me understand marginalized members of society. They all had social security cards-even the illegal immigrants-and managed to do what was necessary when it came to filing their taxes. Based on this, I’d say the problem is voter apathy: a justified fatalism that they are just being used. This access issue is self-serving on both sides.
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@Thomas Busse
How can illegal immigrants have Social Security cards? Another can of worms facing this nation!
Another reason I despise and hate--yes hate, Republicans. They do not believe in democracy unless you are a white nationalist racist.
10
The SCOTUS decision was equivalent as saying "We have had no bank robberies in the past fifty years. Yes, there were bank robberies in the past, but our community has changed. Having security guards make our customers feel that we do not trust them. We can get rid of the bank security guards."
What do you think would happen?
Hopefully all of this documentation will help in passing a new Voting Rights Act.
What this nation really needs is a single national uniform set of voter registration and election laws. No other nation in the world allows a political subdivision to determine how people register to vote and how elections are conducted.
Why does this exist? The nation still has to reject the mindset and practices of the Jim Crow era.
15
An interesting book but one that only looks at one aspect of what is happening to our democracy. What we as Americans really have to come to terms with is that the republican party no longer believes in democracy as a way of organizing society. For the Republicans, manipulating who votes, like conspiring with a foreign power is just part of a legitimate fight for power. Laws don't apply to them because laws are just to give the impression of legitimacy. Of course the Republicans are good old racists and want to have a birthright that trumps (good word here) democratic outcomes in elections, but much more than that, they have decided that a fascist state is worth a try as long as they are the group in power. Do you think they would agree to a fascist state where woman, black and brown people had power over them? If you have learned nothing else since comrade Trump came to power, remember that every moderate republican votes with Trump and has become a coconspirator. It's simple, always "Vote blue" if you want to live in a democracy.
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I was involved in Democrat Party politics. I ran for office once and lost. However, I gained an understanding of how elections work in the real world.
First of all, usually the voters, the candidate, or positions are the least important part of the election. Usually, what matters is all the behind the scenes "work" (payoffs, etc).
However, occasionally voters matter, and then EVERYONE tries to get out the vote of those who will vote your way and suppress\discourage the vote of those who won't.
It has nothing to do with racism, it is just how the game is played.
For example, did the NAACP focus their transportation efforts on communities who'd likely vote Republican or Democrat?
It is not that the NAACP is bad; they just want their side to win. Same with the Republicans. They all do it.
Rather than call the Republicans racists, it would probably be more helpful for good government advocates to not address these issues from a partisan perspective.
6
@XY Let's be hoest. The NAACP efforts were directed toward poor people of color. The chances of a heavy concentration of ademographic like that living in a Republican stronghold is pretty slim.
That would be like Bet Tzedek sitting up legal services in South Dakota. Bet Tzedek serves all comers, but you're not going to see them throwing resources into an area where there are very few Jews.
3
@XY I don't think you can equate encouraging and supporting voters who support you as the same as suppressing voters who don't. On is an act of helping someone engage in democracy, the other isn't.
7
Talking about a ludicrous false equivalency. Helping your side to vote and get to the polls is one thing. Putting up obstacles to make it difficult for the other side to vote is quite another and the two have no relationship with each other whatsoever. You make yourself an apologist for criminal behavior.
6
Good chance it’s true (to whatever degree). BUT... what kept the other side from preventing it?? Perhaps more attention to boring, uncool small local county and state elections would have prevented it, or reduced its effect. For several decades and election cycles, the Dems pursued glamour and charisma, while the Repubs “blocked and tackled”. Well, it’s payback time.
2
@stevevelo
....AND? We all loose!
Here in Washington State, our elections are all vote-by-mail. This has its limitations, of course - people with no fixed address are disenfranchised, for instance - but coupled with a transparent voter registry so that people can check to verify they ARE registered, and this year for the first time: paid postage, this makes it difficult to prevent targeted groups from voting. It also means every ballot is a paper ballot, which aids in security. I think it's a good model for the nation.
31
@Joshua Hayes I was about to make the same point. Adding to your comment, Washington has drop-box locations where you can easily drop off your ballot. We even have one here in unincorporated Trout Lake. It also allows you to vote in a relaxed manner, in the comfort of your home, do some research, etc. No need to vote on a particular day, stand in line at a precinct and possibly miss work. I am amazed that more states don't take up the model - unless their objective is to, as the author suggests, "minimize their participation in the electoral process"
9
Keep your eyes on the vote count. As the voter fraud fraud is countered by well-organized registration drives, transportation, and other measures, its advocates will take the obvious next step which is already possible with all-electronic voting systems. Cronies will (already do) own the machines and write the software. Republican legislatures will enact ALEC-written regulations that make the electronic count impossible to challenge effectively. The illegitimate Supreme Court will uphold them. This is a fight that will soon move to its next phase.
20
It would be great if Chief Justice John Roberts read this book. Roberts grew up well-to-do and has spent his entire adult life in Ivy League universities, top-shelf law firms, and the Federal courts. He has little idea how ordinary people live, hence his cavalier statement that there is no longer any need for the Voting Rights Act. I have volunteered to work at the polls since 1999, and I can say that it takes only the slightest impediment to deter many people from voting. If the Chief Justice thinks that efforts to intimidate members of racial minorities into not voting is a thing of the past, he is sorely mistaken.
21
@Chris,
That presupposes that Roberts has overall good intentions and is just ignorant of the actual circumstances in which people live
Roberts clerked for Rehnquist, who not only wrote a memo supporting Plessy over Brown but was involved himself in voter suppression.
No doubt he made his mentor proud when he killed the voting rights act.
2
It's really sad that in so many ways, we are still fighting the Civil War, most glaringly through voting rights and the ongoing assault by the GOP at the state and federal levels to restrict it as much as possible. I grew up and spent most of my life in NH, which adopted the motor-voter law. It is so easy to vote in my state despite it being a "red" state still in so many ways. When I lived in SC for four years (2005-2009), it shocked me at how restrictive it is to vote there. Every time I moved, I literally had to drive to the county seat to register to vote. They also have a cut-off date by which you need to register again to confirm you are voting in the upcoming election (a month prior to the election) or you can't vote. Then, polling places were limited and people literally spent hours waiting in line to vote. In 2008, when Obama ran, there were threats of closing down the voting at their scheduled time of 7 pm (!) but massive public outcry forced them to keep the polls open until everyone got the chance to vote. Also, they use electronic voting, which I always felt was suspect due to the ridiculously easy way that those machines can and have been hacked to vote flip. Sadly, it continues to be a security problem and private companies refuse to allow public officials to touch their "proprietary software" or the machines themselves to confirm whether or the machine has been tampered with or not. Not surprisingly, very few far right wing rich white men own these machines.
19
And why wouldn't they?
The real result of The Southern Strategy was a hand off of power to the pro-segregationist southerners. They have a long tradition of keeping certain people form voting. It's what these people and their political predecessors have always done. Why would anyone expect any different from them today, especially with the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and by doing so, sending the happy good ole boys back to the great days of the 1950s.
17
It never occurs to the writers of these jeremiads that Republicans are just following the trails blazed by southern Democrats on the one hand, and big city machine politics Democrats on the other. Meanwhile the "new" Democratic party fights all this by sitting and wringing its hands at the injustice of it all, instead of fighting in the trenches, possibly for a cause it finds no more attractive than the GOP does.
2
So what else is new? Carol Anderson may have missed something and that is that the Republican party is largely made up of southerners and white supremacist racists who are determined to destroy the democracy because it's the only way they can take and maintain complete control of the country.
Why do you suppose that when Trump is busy trying to destroy the democracy by destroying the leadership and control of the CIA and the FBI and the Justice Dept and the State Dept. and the Judiciary and replacing it with his own people that the Republicans not only do not lift a finger to stop him they don't even mention anything about what he's doing because it's what they want.
Surely it doesn't come as a surprise to you that Republicans are withholding tons of evidence proving Brett Kavanaugh has lied under oath and is a misogynist and racist?
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