-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Although Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) does not believe “there is any particular evidence of polls barring African Americans from voting,” there is plenty of evidence that States are making it more difficult for African Americans to vote. Paul is using a strawman argument to recast the voting issue to one in which African Americans are prohibited from voting. Preventing African Americans from voting is the intended result of Republican efforts in numerous states. Using analysis of voting habits, Republicans have passed laws that intentionally create voting difficulties for groups that traditionally vote Democratic. Jim Crow has been dressed up a little, to become James Crow, Esq., but statistically speaking, the results are the same.
In Florida, minority voters waited to vote nearly double the time of white voters, as shown by this graph. 
Statistical analysis of voting patterns showed that 61.2 percent of all early voting ballots were cast by Democrats, compared with 18.7 percent by Republicans. The Republican solution: delete six days of early voting and extend voting hours to accommodate those voters who have jobs. A GOP consultant noted that “cutting out of the Sunday before Election Day was one of their targets only because that’s a big day when the black churches organize themselves.” Although not directly targeting African Americans, the intention is to reduce African American voter turnout.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker closed down DMV offices in predominately Democratic areas after passing a voter ID law. In Ohio, Republicans curtailed early voting from thirty-five to eleven days, including the Sunday before the election when African-American churches historically rally their congregants to go to the polls.
In North Carolina, voter suppression has been taken to new levels. Among the new measures are:
- The end of pre-registration for 16 & 17 year olds
- A ban on paid voter registration drives
- Elimination of same day voter registration
- A provision allowing voters to be challenged by any registered voter of the county in which they vote rather than just their precinct
- A week sliced off Early Voting
- Elimination of straight party ticket voting
- Authorization of vigilante poll observers, lots of them, with expanded range of interference
- An expansion of the scope of who may examine registration records and challenge voters
- A repeal of out-of-precinct voting
- A repeal of the current mandate for high-school registration drives
- Elimination of flexibility in opening early voting sites at different hours within a county
North Carolina now has the strictest voter ID law in the country. US military ID cards will be accepted, but IDs from students at state colleges will not be accepted. In the election of 2012, 1.4 million voters voted straight-ticket Democrat, while just 1.1 million voted straight ticket Republican, so that feature is gone. During the first seven days of early voting in the 2012 election, now eliminated, 458,258 Democrats used in-person early voting, while just 240,146 Republicans did so. Although not directly targeting African Americans, the intention is the same.
There doesn’t appear to be any help from the Constitution which states:
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
In a 2007, the Brennan Center for Justice reported (pdf) that “by any measure, voter fraud is extraordinarily rare.” If Republicans can’t win by getting more votes than Democrats, they’ll lessen the number of Democratic voters and achieve an identical result.
As President Lyndon B. Johnson said in 1965 regarding the right to vote:
Every device of which human ingenuity is capable, has been used to deny this right.
H/T: Tom Anstrom, Dara Kam and John Lantigua, Ian Millhiser, Washington Post, Associated Press, Charles P. Pierce.
Squeeky,
The video was great. 🙂 I had never heard of him. It was particularly haunting from 2:21 to 2:42.
There was an Australian government web page a while back that had a spine-tingling version (I mean that in a good way) you could listen to. I tried to find it just now, but I couldn’t. I do like the Slim Dusty version, which is the first or second result that pops up on YouTube if you search for Waltzing Matilda.
I’ve been enjoying April March. There’s a good April March playlist on YouTube. My favorite song so far is “Caribou”.
Bing is great, too. My favorites are “In the Cool Cool of the Evening”, –because it’s so playful: “If I can get out of bed / Put a hat on my head / Well you can tell ’em we’ll be there!” — and “I’ll Be Seeing You” because of the jarring way it expresses loss.
Vestal Virgin
I should clarify that my response to Otteray Scribe above was NOT intended as racist mockery of African American dialect. It was simply me talking in other people’s terms by habit. I regard all English dialects as interesting and as having merit, and I look forward to the day when racism is so far behind us that we can playfully switch between forms of English as a way of enriching our conversations.
Gene said: “I remember when we used to have professional propaganda trolls.”
Bdaman where art thou?
@Nal:
Who knows what they’re talking about? Their mouth ain’t a prayer book. Your thing is that there isn’t any widespread voter fraud, and therefore the only reason anybody would want to change things is because they’re racists and trying to suppress minority votes..
To “prove” this, you laid out some various actions which you characterize as “racist and Jim Crow-y” and then try to smear Republicans as a bunch of bigots. This leads me to one of two conclusions:
a) You are not a very good researcher and writer; or
b) You are a very good little Democrat out playing the race card and partisan smear tactics once again to benefit your party.
Here’s the factors I find of import in making a determination of which of the above is applicable:
a) You left out that Democratic Rhode Island also passed a Photo ID requirement;
b) You left out the bi-partisan Federal Election Reform Commission report which advocated Photo ID, along with many other reforms to insure fair voting and minimal “suppression.”
c) You ignore the SCOTUS case, and all the troubling language there about the Democrats not presenting any plaintiffs who couldn’t vote, and about the Democrats complaining because it would increase the cost of their ground game;
d) You latch onto any report or study which backs you up, while poo-pooing anything that indicates you might be in error;
e) You fail to consider the possibility that people just honestly disagree about the amount of voter fraud that is going on;
f) You fail to do (e) while ignoring any polls that show a majority of Americans favor Voter ID, including Democrats;
g) You fail to mention that a higher percentage of blacks vote than whites;
h) You fail to mention the fact that whites constitute a higher percentage (78%) of the population than blacks (13%), and that any law which makes it harder to vote, will affect the raw numbers of whites voting more than blacks; and
i) You fail to present any interest at all in the forms of identification that are necessary to do things such as drive a car, board an airplane, or enter a federal building and, if either racist or Jim Crow-y, would be even more devastating to blacks than voting issues.
I could probably think of some more if I put my mind to it. People can make up their own minds about your proposition.
In my opinion, all of the above factors should at least cause you some concern that you were way too extreme in your conclusion. But, that is your choice. There is nothing wrong in you writing a post which is basically a rehash of Democratic Party talking points. Those who disagree are able to speak truth to you, so that is a good thing!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Nal always finds the kitteh.
Nal,
Those facts are pesky things.
With apologies to the “woman from Spain”:
The first word in Spindell is “spin”
And he does it again and again,
And again and again,
And again and again,
And again and again and again.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky’s report:
The facts:
96 individuals listed as voting in Milwaukee matched name, address, and birthdate against Department of Correction records, and 182 individuals listed as voting matched only name and address.
…
A computer glitch in Milwaukee caused at least 314 voters who re-registered before or on election day to be listed twice on the rolls, with a notation of voting next to each listing. Each was given only a single ballot.
Of the 59 voters alleged to have voted twice in Milwaukee, most registered twice but voted only once. 51 were cleared by investigators, 1 was acquitted at trial, 1 received no verdict at trial, and 1 was found incompetent to stand trial. Finally, another voter named Gloria Bell believes that she was confused with a woman named Gloria Bell-Piphus.
…
4 absentee ballots were cast by individuals who died within two weeks of the election; it is not clear whether the ballots were cast before the individuals died.
…
Further investigation of the alleged vote cast in the name of another was determined to be a clerical error by a pollworker.
…
2 votes were allegedly cast in the name of Marquis F. Murff, who could not be verified by a reporter as an actual individual. We are not aware of any further public investigation.
Maybe American University is talking about a different Milwaukee.
I didn’t realize it wasn’t clear to you that I’m not a partisan, Sqweak.
I know paying attention and grasping the obvious is a challenge for you, but do try to keep up.
@GeneH:
Oh, I am sorry! I did not realize all those Democrats on the Commission were “Blue Dog” ones. Mea Culpa!
@Pete999: LOL on the Bingo!
@VestalV: Bing Crosby is cool! My dad had a couple of his records I used to listen to. Hmmm. Maybe I need to go visit him and steal them. . .I am trying to learn how to play guitar, and I found this old timey person on youtube. He has a lot of songs on there, and he just kind of grew on me. Maybe you will like him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz3EJrrHsX8
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Otteray Scribe,
I’s definitely frustrated back then. 🙂
Vestal Virgin
V V,
Your comment reminded me of a poem by Langston Hughes:
Miserable closeted wrong-bodiedness!
@Otteray Scribe:
Dang, those are some made detailed make-up skillz. The acceptance shown to some trans kids today–*sigh*–all we could do in the 1980s was flop down on our beds after school in all our miserable wrong-bodiedness and listen to Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House over and over again on 45 rpm. Good times.
That being said, if she were my trans daughter, SHE WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE HOUSE DRESSED LIKE THAT AT 14.
Oh, boo hoo, Sqweak. Perhaps you should have picked up that “conservative” was the operative parameter in your cherry. I know. Reading and understanding can be a challenge for you, but do try to keep up.
including almost 65,000 dead people listed on the voter rolls in Florida.
==========================================================
they’re not dead, they just move slow. holler bingo and they’ll perk up.
Let’s paint our houses, part our hair, and be polite & cheerful!
@GeneH:
Uhhh, in your haste to impugn the source, you maybe overlooked something. Which you should probably go back and read the first few pages of the “Methodist” report.
http://www1.american.edu/ia/cfer/report/full_report.pdf
Ohhhh. Boo boos happen. Nobody’s perfect…Oh, trying not to rotflmao. . .
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Such dear hearts and gentle people.