-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.
Oh, and I just found this little tidbit while researching for a comment on another thread about the ex-gay guy, so this little part of it is getting posted twice, and you can read the whole thing at the link:
http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2013-08-14.html#read_more
Hmmm, I wonder who it is that is really living in “a bubble of denial”???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@NickS:
AMEN! Never step between a white lefty and their preconceived notions. Trying to help them “decathect” ends up in them “acting out,” or, what I call “decathacting out.” Always a lot grunting, chest-thumping, branch flailing, and aggressive display behavior. The psychology of it is interesting. I think it is where primitive defense mechanisms meet Erich Fromm. Wiki has this excerpt:
That would explain a lot of the anger and name calling.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“In the process of becoming emancipated from an overbearing authority/set of values, Fromm argues, we are often left with feelings of emptiness and anxiety (he likens this process to the individuation of infants in the normal course of child development) that will not abate until we use our ‘freedom to’ and develop some form of replacement of the old order. However, a common substitute for exercising “freedom to” or authenticity is to submit to an authoritarian system that replaces the old order with another of different external appearance but identical function for the individual: to eliminate uncertainty by prescribing what to think and how to act.”
An interesting quotation coming from the “girl reporter” who said on another thread that she has basically adopted her parents outlook on the world so she won’t have to regret having tried a different way later in life. Squeeky’s use of this illustrates the defense mechanism of projection where one ascribes their own flaws onto others. As we are seeing from the increased agitation of her comments the little Texan, with the bigoted mindset, is desperate to fend off any hint of the possibility that she could be wrong. Even in the face of the overwhelming evidence presented on this thread that these laws are intended to reduce voting by Black people, poor people and aged people. Deny, deny deny and deny Squeeky, you’ve got nothing else going for you.
Voters Beware Of The King Street Patriots & True the Vote
Tea Party Group Aims To Intimidate Minority Voters at Polls
I live in a voter ID state (Florida) and have been a disenfranchised voter. My problem was because the State gave conflicting information about where I was suppose to vote. I solved my problem by requesting absentee ballot every election. Now I can just vote from home without need to show ID.
Why can’t those who are concerned with not having an ID just sign up to receive an absentee ballot? Would not this satisfy everyone? The Republicans get their “need to have ID” enforcement at the polls, and those who feel they are turned away from the polls or can’t get there can just receive a ballot in the mail and turn that in.
Concerning voter fraud, it is more of a potential problem than most like to acknowledge. Following are some facts:
http://www.truethevote.org/news/how-widespread-is-voter-fraud-2012-facts-figures
How bad is voter fraud?
Here are the facts:
To date, 46 states have prosecuted or convicted cases of voter fraud.
More than 24 million voter registrations are invalid, yet remain on the rolls nation-wide.
There are over 1.8 million dead voters still eligible on the rolls across the country.
More than 2.75 million Americans are registered to vote in more than one state.
True The Vote recently found 99 cases of potential felony interstate voter fraud.
Maryland affiliates of True The Vote uncovered cases of people registering and voting after their respective deaths.
This year, True The Vote uncovered more than 348,000 dead people on the rolls in 27 states.
California: 49,000
Florida: 30,000
Texas: 28,500
Michigan: 25,000
Illinois: 24,000
12 Indiana counties have more registered voters than residents.
The Ohio Secretary of State admitted that multiple Ohio counties have more registered voters than residents.
Federal records showed 160 counties in 19 states have over 100 percent voter registration.
The Florida New Majority Education Fund, Democratic Party of Florida and the National Council of La Raza are currently under investigation for alleged voter registration fraud.
How popular is Voter ID?
74 percent of Americans support, according to The Washington Post.
71 percent of Latinos support it, according to the PEW Research Center.
Bob Kauten,
🙂
Barry Williams,
“Squeeky does it but most often follows up with some original and often pithy writing…”
Do you write with a lithp? Apparently sooo.
Barry,
I like to get as much information on a subject as I can. We hear a lot about voter fraud in the news. Is it really of epic proportions–as some folks would have us believe? I decided to do some research to find out for myself. Then, I shared what I had found.
I have no problem with your not wanting to read my comments…or the articles that I provide excerpts from and links to. Some people do find them informative–just as I find many of he articles others provide links to informative. To each his own.
When I returned to school in the late 90’s as a hard to impress or bullshit student, in classes w/ wide eyed, well meaning kids, I offered a different take on many subjects. In our diversity indoctrination,,err class, the professor had different speakers come in from different cultures. A few were quite good. I learned a lot from a man in a wheelchair. It was little theory, a lot of reality. What folks in wheelchairs like and hate. I’ll give you the cardinal rule, NEVER assume they need help, just ask if they do. Something I sorta knew, but his being emphatic cemented it in my mind.
Our professor was into the Native American culture. She had an Indian male speak. He was part of a type of an anti-defamation group. The subject came on Indian mascots. He gave a nice speech on the subject. I asked how the rank and file felt about mascots. It was apparent he had probably never been asked that question. To his credit, he was honest albeit paternalistic. The gent said, “Folks on the reservation really don’t care about stuff like this for the most part. However, if you show them the mascots for the Washington Redskins and Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians, they don’t like those.” For non sport fans, those are two of the really bad ones and images I view as offensive. However, many of the images are not only not offensive, a few are noble. Chief Blackhawk comes to mind.
As stated previously, a very high percentage of voters support voter ID. Not only do 70% of all voters, 52% of Dem voters agree w/ voter ID, 60% of Black/Hispanic voters support it. I guess there are a lotta white folk who know better for these poor black folk. We hear the tired phrase, “Open discussion on race,” interminably. It’s obvious the biggest impediment to that discussion is white folk who know better than black folk, “what’s best” for them. I can, and do regularly discuss race w/ black people. It’s the paternalistic white people here w/ whom I find that “open discussion” impossible.
From the SCOTUS opinion:
The only kind of voter fraud that SEA 483 addresses is in-person voter impersonation at polling places. The record contains no evidence of any such fraud actually occurring in Indiana at any time in its history.
Voter fraud my rear end!!!
Ask yourself why the North Carolina law didn’t address that part that is “rife with fraud,” – absentee balloting. Or the Florida law, or the …
Barry,
The reasoning presented by the North Carolina tea party branch of the Republican Party does not make any pretence of trying to be fair and even handed. They have made it clear, and done so publicily, that they want to keep Democrats from voting. They have identified the geodemographics of people likely to vote the Democratic ticket and are making it difficult for them to vote. Things like the Watauga County, NC election commission creating only three voting precincts in a rather large county. Appalachan State University is made up mostly by state residents, both studenty body and faculty. Most of those are known to have liberal, independent and progressive leanings. In other words, while not all Democrats, definitely don’t or won’t vote Republican. The problem for the Republicans is, the state issued ID law restrictions don’t work for that group, because virtually everyone has a driver’s license. Their solution was to isolate all the likely non-Republican votes into one gigantic precinct with 9,300 registered voters, eliminate early voting, and put the voting place as far away from ASU as they could get it and still be in the county. Furthermore, the new voting precinct has parking places for only 35 vehicles.
Forsyth County, NC Board of Elections is now following suit. The target this time is the student body and campus of Winston-Salem State University, where there has traditionally been a voting site at the Anderson Center, on the (state owned) campus.
Whether these students can vote in local elections is not the issue. They are state residents, have state issued driver’s licenses, and want to vote in state elections. The Republicans are not even trying to cover their tracks anymore. Fortunately, these efforts are not going unnoticed, but how much influence media coverage will have is anyone’s guess. State papers, however, are taking notice and there have been several scathing editorials. This kind of thing is why the Voting Rights Act was passed in the first place.
The local Democratic committees in those places have said they intend to make sure anyone who wants to vote will be able to get to the polls. They may even rent school and church buses for the day. I fully expect the Watauga County Election Commission to try and outlaw giving people free rides to the polls.
I have tried to read the back and forth here but I have been frustrated by the fact that what should a be a discussion or a debate is more or less just an argument by two factions.
The “cutters and pasters” (yes you Elaine M.) show a mindlessness that I find mind numbing. Elaine . . . I don’t even slow down to read what you haven’t written. Hell, try writing something yourself for once. Oh, and if you actually have, my bad for continually passing up your erm . . . contributions. You really test the bounds of “fair use” by quoting what amounts to entire articles by other people.
I also don’t like the “go read it yourself” link posters. Many of you do it so there is little reason to name names. Squeeky does it but most often follows up with some original and often pithy writing that at least shows an ability to do an analysis. She is also most often right which gives her a decided edge. Oooopsie! My bias for intelligence shewn (yes, shewn).
The whiners and conspiracy theorists are next on my list. Good god! I hoped to get some relief from the less than intellectual pap I see in other places (Huffington Post most especially) but I continue to be disappointed. Those on the left tend to be the ones most likely to blame some right wing conspiracy for the problems in the world but fail to examine the motives of their own peers and colleagues on the left.
Now here’s the way I see the voter ID issue. Watch closely! I won’t be posting links, quoting others or confabulating conspiracies to make a point.
There is likely some voter fraud in the system; it might be a lot or a little I am unsure. I can say, however, that if no ID is required to vote, it might be a bit hard to prove one way or the other. Think about that for a moment will you. If there is no way to identify someone at the polls, how is it possible to determine if the person has voted multiple times or not?
If memory serves me, I think there were some voting districts where more votes were cast than there were people living in the district nevermind how many people were actually registered to vote there. Seems a bit dodgy to me. I think anyone of normal intelligence would question whether there were shenanigans afoot. N’est-ce pas?
If there is a place ripe for and rife with fraud it is absentee balloting. I’ll bet there are more fraudulent ballots cast by those getting ballots in their home state then driving to their Florida vacation home, where they are also registered to vote, and voting again. It has been documented. Funny though, I hear little about working to tighten those problems. Oh wait, maybe voter ID requirements will weed those out.
I see now arising a call to keep non-citizens from voting by requiring proof of citizenship. Seems necessary but unworkable too. I know, tighten up the requirements to make the driver’s license more secure and less prone to counterfeiting. Now, require that same license to vote and register to vote and voila, problems solved. No more voting by those here on tourist visas; that did happen though I cannot recall where or when but a few minutes on Google and I could post a link . . . nah. You do it Elaine, I’d appreciate it if I stop long enough on your postings to actually see that you did it.
Same day registration doesn’t seem that prone to abuse and I do think it a fair accommodation for those who might be turning 18 on election day. I think we need to find a way to make that work. The only problem I see is the short deadlines for districts to count and validate votes might present a few functional challenges.
The hand wringing over the advanced voting period being shortened really bemuses me. When I started voting 42 years ago (now I’ve done it, you know I am grouchy old curmudgeon), there was no such thing. It started out as a few days in advance of the polling date and it has metastasized into this system whereby people can now vote weeks in advance!
How foolhardy! What if the person you voted for is caught showing his privates to some other person by way of sexting and, even though you might think it irrelevant, the rest of the electorate abandons him in droves thus making you wish you’d kept your lever-pullin’ hand in your pocket till the last minute?
As for the whining about not being able to attain, those in the world who can’t get to a place in a manner timely to get an ID likely won’t make it to the polls either. Nor will they make it to the bank, the liquor store, the check cashing store, the airport, the doctor’s office or the grocery . . .
As for a paucity of facilities or short operating hours, I can see room there for a lawsuit to force the state to provide some other means for those less able. An issue of equal access is a real issue and needs to be addressed. I am disabled and I find myself less and less able by the day. My decline is frightening!
And still the challenges continue despite a 6-3 SCOTUS decision upholding ID requirements. I know, it is the composition of the court, that is the problem. Oh puhleeeeze . . .
Then there was the Voting Rights Act. Gee, what a terrible piece of legislation. I am OK with scrutiny but for everyone or no one. Also, it should never come down to a political appointee to decide the fairness of an act by a state government although I could see it OK to bring an action in court. Of course, now we need deal with often reactionary and many times activist jurists. Oh worry! What are we to do?!
See, I managed to scratch out my screed with nary the posted link nor a need to resort to silly and pointless name calling, name altering, acrimony (save for my criticism of my “peers”), or even a conspiracy theory! Now, I’ll leave it up to the rest of you to argue about. I’ll sit back and watch from my position of superior intellect.
So there!
“She is also most often right which gives her a decided edge. Oooopsie! My bias for intelligence shewn (yes, shewn).”
Barry Williams,
I’m so sorry that the “cutters and pasters” like Elaine don’t meet up to your standards of discussion. When one like yourself, or Squeeky, live in a bubble of denial that these “voter I.D. Laws” have been put in to disenfranchise voters, these nasty “cutters and pasters” providing evidence pricking your bubble and its premises, must be quite distracting and annoying.
“I have tried to read the back and forth here but I have been frustrated by the fact that what should a be a discussion or a debate is more or less just an argument by two factions.”
It is both a discussion and a debate, but you don’t like the fact that evidence has been introduced that has shown the fraudulent nature of these laws, since you see your political views as the height of intelligence. This is why you admittedly refuse to read the quotes, because they give lie to your own bias.
I on the other hand see your views and Squeeky’s views as merely partisan bias and at least in her case overt bigotry. In that frame of reference I wouldn’t call them intelligence, rather I would see them as ignorance. Please understand that I’m not calling you stupid, since I can tell you (as does Squeeky) are able to write competently. Ignorance is the quality, however, of those whose minds are shut tight against any ideas that would run counter to their pre-judgments, which I think your shallow critique of Elaines’ evidence evinces.
@MikeA:
Well, I made a really nice, polite answer, but it went into the Twilight Zone. Maybe I misspelled “wretched” and “God-awful” and “totally frigging reprehensible”???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@MikeA:
You said: “The answer is two-fold. First, the principal thrust of the topic is political rather than legal.”
True, but the legal case answered the political concerns. And what was the answer the Court gave:
Which indicates that this whole post was nothing but a disguised partisan political rant designed to:
1. Place the race card for votes and strokes; and
2. Reduce the cost of the Democratic ground game.
Gee, what a wonderful thing for people to race-bait over! Lester Maddox would be sooo proud!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
The question is why the decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board does not figure more prominently in this thread and, perhaps as a corollary, conclude further discussion entirely. The answer is two-fold. First, the principal thrust of the topic is political rather than legal. That is, do the stated objectives underlying the various statutes mask the true legislative intent, and is that intent dishonorable? Second, the Crawford case, while important, is not determinative of all constitutional concerns, and was not intended to be. The primary significance of Crawford is the holding that restrictions on voting are subject to a balancing test rather than to strict scrutiny analysis. It does not stand for the proposition that all voter ID laws are constitutional.
Gee Whiz! All the histrionics, all the Democratic OPINIONS that it’s voter suppression, and all the empathy, and isn’t how funny how no one has bothered to present either the OPINION of the Courts, or actually deal with why it would sooo difficult to go out and get a free ID, or not wait until Election Day to register. In fact, we even get the Idiot Lobby above complaining about me calling idiots, idiots. What a hoot!
Then, on a blog where we are treated to story after story of crooked-@ss, lying government officials at the NSA, CIA, FBI, White House, etc. we are all supposed to believe that in contrast to those highly visible gov’t employees, the relatively unknown poll workers in places like Chicago and Philadelphia are the veritable epitome of honesty and trustworthiness and would never ever help stuff ballot boxes! Oh no, we are all supposed to be shocked, I tell you, shocked that anybody would ever dare suggest such a thing!
Sooo, here is you a few excerpts of the factual underpinnings of the SCOTUS Case, and a link where people can read the OPINION of people who are arguably more neutral:
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/07-21.pdf
Voter suppression my rear end!!! What a crock!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“On February 14, 1984, Barker was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana vacated by Cale J. Holder. Barker was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 13, 1984, and received her commission the following day.”
Well what do you know Squeeky a Republican Judge’s opinion? A Republican Judge’s opinion that there was no disenfranchisement of Democratic voters, a divided Court of Appeals Panel and finally a SCOTUS decision by virtually the same people who handed GW Bush his Presidency. Nothing to look at here, my ass.
“Place the race card for votes and strokes”
As a racist yourself, judging by your own words over many blogs now, I would assume what you call “playing the race card” is really exposing the racism inherent in these laws. How inconvenient for someone to call you a bigot, which given your opinions on blacks you should wear proudly. However, even our intrepid girl reporter from East Texas, where White men are men and women are big haired blonde religious hypocrites, knows it isn’t cool to be a bigot. Hence the need for the denial defense mechanism that makes those calling you out the racists.
Modern Vote Suppression Better Than Jim Crow, Still Pretty Bad
It is certainly true that modern Republican vote suppression pales in comparison with the pre-1965 version, in method and scale, to the point where equating the two is absurd. Segregated states used violence and “literacy tests” to disenfranchise the vast majority of the black population. The modern analogue instead works around the margins. Nobody is forcibly prohibited from voting. Instead, bureaucratic hurdles discourage some small share of disproportionately Democratic voters from voting.
James Crow, Esq.
that’s a good one, David. a good sharp point with a barb.
Actually, Skweak, I’m not confusing anything. You, however, are conflating. Fear is not awareness. In fact, it can even impair situational awareness. “FEAR is an acronym in the English language for ‘False Evidence Appearing Real'” – Neale Donald Walsch. Like controlling anger, controlling fear is a core teaching of most martial arts. “Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.” – Miyamoto Musashi
fear /fɪə/
noun
[mass noun]
an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm:
contrasted with . . .
awareness /əˈwɛːnəs/
noun
[mass noun]
knowledge or perception of a situation or fact:
Perception is not a reaction.
“He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Just as darkness is not the opposite of light but the absence of light, courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.
Again, it is a terrible thing to live in fear. That is why that although for some your feeble mewling breeds contempt due to the hateful and bigoted content of your comments, in me they breed only pity. You are so alone and scared in the dark, Sqweak. Hiding under your bed from the monster in the closet not realizing that the monster is really just your own mind playing tricks on you. It is not hard to perceive your nature. You are a pitiful, sad lil’ creature, oh shadow of a real girl.