Cassi Creek: Over the
last several years, it has become standard policy for the GOP/tea party to
respond to their election losses by enacting laws in state legislatures that
suppress the right to vote for populations that historically vote for
Democratic Party candidates.
Various
states have been the battlegrounds for such suppressive efforts. TN has enacted a photo ID requirement that is
particularly hard for older citizens to satisfy. Several other states have used the same
tactic in concert with limiting the number of voter registration sites and
making them inaccessible by public transport or without using private
vehicles. People on fixed incomes can
often not afford to chase over several counties in an attempt to reach a
registration point during the limited hours they are open. The same applies to people who have to miss
work hours if they wish to register.
Limiting the
type of photo id accepted is also viciously effective. Student IDs may be refused if the student is
from another locale. Purging the polls
of voters who may not have voted in primary elections has become
commonplace. Florida hired a Texas firm
to purge felons from the lists of voters.
The firm cut large numbers of voters from the rolls based upon names. They did not bother to confirm identities,
thus removing many voters who had the misfortune to share a name with a
convicted felon.
The decision
to target black and Latino voters is readily apparent. Hopefully it will be loudly denounced in the
coming elections.
Siting and
re-siting polling places to cause inconvenience to voters is happening more and
more frequently.
In 1956, I
was a Cub Scout. On a Saturday in
October, scouts of all ages went door-to-door nationwide. We hung tags on doorknobs with a simple
message, “Get Out the Vote!” Eisenhower
was President. The GOP and the Democrats
wanted every eligible voter to show up on election day and cast a ballot. Now, the GOP/tea party has a new tag on their
doorknob – “suppress the vote”
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