Tag: Voter Suppression
We’ve Entered a New Era of Voter Suppression
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which eviscerated the Voting Rights Act, is leading to a new era of voter suppression that parallels the pre-1960s era–this time affecting not just African-Americans but also Hispanic-Americans, women, and students, among others.
— Norm Ornstein, writing in the National Journal.
Justice Dept. Takes Action Against North Carolina GOP’s Voter Suppression Laws
Another humiliation for my old home state. Until now, North Carolina was one of the few Old Confederacy states that was not covered by the Voting Rights Act, because, unlike the others, the Democrats who ran the state insisted that voting be open to all who were eligible. Now, just 10 months electing the first Republican-controlled government since the 1870s, those days are over. If the Justice Department prevails, NC will be covered by the VRA just like every other state run by neo-Confederates, and will have to submit its plans for changing voter regulations to the courts in advance for approval.
Colin Powell Publicly Criticizes N.C. Voter-Suppression Laws
I want to see policies that encourage every American to vote, not make it more difficult to vote. … It immediately turns off a voting block the Republican Party needs. These kinds of actions do not build on the base. It just turns people away.
— Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, taking aim at North Carolina’s new voting law — with N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory (R) in the audience — the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
Maddow Interviews Nine-Term Dem N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, 81, Who Has Resigned to Fight Republican Voter Suppression Fulltime
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Here is the statement Sen. Kinnaird released, via the Daily Tar Heel, the newspaper published by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is in her district:
GOP Voter Suppression Is Underway in North Carolina
Jim Crow is already on the march in North Carolina:
Within hours of Gov. Pat McCrory signing a Republican-backed bill this week making sweeping changes to the state’s voting laws, local elections boards in two college towns made moves that could make it harder for students to vote.
Rand Paul: We Can Get Rid of the Special Voting Provisions Now Because They Work
The interesting thing about voting patterns now is in this last election African-Americans voted at a higher percentage than whites in almost every one of the states that were under the special provisions of the federal government. So really, I don’t think there is objective evidence that we’re precluding African-Americans from voting any longer.
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), quoted by WFPL.
Majority Favors ID Checks for Voters
74%
Of all Americans support the idea that people should have to show photo identification to vote, a new Washington Post poll finds. Also, 81% are concerned about possible fraud and 73% are concerned about voter suppression in a presidential election. Asked to trade off the two, slightly more Americans are concerned with fraud than with voter suppression, although stark partisan and racial differences emerge.
A Knight, Errant
Gov. Rick Scott has returned to his crusade,
Undaunted by lawsuits, by outcry undismayed.
He seeks to purge Florida’s voter rolls
Of every registered non-American soul,
And from this quixotic quest he shall not be swayed.
