Tag: Voter Suppression

Justice Dept. Takes Action Against North Carolina GOP’s Voter Suppression Laws

Jon Ponder

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.

Charlotte Observer:

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Colin Powell Publicly Criticizes N.C. Voter-Suppression Laws

Buck Banks

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

Jon Ponder

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:

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Rand Paul: We Can Get Rid of the Special Voting Provisions Now Because They Work

Buck Banks

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

Buck Banks

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.

North Carolina GOP Bill Would Impose Poll Tax on College Students

Jon Ponder

N.C. Sen. Bill Cook
In 21st century Jim Crow, it is not just African-Americans whose voting rights are being put risk by neo-Confederates. In North Carolina, the tea partyists who have recently taken over the legislature and governor’s mansion are targeting any group that reliably votes against them, including college students of all races.

A bill filed recently in the N.C. legislature, where Republicans hold veto-proof majorities (which are irrelevant because the governor is also a Republican), would impose a poll tax on the parents of college students who register to vote in the town where they go to college, which the Supreme Court has ruled is their right:

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Intuit Becomes Fourth Company to Quit Right-Wing Push Group, ALEC

Jon Ponder

sceenshot-intuit-turbotaxJust in time for tax season:

A stampede seems to be on the way as more and more groups break ties and dump ALEC. Intuit, Inc. (maker of Quicken and QuickBooks accounting software) told the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) that Intuit also decided not to renew its membership after it expired in 2011. That comment came from Bernie McKay, Vice President of Government Affairs. He gave this response when CMD identified that Intuit was no longer listed on the board and contacted the company. CMD began its effort to spotlight Intuit and other corporate funders and tie these corporations to the ALEC agenda when it launched ALECexposed.org in July 2011.

Kraft Foods also announced that it won’t renew its membership in ALEC when it expires this spring, according to an email from Kraft Corporate Affairs Director Susan Davison. These announcements follow on the news that Coca-Cola and Pepsi are out.

Intuit’s McKay explained to CMD that the company doesn’t “usually issue statements about membership in any organization” and declined to comment further. According to Reuters, Kraft’s emailed statement explained, “Our membership in ALEC expires this spring and for a number of reasons, including limited resources, we have made the decision not to renew.”

Here is a list of some of the best-known consumer brands who pay ALEC to push a right-wing agenda in the states by writing laws designed to suppress minority voting rights, expand gun ownership and restrict health care access and women’s rights:

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