The GOP Attack on Voting Rights

In the 2008 presidential election, there was a record voter turn-out across the country.  One would have thought that everyone would have been happy that so many Americans participated in choosing their leader. Wrong. Since Barack Obama won decisively, the Republicans immediately began laying plans to keep large groups of people from voting, and of course the groups they wanted to disenfranchise were the groups that voted Obama.

First there were all those college students. All of a sudden they were no longer apathetic; they were actually voting and voting for Obama. As a result Republican legislators and election officials were tampering with residency requirements. If students can't vote where they go to school, they will not vote.

Then, of course, there are those inconvenient Hispanics who supported Obama in 2008. Therefore the GOP instituted a variety of voter ID requirements to, as they said, avoid voter fraud. As it turned out there were so few cases of voter fraud as to be insignificant. Their intent was to frighten away Hispanic voters. 

The Associated Press reports: "The combined effects of voter roll purges, demands for proof of citizenship and photo identification requirements in several states may hinder at least 10 million Hispanic citizens who seek to vote this fall, civil rights advocates warn in a new report."

In addition, the voter ID requirements would also disenfranchise that other Democratic group, the black voters. Since a portion of this group is poor, they will not have  a driver's license or a passport and will be denied a ballot.

Then, there are the working poor. The wife and husband both work, maybe several jobs, and have little time on a November Tuesday to stand in line to vote. In 2008 they were able to vote early -- on the weekend. Since Obama received a large share of those votes, Republican officials are doing all they can to prevent week-end voting.

And  there are those old people, disabled , hospitalized and active-duty service women and men. They want to sit in the warmth of their home or barracks and vote an absentee ballot. Since the majority of the absentee ballots favored Obama in 2008, Republicans have tried to restrict those votes.

Then, there are states like Florida in which politicians  play God and actively "purge" the voter registration lists of  undesirables. Worried about fraud? This system is an invitation to  USSR style fraud.

Is it any surprise, then, that citizens of fledgling democracies or autocracies around the world look at what is happening in this election and question our commitment to democracy? Obviously,  true democracy is in jeopardy when  politicians are able to disenfranchise US citizens.

As Michelle Obama has pointed out,  the right to vote has become the nation's most important civil rights issue.