Un-Suppressing The Vote

Because Republicans can't legitimately win elections, they are forced to adopt convoluted
schemes to disenfranchised voters, disqualify ballots, impose Jim Crow laws and barriers,
forcing others to invest to protect your Right to Vote!

Below is an interesting re-cap of some of the actions by Republicans to prevent Americans
from voting --

Un-Suppressing The Vote

By ThinkProgress War Room on Oct 2, 2012

 

Victories Against GOP Voter Suppression Efforts

Republicans have been on an all-out crusade against voting ever since they took control of numerous state legislatures in 2011. Here’s a map of where voting rights have come under attack:



The good news is that there has also been a multi-pronged effort to push back against restrictive voting laws:



And, in even better news, the pushback is working. Progressives achieved a tremendous victory today in Pennsylvania. A judge blocked most of Pennsylvania’s onerous voter ID law — for now. While the law remains on the books and voters will still be asked to present IDs, if they don’t have an ID they will still be allowed to vote on the voting machines like any other voter. (They may otherwise have been forced to cast provisional ballots which may never have been counted.) If the judge had not extended the transition period for voting without an ID, hundreds of thousands of eligible Pennsylvania voters could have been disenfranchised on Election Day.

The Nation’s Ari Berman provides a round-up of our other victories in the GOP War on Voting:

Voter ID Laws: Courts have nullified voter ID laws in Wisconsin and Texas (and, for now, in Pennsylvania), and a voter ID ballot initiative in Missouri. South Carolina’s law is blocked pending federal approval under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Voter Registration: A federal court overturned Florida’s restrictions on voter registration drives for violating the First Amendment. Voters in Maine also repealed a ban on Election Day voter registration.
Early Voting: After public outcry, the Ohio legislature repealed its own legislation cutting back on early voting days, but kept a ban on three days of early voting before the election, which a state court subsequently overturned (Ohio is appealing). A federal court blocked early voting limits in Florida in five counties covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act for discriminating against African-American voters.
Voter Purges: A district court in Iowa blocked an attempt by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz to purge so-called “non-citizen” voters from the rolls.
Student Voting: A New Hampshire court ruled that students do not have to register their car in the state in order to cast a ballot.

Provisional Ballots: An Ohio judge ruled that provisional ballots mistakenly cast in the wrong precinct must be counted.

Finally, in other voting news, the Republican National Committee and several state Republican parties in swing states are in hot water after their voter registration consultant — a GOP operative with a known history of questionable practices — was found to have turned in fraudulent voter registration forms in at least 10 Florida counties and perhaps elsewhere. The GOP has cut ties with the firm, leaving the GOP with no mass voter registration campaign in battleground during the key final weeks to register voters before pre-election deadlines.

BOTTOM LINE: Despite their best efforts to restrict voting, it looks like voters will be spared the worst of new GOP voter suppression laws — this November anyway.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed

Paul Ryan challenged by voter to provide policy specifics, fails to deliver.
Billionaire says government assistance for the poor makes people lazy.
Prominent conservative columnist: Obama’s only winning because he’s black.
On eve of first debate, Romney tosses DREAMers a bone.
How offshore tactics helped grow Romney’s wealth.
The New York Attorney General sued JP Morgan Chase over alleged mortgage-backed securities fraud.
Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-MA) model Supreme Court Justice: Antonin Scalia.
Romney’s plan to screw the sick and the poor.
Paul Ryan retreats deeper into mathematical fantasy.


http://thinkprogress.org/progress-report/un-suppressing-the-vote/