Wednesday, November 14, 2012

The Great Disenfranchisement Is Alive

Republicans are beginning to coalesce around the notion that their best chances of victory in the future is to remove the right to vote from as many people as possible.

Romney Wisconsin co-chair Alberta Darling has openly declared that Romney would have won her state if only they had been allowed to implement a law to restrict voting rights.

The (Republican majority) Supreme Court was quick to follow President Obama's reelection with a review (with intent to overturn) the Voting Rights Act so as to allow Southern states to return to modern iterations of Jim Crow laws.

Tea Partiers are arguing to return to the Founder's "original intent" and restrict voting to federal taxpayers or property owners.

Some conservatives are arguing that early voting is unfair and should be ended.

Others see early voting as an opportunity the end the concept of neighborhood voting and require people to travel long distances to "vote centers" if they want to cast a ballot. The logic is if you have fewer voting places there will be fewer lines.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The philosophy that "the old ways are the best ways" is being applied here. This country has a long history of preventing participation in the system by unwanteds -- e.g., women, blacks. So, I am sure that the Republican party merely views this as part of their generaly philosophy to take us back -- negate child labor laws, eliminate worker and environmental protections, reduce wages, etc. This is the America they are proudest of. It is surely an example of "American Exceptionalism".