Next attack on democracy: mass voter suppression

[struggle4progress]

Russ Feingold
Friday 30 June 2017 13.31 EDT

... A democracy gains its legitimacy through elections only so far as those elections represent the will of the people. Limit voter participation, and there is a direct correlation between the legitimacy of an election and the democratic system ...

... the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Office, long heralded as the ultimate guarantor of civil rights, including voting rights, might unknowingly be supporting the commission’s efforts. The Civil Rights Office sent out a letter on Wednesday, the same day as the commission sent its letter, seeking information from states on how they maintain their voter rolls. The office charged with upholding the 1965 Voting Rights Act must resist playing a leading role in further dismantling this most fundamental democratic right ...

... We must not lie to ourselves when we see the warning signs here at home. This commission is a harbinger of a top-down, White House-endorsed assault on voters, specifically Democratic voters: the same voters who denied Trump the popular vote ...

Our democracy cannot afford to turn over any information now and ask questions later. States turning over any information, including publicly available information, legitimize the commission and betray the trust and privacy of voters. Having publicly available information for in-state use is different from providing information for a national voter database that will be placed at the hands of nefarious actors. States must take a stand to protect their voters’ most fundamental democratic right ...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/30/trumps-attack-democracy-mass-voter-suppression

[hlthe2b]

1. Unfortunately for those of us in CO, state law allows for full name, year of birth, voting record,

party affiliation AND phone number ( ) to be released (as part of a "deal" when Coffman was SOS before he became a disgusting US Rep) and our current a'hole RETHUG SOS has already said he will be delighted to cooperate, refusing only the last four digits of SS.

Honest to gawd, I detest these people...

[Gothmog]

2. The GOP is the party of voter suppression and relies on voter suppression to win races

[defacto7]

4. Once they pull off the mother of all voter suppression acts,

they will never have to do it again. Either people will be too afraid to vote against them or voting will no longer be necessary. It's history.

[Wounded Bear]

3. That looks like the plan...

nice to see so many states fighting back.

[colsohlibgal]

5. Been Going On For Years

CrossCheck has been kicking legitimate registered voters off the rolls since Florida 2000.