The Threat to American Elections You Dont Know About But Should (not Russia)

[CousinIT]

Over the past several months, we’ve heard a lot about the Russian government’s interference in our 2016 election, and rightly so. But we’ve heard less about another threat that has nothing to do with Vladimir Putin but is just as destructive and just as effective at undermining the integrity of our democracy: a decades-long assault on voting rights. This campaign is nothing less than a sustained attack on American democracy from within.

We have no doubt that voter suppression laws have been “passed with racially discriminatory intent,” as federal courts have recognized. We also know that others were passed with an unacceptable tolerance of discriminatory effects. In 2013, those who seek to discriminate were empowered by the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark law that was one of the greatest achievements of the modern civil rights movement. These days, discriminatory barriers to the ballot box often hide behind seemingly benign objectives of “fighting voter fraud” and “protecting election integrity.”

But as we discussed earlier this month at an event hosted by the Brennan Center for Justice, there’s more to the story of why these laws have proliferated in recent years. We believe that those of us who oppose these voter suppression efforts have failed to raise awareness about what they actually do.

As a result, too many Americans don’t realize that 10% of Americans who are fully eligible to vote don’t have the right form of identification to satisfy new voter ID laws. They may not appreciate how difficult it can be to take time off work to vote on Election Day or get a legally acceptable form of ID. They don’t notice that DMVs and early-voting places have been closed only in certain neighborhoods, disproportionately impacting communities of color. They don’t understand why discriminatory voting laws wouldn’t just be struck down by the courts. They don’t realize that after Shelby County, even the most egregious laws often aren’t blocked until after an election, when the damage has already been done.

>>>>>>>>>Too many Americans don’t realize that voter suppression works, and that it has a cumulative, destructive effect on our democracy that builds with every election. <<<<<<<<<<<

http://time.com/4837622/voter-suppression-democracy-senator-chris-coons/

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

1. It's all unacceptable, but I don't even understand how something as obvious as

restricting physical access to the actual voting booth has not been outlawed. When voters, particularity in wealthy white R-leaning districts can stroll leisurely in and out of their voting place, while those in other neighborhood are forced to stand for hours, in whatever the weather, it's just so obviously unfair!

I guess we can't deal with everything and that's what the Rs are depending on as they relentlessly throw egregious BS at us, but there has got to be a way we can fight back more effectively. Who is out there organizing and leading the general populace who would fight if they knew the best ways to go about it.

[SergeStorms]

4. I was thinking about that as well.

Just once I'd like the predominantly white districts to have ONE polling place, and have the predominantly black districts over-run with them. There would be an uproar no one has ever seen or heard the likes of before.

I'd REALLY like to see the wealthy white Americans wait outside in the rain for over an hour, just to cast their vote for their favorite fascist Republican. That would warm the cockles of my heart.......whatever the hell a cockle is.

[Sunlei]

2. Republicans are pro-segregation in America. by 'class',race,income level, neighborhood, religion,

by voter access.

[Panich52]

3. Suppression has already started in full thanks to

Kobach's attempt to get detailed info on every voter in the country. I think it was Colorado that recorded thousands revoking their registration because of the wanted list.

Voter ID laws are de facto poll taxes. Even those who can get necessary docs to get ID are levied financial charges in lost wages, transportation costs, & costs to obtain certain needed docs. Why this isn't a factor in all suits against such laws is a mystery to me, esp since suppressors do their best to claim IDs are "free."

[Amaryllis]

5. Very important! And there is Kobach's INterstate Crosscheck, responsible for vast

numbers of voters purged from state databases. I find it intersting that there was such a stink about his request for info from SOS when 30 of them already provide him date through Crosscheck.

Here is another important article about election issues that lays out a number of issues besides Russian interference:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article157039299.html