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Voter ID isn't racist -- it's there to protect GOP rule in Texas (Original Post) Gothmog May 2018 OP
Their days are numbered. Starting with Ted Cruz. walkingman May 2018 #1
Voter ID isn't racist -- it's there to protect GOP rule in Texas. [Opinion] Gothmog May 2018 #2
+1 dalton99a May 2018 #3

Gothmog

(143,999 posts)
2. Voter ID isn't racist -- it's there to protect GOP rule in Texas. [Opinion]
Mon May 7, 2018, 06:17 PM
May 2018

The 5th Circuit Opinion on the latest appeal on the Texas voter suppression/voter id law is horrible. Edith Jones is a senile racist and I knew that when she was on the panel that this appeal had trouble. The good news is that the Texas voter id/voter suppression law had been largely gutted and that this appeal was on the issue of whether the law should be eliminated as being void. Under the current version of the law, anyone can vote with a voter registration card, utility bill or other form of id if they do not have one of the approved ids and sign an affidavit (Texas voters sign an affidavit every time they vote anyway).

This ruling was solely on the issue of the trial court striking down all of the voter id law. The reforms put in due to the prior court ruling remain in place. I agree with the editorial that this ruling is dumb. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Voter-ID-isn-t-racist-it-there-to-protect-12890005.php?utm_campaign=twitter-premium&utm_source=CMS%20Sharing%20Button&utm_medium=social

Republicans have gasped for the past seven years that voter ID efforts are meant to secure the polls against voter fraud. Opponents usually counter that there’s very little evidence of voter fraud (in the same manner that there’s little evidence of speeding if the highway patrol isn’t around).

But the measure, like the redistricting endeavors recently placed before the U.S. Supreme Court, really exists only in service of protecting the party’s rule in Texas government. Born of Tom DeLay’s (remember him?) dreams of a permanent Republican majority, voter ID and its ilk are less about public policy and more about making sure we never face the prospect of balanced government.

Historically, the fewer people who vote, the more conservative (not that Texas Republicans hold to the ideals of traditional conservatism) candidates prosper. When a rabble-rouser or populist drives masses to the polls, they tend to vote Democratic.

So any effort to quell the vote helps the current holders of the conservative flame. Carving the state into reliable districts for the party helps Republicans (who control that process), as well.

That other party has its own methods for ensuring victory, such as “same-day registration,” the electoral equivalent of fast food (quick, easy, thoughtless and leading to regret). They’re also behind many of the get-out-and-vote drives peppering each election year. You hardly ever see a Republican on MTV’s “Rock The Vote” PSAs.

Again, the good news is that the prior rulings have largely gutted this law.
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