‘Jim Crawford’ Republicans The GOP is working to keep eligible African-Americans from voting

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Newsweek

It was a mainstay of Jim Crow segregation: for 100 years after the Civil War, Southern white Democrats kept eligible blacks from voting with poll taxes, literacy tests and property requirements. Starting in the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court declared these assaults on the heart of American democracy unconstitutional.

Now, with the help of a 2008 Supreme Court decision, Crawford vs. Marion County (Indiana) Election Board, white Republicans in some areas will keep eligible blacks from voting by requiring driver's licenses. Not only is this new-fangled discrimination constitutional, it's spreading.

GOP proponents of the move say they are merely trying to reduce voter fraud. But while occasional efforts to stuff ballot boxes through phony absentee voting still surface, the incidence of individual vote fraud—voting when you aren't eligible—is virtually non-existent, as "The Truth About Vote Fraud," a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, clearly shows. In other words, the problem Republicans claim they want to combat with increased ID requirements doesn't exist. Meanwhile, those ID hurdles facing individuals do nothing to stop the organized insiders who still try to game the system.

The motive here is political, not racial. Republicans aren't bigots like the Jim Crow segregationists. But they know that increased turnout in poor, black neighborhoods is good for Democrats. In that sense, the effort to suppress voting still amounts to the practical equivalent of racism.

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/id/158392

[muntrv]

1. Ah the Paul Weyrich doctrine of "we want less voters, not more!"

[Magleetis]

2. Here we go again n/t

[superconnected]

3. Excellent article. This should be the main news topic of the day!

[Anexio]

4. I have no problem

I have no problem with valid identification, voter registration, proof of residency, et cetera, but to require a drivers license as proof of residency is bullshit.

What if you're blind and cant drive a car?
What if your license has been suspended?
What if you physically can't drive a fucking car?

Marion County, Indiana can kiss my ass.

(Sorry, this one has me steamed.)

[norepubsin08]

5. NATIONAL CHECK IF I CAN VOTE DAY

This is why I am calling on progressive/liberal web sites, blogs and organizations to put out a call to their supporters declaring October 1m, 2008 NATIONAL CHECK IF I CAN VOTE DAY. By doing this we accomplish three goals. 1) making sure our supporters are ACTUALLY registered to vote and to give them time to correct any problems before a deadline approaches. Most states have a 30- 14 day pre-registration requirement. 2) if we achieve critical mass then the MSM would have to take notice and then we can highlight past voter suppression and theft by Republicans in 2000 and 2004 3) it would put Republican Secretary's of State and County Auditors on notice that the progressives will be much pro-active and vigilant in securing the voting rights and integrity of the electoral process this time around.

It will take a groundswell to get to this going. I am asking all who agree with me, to write and nudge all webs sites and blogs and organizations that they belong to to get them to declare this and follow up with their supporters via email, text of phone. For more info, I can be reached at: [e-mail] Thanks-Mike Collier