Wednesday, October 10, 2018

GOP Weak Candidates, Little Money, Poor Press: Restrict Voters for Easy Win Yippee

GOP rationale: Supported by the NRA, Alt-Right, 
Morons, and most Red States

GOP phony vs. real agenda vis-à-vis voter ID laws


Whew boy, here we go again.  

This update and the USSC case in a nutshell comes from here (Mother Jones) – who does great writing on this subject. This short introduction and background on the latest USSC voter ID law ruling (6-2 and BTW: Justice Kavanaugh did not vote):

The case in a nutshell: North Dakota’s 2017 voter law ID was challenged by Native residents who alleged that the law disproportionately blocked Native Americans from voting. 

This past April, a federal district court, Judge Daniel Hovland, blocked large portions of the law as discriminatory against Native voters, writing in part: “The State has acknowledged that Native American communities often lack residential street addresses. Nevertheless, under current State law an individual who does not have a current residential street address will never be qualified to vote.”

Facts bearing on the case: According to the website of the Native American Rights Fund, which represents the plaintiffs, many native residents lack residential street addresses because “…the U.S. Postal Service does not provide residential delivery in these rural Indian communities.” As a result, tribal IDs use P.O. boxes, which are not sufficient under the North Dakota new law — a specification that seems designed to disenfranchise native voters.

Judge Hovland’s ruling was in place during the primaries this spring, but now will impact the General Election next month since in September, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law to go into effect, and now the USSC upholds that ruling.


My 2 cents: Simple in one word “Sad.” Or in more than one word, crappy deal and one as usual favors the GOP in mostly RED states and yes, by slick, clever design.

The GOP philosophy is simple and the evidence supports my contention: If we can’t win with good candidates, tons of money, nasty Ads, and such, then rewrite the laws and control who votes … better known as “voter disenfranchisement.” 

The GOP on this harsh policy in ND and elsewhere for other weak, limb reasons should be ashamed. But, they are not.

Thanks for stopping by.

More good stuff below that includes a state-by-state interactive map – you can do your own research and then bookmark the site for future reference [just click your state on map and data and more info] seen here – FYI.

FYI: Voter ID laws are in mostly RED states, and as I said, it’s a weak cover for voter suppression. Some more examples and stats below in that regard.
For example, people are 3,615 times more likely to report a UFO sighting than they are to commit in-person voter impersonation, according to national data.
A few facts re: GOP argument these new laws prevent fraud:

Wisconsin: The non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice at NYU found only seven cases of voter fraud out of 3 million votes cast in Wisconsin during 2004, which amount to a fraud rate of 0.0002 percent. Republicans in WI at the time and many since continue to say there was much more. Plus, this: all seven of those cases involved persons with felony convictions who were not eligible to vote after being released from prison and they thought their right to vote still existed.

During the Bush years: After an extensive probe from 2002-07, the DOJ found out of 300 million votes cast only 86 were fraudulent, and most of them again, were felons, or even a few immigrants ignorant of voting law and thought they were eligible to vote as a permanent U.S. resident (Green card holder).

Some argue: “We must show an ID to fly, to drive, or to buy beer, so why not to vote.” I say as simple as possible: That is a red herring. Having or getting that kind of license is not a constitutional guaranteed right – voting is a constitutional right all things being equal, age, address, residency, etc.” In short: This is a GOP solution seeking a problem – where one does not exist.

The striking statistic has surfaced at the same time as the news that a new voter ID law in PA could render nearly 10 percent of the state's residents ineligible to vote in the presidential election this fall.

Mother Jones assembled the numbers in order to fact-check claims by many Republican lawmakers that their states are facing rampant voter fraud. Since 2011, 24 voting restrictions have passed in 17 states. This fall, new laws could affect more than 5 million voters in states representing 179 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. More data follows:  

Studies indicate low-income and minority voters are most often disenfranchised by laws requiring voters to have government-issued photo IDs. For example, 25 percent of voting-age African-Americans don't have valid IDs. Put 13 confirmed cases of voter impersonation into perspective this way:

1. Each year, 15 Americans are crushed to death by their furniture or televisions.

2. Fourteen are injured by exploding toilets, and 100 are accidentally set on fire by their doctors during surgery.

3. Americans are 3 million times more likely to have a favorable view of North Korea than to commit voter fraud.

4. In PA: The fake and phony voter ID / voter fraud issue continues, apparently unchecked.

5. GOP voter suppression claims are alive and well in PA, but since 1999 only 12 cases of fraud of any kind out of over 31 million votes – and that equates to 0.00004%.

Great example is the case of 93-year old Ms. Viviette Applewhite from PA, who has voted for over 50 years cannot now since she can't meet the new state voter ID requirement.

She like millions of Americans of her generation, and many others, do not have a birth certificate, which is the main new requirement to get a new voter ID and be able to vote.  Imagine she were your mother, grandmother, or great grandmother. Guess what? I suspect she is a DEM, too.

My earlier links related to this subject (Please NOTE: Some links may not be valid or up to date, or even have been deleted - if so, I am sorry in advance):

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