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dcnovice -> A Pattern of GOP Vote Suppression? (8/8/2012 6:09:15 PM)
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We've had threads on various aspects of voting, notably ID requirements, but we haven't looked over the whole electoral landscape at once. Timothy Noah, writing in the left-leaning New Republic, does so in a recent essay, complete with some pause-giving quotes from GOP strategists. Here's his lede:
quote:
THE GOP IS supposed to pretend that its 2012 strategy doesn’t include the systematic disenfranchisement of lower-income blacks and Latinos. But in June, Mike Turzai, Republican majority leader of the Pennsylvania House, blew his party’s cover by blurting out: “Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor [Mitt] Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania? Done.” The press was jubilant. It was as if Koch Enterprises had acknowledged global warming.
Since at least 2008, when minority voters gave Barack Obama his victory margin––Obama won only 43 percent of the white vote––Republicans have increasingly relied on voter suppression to counterbalance the steady shrinkage of America’s white majority. Former Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer (currently under indictment for stealing party funds) stated in a deposition released in July that a 2009 party meeting included discussion of “voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting.” In December, Paul Schurick, a top aide to former Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich, was convicted of election fraud for using automated phone calls to suppress the African American vote during Ehrlich’s unsuccessful 2010 bid. “The first and most desired outcome is voter suppression,” stated one consultant’s memo entered into evidence. It described a “Schurick Doctrine” to “promote confusion, emotionalism and frustration among African American Democrats.”
More at The New Republic
Noah goes on to identify five ways in which he believes Republicans are attempting to suppress the vote:
1. Voter ID laws,
2. Voter registration obstacles,
3. Reduced poll hours,
4. Purging of voter rolls, and
5. Misleading robocalls.
Have a read and let me know what you think. Is Noah connecting the dots convincingly?
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