Disenfranchising Democrats

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(By Andrew MacKie-Mason)

One recurring theme this election year, underreported on by the "liberal" media, is the attempt by Republicans to disenfranchise groups of voters who tend to lean towards the Democrats.

One major tactic has been "Voter ID" laws. These laws play on the myth of in-person voter fraud (which, in reality, is almost non-existent) in order to create onerous requirements for poor voters who do not have valid identification. Some of these laws have been undone by the courts (Texas) and others are still being challenged (Pennsylvania), but the fact that some lawmakers are exploiting a non-problem to disenfranchise voters is disgraceful, and voter (photo) ID laws are still unfortunately common.

Other election-law issues are being exploited to skew the results towards Romney. Most prominent, of course, is the blatant partisan hackery employed by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted. When local Boards of Elections had party-line splits over whether to extend voting hours, Husted stepped in to extend the hours in Republican-leaning districts, and restrict them in Democrat-leaning ones. It was so obvious that he was eventually forced by national attention to rescind his early decisions and restrict voting hours in all the districts, a decision that still, on net, helps Republicans (whose voters are more likely to have the flexibility needed to get to the polls during the restricted hours that they're open.) Husted threw an additional bone to his party by keeping early voting open for military voters (whom, though less firmly committed to the Republican party than they used to be, still lean heavily to the right). Thankfully, federal District Judge Peter Economus reversed Husted's partisan move, restoring the three days of early voting for all voters.

And then, of course, there's the ever-persistent birther movement. The Kansas election board, for instance, is considering unconstitutionally removing President Obama from the ballot in that state. It's hard to dismiss the birther movement as a "fringe;" even though it's insane, it's been endorsed by serious Republican candidates and even used by Mitt Romney to garner support on the right.

There have been more losses for Republicans attempting to skew the vote by manipulating what ought to be neutral election laws, but I have no doubt that the legislatures and executives in Republican-controlled states will continue acting more quickly than courts can reverse them, especially as the November election gets closer. Nothing I've talked about here is news, but it needs to continue to be at the top of voters' consciousnesses as the election moves into its final months. Disenfranchisement is an attack on the very foundation of democracy, and attempted disenfranchisement for political gain should never be forgotten by the electorate.