The Republican War on Voting | Hillman Foundation

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The Republican War on Voting

Let’s dispense with the polite fiction that the Republican’s obsession with voter fraud is about the security of the vote. It’s pure voter suppression. An exhaustive search by the Department of Justice unearthed no evidence of large scale voter fraud. A 5-year probe came up with 86 cases of voter fraud in the entire country, none of which were of the type that could have been prevented by voter ID. The system isn’t broken.

Eugene Robinson reports for TruthDig: 

Recent developments in Pennsylvania—one of more than a dozen states where voting rights are under siege—should be enough to erase any lingering doubt: The GOP is trying to pull off an unconscionable crime.

Late last month, the majority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Mike Turzai, was addressing a meeting of the Republican State Committee. He must have felt at ease among friends because he spoke a bit too frankly.

Ticking off a list of recent accomplishments by the GOP-controlled Legislature, he mentioned the new law forcing voters to show a photo ID at the polls. Said Turzai, with more than a hint of triumph: “Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania—done.”

Voter ID laws help GOP because people without driver’s licenses, the most common form of photo ID, are more likely to be poor, African American, and/or city-dwellers. All of these constituencies tend to vote Democratic. In the swing state of Pennsylvania, 9.2% of the registered electorate lacks a driver’s license, and a quarter of these voters live in the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia. Coincidence? No.

[Photo credit: Secretlondon, Creative Commons. I know, it’s probably a UK polling place, but I liked the picture.]