GOP voter laws getting walloped by the courts

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/2012/10/02/gop_voter_laws_getting_walloped_by_the_courts/

Tuesday, Oct 2, 2012 05:04 PM EDT
GOP voter laws getting walloped by the courts
Eleven states have blocked voter suppression laws
By Jillian Rayfield


Since 2010, Republicans have been successfully passing laws that effectively suppress voter turnout. Less successful have been their attempts to defend these laws in federal court.

Ari Berman of The Nation counts eleven cases that have been rejected by the courts, including today’s ruling in Pennsylvania that narrowly (and temporarily) blocked a voter ID provision passed by the state.

In other key battleground states, like Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin, judges have similarly ruled against crackdowns on voter ID laws, restrictions on voter registration and early voting, and voter purges, among other things.

“It is a remarkable development that courts across the country have almost uniformly rejected every single law passed making it harder for eligible citizens to vote,” Wendy Weiser, director of the democracy program at the Brennan Center, told Berman. “This is a clear rejection of attempts by politicians to manipulate the election rules for political gain.”

However some states, like Kansas and Tennessee, still have strict voter ID laws on the books for this cycle.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Voting is a right granted by the Consitiution, is it not? Then there should be ONE federal

law governing this. This madness is like some backwards nation (??) with 50 competing laws. Stupid.

[loyalsister]

9. It is not

There is no Constitutional affirmation that gives us the right to vote in the The federal Amendment regarding voting tells states what they can not do regarding voting.

15th Amendment: prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (for example, slavery). It was ratified on February 3, 1870.

19th Amendment: prohibits states from discriminating against women voting.

Civil rights act of 1957: prohibitions against intimidating, coercing or otherwise interfering with the rights of persons to vote for the President and members of Congress.

Civil Rights Act of 1960: It expanded the authority of federal judges to protect voting rights.

Voting Sights Act of 1965: The is the strongest law. It abolished the poll tax and other means of keeping blacks and poor people from registering to vote and voting, established record-keeping and oversight, and provided for federal enforcement in areas with documented patterns of discrimination.

[central scrutinizer]

2. Poll Tax in disguise

These are modern Jim Crow laws. If someone has to take the time to travel someplace, wait in line to show photo ID to get some other ID, it all costs time and money and is thus equivalent to a poll tax. Poll taxes have one goal - disenfranchise the poor (read: black) at a disproportionate level.

Voting needs to be made as easy as possible - make it a paid national holiday, extend it for a week including a weekend, vote by mail, etc.

[Cha]

3. It is quite Remarkable! And, I thank the

Dems for doing this!

thank you, babylonsistah for the link~ YAY!

[porphyrian]

4. . n/t

[Qutzupalotl]

5. Remind undecided voters about these attempts.

Only one party is doing this. It makes me mad as hell and there is no way I am sitting this election out.

They thought no one would notice (again).

[monmouth]

6. Our election super, Susan Bucher, Palm Beach County as of yesterday, had not heard from Tallahassee

SOS or the assistant as she has numerous questions about this. She says no one is returning her calls but they recently as yesterday, sent her 14 more voter registrations for her to check out to see if they were legitimate. She's getting very steamed and can't say I blame her. I believe the deal now is go, vote and if you have problems get one a provisional ballot. They'll sort it out later. What a mess.

[philly_bob]

7. Corrupt, dingbat state legislators passed them

One of the reasons I don't buy the right-wingers' arguments that power should be vested in the states, not the federal government.

[spanone]

8. k&r...

[flyguyjake]

10. I think you should have to

show your ID to vote. BUT it's absurd what the Repukes are trying to do right before the election. Where were these boneheads 3 years ago when there were not elections at stake? All states, All counties and polling locations should REQUIRE a valid state issued ID. We have to show ID for just about everything else!