The War on Voting

I highly, highly recommend Ari Berman's Rolling Stone piece on the GOP's war on voting.

In case you aren't aware, Republicans have been trying to suppress voting in almost every state, and even in 2008 when Barack Obama won in a landslide over John McCain, only two-thirds of those registered showed up to the polls. That's alarming in itself, but with Republicans winning way too many midterm elections in 2010, they (led by groups like ALEC and the Koch brothers) have been passing legislation in record fashion by waging their own war on "voter fraud." In Berman's article, he references the fact that only a teeny-tiny percentage of actual voter fraud cases have been reported, yet the GOP keeps touting this as a major problem. So the laws that are going into effect do things like requiring proof of citizenship, photo IDs and proof of residence; closing DMV locations to make it harder to obtain a license; sending out fake absentee ballots with incorrect information; making it difficult to register; and closing certain polling places to make lines longer and disenfranchise voters. Of course, this is all to skew voting toward the GOP--the less people that vote, the more it is in their favor. Also, they are clearly making an effort to keep minorities, the elderly, and students--all groups that tend to vote Democratic--from voting.

In addition to ALEC and the Kochs and right wing governors like Scott Walker and John Kasich, the article references Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Excuse my French for a minute, but this douchebag is one of the people spearheading this "war on voting." He has been fighting illegal immigration for years, and his latest claim to infamy is requiring proof of US citizenship to vote in Kansas.

Thankfully, many left wing groups are fighting back, and begging the Justice Department to investigate this war on our democracy that has to have our founding fathers turning in their graves. Seriously. And with only fourteen months before the next presidential election, it's super important that we get the word out early and often and try to expose the GOP for what they are doing here--and what they are doing is criminal, plain and simple.