The Anger Blog, A New Wave of Voter Disenfranchisement

A New Wave of Voter Disenfranchisement. The recent ruling by a Republican state judge (Robert Simpson) in Pennsylvania, that upheld the state's new voter ID law, again brings to the forefront the ongoing attack on our democracy. After the 2008 election, the Republican leaders vowed to do whatever it took to make President Obama a one-term president.

They started in the legislative arena. To ensure that the President's economic policies could not be implemented, the Senate Republicans filibustered a record-setting 300-plus times. The politicized Supreme Court then ruled that corporations were individuals, leading to the creation of the Super Pacs. In case this wasn't going to be sufficient to influence the election, the Republican-controlled state legislatures around the country jumped on board, passing voter identification laws that require a citizen to produce specific documents to receive a state-issued ID, in addition to his having to have access (transportation and time) to the agency office and, generally, a processing fee. This law was created under the guise of preventing voter fraud, even though it was never established that any perceptible fraud had occurred. Interestingly enough, this disenfranchisement of voters has its greatest impact on minorities, senior citizens, and college students (their college IDs are not valid under these laws) who vote largely Democratic.

Pennsylvania's new voter ID law is a perfect example of their attack on our democracy and enough to anger anyone. The restrictive requirements of obtaining a state-issued ID have left 758,000 people, 9% of the voting populace, without the "proper" identification required to vote on Election Day. And another thing that comes as no surprise is that the largest number of these disenfranchised voters is from the areas that include Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Democratic strongholds.

If the fight is taken to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which is composed of three Republicans and 3 Democrats, a tie vote upholds the voter ID law. So you can see where this is headed. Judge Simpson, however, feels that the law shouldn't disenfranchise any voters, as we have more than 80 days before the election at this point, ample time to fulfill this requirement. Since the state is taking steps to help voters become eligible, he says that it should not be an insurmountable barrier. How can we be assured that this will transpire? After all, 35% of Pennsylvania's population doesn't even know this law is in effect, so they will get a big surprise when they go to the polls in November. What could make things worse? How about if a huge Romney supporter were to be placed in charge of this plan to educate those 758,000 people on how to become "qualified" to vote? Well, that is exactly what has been done. In addition to this obstacle, the transportation agencies where one must apply for a state-issued ID are non-existent in nine counties and, in 13 other counties, open only one day a week.

There is no doubt that this ruse is a blatant attempt to influence the election in a swing state. Even Judge Simpson acknowledges that there is certainly partisan gain involved in this law. On a side note, Jon Husted, the Secretary of State in Ohio (another swing state, coincidentally, and, yes, he is also a Republican) is trying to influence the vote in a more obvious manner. He wants to restrict early voting in those counties that vote strongly Democratic, which include the cities of Columbus, Cleveland, Akron, and Toledo. He has proposed that early voting in those counties must be done Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm (while most voters are at work). However, in strongly Republican districts, he will allow early voting to extend to evening hours as well as the weekend. (Are you angry yet?)

As unmistakable as these attempts are to thwart democracy and influence elections, there has been a deafening silence emanating from the Republican Party in regard to these matters. How can any citizen not be angered that this is taking place in America? Do these Republicans hate President Obama so much that they are willing to spit in the face of democracy by taking away the right of legitimate Americans to cast their vote for candidates of their own choosing?