The future of the Republican party is threatened by one simple thing: demographics. But instead of recognizing that fact, and adjusting to it with policies that are more in line with a younger and less white electorate, they've settled on a solution of stacking the deck at the voting booth.
They have curbed early voting, rolled back voting rights for ex-felons and passed stricter voter ID laws. Taken together, the measures could have a significant and negative effect on President Obama?s reelection efforts if they keep young people and minorities away from the polls.?It all hits at the groups that had higher turnout and higher registration in 2008,? said Judith Browne-Dianis, a civil rights lawyer who co-directs the Advancement Project, which has been tracking the new regulations.[...]
This year, more than 30 states debated changes to their voting laws. A dozen passed more restrictive rules requiring voters to present state-issued photo IDs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, although Democratic governors in four states vetoed them. Florida and Ohio will cut nearly in half the number of days for early voting, and Florida lawmakers reversed rules that had made it easier for former felons to vote.
David Norcross, chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association, said problems with ACORN, a left-leaning organizing and voter-registration group that shut down last year, ?made the whole thing a national issue? and ?now is our opportunity.?
Civil rights groups and others who represent Democratic-leaning constituencies say there have been few cases of voter fraud, given the millions of ballots cast and compared with the high number of poor and minority voters who will be affected.
Twenty-five percent of African American voters do not have a valid government-issued photo ID, compared with 8 percent of whites, according to a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School. The report also found that 15 percent of voters earning less than $35,000 per year do not have such an ID.
It hits all of the group that are going to be the voters of the very near future. Keeping them from voting now not only boosts GOP prospects for the next election, it means fewer of these would-be voters will participate in future elections. This is one of the primary reasons for the Democrats and for party activists to spend at least as much time and energy on state and local elections?the secretaries of state and legislatures that have the most influence?to elect officials who will protect the vote.
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