‘Block the Vote’ Blowback

from In These Times:


‘Block the Vote’ Blowback
GOP photo ID voting laws have energized African-American activists. Their anger could end up helping Democrats in November.

BY Theo Anderson


In 2008, when Sen. John McCain won just four percent of the black vote, it looked like the GOP couldn’t do any worse among African Americans in a presidential election. But that’s now a real possibility.

Republicans were pleased with George W. Bush’s 11 percent share of the African-American vote in 2004, and they hoped to do even better four years ago. But that was before Bush’s disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, and before Democrats chose Barack Obama as their presidential candidate.

The GOP’s recent behavior has done nothing to help the party’s reputation among African-American voters. In January, for example, South Carolina’s Republican Attorney General, Alan Wilson, announced an investigation into the fact that more than 900 dead people had voted in recent state elections. The subsequent investigation turned up a lot of human error but no fraud.

Still, Republicans have used such false charges of widespread fraud to mount an aggressive “block the vote” campaign, and they’ve pushed through new restrictions on voting rights in 14 states, according to a report (PDF) released last year by the National Association for the Advancement of Color People. The restrictions include photo ID requirements and “provisions that will curtail voter access to registration, inhibit critical voter registration drives, limit voting periods and tighten the ability to cast ballots.” ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12991/block_the_vote_blowback