GOP Voter Suppression Campaign Rolls On
August 21, 2012
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The GOP race to suppress as many young, elderly and minority votes as possible by Election Day continues across the country with Pennsylvania and Florida dominating most recent headlines.
Pennsylvania’s new voter identification law is now headed to the state Supreme Court after a judge upheld the unjust piece of legislation last week.
“It was the judicial equivalent of giving democracy the bird,” wrote Washington Post columnist Katrina vanden Heuvel. “The ruling was rendered only more offensive by its flippant dismissal of the burden that obtaining a photo ID places on people who are young, poor, minority, elderly or some combination of these (read: Democrats).”
The Keystone State voter ID law is just the latest in the GOP strategy to ensure the least amount of non-Republican voters show up on Election Day or are turned away from the polls. A plan they have no qualms about sharing. In June, Pennsylvania state House Republican leader Mike Turzai applauded the voter ID law saying it would “allow Governor Romney to win the state.”
GOP legislators have proposed voter suppression laws in 34 states. The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that as many as 5 million Americans will be denied the right to vote on Election Day.
On a good note, a federal court recently rejected part of a Florida law that would have restricted the number of early voting days from 12 days to eight. The court says the new law cannot take effect in five counties where the African-American vote could be key in November: Monroe, Collier, Hendry, Hardee and Hillsborough. Those counties have a history of voter discrimination.
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