Republican voter suppression tactics

The GOP's national effort to stifle college voting

Submitted by scharrison on

Using every trick in the book:

With fewer than 100 days until the highly anticipated midterm elections, and political activists and college administrators attempting to galvanize students across the country to go to the polls, the GOP-controlled government in New Hampshire did something unusual.

Governor Chris Sununu signed a law last month that required part-time residents to switch to permanent status if they want to vote, making it harder for students to participate. Democrats derided the move as a “poll tax” and a way to suppress the student vote, which is already the lowest among voters of any age in part because of barriers students face in registering.

This attack on Millennials and the earliest batch of GenZers can also be viewed as an attack on progress. Republicans know these potential voters bring to the table heightened critical thinking skills, a trait that is woefully absent in the traditional GOP base, meaning their shallow attempts to paint regressive policies as "good for the country" will fall on deaf ears. And the fact these efforts are underway in numerous states means it is orchestrated, and definitely not a coincidence:

Alamance 12 face jail terms for casting votes

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And a former Democrat turned rabid Republican is determined to put them there:

Mr. Sellars, 44, is one of a dozen people in Alamance County in North Carolina who have been charged with voting illegally in the 2016 presidential election. All were on probation or parole for felony convictions, which in North Carolina and many other states disqualifies a person from voting. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison.

“That’s the law,” said Pat Nadolski, the Republican district attorney in Alamance County. “You can’t do it. If we have clear cases, we’re going to prosecute.”

Just a side-note, which is definitely relevant to this discussion: Pat Nadolski lost his Republican Primary for District Attorney a few months ago, which had many hoping he would relent and drop the charges against these folks. But true to form with this crazy election cycle, a local judge retired from the bench, and rumor has it Nadolski will be chosen by local R's to run. We (Alamance Dem executives) just chose our candidate Andy Hanford, who lost to Nadolski in the 2014 Democratic Primary. The year after that Nadolski switched parties to Republican, and has since allied himself with our local Latino-hating tyrant Sheriff Terry Johnson. The reason I (tried to) explain that convoluted mess was to underscore Nadolski's determination to prosecute these folks, who merely made a mistake about their qualifications. He's still got right-wing voters to impress, and maybe a little national attention to garner for himself:

NC GOP wants Supreme Court to scuttle Special Master maps

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Because who needs fair elections anyway:

There is literally no dirty trick these tyrants won't try to remain in power.

Republicans blame Cooper for judicial redistricting confusion

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As usual, Melissa Boughton is on the case:

The Senate voted along party lines Tuesday night to overturn a partial judicial redistricting bill in an apparent attempt to flex its political muscle at Gov. Roy Cooper. Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) told his colleagues it took Cooper 243 hours and 20 minutes to veto Senate Bill 757 and that he (Cooper) wanted to make sure he caused confusion for the election.

“I promise you, he knew the moment it passed the first chamber whether or not he was going to veto this bill,” Hise said. “But instead he wanted to create some chaos. … That’s the way this Governor likes to play, so we’re going to send the message back.”

That's right, they are accusing the Governor of following the law, which specifies how much time he has to sign, Veto, or allow a bill to become law without his signature. Make no mistake, those judicial candidates who are forced to refile know exactly who to blame, the meddlers in the General Assembly:

All you need to know on GOP Early Voting shenanigans

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US Supreme Court rules in favor of Ohio voter purge

Submitted by scharrison on

When Fascism creeps in using specious and thin arguments:

Respondents point out that Ohio’s Supplemental Process uses a person’s failure to vote twice: once as the trigger for sending return cards and again as one of the requirements for removal. Respondents conclude that this use of nonvoting is illegal.

We reject this argument because the Failure-to-Vote Clause, both as originally enacted in the NVRA and as amended by HAVA, simply forbids the use of nonvoting as the sole criterion for removing a registrant, and Ohio does not use it that way. Instead, as permitted by subsection (d), Ohio removes registrants only if they have failed to vote and have failed to respond to a notice.

The very idea that not (continually) exercising a Constitutional right is grounds for an erosion of that right is such an affront to democracy I don't even know where to start. Aside from the fact we get so much junk mail we end up accidentally throwing away important correspondence on a regular basis, just the process of them "chasing down" non-voters ticks me off. And when it's based on a totally manufactured and proven fake crisis (voter fraud), it's even more infuriating. But I'll let Stephen Breyer do the rest of the talking:

Dear NCDP: Win the suburbs, win the state

Submitted by scharrison on

Because that is where 2018's biggest battles will be fought:

In Illinois primary elections on Tuesday, the five counties that wrap around Chicago's Cook County saw Democrats cast almost five times as many ballots as they did four years ago, ahead of a midterm romp for the GOP. Republicans, meanwhile, saw their turnout drop by almost a quarter of what it was in 2014.

The national Republican money machine is focusing heavily on defending the suburbs. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee aligned with Speaker Paul Ryan, has opened field offices in 30 Republican-held districts, with plans eventually to spend more than $100 million in as many as three dozen.

If you look at the graph above, you will see Republicans took 64% of the suburban vote in North Carolina in 2016. They actually did better in the suburbs than rural areas, which should freak you out more than a little, frankly. Why? Because suburban voters have a (much) higher percentage of college graduates than their rural counterparts. And yet, they voted for a card-carrying idiot for President. We're seeing a big shift in suburban voting nationwide during these special elections, but we can't assume that will happen here, in the absence of a huge effort by Dems to retake *our* suburbs. The thing to keep in mind, and I don't want to come off as too elitist here: The higher education level of the suburbs also means having information presented to them in a tactful manner may generate more (and better) results than those efforts would elsewhere. They have the background to make the right decisions, but they need a little push to do so.

Trial over Judicial Primary cancellation will begin in June

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Which ironically is just 11 days before the postponed Judicial filing period begins:

A trial over the legality of a North Carolina law canceling primary elections this year for state appellate court judgeships is scheduled for late spring.

During a hearing Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joi Peake set a June 7 trial date and other filing and evidence deadlines.

Nine days ago I penned an Op-Ed for submission to a regional newspaper, but recent (unfortunate) developments at that publication have made that submission moot. But these words need to be published, and I encourage you to take an extra few minutes to consider the following:

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