The Justice Department Is Investigating Voter Suppression In Arizona

If you don’t think there’s a problem with voter suppression in this country look no further than Arizona’s primary on March 22, 2016 … which is what the U.S. Department of Justice is doing.

The DOJ has notified officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, that it is investigating the chaos from the recent primary election when many voters waited in lines up to five hours long after the county cut the number of polling places from 200 in 2012 to just 60 last month; and that was down from 2008 when there were over 400 polling places in the county..

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division sent a letter to Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell that included a 10-point list of items and information the federal government is requesting.

During the chaos, Purcell blamed the voters, even though she was the one who’d decided to cut the number of polling places in the county; in fact, the number of elections was cut so drastically, that there was just one polling place for every 21,000 voters. Additionally, some voters who say they had registered as Democrats were not allowed to vote normally because, oddly enough, their affiliation was listed as independent, and only those registered as Democrats or Republicans were allowed to vote in their respective party's primaries.

And Purcell didn’t expect chaos? Bitch, please.

Voters were still in line past 10PM — voting was set to close at 7PM in 20 of the 60 sites, so people stood in line for three hours to cast their vote.

The DOJ wants to know how county election officials determined how many polling places were needed, and why the number was cut by two-thirds, and whether or not the impact on minority voters were examined. If it widely known that limiting the number of polling locations disproportionately affects minorities and the working poor, who have a harder time finding transportation to polling locations and are less likely to have the time needed to wait in long lines.

Of course they weren’t “examined” because it’s Arizona.

NCRM

Alabama Passes Voter ID Law, Closes Most Driver's License Offices In Predominately Black Counties

The GOP is at it again …

In 2011, Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a voter ID law that requires a driver’s license or a form of government ID in order to vote.

And now, in 2015, driver’s license offices are being closed in eight of the 10 counties with the highest percentage of non-white voters, and soon driver’s license offices will be closed in every Alabama county where more than 75% of registered voters are black.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what Alabama is doing. They want to make sure black voters can’t vote; of course, it doesn’t hurt that these counties are also home to mostly other minorities as well, so the plan seems to be to keep the voters in Alabama white.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund notes that, according to the state's own analysis, “approximately 20 percent of registered voters, or 500,000 people, lack Alabama driver’s licenses or non-driver photo IDs" and says that the closures "very likely violate" the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.

But, naturally, Terry Lathan, the chair of the Alabama Republican Party says something different:

“There have been quick and efficient plans to accommodate any registered voter in Alabama who needs a free photo voter ID. No voter will be denied that opportunity regardless of where they reside in our state. Most voters already have some type of government picture identification, but for those that don't they will find it easy to acquire one in Alabama.”

But if that’s the case, then why close offices in minority counties only? Why not in the predominantly white counties as well?

Oh yeah. Alabama. GOP. Racism. Voter suppression.

NCRM

The Funny Papers

Black People Are Registering To Vote In Ferguson and The GOP Calls It 'Disgusting'

Is it any wonder why Michael Brown was murdered in Ferguson? I mean, the population is mostly black, but the mayor is white, as are five of the six city council members; and apparently only three of the 53 Ferguson police officers are black.

It’s quite clear the black community in Ferguson is underrepresented in both city government and on the police force. And there is an effort, in the wake of Brown’s murder, to change that; Ferguson has a 12% voter participation rate.

There is a massive drive to register black voters in Ferguson and not everyone is happy about that because, as Matt Wills, the Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party seems to suggest, blacks vote for Democrats and whites vote for Republicans.

In an interview with Breitbart News, Wills seems really poised off about the voter registration booths popping up in Ferguson:

“If that’s not fanning the political flames, I don’t know what is. I think it’s not only disgusting but completely inappropriate.”

No, Wills, it’s actually trying to make sure that the black community is not only represented in government, but that the black community has a voice and is heard, especially in a place where they are the majority being governed and policed by the minority. But then Will calls the murder of Michael Brown a tragedy for everyone:

“This is not just a tragedy for the African American community this is a tragedy for the Missouri community as well as the community of what we call America. Injecting race into this conversation and into this tragedy, not only is not helpful, but it doesn’t help a continued conversation of justice and peace.”

It’s a tragedy for the Brown family; it’s a disgrace for this country, because, once again, we have a young black, unarmed man being gunned down in the street for no apparent reason except for being on the street and being black.

And trying to get the black community involved in politics, represented in government, represented on the police force, giving them a voice in their own community is the best thing the people of Ferguson can do in the memory of Michael Brown.

And it’s telling how afraid this makes the GOP.

via NCRM

The Height of GOP Stupidity, Part Nine: John Boehner Hopes Blacks and Latinos 'Won't Show Up' To The Polls

Down in Tampa, for the Republican National Convention, aka Hate-a-palooza, House Speaker John Boehner seems to have admitted that his party's strategy for winning in November doesn't suppose that the GOP can win over some black and Latino voters, but hopes they won't vote at all. 

Boehner wasn't talking about voter I.D. laws, which are being pushed by Republicans and criticized as disenfranchising minority and poor voters, but he did tell a luncheon hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Tampa Monday that the Republican Party was counting on apathy from the Latinos and blacks who are choosing Democrats over Republicans by record margins in recent polls:

“This election is about economics… These groups have been hit the hardest. They may not show up and vote for our candidate but I’d suggest to you they won’t show up and vote for the president either.”

Not a big stretch for the GOP, if you remember that Doug Priesse, chair of the Franklin County, Ohio, Republican Party, allowed that restrictions on early voting hours and voter ID laws were meant to keep blacks from voting: 

"I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine… Let’s be fair and reasonable."

It seems pretty clear that this is the GOP. They aren't so much about winning the election on merit as they are about preventing the people who might vote for Barack Obama from doing so.

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