A counter assault against restrictive voting rights is – thankfully – busting down barriers erected in sly attempts to make voting difficult if not impossible for many Americans.
These victories are long overdue.
Recently, a federal appeals court struck down a garden variety of voting restrictions in North Carolina, the court declaring the voting laws “disproportionately affected African Americans.” Earlier, another court ruling in Texas shot down that state’s voter I.D. law. It’s notable many of the judges on these courts were appointed by Republicans; thus, it cannot be claimed these appeals courts have been ruling simply because of biases by Democrats.
Those courts are ruling against voting restrictions because it’s so blatantly obvious, to good Democrats and Republicans alike, that those laws were enacted to make the voting process – the foundation of our democracy – difficult to the point of discouragement for blacks, other minorities, students, elderly people and people in poverty.
In the case of North Carolina, the three-judge panel for the Fourth Circuit concluded there is “an inextricable link between race and politics in North Carolina” and lawmakers in that state intentionally imposed restrictions to make it more difficult for blacks to vote.
The judges wrote: “The new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision. They (the new voting laws) constitute inapt remedies for the problems . . . and, in fact, impose cures for problems that did not exist.”
That’s the crux of it right there: problems that did not exist.
Since 2012, these onerous laws have been passed in 15 states, always with the same ridiculous, feeble excuse – that there is serious voting fraud. Studies here, there and everywhere have proven voting fraud is so rare as to be virtually unknown. It is, in fact, the problem that does not exist. The phantom problem. The big lie, the big excuse, to put the squeeze on somebody else’s voting rights. The scoundrels ought to be ashamed of themselves, but of course they’re not.
The floodgates to this undemocratic behavior were opened by the U.S. Supreme Court in one of its two really dumb decisions (the other being “Citizens United”). In 2013, the High Court struck down part of the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act. The provision that was stricken required states to get federal permission before changing any voting procedures. Lest we forget, in the Jim Crow South, all kinds of voting laws were in effect for decades to keep black men and women from voting: a poll tax, a literacy test, restrictive voting hours – to name just three. Then, finally, along came the great 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In 2013, immediately after the Court’s unfortunate ruling, efforts to restrict voting began at once. Even earlier than that, right after the last presidential election, law-making grinches at state levels went into a frenzy of cooking up ways to restrict voting rights.
Many Americans thought then and now, “Well, so what? What’s so bad about making a voter have an ID?”
But make no mistake, these sneaky restrictions go far beyond photo IDs. In the case of North Carolina, for example, same-day voting was eliminated, early voting was reduced and out-of-precinct voting was also hampered.
In Texas, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which generally rules in favor of conservative causes, stated the Texas voting law was not intended to discriminate but had that effect on minority voters, leaving as many as 60,000 potential voters out of the loop in this fall’s presidential election. That was unintended? Say what? Could you repeat that? That’s like saying Donald Trump is not a sexist, that he only keeps spouting crude sexist remarks, but he doesn’t really mean them. The outcome, it certainly seems, is proof of the intention. But I suppose we shouldn’t quibble with the Texas court’s decision; at least it ruled for justice.
There are still 20 states that have passed voting restrictions that will be in place for the first time as the Nov. 8 presidential election rolls around. For a full list, go to www.brennancenter.org.
Wouldn’t it be a triumph for Democracy if courts in all of those 20 states struck down voting restrictions once and for all? In the meantime, we should express our outrage by demanding every prospective voter in this country is able to vote without having to encounter obstacles so shamefully placed in their way.
Denying access to the voting process by making that process difficult is just about the most villainous un-American stunt anyone could pull. Let’s make the scoundrels feel some shame. Voting against them would be a good start.
