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Judge says Republican voter suppression tactics "merely cloaked in ostensibly race-neutral language"
Wow, getting right to the heart of the problem "Voter suppression tactics have not disappeared but are now merely cloaked in ostensibly race-neutral language ..."
In his 115-page ruling, Judge Algenon L. Marbley ... found that rule changes regarding the casting and counting of absentee ballots are racially discriminatory.
From dKos: This week in the war on voting: A million-plus CA ballots left to count; another Husted appeal in OH
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has appealed a second ruling tossing out Ohio voting laws. ....
Judge Michael H. Watson, appointed by George W. Bush, made his 120-page ruling May 24. He stated that the GOP-run Ohio legislature in 2014 had violated the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights Act by cutting the period of early voting from 35 to 28 days. Lawmakers also got rid of “Golden Week,” a period when citizens could register to vote and cast an absentee ballot simultaneously. These moves disproportionately affected blacks, according to Watson, who pointed out in his ruling that African Americans took advantage of Golden week three-and-a-half times as much as did white voters in 2008 and five times as much as in 2012.
Watson ruled on Thursday evening that Golden Week must be reinstated ....
Judge Michael H. Watson, appointed by George W. Bush, made his 120-page ruling May 24. He stated that the GOP-run Ohio legislature in 2014 had violated the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights Act by cutting the period of early voting from 35 to 28 days. Lawmakers also got rid of “Golden Week,” a period when citizens could register to vote and cast an absentee ballot simultaneously. These moves disproportionately affected blacks, according to Watson, who pointed out in his ruling that African Americans took advantage of Golden week three-and-a-half times as much as did white voters in 2008 and five times as much as in 2012.
Watson ruled on Thursday evening that Golden Week must be reinstated ....
The appeals are likely going nowhere and the fall election will not be impacted by the new racist Republican voter suppression laws. Judge Marbley simply called it racism!
.... In his 115-page ruling, Judge Algenon L. Marbley ...found that rule changes regarding the casting and counting of absentee ballots are racially discriminatory. ....
At issue in the case were changes made in the voting law requiring that absentee ballots be tossed if they had technical errors in their name, address or date of birth. Another prohibited poll workers from helping a voter unless they could show they were illiterate or disabled. A third shortened the period during which voters could fix errors in their ballots. In knocking down these changes that Husted is appealing, Marbley noted that he found them to be part of a climate of “racial appeals” by state political leaders:
........
At issue in the case were changes made in the voting law requiring that absentee ballots be tossed if they had technical errors in their name, address or date of birth. Another prohibited poll workers from helping a voter unless they could show they were illiterate or disabled. A third shortened the period during which voters could fix errors in their ballots. In knocking down these changes that Husted is appealing, Marbley noted that he found them to be part of a climate of “racial appeals” by state political leaders:
“From an email from a top Republican Party official denigrating the ‘urban—read African-American—voter turnout machine’ to racist appeals like the ‘Obama phone lady’ ad, Ohio has seen both overt and subtle racial appeals in campaigns over the last several years. Moreover, the targeting of minority communities for anti-voter fraud efforts, including with billboards, is an indication that voter suppression tactics have not disappeared but are now merely cloaked in ostensibly race-neutral language. Old dogs, it seems, can learn new tricks.”
........
A great comment: "The Republican Party has the Majority in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, not because they represent the majority of voters, but because they have systematically attacked the rights of people to vote."
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