The Voter Purges Are Coming

[applegrove]

By VANITA GUPTA at the NY Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/opinion/donald-trump-voting-rights-purge.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

"SNIP...........


Lost amid the uproar over the commission’s request was a letter sent at the same time by the Justice Department’s civil rights division. It forced 44 states to provide extensive information on how they keep their voter rolls up-to-date. It cited the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, known as the Motor-Voter law, which mandates that states help voters register through motor vehicle departments.

The letter doesn’t ask whether states are complying with the parts of the law that expand opportunities to register. Instead it focuses on the sections related to maintaining the lists. That’s a prelude to voter purging.

Usually the Justice Department would ask only a single state for data if it had evidence the state wasn’t complying with Motor-Voter. But a blanket request to every state covered under that law is virtually unprecedented. And unlike the commission, the Justice Department has federal statutory authority to investigate whether states are complying with the law.

These parallel efforts show us exactly how the Trump administration will undertake its enormous voter suppression campaign: through voter purges. The voter rolls are the key. Registration is one of the main gateways to political participation. It is the difference between a small base of voters pursuing a narrow agenda and an electorate that looks like America.


...............SNIP"

[cbreezen]

1. Voters are removing themselves from the voter rolls...

I'm sure the Commission knew people would self-purge. (no bulimia jokes, please)

[Algernon Moncrieff]

2. The party will have to work to educate voters

We were on top of that in 08, and frankly slacked off the last two cycles.

[Ilsa]

3. They are making people go to court, repeatedly, to prove their citizenship

in some of these states that are purging names

[aquamarina]

4. You know,

people need to own their vote. They need to be responsible and make sure their information is correct right NOW so that come next November they are ready to go. I get that these cretins are doing everything they can to suppress votes but at a certain point it is up to each individual person to make sure they are registered correctly. And if you live in a district known for shenanigans call the Board of Elections to find out what the rules are and/or elect to vote absentee. I can only speak to what is allowed in California but I am a registered permanent absentee voter. Not only do I get my ballot early, I get plenty of time to actually research candidates and issues and I can either mail in my ballot or walk to a polling station and drop it in an election box. If it is allowed, I highly recommend registering to vote absentee - no hassles as polling stations, no need to produce ID and ample time to research candidates and issues.

My god, how many more election cycles are we going to let ourselves continue to be victimized by republicans.

[Useless in FL]

5. This is the scariest request of all....

this is the slippery slope. We must be prepared.

[spanone]

6. that's the entire point of the 'committee'