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Jim Dean: Cheating Us Our Rights
Written by: Jim Dean on Jan 18, 2012 1:20 PM EST
The 2012 Presidential race has begun and people all over the country are gearing up to cast their vote for president come November. While the 2008 election saw more people turn out to vote in over a decade, as many as 5 million voters will be restricted from voting in this upcoming election.
It’s no surprise that those disenfranchised voters include African Americans, Latinos, elderly, students and others. Why? It’s all part of a larger Republican strategy – to restrict voting rights to people who have traditionally voted for democratic candidates. Almost five decades ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, outlawing discriminatory voting practices. The bills champion, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, fought tirelessly to expand voting rights to all Americans. As we celebrate his legacy this week we need to keep a keen eye on every attempt to keep Americans from the polls.
Voter identification laws have been popping up throughout the United States since 2005 when Indiana passed its voter identification law. Last year alone we saw a dozen more states pass voter identification laws including South Carolina, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan, and Ohio. In the key battleground state of Ohio, House Bill 194 that is set for referendum in 2012 would disenfranchise as many as 900,000 voters. That alone could turn the tide for any Republican running for President and allow the GOP to gain Ohio’s 88 delegates along with a clear path of victory to claim the White House.
As bills passed last year become law, voters across the country must stay diligent – if Republicans are allowed to use voter identification laws to cover up their attempt to steal elections, more and more Americans will continue to lose their basic right to participate in the democratic process. The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that the 25 laws passed last year could potentially prevent as many as 5 million voters from being able to cast a ballot for President – let alone for any other issues or candidate. 5 million voters is a significant number of voters, especially if you consider in the 2008 presidential contest 131 million Americans cast a ballot for president. 5 million voters could very easily exceed the margin of victory for the 2012 presidential election.
More: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/blog_posts/37826-cheating-us-our-rights
The 2012 Presidential race has begun and people all over the country are gearing up to cast their vote for president come November. While the 2008 election saw more people turn out to vote in over a decade, as many as 5 million voters will be restricted from voting in this upcoming election.
It’s no surprise that those disenfranchised voters include African Americans, Latinos, elderly, students and others. Why? It’s all part of a larger Republican strategy – to restrict voting rights to people who have traditionally voted for democratic candidates. Almost five decades ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, outlawing discriminatory voting practices. The bills champion, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, fought tirelessly to expand voting rights to all Americans. As we celebrate his legacy this week we need to keep a keen eye on every attempt to keep Americans from the polls.
Voter identification laws have been popping up throughout the United States since 2005 when Indiana passed its voter identification law. Last year alone we saw a dozen more states pass voter identification laws including South Carolina, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Michigan, and Ohio. In the key battleground state of Ohio, House Bill 194 that is set for referendum in 2012 would disenfranchise as many as 900,000 voters. That alone could turn the tide for any Republican running for President and allow the GOP to gain Ohio’s 88 delegates along with a clear path of victory to claim the White House.
As bills passed last year become law, voters across the country must stay diligent – if Republicans are allowed to use voter identification laws to cover up their attempt to steal elections, more and more Americans will continue to lose their basic right to participate in the democratic process. The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that the 25 laws passed last year could potentially prevent as many as 5 million voters from being able to cast a ballot for President – let alone for any other issues or candidate. 5 million voters is a significant number of voters, especially if you consider in the 2008 presidential contest 131 million Americans cast a ballot for president. 5 million voters could very easily exceed the margin of victory for the 2012 presidential election.
More: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/blog_posts/37826-cheating-us-our-rights