The GOP has long realized that their old worn out brand is not working anymore. The far-right base is the only reliable vote they have.
The Republicans old playbook of campaign tactics aren’t sitting well with people. The use of negative campaign ads, telling a women what to do with their reproductive organs and who should marry whom, is not sitting well with the voting public. After much deliberation and forethought, they decided they would purge the state voter registration lists. The GOP can take the vote away from staunch liberals and independents with impunity.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, loves the idea. ThinkProgress reported that:
Last year, even before Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) voter purge that initially targeted 180,000 people was pared down by a court settlement, all of the state’s county election supervisors ? including 30 Republicans ? refused to execute the purge, arguing the state’s method for removing potential non-citizens from the voter rolls was both inaccurate and illegal. Scott went forward anyway, with a . . smaller purge . . . 198 potential non-citizen voters. But even that effort turned up almost nothing at all.
Now the GOP wants to bring Virginia into the fray: “With two months until Virginians decide which of two polar opposites — Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli — will be their next governor, tens of thousands of voters could be removed from the rolls in a statewide purge. Approximately 57,000 Virginians have been flagged as being registered in another state, and counties are removing some from the voter rolls without any notice or opportunity to rebut the claim.”
Flagging voter registrations for address problems is time consuming. Keyes continues, “The deadline to register in Virginia is October 14, less than six weeks away.” That is no time for “improperly registered Virginians to get their voting rights back.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democratic National Committee Chair, wrote “Too often, these Republican-led so-called anti-voter fraud efforts are nothing more than thinly veiled attempts to disqualify voters that reek of politics.”
Encouragement and making it easier to vote are what states should be doing to help voters enter voting booths. However, voting is political and the GOP wants to make sure Joe Citizen doesn’t forget it. The loss of our voting rights at the hands of the Republican Party undermines the essence of Democracy.
Encouragement and making it easier to vote are what states should be doing to help voters enter voting booths. However, voting is political and the GOP wants to make sure Joe Citizen doesn’t forget it. The loss of our voting rights at the hands of the Republican Party undermines the essence of Democracy.
Richard Andrew is a guest blogger for Ring of Fire.
