Tearing down the foundation

Tearing down the foundation

by digby

I realize that it’s fashionable at the moment to not care who wins elections because there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between any of them, but I suspect it still will matter quite a bit on the margins (which translates to the lives of millions of everyday Americans) if the Republicans win the presidency and both houses of congress at this peak moment of lunacy. Therefore, this is a problem:

Restrictive voting laws in states across the country could affect up to five million voters from traditionally Democratic demographics in 2012, according to a new report by the Brennan Center. That’s a number larger than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections.

The new restrictions, the study found, “fall most heavily on young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities. This wave of changes may sharply tilt the political terrain for the 2012 election.”

The study found that:

These new laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.

The states that have already cut back on voting rights will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012 – 63 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency.

Of the 12 likely battleground states, as assessed by an August Los Angeles Times analysis of Gallup polling, five have already cut back on voting rights (and may pass additional restrictive legislation), and two more are currently considering new restrictions.

These voting law changes are radical and completely unnecessary,” Wendy. R. Weiser, a co-author of the report, said in a statement. “They especially hurt those who have been historically locked out of our electoral system, like minorities, poor people, and students. Often they seem precisely targeted to exclude certain voters.”

I suppose if we are giving up entirely on democracy then this isn’t of interest. But just in case we decide someday that the old, creaky process might be useful, it would probably be good to still have it in place.

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