More resources need to be directed at state legislative races, says Raymond Paultre, the executive director of the Florida Alliance, a network of progressive donors. The New York Times spends many paragraphs arguing that Democrats are “struggling to build a surefire legal strategy to block new Republican-backed restrictions on voting rights,” but without providing much evidence for one. And before pointing out even winning legal strategies are inadequate.
North Carolina Democrats know too well that legal victories take time. Republicans have learned they can run out the clock in court on an entire decade before losing. Then, if they retain control of state redistricting, start the ten-year clock all over:
“Case-by-case litigation in the voting context is time-consuming, costly, and ultimately inadequate because even if you win a case, frequently these kinds of laws remain on the books for one or more election cycle before litigation can be complete, and there’s no way to compensate people after the fact,” said Dale Ho, the director of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, which litigated several major cases last year.
The same week Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared on Fox & Friends to sign a bill making it harder to vote in Florida, and the same week Texas House Republicans passed their own set of new restrictive voting rules, Paultre told the Times:
“We are living in and through sort of the remnants and results of a lack of investments in state infrastructure for the last 30 years,” Mr. Paultre said. “We don’t have a clear way of stopping these bills. Let’s use this as a wake-up call. Let’s get as upset with ourselves as we are with the Republicans.”
Still, Democrats are trying to stop the erosion of democracy through the courts, as they must:
Democrats’ legal case against the Florida law, filed by the party’s top election lawyer, Marc Elias, argues that the legislation violates the First Amendment’s protection of free speech, and the 14th Amendment on the grounds that it would adversely affect people of color. Another suit, filed on Thursday by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, also argues that the law violates the First and 14th Amendments, as well as Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act — because many drop boxes are likely to be moved to indoor locations that are inaccessible to people with disabilities.
Sam Spital, the director of litigation for the legal defense fund, said that while he believed the lawsuits would prevail, the only comprehensive solution to Republican efforts to restrict voting would come from the federal government — both Congress and the Justice Department.
And how does that happen without Democratic control of both Congress and the Justice Department? And without a Supreme Court averse to gutting the Voting Rights Act? And without control of state legislatures to keep Republicans from passing these antidemocratic measures in the first place?
Democrats in Congress are struggling to advance voting rights legislation that would put the brakes on Republican efforts to codify Republican minority rule. But they lack the votes in the Senate to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Building the capacity to beat back Republican efforts begins in state legislatures where in many places Democrats often lack a bench deep enough to build numbers at the federal level.
Republicans’ core ideological principle is contempt for democracy, “Late Night” host Seth Meyers told his audience this week. “Rather than appeal to a majority of voters, [Republicans] would rather just rig the game so they always win,” Meyers said, referencing the Fox News stunt by DeSantis.
From The Guardian:
In a move Meyers called “bizarre and deeply unnerving”, DeSantis signed the bill, which imposes new limits on voting by mail and ballot drop boxes, live in an exclusive for Fox News. “I’m sure [the bill is] bipartisan if they’re signing it exclusively on Fox News,” Meyers deadpanned. “It’s like your spouse saying they have something to tell you, and they want to do it live on Maury.
“Signing the bill on Fox & Friends really gives the game away, doesn’t it?” Meyers continued. “It’s like when a loan shark knocks on your door with two goons on either side – you know what he’s there for.”
Taking them to court is not your best bet for solving the problem.