“Voter suppression” is a term that bounces off most of us. And why not? We’ve never seen it or really heard of it.
So, here is an example: Southern states, in the 1880s-1910s, passed “grandfather clauses” to limit or deny black voting. Here is how they worked: States defined voter eligibility as the sons or grandsons of voters who were eligible in 1866 or before.
Who couldn’t vote in 1866? Blacks. Thus, while grandfather voting laws were neutral on their face, they were 100% discriminatory. Oklahoma’s version of this law was struck down in Guinn v. United States (1915). The ruling said that the “grandfather law” violated the Fifteenth Amendment—granting blacks the right to vote (click on picture of Oklahoma lawmakers who approved this voter suppression law, circa 1908).
The 15th Amendment specifically declared that the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude, and that Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation.
Kris Kobach is giving the voter suppression idea new life. His phony commission met this week in New Hampshire to advance the narrative that massive voter fraud undermined the 2016 election in New Hampshire. What he is really speaking about is 5,000 voters—mostly college students— who lawfully registered to vote in New Hampshire even though they are from another state. Most are presumably liberal, some are people of color. Kobach’s commission is overwhelmingly white.
….
If Kobach wants to play this dirty game, let’s look at older white people—politely called “snow birds”— who live in places such as Illinois and have a second home in Florida. Some snow birds leave colder primary residences by November, are registered to vote in Florida, and are usually wealthy and Republican. Florida is a state that is roughly 50-50 red/blue.
These voters are not a problem for Kobach because they are white.
No comments:
Post a Comment