The prior chair of the Florida Republican Party (2006–2010) and former governor Charlie Crist (2007–2011) have both told the Palm Beach Post that they didn’t push voter ID laws and the like in order to reduce fraud (there is none)—they did it to suppress turnout. The more people voting, the better Democrats do. They invented the fraud concern as a “marketing ploy.” Both men are on the outs with Florida Republicans, and this probably isn’t helping them make up. →
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This is rather stunning to hear said publicly. One more case of the Republicans being on the wrong side of an issue. Early voting is coming and it won’t be pretty for Republicans to have been so wrong on this issue.
Crist has his own axe to swing so I wouldn’t take his word on just about anything right now. We should be doing more to ensure only citizens vote, only vote once, and encourage all of them to vote. I have to provide more proof to buy beer than to vote in most places today.
There is no evidence — and right-wingers have looked hard for any — that there is a real problem with people voting under fake names or voting more than once. No evidence. Why would we spend money and devote energy to addressing a problem that doesn’t exist? As far as “encourage all of them to vote,” that is exactly the point of early voting — make it easier for people to do this very important thing.
To buy a beer, you have to show proof of age. To vote, you have to show proof of your identity. It’s the same amount of “proof” required for either action.
Also you don’t have to provide a physical and mailing address, a DOB, a valid social security number and then sign a legal statement affirming the veracity of that information under penalty of law when you register to purchase that beer not less than 22 days prior to the date of sale as mandated by state code.
But why let trivial details like that get in the way of some really good hyperbole?
The Republican Party hired Republican hack Nathan Sproul’s company, Strategic Allied Consulting (SAC) to run voter registration across the nation. SAC got caught forging hundreds of signatures in Florida in late October. The Republican Party was shocked! Shocked! They fired SAC. One week later an SAC employee, Colin Small, was caught throwing voter registration forms into a Harrisonburg, Virginia dumpster.
You know how you stop crime? You lock criminals up. Republican operatives commit voter fraud to keep the topic alive.
Not suppression, but fake names to get on ballets: http://www.freep.com/article/20120816/NEWS01/308160222/More-fake-petitions-for-Thaddeus-McCotter-discovered
You’d think the GOP would be all over this fraud. This was actual, real fraud – carried out for a decade. Actual felons: http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20121129/NEWS06/211290321
The guy got to be a Congressman for 10 years all predicated on bold, easily identifiable fraud if the current laws were actually enforced. Instead, of, oh, I don’t know, wasting money on voter ID nonsense.