I am not a legal scholar. My expertise here is non-existent. But I do study ethnic conflict, and I have studied how the rules of elections affect ethnic conflict. So, I guess I have some perspective. Even if I do not, I can take a look at the world and just be gob-smacked. I have been upset and frustrated the past several years whenever I see efforts made to disenfranchise people because of the bogeyman of voter fraud. #voterfraudfraud has been my way of defining this: that the real fraud is perpetuated by those who scream "voter fraud is a threat" when the real aim is to try to offset the demographic changes in the US and the political failures of the Republicans by making it harder for Blacks, Latinos and students from voting. Given the anti-women content of much of the GOP rhetoric these days and how women voted for Obama, I am looking forward to the tactics used by the GOP to select women out of the voting public as well. Perhaps restricting voters from bringing their kids to the polls?
Anyhow, this is all much worse today than yesterday, as the US Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act, which, as one of my twitter friends noted, something for which people died. Some, not all, states had to clear their changes in voting rules with federal officials because of the legacy of discrimination and voter suppression. Chief Justice Roberts apparently argued that the problems have been solved, no more discrimination. He apparently has not been watching the news for the past five or ten years.
Not only does this give the go ahead to the southern states previously covered by the Voting Rights Act, but it sends a strong signal to the Republicans that voter suppression is just swell and they might want to re-double their efforts, knowing that their friends on the court will cover their asses.
Just awful. No other way to think of it. If only I had copyrighted #voterfraudfraud.
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