Friday, March 16, 2007

New York Times Calls Republican Allegations of "Voter Fraud" Bogus

If you click on the link in this entry's title, you can read an editorial in the New York Times that points out that when Republican party officials use the term "voter fraud" they really mean voter suppression. Since 1960 Republicans have argued that Democrats use "voter fraud" to win elections. This supposed "voter fraud" is how they justify passing legislation that suppresses the vote of minorities and poor people. Why? Because such voters don't vote Republican and Republicans think that such voters don't deserve the right to vote.

We have seen this in Ohio. Last year the Republican General Assembly passed requirements that voters show identification when they vote. Interestingly they made the requirements for voting absentee less onerous than the requirements for voting in person. Now if you stop and think about it, there would be more chance that a voter could commit voter fraud by mail than showing up in person at the polls. Yet, the Republican controlled General Assembly ignored that fact when passing its legislation. Why? Because Republicans believe that more Republicans vote absentee than Democrats. Therefore, they rigged the system to give themselves an advantage.

All of this is done because deep down inside a lot of Republicans think they are better than other people. Because they are better, their votes should count more than other people's votes. It really is that simple.

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