Starving the Vote

Forget the polls; if millions of Obama voters arrive on Nov. 4 only to be told they cannot vote because they lack the specific, rare and expensive proof of identification local repugs demand, then Mitt Romney and the repugs will take this country in a silent coup.

Turnout is everything - and voter suppression is how repugs win turnout.

The good news is that the Obama campaign appears to be actually fighting back against repug election fraud.

Ed Kilgore at the Washington Monthly:

And speaking of the states, anyone interested in politics at all should read Michael Shear’s rundown in the New York Times about the Obama campaign’s plans for counteracting the effects of new voter ID laws and other elements of the GOP’s ongoing “war on voting.” It’s in theory a Plan B, since many of these laws are being challenged in the courts. But given the tendency of the courts to give states considerable leeway in this area, it’s a Plan B that we might as well expect to be executed.

Here’s a taste of what the Obama ops are dealing with in three battleground states:

In Wisconsin, where a new state law requires those registering voters to be deputized in whichever of the state’s 1,800 municipalities they are assigned to, the campaign sent a team of trainers armed with instructions for complying with the new regulations.

In Florida, the campaign’s voter registration aides traveled across the state to train volunteers on a new requirement that voter registration signatures be handed in to state officials within 48 hours after they are collected.

And in Ohio, Mr. Obama’s staff members have begun reaching out to let voters know about new laws that discourage precinct workers from telling voters where to go if they show up at the wrong precinct.

And these issues are just the tip of the iceberg, with restrictions on early voting opportunities, fights over the voting rights of ex-felons, funding shortages (real or contrived) for election administration all in play. That’s before, of course, we even get to the usual last-minute shenanigans—registration list “purges,” last-minute changes in polling places, voter disinformation and intimidation schemes—Republicans have routinely deployed in recent elections to keep down the vote, particularly in minority precincts.

We keep hearing that the Obama campaign’s ace-in-the-whole this year is its heavy investment in field infrastructure, especially as compared to a late-starting Romney campaign heavily reliant on Super-PAC funding mostly earmarked for attack ads. Looks like they will need every bit of it.

Because this is going on everywhere:

Applewhite, a 93-year-old widow in Pennsylvania, who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil-rights movement, has voted in nearly every election for the last-half century.

She will not, however, be allowed to cast a ballot this year because Pennsylvania Republicans have created a voter-ID law -- and after her purse was stolen, Applewhite doesn't have the proper materials she never needed to vote before. She's now working with the state ACLU to challenge the state's voting restrictions.

Kevin Drum thinks the danger is exaggerated:

As contemptible as this is, especially given the mountains of evidence that voter fraud is a minuscule problem in America, this article exposes the flip side of all this: more than likely, the Republican plan to suppress voter turnout won't work in the long run. The effect of these laws is fairly small in the first place, and even that small effect will probably melt away as Democrats chahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnge their voter registration tactics. In states that require photo ID, Democrats will get aggressive about making sure potential voters have ID. In states with new restrictions on early voting, Democrats will change their tactics and concentrate more on election day. Etc.

None of this lets Republicans off the hook for their frankly loathsome efforts to suppress the votes of groups they don't like. But it does mean they're probably wasting their time. In the end, the impact is likely to be pretty small.

I wish he were right. But he's not.

Kilgore again:

But a less well-known phenonmenon might be called “bankrupting the vote,” as states and localities (particular cities with heavily Democratic electorates) struggling with fiscal crises simply can’t afford to adequately staff and administer elections.

Patricia Zengerle of Reuters has a must-read report on this phenomenon:

In Detroit, the city clerk warned last week that the Rust Belt city would have trouble holding the November 6 presidential election under a slimmed-down budget the mayor proposed to address years of deep financial problems.

In Jefferson County, Alabama, the local government was so short of cash for elections that it used road repair crews to staff the state’s Republican presidential primary last month.

And in South Carolina, a $500,000 shortfall after the state’s Republican primary in January led elections officials to consider a sponsorship deal with comedian Stephen Colbert, who plays a mock conservative pundit on his late-night TV show.

With cities and counties across the United States in dire financial straits, many local officials are struggling to come up with the millions of dollars they will need to hold the November 6 elections. That is likely to mean fewer election workers and long lines for voters, which could reduce turnout.

It is a problem that could affect candidates and political parties in November but particularly President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats, who are relying on support from big cities such as Detroit.

Worse yet, the “war on voting” can immensely increase the financial pressures on local voting administration, enhancing the suppressive effect.

New, stricter voter registration laws in some states such as Florida could exacerbate the problem by raising the need for more elections workers to verify voters’ eligibility.

Local governments across the nation are planning to shift costs - putting off road repairs for a few days while transit crews work on elections, or borrowing workers from other departments to help count votes.

But they also are laying off staff who would have helped with voter questions, and cutting back the hours that polls are open.

Besides raising constitutional questions about whether some people will have enough opportunity to vote, the situation could have an impact on close elections, analysts say.

No kidding. I try not to be a broken record on this, but this country’s failure to do anything after 2000 to significantly reduce state and local disparities in how elections are conducted invites another Florida disaster. Indeed, with Rick Scott’s Florida at the center of the “war on voting,” Florida could well produce another Florida.

But it’s particularly interesting to watch Republicans simultaneously promote austerity policies for state and local governments and new restrictions on voting. Many conservatives favor the former as an end in itself, but are receiving a sort of bonus as competent election administration becomes one of those luxuries many jurisdictions can’t quite afford.

You don't have to sit around with crossed fingers hoping Kevin's right about voter suppression in your town. From Firedoglake:

What to do when they’re trying to drive you down: Rise up! In response to GOP efforts, primarily through “Voter ID” laws, to disenfranchise groups of voters more likely to vote Democratic, volunteer organizations in WI, TN and CO are fighting back in very effective ways. Their successful efforts that others can adapt and implement in their own communities and other states are featured in this report made available by Common Cause, Fair Elections Legal Network, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, and Demos.