North Carolina a despicable model for racist voter suppression
On Friday, a federal appeals court struck down North Carolina’s transparently racist voter suppression law, stating that it was intentionally designed to discriminate against groups that traditionally vote Democratic.
According to this PBS Frontline article (brace yourself to be enraged):
The court said that in crafting the law, the Republican-controlled general assembly requested and received data on voters’ use of various voting practices by race. It found that African American voters in North Carolina are more likely to vote early, use same-day voter registration and straight-ticket voting. They were also disproportionately less likely to have an ID, more likely to cast a provisional ballot and take advantage of pre-registration.
Then, the court said, lawmakers restricted all of these voting options, and further narrowed the list of acceptable voter IDs…
Nothing to see here, right? Move right along, folks.
Republicans are immensely talented at couching their true intentions behind some stated objective that they know the public will find more socially acceptable.
Transphobic laws are justified under the dubious guise of “bathroom safety.”
Homophobic proposals are marketed under the premise that they’re aimed at “protecting our children.”
And racist voter suppression packages are trumpeted as critical measures to safeguard against (nearly nonexistent) “voter fraud.”
The problem is, the majority of the provisions in North Carolina’s Jim Crow-style law had nothing whatsoever to do with preventing fraud:
North Carolina’s bill extended beyond requiring a state-issued photo ID at the polls. The law cut early voting days and banned same-day voter registration, eliminated straight-ticket voting, which allows voters to choose all candidates from a single party by checking one box; and introduced more restrictions on casting provisional ballots. It prohibited pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, who previously were allowed to indicate their intent to vote when applying for a driver’s license. The law also allowed for more poll watchers and made it easier to challenge voters or their ballots.
Needless to say, reducing early voting and eliminating straight-ticket voting, same-day registration, and pre-registration for teens all has zero to do with “fraud.” It has everything to do with disenfranchising groups who aren’t likely to vote Republican.
If you listen to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory attempt to defend his state’s now-defunct racist voting law, you’ll notice that he’ll mention the voter ID part over and over and over again. Conveniently, he’ll make no mention whatsoever of the elimination of straight-ticket voting or the reduction of early voting. That’s very intentional. Understandably, he hopes the public won’t notice those components.
Similarly, when he talks about his state’s infamous “bathroom law” that recently cost it the NBA All-Star game, he won’t say a word about how the law also eliminates all anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people in North Carolina, blocks workers from bringing discrimination claims in state court, and bars municipalities from setting their own minimum wages or requiring companies to provide paid sick leave.
Those omissions on McCrory’s part are also very intentional. Again, it’s all about masking the law’s true intent.
North Carolina Republicans announced their voter suppression plans the day after the Supreme Court struck down portions of the Voting Rights Act that required states with a history of voter discrimination to submit any voting law changes to the federal government for approval.
Surely the timing was pure coincidence, right?
For now, it’s obviously a huge victory that this despicable law was cut down. But we can rest assured that Republicans in North Carolina and elsewhere won’t stop trying to suppress the vote.
After all, it’s quite astounding the measures that a ruling political party will take once they’ve decided they can’t possibly win elections without cheating.
