Wasserman Schultz accuses GOP of rigging elections with 'suppression laws'

[cal04]

Source: The Hill

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) on Wednesday night said Republican governors and legislatures are purposefully pressing for the enactment of voter identification laws in order to suppress Democratic voter turnout in the 2012 election.

"State legislatures are attempting to impose voting restrictions that are the modern day equivalent of poll taxes and literacy tests," she said on the House floor. "We cannot allow state legislatures to drag our nation backward in what is nothing more than a political quest to protect their governing majority's interests."

(snip)
"So do we think it's a coincidence that that group of voters, which voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates, now suddenly has their right to vote on that particular Sunday removed from them?" she asked.

(snip)
"It's clear that these Republican legislatures led by Republican governors just don't think that they can win an election on the merits," she continued. "And so… they need an insurance policy, because in the event that voters actually decide that — no, Republicans aren't interested in creating jobs, no, they're not interested in getting the economy turned around, and gee, maybe I'd like to actually go to the polls and vote for the candidate of my choice — they are using the insurance policy of voter suppression laws to make sure that people who are likely to go to the polls and vote for someone other than them can't do it. That's un-American. That's unacceptable."

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/194183-wasserman-schultz-accuses-gop-of-rigging-elections-with-voter-suppression-laws

[babylonsister]

1. Sing it out, it's happening and it's true. Rec'd and thanks for

more attention to this. Drives me crazy it's not talked about more.

[freshwest]

17. +1,000

[valerief]

2. Duh. Not only that. They flip votes with their super secret software electronic voting machines. nt

[tblue]

7. "Duh" was my first reaction.

How long have we known about this? I really thought that the Dems would fix this the minute they had control of Congress and the WH. Better late than never, I guess.

[OnyxCollie]

22. It looks more like "never" than "late." nt

[Shining Jack]

37. +1 n/t

[No Elephants]

39. Zing!

Sorry, Onyx. but I have to steal that expression. It's just too good to leave unplagiarized.

[Sherman A1]

35. Precisely

one wonders where she as been......?

[MarianJack]

3. Up Here in Maine,...

...our bagger governor, on the strength of his 38% of the vote last year, worked with his bagger legislature to eliminate same day voter registration.

I'm very proud that the voters in this state signed the petitions for a People's Veto, which passed overwhelmingly on Election Day. We preserved voter's rights here in this corner of New England.

PEACE!

[provis99]

4. Wasserman-Schultz is a fighter.

I don't agree with a few of her policy positions, but she's a whole lot better than that incompetent Third Way saboteur Tim Kaine.

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

49. She IS tough.

Remember the 2008 Dem primary? She had Hillary's back (forcefully) 'til the end. I had O then and was upset with her, but in retro, she was doing her job, fair and well. D'ja know she had a preventive double mastectomy? I get teary when anyone even mentions Gabby Gifford, but when you see those two girlfriends together- it's near blubbery.

[elleng]

5. DCCC Voter Protection

With the 2012 elections less than a year away, Republicans are relentlessly working to disenfranchise voters nationwide. Up to 5 million voters could be affected with voter suppression laws targeting minorities, seniors, and students around the country.

We will be announcing a major voter protection initiative led by Assistant Leader Jim Clyburn to ensure every American who has the right to vote is able to vote. But we need your help to get going.

We need $100,000 to kick off the DCCC’s Voter Protection Fund. Please contribute by Midnight Friday.

Your generous contribution will go directly to our aggressive Voter Protection initiative and send a powerful message to Republicans that we will not allow them to assault voting rights across the country.

Our democracy is at stake. To win the Majority we need Democrats to be able to get out and vote. Frankly, I lose sleep over the possibility that Republicans' voter suppression could swing the 2012 election. We must fight back against the Republicans' undemocratic election strategy and show grassroots Democrats are united and stronger than ever.

We need your support to ensure we have the resources for the major voter protection initiative we’ll be announcing led by Assistant Leader Jim Clyburn to ensure every American who has the right to vote is able to vote.

Stand with us by contributing right now to help us kick off our Voter Protection Fund.

Thank you,

Rep. Steve Israel
DCCC Chairman

P.S. Republicans are working tirelessly in deliberate and calculated efforts with state governments nationwide to assault Americans’ voting rights. We can’t let them get away with it. Contribute to our Voter Protection Fund today >>

https://secure.dccc.org/page/contribute/vote1?source=11...

[unionworks]

11. don't we pay taxes

To provide for the salary of an attorney General who is supposed to stop this shit?

[elleng]

14. You are registered to vote where? The United States, or A particular state?

Know how the system works?

[OnyxCollie]

28. What was done when former US Attorney

(now US Representative) Tim Griffin disenfranchised voters with caging lists?

Not a damn thing.

But if you just write the DCCC a check...

[shraby]

6. Then why are they dragging their feet to rectify the problem?

[elleng]

8. See post # 5.

[KoKo]

9. Wasserman-Schultz is late to the party action. Here in NC the Repugs have done their dirty deed

and redistricting will lose us three champions of Progressive values in the US House. Plus, if it hadn't been for our Dem Governor's veto we would have had to put up with the Voter ID cards.

She's very late to this. The Repugs started their wreckage right after the 2010 Mid-Term Elections.

She's VERY LATE to be getting on this. PLUS...Eric Holder is holding up the lawsuits against the Redistricting here in NC and other States which gave Repugs the right to gerrymander and cut out the best progressives (here in my state) in favor of the Blue Dog Democrats.

It's a sham... A Day Late and a Dollar Short... Ms. Wasserman-Schultz! Go light a FIRE under Holder's Buttt to get him to work on the Civil Rights Law Suits about Black districts cut up by the Koch Bros and Chamber of Commerce who are tearing apart what was left of the Democratic Party. :grr:

Does she think that we activists here in Party Politics are deaf and compromised? Does she think that we are FOOLS?

[Firebrand Gary]

16. Wasserman-Schultz is late on this. She better get it together AND FAST.

She is performing well under standard if you ask me. Ughhhhhh

I just don't see the clarity, the strength or the stamina to achieve what needs to be achieved in this crucial election cycle.

[ObaMania]

32. She's always late to the party.

Lip service is all it is on her part.

[rocktivity]

10. Rocktivity Fears that Wasserman-Schultz Will Not Employ 50-State Strategy

And Give Away Most Of The DNC's Donations As Consulting Fees

:headbang:
rocktivity

[elleng]

15. Sure is possible. That's what rahm did. WISH Dean were involved.

[bluesmail]

12. All I have to say is

duh

[AllyCat]

13. This is EXACTLY what this is!! These are poll taxes!

Many women who changed their names at marriage are now having trouble registering in some states because their current ID doesn't match their birth certificates. And guess which party women are more likely to vote for? Minorities, the disabled, the elderly...all of these people are not going to have an easy time jumping through all these hoops that have nothing to do with preventing "voter fraud" and everything to do with helping the GOP commit "election fraud"! And it's ILLEGAL!

[meow2u3]

46. Photo ID laws are not direct poll taxes, but are poll taxes nonetheless

Photo ID laws require a voter to pay a tax or fee (a tax by another name) to secure proof of identity, be it a driver's license, state ID, passport, or birth certificate, or otherwise create an undue burden on a voter's access to the polls, amount to an unconstitutional poll tax, or an illegal "test or device" in violation of the Voting Right Act.

This is especially true because it disproportionately disenfranchises minorities, the elderly, and disabled individuals.

I'd like to see if Republicans would like it if there were a law requiring they disclose their financial information to the public before they could vote. :evilgrin:

[AtheistCrusader]

50. This is how I feel about voting in WA now.

All mail-in ballots. At the least, it costs me 45 cents to vote. Moving to almost all electronic bill-pay, this is always a pain in my ass, because I don't stockpile stamps.

[left on green only]

57. Have I missed something?

I am curious to know how you feel confident that whenever you send in a mail-in ballot it will even be counted, before it is disposed of in the trash? Do you just inherently trust that the person who opens the envelope containing your ballot will count it, whether or not it coincides with their political persuasion?

I must confess that I am a bit of an over trusting person, but even I am not naive enough to believe that. I would also ask what makes you believe that whatever false sense of assurance "the man" gives you that your government is honest, isn't easily subverted by the simple will of the person who opens the envelope that contains your ballot?

I would assert that the simple act of voiding your mail-in ballot takes even less effort than "legally" enacting state wide requirements for voter ID cards. And especially so if a person resides in a predominately right wing nazi section of the country, as is the case where I live.

If you live in a section of the country in which a high percentage of the populace just happens to agree with your particular take on all given issues, then I would say that you might proceed with a little more confidence; but other than that, it appears to me that it is worse than just rolling the dice to determine whether or not your mail-in ballot will be tallied.

How would you feel it you knew that your absentee ballot would be opened by an as yet to be convicted criminal like Karl Rove? It could easily happen. The republican party is chock full of people like Karl Rove who just love to do their "patriotic duty" by volunteering to work in gubberment.

corrected typo upon edit.

[AtheistCrusader]

68. Exactly.

We do have online tracking to show that your ballot has been mailed to you, received, and when it was opened, and counted.

Of course, all that shit can be 100% fabricated. No one would ever know.

I do not inherently trust it. I didn't trust paper ballots either.

What would I trust? A 512bit certificate that I can sign my electronic vote with, and that I, and only I, could access a database of all votes and use to 'see' the tally of how I voted on each item, after the fact. So, signing my vote with some sort of encrypted hash, that I have the key for.

And that would be an escalating nightmare to manage, as 256bit SSL is suspect now, and encryption will have to get better and better to keep up.

And what of people with limited access to technology, and limited understanding? They're still out in the cold.

[AllyCat]

52. Guess that is what I mean. I talked to a woman in WI trying to get a copy of her birth cert

and said by the time she was all done with fees, driving around, and what not, it was costing about
$60 and she hasn't even been able to get the "voter ID" yet. This is a joke! The way we did it was FINE. There was no voter fraud, just the election fraud made glorious by Kathy Nicklaus in Waukesha.

[GreenTea]

18. It's ALL true.....fucking republicans!

[EV_Ares]

19. What she & others are saying is all true but the issue is what is going to be done

about it. You can talk it to death but that will not do anything, it is action & whatever is available to use to stop it that will count.

[kimsarah]

20. That's nice of her

to just notice. She's on the ball.

[SoapBox]

21. She is spot on.

Wake up to this GOPBagger shit, America.

[JCMach1]

23. Why isn't the Justice Department challenging this shite all around the country?

... oh wait, I forget Holder is practically useless...

[PragmaticLiberal]

44. The Justice Department is challenging this.

[bertman]

24. The Supreme Court-Appointed Presidency in 2000. The stolen in Ohio election

of 2004. ACORN destroyed by a Republican Pimp. Republican-designed/built voting machines with 'proprietary software' since before 2000

and JUST NOW, a year before the next election, the DNC decides it's time to do something about Republican vote rigging.

Anyone who wonders why we have NO democracy has not been paying attention.

Debbie is a DLC/DNC puppet.

[No Elephants]

26. ACORN was not destroyed by a Republican pimp, or even a pretend pimp.

That fool in a borrowed ladies fur stole or whatever the heck that weird garment was did not have enough smarts to tie his own shoe laces, let alone destroy an organization.

A Democratic Congress passed an UNCONSTITUTIONAL law defunding ACORN and a Democratic Constitutional Law Professor/community organizer signed it.

By the time the court declared the law unconstitutional, though, it was too late. ACORN was gone.

[russspeakeasy]

47. Thanks for putting my thoughts into your words..

[bertman]

59. I'd say that the 'pimp' deserves credit for setting it up for the Democrats. Right?

Without the video the law would never have been introduced.

[No Elephants]

25. Democrats will make a big issue over something like voter Id, but not over

rigged voting machines, even though they have Congressional testimony on those already?

[kimsarah]

29. Kinda makes you wonder ...

[DFW]

27. This is not news. BUT.........

The fact that the Chair of the DNC is willing to say so publicly IS news. Why?

Because NOW the Republicans are forced to either remain silent and confirm her statement, or refute
her claim in public in the face of overwhelming evidence that they are lying their corrupt asses off.

The first Republican governor that smugly says, "prove it" will be met with a wall of physical
evidence as proof. They can neither ignore the charge nor credibly deny it. It is a clever trap.

[kimsarah]

30. Might have been nice

to make a bigger stink about this when GOP legislatures were trying to ram this stuff through. It was plenty well-known at the time.

[diane in sf]

31. Good, now let's get rid of the black box voting too.

[FLAprogressive]

33. This out of one side of her mouth while she works with the GOP on internet suppression....

Please, Debbie.

[liberal N proud]

34. About time some one call this shit what it is

[99th_Monkey]

36. Isn't this like, closing the proverbial barn door?

after the horses are all gone?

.. what the Rethugs have been doing has not been a secret, could have been challenged much more vocally and aggressively by
Obama DOJ YEARs ago, when it might have made a fucking difference, but was it? NO-0-o-o-o.

And where was DWShultz's voice during the rape of America's fair elections by all these state laws req. voter id and all that bull shit.

inquiring minds (at least this one) would like to know.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

54. Absolutely in agreement. Late is somewhat better than never, but....

I fear that we are past the point of an amicable (peaceful) solution.

[99th_Monkey]

64. Only a Terrahist, who hated America, would let such a thing happen!! imho..best call DHS on the lot

of them.. Congress, President, Wall St. Crooks, and oh, and DHS. but wait? DHS is
one of the most draconian Tools of the Shadow Gov.t .. never mind.

[malaise]

38. That is exactly what they are doing

Rec

[Stuart G]

40. k & r thanks for posting...nt

[Enthusiast]

41. Kicked and fucking recommended!

Say it, baby!

[BigD_95]

42. I saw on one show (forget which one)

That Obama won Wis. by around 440,000 votes. That with the new laws it would keep 475,000 from being able to vote. Those people are the ones that voted for Obama. If the new laws were in place Obama would have lost that state.

Thats how important of a issue this is.

[sarcasmo]

43. I have liked her for quite some time now, she is spot on.

[hue]

45. Too true!! (esp in Wisconsin) Thanks for posting! K&R n/t

[certainot]

48. another success for invisible RW talk radio, which has been selling the vote fraud fraud for years

in tandem with constant anti immigration, anti ACORN propaganda which was great for passing ID and other suppression shit.

all day from the loudest radio stations in every state, while the left orgs and the dem party slept.

[sulphurdunn]

51. Reported by whom?

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said on the floor right after Wasserman Schultz spoke that Democrats seem to be downplaying the rampant evidence of voter fraud.

"I find it a bit ironic that I'm watching the representatives from Florida, New York and Texas speak to the speaker pro temp… about the election situation," he said. "I'm thinking about the 2000 election when it was reported… that as many as 25,000 people from New York voted both in New York and in Florida either for a president from Texas or one from Tennessee."

I would very much like to see the evidence for this claim.

[judesedit]

53. Also, get rid of the electorate and e-machines so our votes really count

We don't want either one. Go Debbie. Keep telling it like it is. We are tired of illegal, rigged elections. If in doubt that that's happening, check out Clint Curtis and you will hear first hand. HE did it for them in Ohio for Bush.

[L. Coyote]

55. Rec #120 - Not to mention stealing votes, purging voters illegally, slow registrations etc.

Shaving points involves myriad tactics, including felonies ....

How Kerry Votes Were Switched To Bush Votes
http://www.jqjacobs.net/politics/ohio.html

[quakerboy]

56. Which is to say what?

Do we get to have standardized national voting someday? Or is this just talk?

Seeing as I see no mention of unaccountable black box voting, I am guessing the latter. Empty talk

[mod mom]

58. It's a start although it's more than that.

[DeSwiss]

60. Criminals will steal, Debbie. That, and worse.

- This is what we "progressives" have been trying to tell you all along.......

K&R

[Stuart G]

61. kick again

[Hubert Flottz]

62. It's about time somebody besides you and me noticed.

[defendandprotect]

63. Well, Dems finally noticed -- ???? What have they done since 2000 ....

and, btw, the computers began coming in during the late 1960's -- !!

We should be questioning every election back to NIxon/Humphrey!!

[Mosaic]

65. Fight to have those "laws" repealed

These outrageous anti-Democratic, un-American laws must be REPEALED! You don't let the enemy just run you over, you fight!

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

66. They've been stealing elections all over the U.S. via e-voting for...

...a while now. Wisconsin's Kloppenburg-Prosser race for a seat on the state's Supreme Court was a glaringly obvious example -- almost seemed like they wanted it to be obvious.

[L. Coyote]

67. More like they knew that there was no way to prove it after the fact.

It sure was blatant and followed the typical pattern, highest Dem area shifts to the red the most while everywhere else shifted blue.

http://jqjacobs.net/politics/spreadsheets.html#wisconsin