Republicans know that, if the coming election is a fair one, they will lose. That’s why they are doing everything they can to strip likely Democratic voters of their right to vote. I’m pleased to see that Democrats are filing suits to prevent Republican attempts at election theft.
Democrats allied with Hillary Rodham Clinton are mounting a nationwide legal battle 17 months before the 2016 presidential election, seeking to roll back Republican-enacted restrictions on voter access that Democrats say could, if unchallenged, prove decisive in a close campaign.
The court fights began last month with lawsuits filed in Ohio and Wisconsin, presidential battleground states whose governors are likely to run for the Republican nomination. Now, Democrats are attacking a host of measures, including voter identification requirements that they consider onerous, time restrictions imposed on early voting that they say could make it difficult to cast ballots the weekend before Election Day, and rules that could nullify ballots cast in the wrong precinct.The effort, which is being led by a lawyer whose clients include Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, reflects an urgent practical need, Democrats say: to get litigation underway early enough so federal judges can be persuaded to intervene in states where Republicans control legislatures and governor’s offices. But Republicans dismiss it as little more than a publicity gambit to energize minority voters in support of Democratic candidates.
A similar lawsuit was begun last year in North Carolina. Other potential fronts in the pre-emptive legal offensive, Democrats say, could soon be opened in Georgia, Nevada and the increasingly critical presidential proving ground of Virginia.
Almost all of those states have growing African-American or Hispanic populations, groups crucial to Mr. Obama in 2012 but whose voting rights Democrats say could be impinged next year, damaging the party’s prospects…
Inserted from <NY Times>
I fully support these efforts. Republicans want elections to become meaningless exercoses held for show only, because they get to decide who is allowed to vote.
18 Responses to “Democrats Sue to Prevent Election Theft”
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And this summary of what Republicans are doing does not even mention Evenwel v Abbott, which may be the scariest of all. If the principle of "one person, one vote" is allowed to be changed into "one registered voter, one vote" for the purpose of forming Congressilan Districts, we can say goodbye to Democracy anywhere in the United States for the foreseeable futire.
P.S. Petition on what the article DOES address:
https://action.dccc.org/page/s/hrc-voting-rights
Petition signed.
I also signed the petition.
signed
Signed.
Been There. Signed that! Thanks!
I signed it, also!
I am proud to see the Democrats are finally fighting back. It seems that our party has hunched for cover for too many years now, not standing for what we believe and hiding from being called liberal. The new term is" progressive", of course, but I will never call myself anything but liberal.
"Democrats allied with Hillary Rodham Clinton are mounting a nationwide legal battle 17 months before the 2016 presidential election, seeking to roll back Republican-enacted restrictions … "
The way this is worded, it implies that not all Democrats are involved in the suit, but they should be! IMO, if the Democrats want to be successful in retaking the Congress and keeping the White House in 2016, they have to be united because Lord knows, the street fighter Republicanus/Teabaggerum will not fight by the Marquess of Queensberry rules!
That said, if Democrats are successful with these suits, the voters are the winners as it should be! And these are not frivolous lawsuits like the one launched by Boehner against Obama. The Republicanus/Teabaggerum obstructionists are nothing more than pissants!
I agree that all Democrats should get on board.
""Democrats allied with Hillary Rodham Clinton are mounting a nationwide legal battle 17 months before the 2016 presidential election, seeking to roll back Republican-enacted restrictions … "
"The way this is worded, it implies that not all Democrats are involved in the suit, but they should be!" – Amen, Lynn, Amen!!
Hillary wants to make it easier to vote: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hillary-clinton-calls-for-automatic-universal-voter-registration/ar-BBkHEIc?ocid=ansnewshp11
Note that she is using Oregon as her example.
I can't say it often enough, but I'm so glad the Dutch use the proportional voting method for all elections (if party X gets Y% of the votes, party X also gets Y% of the seats), no primaries, no districts, no first past the post etc. and if you are a Dutch citizen or have lived here for a number of years, your eligible to vote as soon as you turn 18, no registration necessary. For presidential elections you'd need some additional rules, but we manage well without one 😉 so that's no issue.
However, America has not and the way the deck is stacked against Democrats now, Democratic candidates for the presidency as well as Congress should do everything in their power to make the voting process as democratic (no capital D) as possible. And yes, that may well bring some a publicity which may energize minority voters to vote Democrat, but it's about time they did, isn't it.
I prefer the proportional parliamentary method as well. We could make our system fairer by requiring a true majority, not just a plurality. We could avoid runoffs by alliwing voters to pick first, second and third choices, moving down their lists, until a true majority is reached.
Thanks all!
It is passed time to get this stuff going.