Civil & Human Rights

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Stephen Hill at The Atlantic calls for states to enact automatic voter registration in the wake of Shelby County v. Holder. So the Voting Rights Act Is Gutted—What Can Protect Minority Voters Now?:

[The] Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder effectively cripples the Voting Rights Act. It flies in the face of a mountain of evidence
of ongoing disenfranchisement — from voter-ID laws to intimidation and
long lines at the polls – and the fact that Republican legislators
continue to push laws designed to disenfranchise targeted communities.
The conservative majority's tortured logic relied on statistical
evidence of reduced inequities between whites and minorities in
voter-registration rates, but as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted in her dissent, voting discrimination has declined because
of the effectiveness of the Voting Rights Acts. Without these
protections to derail attempts to roll back the clock, new setbacks are
inevitable. But, as has been said before of the Roberts Court, "Five
votes beats a reason any day."
So the question is what the heck do those who care about equality and democracy do now?. . .

* * *

The most encouraging option for voting-rights advocates to pursue is automatic voter registration
(sometimes known as universal voter registration). Nearly a quarter of
eligible voters — at least 51 million Americans — are not registered,
according to a recent study from the Pew Center on the States.
The norm in established democracies around the world is to register all
citizens automatically when they reach the age of eligibility. There
are no forms to fill out or lines to stand in; eligible voters are
simply assigned a unique identifier, like a Social Security number, that
follows them for life. When the government takes responsibility for
achieving 100 percent registration, there are no partisan battles over
who is or is not registered, and registration status is removed from the
contested terrain of politics. Conservatives who are genuinely
concerned about reducing voter fraud should support universal
registration, since the Pew Center study found that it would resolve
approximately 24 million inaccurate registrations.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Following the decision in Shelby County v. Holder, striking down the key enforcement provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Texas — historically among the worst offenders in voter suppression — did not even wait two hours before passing an onerous voter ID law and a new redistricting map (hoping to render a federal court challenge to an earlier redistricting map moot). Other Southern states, also under the Section 5 preclearance regimen, have been quick to follow the lead of Texas.

The speed with which these Southern states, with a long and sordid history of racial dsiscrimination and voter suppression, moved to enact new voter suppression laws demonstrated the intellectual dishonesty and utter ridiculousness of Chief Justice Roberts and the five conservative activist justices who argued that racism is not what it used to be and voter suppression is not so bad. Subtle racism may not be as shockingly offensive as overt racism, but it is still racism.

Voting rights are being reversed rather than expanded to more voters. It is undemocratic, and un-American. We should be expanding the franchise to more voters and making voting easier to allow for more people to participate in the civic ritual of voting.

To that end, Project Vote is releasing a new policy paper on Permanent Portable Registration, something which i have advocated for years. Press release (below the fold).