PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION
Registering Americans to vote has been a hallmark for many civic organization. Unfortunately, this historic act of patriotism may be stopped. Florida has been among many of the Republican Controlled States that have adopted strict voter registration laws. North Carolina is one of those states as well.
These laws are making it very hard for groups like the NAACP and the League of Woman Voters to register voters. According to an article in today’s NY Times: “The state’s new elections law — which requires groups that register voters to turn in completed forms within 48 hours or risk fines, among other things — has led the state’s League of Women Voters to halt its efforts this year.
Rock the Vote, a national organization that encourages young people to vote, began an effort last week to register high school students around the nation — but not in Florida, over fears that teachers could face fines. And on college campuses, the once-ubiquitous folding tables piled high with voter registration forms are now a rarer sight.” (nytimes.com)
Many Republicans feel that these laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud. However, many statistics have showed that voter fraud is very low and does not support this claim. Is this really about protecting the right to vote? Or preventing President Obama from winning a second term?
The question must be asked, why now? Why are these laws being enacted now especially in states where Republicans already have complete control?
The article also highlights how impossible this law will make it for voter registration drives: The law in Florida, which was passed by a Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, also reduces the number of early voting days in the state.
While the effects of those changes may not be seen until the fall, the new restrictions on voter registrations are already being felt — as Sabu L. Williams, the president of the Okaloosa County Branch of the N.A.A.C.P., discovered this year when he registered some voters during the Martin Luther King’s Birthday weekend.
Mr. Williams’s group registered two voters on the Sunday of the three-day weekend, and noted the time, as required by the law: 2:15 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. When the local elections office reopened on Tuesday, Jan. 17, the group handed the forms in. They were stamped as received at 3:53 p.m.
This resulted in a warning letter from Secretary of State Kurt S. Browning, who noted that the state can levy fines of $50 for each late application, with an annual cap of $1,000 in fines per group.
“In your case, although the supervisor’s office was closed on Monday, Jan. 16, the 48-hour period ended for the two applications on Jan. 17 at 2:15 p.m. and 2:20 p.m.; therefore, the applications were untimely under the law,” Mr. Browning wrote. The letter said that “any future violation of the third-party voter registration law may result in my referral of the matter to the attorney general for an enforcement action.” (nytimes.com)
If laws like this continue to be enacted, the result will be devastating for the minority community and the country. If these states want to protect voting, allow civic groups to register voters with sensible oversight. They should not allow their goals to unseat a president come on the heels of disenfranchising voters.
Source: Politics is Power
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