("G.O.P. Legislators Move to Tighten Rules on Voting")
Give the Republicans credit for being relentless. Here we go again with the voter fraud scare. It doesn't really rank up there with death panels, but it is hard to hit a home run every time at bat.
Untold thousands of elderly, as well as impoverished African Americans and Latinos lose the privilege the constitution guarantees them due to the misdirection created by the Republican machine. As reported in the NY Times, an investigation from 2002 to 2007 by the Justice Department, initiated at the request of then President Bush, found a total of 86 convictions for this crime (" In 5 Year Effort ,Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud", April 12, 2007) . Most reported incidents related to mistakes in completing forms or in understanding eligibility requirements. There were 122 million votes cast in the 2004 election. In short, it was the problem that wasn't then and isn't now.
While elections are immensely impacted by Republicans who stuff the pockets of candidates with vast amounts of corporate monies, while gerrymandering runs rampant, while voter intimidation is sure to keep many away, and while confusing or misleading ballots will further effect outcomes, the Republicans try to divert our attention from all of this.
Republican legislators speak of "preserv(ing) the integrity of the ballot box" by setting these voter eligibility requirements. Here, as in so many other areas, integrity and Republican seem like mutually exclusive terms. The only fraud committed here is by the party raising this issue
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