Yahoo/AP: Tough ID laws could block thousands of 2012 votes

Yahoo: Ex-Republicans claim Fla. GOP suppressed Democratic vote

Quote:

---

Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer has been claiming for months that state party members engineered a new law to suppress voter turnout, falsely touting voter fraud concerns to advance their mission. Now, other former Republicans and consultants are backing Greer up, The Palm Beach Post reports.

Greer, who is under indictment and accused of funneling campaign funds from the Republican Party, has been claiming that state Republicans supported a law (HB 1355)—which, in part, curtailed early voting—simply as a means to stymie the Democratic vote.

Staff and consultants "never came in to see me and tell me we had a (voter) fraud issue," Greer told the newspaper. "It's all a marketing ploy."

Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, GOP consultant Wayne Bertsch and one unnamed consultant now tell the newspaper that state Republicans and consultants were actively seeking ways to suppress Democratic turnout following the 2008 election.

---

More at link. (Including the usual disclaimers.)

The article Yahoo is pointing at:

Former Florida GOP leaders say voter suppression was reason they pushed new election law
Former GOP chair, governor - both on outs with party - say voter fraud wasn’t a concern, but reducing Democratic votes was.

Quote:

---

A new Florida law that contributed to long voter lines and caused some to abandon voting altogether was intentionally designed by Florida GOP staff and consultants to inhibit Democratic voters, former GOP officials and current GOP consultants have told The Palm Beach Post.

Republican leaders said in proposing the law that it was meant to save money and fight voter fraud. But a former GOP chairman and former Gov. Charlie Crist, both of whom have been ousted from the party, now say that fraud concerns were advanced only as subterfuge for the law’s main purpose: GOP victory.

Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer says he attended various meetings, beginning in 2009, at which party staffers and consultants pushed for reductions in early voting days and hours.

“The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early voting is bad for Republican Party candidates,” Greer told The Post. “It’s done for one reason and one reason only. … ‘We’ve got to cut down on early voting because early voting is not good for us,’ ” Greer said he was told by those staffers and consultants.

“They never came in to see me and tell me we had a (voter) fraud issue,” Greer said. “It’s all a marketing ploy.”

Greer is now under indictment, accused of stealing $200,000 from the party through a phony campaign fundraising operation. He, in turn, has sued the party, saying GOP leaders knew what he was doing and voiced no objection.

“Jim Greer has been accused of criminal acts against this organization and anything he says has to be considered in that light,” says Brian Burgess, Florida GOP spokesman since September.

But Greer’s statements about the motivations for the party’s legislative efforts, implemented by a GOP-majority House and Senate in Tallahassee in 2011, are backed by Crist — also now on the outs with the party — and two veteran GOP campaign consultants.

---

More (much more) at that link, too.

So I was reminded of something relevant today, when an appraiser came to take a look at my car, which suffered some damage after being run into in a parking lot. Luckily, I was there and got the other person's information, so his insurance is covering it. The guy arranged to come to my place when it was convenient for me and take a look at the damage for the initial estimate. It seems to me that if we wanted to make sure that getting some form of acceptable photo ID was truly possible for anyone, then some combination of DMV/post offices that were open 24 hours a day (not making all of them stay open for those hours, but at least one in every region of acceptable size within a state) and state officials who would actually go to peoples' listed primary residence and verify their identification information when requested (within a reasonable period of time) would provide everyone with an acceptable way to get a valid ID so long as a basic certified card that grants no other privileges (like driving on public roads) would be provided for free, right?

I know that's not necessarily what these laws were geared toward. I'm not even really making an argument here, just spitballing a possible way to reconcile all of the legitimate desires both camps are offering in this debate. Is there anything that something along the lines I just described would miss?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hubbs

Is there anything that something along the lines I just described would miss?

---

It fails to adequately suppress the minority vote.

(And it costs too much money and resources. But that's not really relevant...)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FanboyOf91

It fails to adequately suppress the minority vote.

(And it costs too much money and resources. But that's not really relevant...)

---

Costs too much money? Come on. Our unsustainable pension systems cost too much money. The entire health care complex costs too much money. Saying that this would "cost too much money" is like saying that California is going bankrupt because those tourism ads featuring all of the celebrities are just too damn expensive.

Saw that one, Larry, and wondered if someone would post it. Kinda quiet in here these days now that the dems have stolen another election with their shady cheating tactics.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hubbs

Costs too much money? Come on. Our unsustainable pension systems cost too much money. The entire health care complex costs too much money. Saying that this would "cost too much money" is like saying that California is going bankrupt because those tourism ads featuring all of the celebrities are just too damn expensive.

---

Look at this big-spender here.

You still haven't explained how it will adequately suppress the minority vote.

Wondering if I should re-title the thread.

I'm considering "The GOP's latest plan to change election laws to favor their Party".

Naples News/AP: GOP eyes new election laws in key states

Quote:

---

BOSTON — After back-to-back presidential losses, Republicans in key states want to change the rules to make it easier for them to win.

From Wisconsin to Pennsylvania, GOP officials who control legislatures in states that supported President Barack Obama are considering changing state laws that give the winner of a state's popular vote all of its Electoral College votes, too. Instead, these officials want Electoral College votes to be divided proportionally, a move that could transform the way the country elects its president.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus endorsed the idea this week, and other Republican leaders support it, too, suggesting that the effort may be gaining momentum. There are other signs that Republican state legislators, governors and veteran political strategists are seriously considering making the shift as the GOP looks to rebound from presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Electoral College shellacking and the demographic changes that threaten the party's long-term political prospects.

"It's something that a lot of states that have been consistently blue that are fully controlled red ought to be looking at," Priebus told the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, emphasizing that each state must decide for itself.

---

Got a state where the GOP has gerrymandered the state, so that a state which votes D has a Republican legislature? Well, now you can gerrymander the Presidential election, too!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Larry

Wondering if I should re-title the thread.

I'm considering "The GOP's latest plan to change election laws to favor their Party".

Naples News/AP: GOP eyes new election laws in key states



Got a state where the GOP has gerrymandered the state, so that a state which votes D has a Republican legislature? Well, now you can gerrymander the Presidential election, too!

---

O would still have won, 272-256 if my math is right (assuming every state had moved to that type of electoral vote awarding).

The problem would be that some states would lose electoral votes in the reporting since some of the vote would be split fractionally and anything less than .50 of a electoral vote would rounded down to 0.

For example, Romney won 60.55% of the Alabama vote, resulting in 5 electoral votes (out of 9). Obama would have gotten 3 votes (of out 9) since he won 38.36% of the vote. The remaining candidates would be reported as getting 0 electoral votes - thus shorting Alabama an electoral vote.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Evil Genius

O would still have won, 272-256 if my math is right (assuming every state had moved to that type of electoral vote awarding).

---

But they aren't proposing every state move to that.

They're proposing it only for states where the state votes D, but the districts are R.

(I think the term is "gerrymandered").

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Larry

But they aren't proposing every state move to that.

They're proposing it only for states where the state votes D, but the districts are R.

(I think the term is "gerrymandered").

---

Chris Matthews just showed the states they're targeting, per Reince Priebus(what a name!)...Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Ed Rendell said we should use popular vote, not electoral college. I agree.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by skinsmarydu

Chris Matthews just showed the states they're targeting, per Reince Priebus(what a name!)...Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Ed Rendell said we should use popular vote, not electoral college. I agree.

---

If it were a weighted proportional electoral college vote I'd be for it actually.

It's a lot easier than trying to win votes through new ideas, i guess.

Just like the founders intended.

~bang

Thought I'd bring this one over from the "Daily Show" thread, since it's on this topic.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rocky21

Have you guys seen this?
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-col...te-republicans

I'm becoming more and more embarrassed by my State.

---

Wondering what the excuse is to be redistricting the state, in 2013.