# Here's how the Republicans stay in power **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 12, 2018, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958 "2018-06-12T13:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/21 "2018-06-14T00:23:07Z")
I think getting taken off the list because you haven’t voted and haven’t responded is not a big deal in itself. The problem (or not) is what happens when you try to get back on. It needs to be simple and easy and quick to get yourself reinstated, and (most important) there need to be no unexpected “roadblocks” for people who want to vote. Why (not “is it”, only **why** ) should it be a problem to show up at the polling station with ID and proof of residence? ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/22 "2018-06-14T01:59:09Z")
I’m a hard left Dem, and I don’t see the problem. Except for the people who have a franchise and ignore it. California purges people who don’t vote in presidential elections, if that hasn’t changed. If they, the people herding this issue, purged people who didn’t vote in a off-season or primary election, which generally don’t pull more than 20-30 percent of the electorate, that would be a problem. But then they would be deregistering their own people. If the Democrats don’t work work their party and make it care about their lives, we’re, simply, fucked. All the Democrats has to do is pay attention and convince people to re-register to make it stick. If we don’t care, we’re fucked. Again. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/23 "2018-06-14T02:18:56Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Sorry, but here’s the deal: to be purged in Ohio, you had to accomplish the following: > > 1. You fail to vote, or do anything else vote-related for two years. > > 2. You fail to return a pre-addressed, stamped postcard verifying you continue to reside at the address. > > 3. You fail to vote for four more years. > > So that’s six full years you have to have been silent as a voter, AND you have to have failed to return the card. > I have no problem with removing such people from the voting rolls. I think the focus should be on the other end: what does a person have to do to get ON the roll, and vote in an election. But if you aren’t voting, and aren’t keeping the local authorities apprised of your continued residence and eligibility to vote, it’s not unreasonable to clear the voter rolls of the dead wood. There might be \* better ways to do it (almost certainly are), but it’s not Darth Vader evil to do so. And keep in mind, one alternative would be a national database of registered voters, tracking your every movement, accessible to any poll worker checking your eligibility to vote in a given election, tied in to all other databases of people and their claimed residences. Is that really the preferred option? Given that this system exists the rules for purging seem reasonable. But there should be a national database of voters for federal elections where the entries are only purged by a death certificate. Such a database would contain no more than a name and unique id for each entry that would be referenced by some agency at the state or federal level which would maintain the minimal amount of information necessary to identify the actual voter for voting purposes. And about one hundred other changes to the rules and process of voting in federal elections. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/24 "2018-06-14T06:56:11Z")
> [@Some Dopers](#): > > Blah blah blah > [@Supreme Court](#): > > In dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote … I don’t have the time to study this issue in detail. Should I trust a Justice of the Supreme Court? Or a bunch of anonymous random message boarders? Hmmmm. Real tough choice. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/25 "2018-06-14T15:11:36Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Sorry, but here’s the deal: to be purged in Ohio, you had to accomplish the following: > > 1. You fail to vote, or do anything else vote-related for two years. > > 2. You fail to return a pre-addressed, stamped postcard verifying you continue to reside at the address. > > 3. You fail to vote for four more years. > > So that’s six full years you have to have been silent as a voter, AND you have to have failed to return the card. > > I have no problem with removing such people from the voting rolls. I think the focus should be on the other end: what does a person have to do to get ON the roll, and vote in an election. But if you aren’t voting, and aren’t keeping the local authorities apprised of your continued residence and eligibility to vote, it’s not unreasonable to clear the voter rolls of the dead wood. There might be \* better ways to do it (almost certainly are), but it’s not Darth Vader evil to do so. And keep in mind, one alternative would be a national database of registered voters, tracking your every movement, accessible to any poll worker checking your eligibility to vote in a given election, tied in to all other databases of people and their claimed residences. Is that really the preferred option? If the integrity of the election matters a current address and proof of citizenship should be mandatory. A mandatory driver’s license or state-issued ID would defiantly limited voter fraud, which the left seems to be okay with as long as it helps their turnout base. If someone can’t travel or dive to the polls, they could always vote by mail. For those saying there may be voter intimidation, there is none by mail. How bad voter fraud isa separate topic. Let’s suppose its 1%. A small percentage of illegal votes, but as we know there are many close races where a 1% swing or less than could change the results. I’d like to see new laws for voter fraud that include heavy fines, and a suspension of voting rights for 8 years. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/26 "2018-06-14T15:23:46Z")
The Donald claimed that three to five million illegal votes were cast for Hillary. Is that claim accurate, exaggerated, or a bold faced lie? Let it be noted that he no longer repeats that allegation, but neither has he repudiated it. So, what do you think _that_ means? Its still true, but he doesn’t think its still as important? Because if it were true, it would, indeed, be a Big Hairy Ass Deal. Worthy of massive attention and forceful action and yet…he is strangely silent. Can you tell us why? Can you even make something up that would be remotely plausible? It would be like someone screaming “Fire!” in a crowded theater and then sitting down to munch popcorn. Can you explain? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/27 "2018-06-14T15:50:29Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > The federal law in question in the decision actually requires states to remove ineligible voters, and to undertake practices to identify voters no longer eligible at their registered addresses. So the issue wasn’t, “should this be done?” It was, rather, “how should this be done, given that we have to do it?” ‘not voting’ does not make me ineligible to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Huey\_Freeman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/huey_freeman/32/251_2.png) [@Huey\_Freeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huey_Freeman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/28 "2018-06-14T16:12:48Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Sorry, but here’s the deal: to be purged in Ohio, you had to accomplish the following: > > 1. You fail to vote, or do anything else vote-related for two years. > > 2. You fail to return a pre-addressed, stamped postcard verifying you continue to reside at the address. > > 3. You fail to vote for four more years. > > So that’s six full years you have to have been silent as a voter, AND you have to have failed to return the card. > > I have no problem with removing such people from the voting rolls. I think the focus should be on the other end: what does a person have to do to get ON the roll, and vote in an election. But if you aren’t voting, and aren’t keeping the local authorities apprised of your continued residence and eligibility to vote, it’s not unreasonable to clear the voter rolls of the dead wood. There might be \* better ways to do it (almost certainly are), but it’s not Darth Vader evil to do so. And keep in mind, one alternative would be a national database of registered voters, tracking your every movement, accessible to any poll worker checking your eligibility to vote in a given election, tied in to all other databases of people and their claimed residences. Is that really the preferred option? 1. Who cares if a US citizen chose not to vote for two years? Either we have compulsory voting or we don’t. Ohio has no business dictating that a person must vote and if they don’t vote, they risk triggering a mechanism to kick them off the voter rolls. The old ‘use it or lose it’ axiom. 2 And it’s stupid. Who cares if they didn’t turn in some post card? Maybe the voter cannot read. Maybe the voter has poor eyesight. Maybe the lettering was too small. Maybe the voter has early dementia. Maybe the voter has acute or chronic mental illness. Maybe the voter mistook the postcard for garbage. Maybe the postcard got lost in the mail. Not everything that people do translate to “I deliberately knew about this and deliberately chose not to respond”. Though we know this isn’t the point. The point is to purge the rolls of as many voters as possible. 2. See #1 These voter roll purges have no other root than white supremacy. Whether it be poll taxes, poll tests, voter IDs, voter roll purges, there is a long history of conservatives (now mostly the Republican party) putting barriers in front of minorities to vote in order to protect their view of white supremacy. Why we are here sipping our lattes pretending otherwise is pretty amusing. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/29 "2018-06-14T17:06:02Z")
(Aside) “definitely” and “defiantly” don’t even sound the same. Yet I keep consistently seeing the latter standing for the former online. Jeebus, people, sound it out… (/Aside) The inactive-voter purge is a legitimate method of rolls maintenance in absence of universal reporting of moves, deaths, etc. Making it so the clock starts ticking at a mere two years, _that_ is dirty pool, especially if re-registering is made into a hassle. Of course, someone up earlier mentioned one thing that could helpvget over this matter, namely a universal citizen ID, wwhich would reduce “registration” to a mere change of address form. But the concept gives the vapors to people on both right and left across America. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/30 "2018-06-14T17:31:05Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > If the integrity of the election matters a current address and proof of citizenship should be mandatory. A mandatory driver’s license or state-issued ID would defiantly limited voter fraud, which the left seems to be okay with as long as it helps their turnout base. If someone can’t travel or dive to the polls, they could always vote by mail. For those saying there may be voter intimidation, there is none by mail. > > How bad voter fraud isa separate topic. Let’s suppose its 1%. A small percentage of illegal votes, but as we know there are many close races where a 1% swing or less than could change the results. > > I’d like to see new laws for voter fraud that include heavy fines, and a suspension of voting rights for 8 years. But what if if were only 1/10 as bad as you estimate? Well, you still would have overstated it by two orders of magnitude. Various studies have shown voter fraud at a rate of something like 2-3 votes out of every 1 million. Some studies show it to be something like 30 votes out of a billion. > **[Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/debunking-voter-fraud-myth)** > > The president has continued to claim voter fraud was a problem in the 2016 election. A look at the facts makes clear fraud is rare, and does not happen on a scale even close to necessary to “rig” an election. Why do we need new voting fraud laws when the existing ones include heavy fines and imprisonment? > [@The Washington Post](#): > > Both federal and state laws include stiff fines and imprisonment for voter fraud. Under federal law, perpetrators face up to five years in prison and a fine of $10,000 for each act of fraud. In Alabama, voter fraud is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine. In Wisconsin, the punishment is up to 3 1 / 2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Missouri imposes a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. And in Texas, the maximum prison sentence is 10 years. > **[Opinion | Five myths about voter fraud](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-voter-fraud/2011/10/04/gIQAkjoYTL_story.html?utm_term=.be12da6b3065)** > > Five myths about voter fraud The Bush administration beat the bushes to prosecute voter fraud but they couldn’t really find any. Trump has shut the fuck up about prosecuting voter fraud because it was all in his imagination. It’s hard to bring imaginary people to court. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/31 "2018-06-15T02:10:02Z")
> [@simster](#): > > ‘not voting’ does not make me ineligible to vote. You obviously have missed the entire point of the legal debate in this Supreme Court opinion, haven’t you? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/32 "2018-06-15T02:16:13Z")
> [@Huey\_Freeman](#): > > 1. Who cares if a US citizen chose not to vote for two years? Either we have compulsory voting or we don’t. Ohio has no business dictating that a person must vote and if they don’t vote, they risk triggering a mechanism to kick them off the voter rolls. The old ‘use it or lose it’ axiom. > 2 And it’s stupid. Who cares if they didn’t turn in some post card? Maybe the voter cannot read. Maybe the voter has poor eyesight. Maybe the lettering was too small. Maybe the voter has early dementia. Maybe the voter has acute or chronic mental illness. Maybe the voter mistook the postcard for garbage. Maybe the postcard got lost in the mail. Not everything that people do translate to “I deliberately knew about this and deliberately chose not to respond”. Though we know this isn’t the point. The point is to purge the rolls of as many voters as possible. > 2. See #1 > > These voter roll purges have no other root than white supremacy. Whether it be poll taxes, poll tests, voter IDs, voter roll purges, there is a long history of conservatives (now mostly the Republican party) putting barriers in front of minorities to vote in order to protect their view of white supremacy. Why we are here sipping our lattes pretending otherwise is pretty amusing. First of all, once again, I point out that Ohio was following a federal mandate. It is required by federal law (indeed, the very federal law that was in question in the opinion) to purge its voter rolls of inaccurate registrations. That is, it is required to try and remove registrations of voters who no longer reside at the residence they registered under. Ohio said, "if you aren’t voting (for six years!!), and if you aren’t even answering our attempt to find out if you still live there, we think that’s ample evidence you don’t actually live at that address any more. One can argue (I, for example, would) that this is not as accurate a method as one could figure out. But most methods which might be more accurate are probably much more expensive, and in this era of minimalized government, it’s no shock that they chose a cheap, easy to accomplish option. Do you have some crystal ball that lets you **know** what Ohio’s officials were thinking when they did this? You have a personal chat with John Husted? Perhaps emails that you can point to to support your thesis as to the reason to do this? No? Ok, then you are merely speculating. And you may be right. But do please keep in mind that they were required to do SOMETHING about the issue, and not shockingly, from a Constitutional standpoint (which is the only thing at issue in this CASE), they don’t have to pick the best option. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/33 "2018-06-15T17:51:08Z")
If everyone voted by mail like we do in Washington, all addresses would have to be correct or folks wouldn’t receive their ballots. But I guess this is just too damned easy and wouldn’t exclude any eligible voters so it can’t be considered. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/34 "2018-06-15T18:52:54Z")
> [@simster](#): > > ‘not voting’ does not make me ineligible to vote. > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > You obviously have missed the entire point of the legal debate in this Supreme Court opinion, haven’t you? :smack: Well, he’s right, isn’t he? Per the [DOJ](https://www.justice.gov/crt/national-voter-registration-act-1993-nvra): > [@](#): > > Section 8 of the NVRA prohibits removing registrants from the voter registration list solely because of a failure to vote. So what we’re really debating is the postcard. To you, it seems like enough of a distinction to say that we’re not kicking people off the rolls just for not voting. To others, it seems like more of a trivial technicality - that the distinction between getting kicked off the rolls for not voting, versus getting kicked off the rolls for not voting, _and_ not noticing a postcard after missing one election early on, seems like close enough to zero difference as to make no never mind. Obviously that part’s a matter of opinion, and the Supremes have handed down their (determinative) opinion that agrees with yours. But I hope you can at least see why a lot of people (including four Supreme Court justices) disagree. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/35 "2018-06-15T19:07:39Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Ohio said, "if you aren’t voting (for six years!!), Unless the DOJ has it wrong, the _six years!!_ doesn’t matter. Infinity years doesn’t matter. Here’s what the [DOJ](https://www.justice.gov/crt/national-voter-registration-act-1993-nvra) says about the NVRA requirement for maintenance of the voter registration lists: > [@](#): > > The Act also requires States to conduct a general voter registration list maintenance program that makes a reasonable effort to remove ineligible persons from the voter rolls by reason of the person’s death, or a change in the residence of the registrant outside of the jurisdiction, in accordance with procedures set forth in the NVRA. The list maintenance program must be uniform, nondiscriminatory and in compliance with the Voting Rights Act. > [@](#): > > Ohio was following a federal mandate. It is required by federal law (indeed, the very federal law that was in question in the opinion) to purge its voter rolls of inaccurate registrations. Well, it’s required to make a reasonable effort to purge the rolls of inaccurate registrations. Let’s not overstate the legal burden on poor Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/36 "2018-06-15T19:18:25Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > So that’s six full years you have to have been silent as a voter, AND you have to have failed to return the card. Heavens to Murgatroid, that’s a capital crime to be sure. Why, this citizen is so irresponsible that he should never be allowed to vote again! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/37 "2018-06-15T20:02:00Z")
Listen, folks, all this talk about registration and roll purging is but a distraction from the real issue, which is to allow any eligible voter to vote when and if he wants to while eliminating fraud. If there was a mechanism that permitted any eligible voter to step up and cast one and only one ballot, we could dump this whole stupid registration process. With computers and modern communication, there no reason why this can’t happen. One person, one voting access number. You vote once, your number is flagged so you can’t vote again in the election. Furthermore, it would be possible for the computer to know, based on your number, which ballot to give you and which races you could vote for, even for absentee voting. But I doubt if the GOPers would allow it because it would make it harder to manipulate the votes. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/38 "2018-06-15T21:25:25Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > \*Compulsory voting with a fine?? That would never fly here. "Murricans don’t like being told what to do. Even when it’s the right thing. I used to be in favor of compulsory voting (obviously with an “abstain” option). Now, I’m pretty sure that if we instituted something like that, we’d almost immediately start seeing it used as yet another way to punish the underclasses. Forgot to vote and can’t pay the fine, get arrested on a “routine” traffic stop, get your car seized until you pay usurious towing storage fees, get your license suspended so you can’t get to work, end up with $2000 in “prosecution fees” paid to some private law firm that partnered with the city, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/39 "2018-06-15T22:32:57Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Heavens to Murgatroid, that’s a capital crime to be sure. Why, this citizen is so irresponsible that he should never be allowed to vote again! No. This citizen has either: 1) indicated that he’s not interested in voting or 2) more likely (given the failure to return the card asking him to verify his continued residence at that address) moved. Hence, the citizen is removed from the voting rolls. This only becomes a problem if a) the citizen hasn’t moved, b) the citizen decides finally to vote, and c) the citizen isn’t allowed to re-register at the moment of discovering the removal (presumably while trying to obtain a ballot). This, of course, is easily fixed with on-the-spot registration and provisional balloting. And, once again, you’re MISSING THE POINT: the case wasn’t about what was the best way to do it; the case was about whether the method chosen was constitutional. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958/40 "2018-06-23T11:44:33Z")
[\*\*Seven Ways Alabama Has Made It Harder to Vote \*\* _Five years ago, the Supreme Court struck down a key part of the landmark Voting Rights Act. Since then, Alabama has enacted a slew of restrictive voting laws and policies._](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/us/politics/voting-rights-alabama.html?partner=rss&emc=rss) > [@](#): > > Five years after the Supreme Court invalidated the Voting Rights Act’s requirement that certain states get federal approval to change their election laws, there are few places where the results are clearer than in Alabama, where the lawsuit began. > > Alabama has enacted a slew of restrictive laws and policies, many of which disproportionately affect African-Americans, Latinos and other marginalized groups. In this, it stands out only in degree, not in kind: All over the country, state legislators are making it harder to vote. > > Here is the landscape of voting rights five years after the lawsuit, Shelby County v. Holder, through the lens of the state that started it. > > 1. A photo identification law moves forward. > > Within 24 hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Alabama announced that in 2014, it would start requiring photo identification to vote under a law passed in 2011 but stymied by the Voting Rights Act. The number of states with similar laws has since ballooned. > > … > > 1. Driver’s license offices are closed in black areas. > > The year after the photo identification law took effect, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced that it would close 31 driver’s license offices, one of the primary places where Alabamians could obtain photo identification. The closings were in response to budget cuts, but there was a clear racial pattern. > > … > > 1. Officials push for a proof-of-citizenship mandate. > > In January 2016, Alabama received permission from a federal election official to require proof of citizenship to register to vote in state and local elections, though a judge later blocked the change. > > If enforced, this requirement would create a dual system in which the criteria to vote in state and local elections would be stricter than in federal elections, where proof of citizenship is not required. > > … > > 1. Dozens of polling places are closed. > > By November 2016, Alabama had at least 66 fewer polling places than it did at the time of the Shelby ruling in 2013, according to a study. Because only 18 of Alabama’s 67 counties were examined, it is not clear whether there was a racial pattern. > > Locally, however, there have been some damning moves. For instance, Daphne, a city of 26,000 near Mobile, eliminated three of its five polling places in 2016, disproportionately affecting one of two districts with a significant number of black voters. A Reuters investigation also found racially disparate closings in Georgia. > > … > > 1. A get-out-the-vote group is hamstrung. > > In September 2016, a federal appeals court upheld a 2010 Alabama law that banned money transfers from one political action committee to another. > > The stated intent was to guard against corruption, but the law also hurt the state’s largest black political organization: the Alabama Democratic Conference, which works to turn out black voters. Half or more of its revenue used to come from other political entities. > > … > > 1. Voter rolls are purged. > > In 2017, after mailing postcards to every registered voter, Alabama officials listed more than 340,000 voters as inactive, a precursor to removal from the rolls if they don’t vote in the next four years. > > … > > 1. Felon re-enfranchisement is not publicized. > > In 2017, Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation re-enfranchising thousands of people convicted of felonies. Alabama officials estimated that the change affected 60,000 people. > > But Mr. Merrill refused to use state resources to publicize it, or to automatically register people who were turned away before it passed — and a district judge said he wouldn’t order him to. > … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-how-the-republicans-stay-in-power/815958.md?page=3)