The New York Times has an excellent article on the New G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in Swing States. It's a depressing but necessary read.
Let's quit beating around the bush. The GOP simply doesn't believe in the democracy that most American citizens believe in. From extreme gerrymandering of districts, to their Supreme Court legalizing open bribery for their Oligarchs, to keeping people from voting, they are simply anti-democracy. The most fundamental principle of democracy is allowing people to chose their leaders, and the GOP is doing everything they can to prevent people from doing it.
Excerpts from the GOP's latest voter suppression efforts below the fold
Pivotal swing states under Republican control are embracing significant new electoral restrictions on registering and voting that go beyond the voter identification requirements that have caused fierce partisan brawls.
...
Republicans in Ohio and Wisconsin this winter pushed through measures limiting the time polls are open, in particular cutting into weekend voting favored by low-income voters and blacks, who sometimes caravan from churches to polls on the Sunday before election.
Democrats in North Carolina are scrambling to fight back against the nation’s most restrictive voting laws, passed by Republicans there last year. The measures, taken together, sharply reduce the number of early voting days and establish rules that make it more difficult for people to register to vote, cast provisional ballots or, in a few cases, vote absentee.
In all, nine states have passed measures making it harder to vote since the beginning of 2013. Most have to do with voter ID laws. Other states are considering mandating proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate or a passport, after a federal court judge recently upheld such laws passed in Arizona and Kansas.
...
“What we see here is a total disrespect and disregard for constitutional protections,” said the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina N.A.A.C.P. and leader of the Moral Mondays movement, which opposes the changes.
...
Republicans in these states shifted their strategy away from concerns over fraud, which have proved largely unfounded, to a new rationale that suggests fairness: uniformity.
...
In addition, Gov. John R. Kasich, a Republican, signed a measure that cut “Golden Week,” during which voters could register and vote on the same day, over concerns about potential fraud. He also signed a measure that shifts the responsibility of automatically mailing absentee ballot applications to the secretary of state, instead of counties.
Here's where I have to apologize to the Tea Party. For 5 years they've been ranting and foaming at the mouth about losing their freedoms and liberties. I was wrong and they were right. They're just too dumb to see where the very real threat to our democracy is coming from, and to realize they are puppets being used in that threat. Or maybe I'm being too harsh in calling them dumb, maybe they do realize where the threat is coming from and are willing participants in supporting the anti-democracy efforts.
But where the hell are the Democrats here?! Where's their efforts to pass legislation to stop this Bull shit?! And don't give me the "but we can't get it through the Republican house" crap. At least show you've got an ounce of guts enough to fight for democracy!
We surely need to be concerned about the freedoms of people in places like the Ukraine, but we better take a look at the glass house the GOP is building before we start throwing stones.