The efforts of Republican state legislators to restrict voter registration in Florida, Wisconsin and other swing states have been well-documented in these pages. The New York Times has a decent summary of this nationwide effort in this morning's paper.
While we do well to fight these suppression laws in state houses, our efforts are going to fail in many cases. With the GOP in control in many of these states, these odious laws are going on the books.
So what can we do?
GOTR. Get Out the Registration.
These efforts to suppress Democratic turnout are being put in place early enough to circumvent them, if we are also willing to get to work early and do the retail politicking we usually associate with GOTV campaigns on election day.
If your state leg is pulling suppression shenanigans, you can fight them, voter by voter. Just as you would take your elderly and shut-in neighbors to the polls, you can drive them to the DMV to get a state-issued photo ID. You can take them to your county or parish voter registrar's office to register or confirm their status.
For belt and suspenders, you can print out a letter reading
"I have examined Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx County voter registration records and determined that Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx is legally registered to vote in Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx County as of Xxxx XX, 2011.
Signed ____________ Registrar of Voters Office"
and ask the clerk to confirm your friend's registration. With a signature and date.
Take a picture of your friend at the registrar's office, with his/her registration card and the letter. Print that out, too and give it to your friend to take to the polls on election day.
These Republican suppression laws, based on completely fraudulent claims of Frankenvoters bum-rushing the polls, cannot be stopped and they will stop third-party registration drives (ask the League of Women Voters).
They cannot, however, stop third-party drivers, who know their neighbors and know how retail politics is done.
Get going, get on it and GOTR.
Postscript: If your local paper reprinted the Times article, you have a great opportunity to highlight this Republican voter suppression effort and extol the virtues of one-to-one registration assistance with a letter to the editor.