Donna Brazile, who wants to get rid of the Constitution, sent out an email to Democrats a little while ago:
John —
Last week, the Supreme Court voted to leave the Ohio GOP’s early voting restrictions in place for this election and made it harder and more confusing for people in Ohio to vote.
It’s shameful — a victory for the underhanded tactics Republicans are using to keep Democrats away from the polls.
You probably wonder: what are Ohio’s “early voting restrictions” that make it “harder and more confusing” to vote and “keep Democrats”–but only Democrats!–“away from the polls”? Ohio’s legislature reduced the early voting period at the polls from 35 days to 28 days before the election. A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit issued an order requiring Ohio to restore the seven days; that order was vacated by the Supreme Court. Why, exactly, did the 6th Circuit panel think that Ohio is required to have 35 days of early voting?
The panel reasoned that cutting back on early voting at polling places placed a disproportionate burden on poor and black voters.
The panel said it was mindful that Ohio allows voting by mail throughout the contested period. “The presence of vote by mail undoubtedly ameliorates some of the burdens on voting,” Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote for the panel. But she added that “African-Americans, lower-income individuals and the homeless are distrustful of the mail” or “would prefer to vote in person for unrelated reasons.”
So Ohio’s legislature can’t revise that state’s in-person voting period because two federal judges think that African-Americans “are distrustful of the mail.” This is completely insane, and yet the Supreme Court vote to reverse the 6th Circuit panel was only 5-4, with the Court’s liberal wing dissenting.
In fact, Ohio offers far more early voting than most states, for better or worse:
Some 17 states offer no early voting, the state’s brief said, and the median number of days offered by those that do is 11. “All told, Ohio offers more early voting options than 41 other states and the District of Columbia,” the brief said.
No matter. According to Donna Brazile and four Supreme Court justices, Ohio can’t make its own decisions about voting procedures because doing so, in Brazile’s words, “keep[s] Democrats away from the polls.” Because Democrats are the only ones who can’t get their act together to vote by mail, to vote in person within 28 days of the election, or to show up at the polls on election day. The contempt that leaders of the Democratic Party have for their rank and file is boundless.
Donna Brazile’s email continues:
I’ve been frustrated before, John, but not like this — so here’s what we’re going to do about it: With your help, we’re going to fully fund our voter protection and expansion programs to respond to these recent court actions and make sure that every vote counts in this election.
Voting is the most fundamental right in our democracy, so you might wonder why an entire political party would be hell-bent on making it harder to exercise that right.
This is the most frustrating thing ever! It’s getting harder and harder to vote! Ohioans only have four weeks before the election to vote in person at the polls! Or five weeks to mail their ballots in! Or they could actually show up on election day! The horror!
This, of course, is what it’s really all about:
John, I’ll tell you why: When more people vote, Democrats win — and the Republican Party will use any trick, run any scheme, and pervert any part of our electoral process to make sure that doesn’t happen. But we are NOT going to let them get away with it — and that starts right now.
Your contribution of $3 or more will go a long way toward cutting through the confusion and making sure that every eligible voter who wants to cast their ballot — no matter who they’re voting for — has their vote counted:
https://my.democrats.org/Elect-Democrats-2014
I need you to fight for this with me, John. Thanks for your help.
Donna Brazile
Of course, nothing going on here relates even remotely to “every eligible voter” having “their [sic] vote counted.” But Democrats have never been ones for fine distinctions; not when millions upon millions of dollars are at stake. So the “voter rights” craziness will continue indefinitely.
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