A Full Nelson on Voting Rights

[Geee]

American Spectator:


TAMPA -- Those who don't believe it's going to be a long and nasty 11 months before Election Day should just look at how Attorney General Eric Holder and Democrats across the country are accusing Republicans of attempting to keep Democratic core constituents -- minorities, young people, the poor, the disabled, etc. -- away from the polls.

These charges are a symptom and preview of that party's campaign, which promises to be built on little more than attempting to gin up racial and social class resentments. My sources in the Democratic National Committee tell me that group is considering changing its anthem from "Happy Days are Here Again" to "We Wuz Robbed." (See November 2000.)

Requirements for voting have gotten a bit loosey-goosey, in Florida and elsewhere, over the past few cycles. In many jurisdictions people need do little more than show up at polls, with or without credible ID, in order to be handed a ballot. There have been well-documented instances of fraud, particularly involving third party groups registering voters.

Rules for obtaining an absentee ballot are particularly slack, with some counties insisting on little more than a pulse for receiving one (though when past practices in Chicago and select other precincts are considered, insisting on a pulse may be a step in the right direction). Any attempt of late to make voting more secure, no matter how reasonable, has been branded by Democrats as an attempt to disenfranchise their voters.

In order to save taxpayer money and to make voter fraud more difficult, the Florida Legislature last year passed legislation that reduces early-voting days in the state from 14 to eight while requiring that third party organizations that register voters turn in registration paper work within 48 hours. (This last requirement is in response to incidents in Florida where third parties did not turn in registration paperwork at all.) Several other states passed similar measures.

In Florida Democrats have reacted to these measured steps in much the same way Dracula reacted to sunlight. Reading or listening to Democratic leading lights one would have to conclude that Jim Crow is back in town. In a press release from Florida Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, running for re-election this year, we read this: "The right to vote is, and always has been, at the foundation of our democracy. But this fundamental right is under serious attack right now, in Florida and more than a dozen other states. Many believe a handful of super-rich conservative activists are behind an orchestrated effort to keep millions of seniors, younger voters, and minorities from casting ballots next year."