3 Ways the GOP Has Already Disenfranchised Thousands of Swing-State Voters
http://www.alternet.org/3-ways-gop-has-already-disenfranchised-thousands-swing-state-voters
The Republican Partys war on Democratic voting blocks is like a game of three-dimensional chess in which their strategies are intended to remain dormant until Election Day, and in the following days when votes are officially counted.
But their game plan is simple. They want to discourage voters by complicating every step for new and existing voters from specific blue cohorts, such as students, poor people and minorities. Theyve adopted new laws or rules that target pathways surrounding polling place voting, while keeping voting by maila longtime GOP strategyfree from similar rules. And they are spreading fears that there will be vastly more policing of the process to scare away voters, when in reality thats not likely to be the case.
While most of the GOPs voter suppression strategies are designed to erupt in November, it is now possible to identify at least three major areas where hundreds of thousands of likely Democratic votes have already been thwartedand where steps to reverse that process, if possible, must be taken soon before fall voter registration deadlines kick in.
As Michelle Obama told the Latino Caucus at the Democratic Convention on Wednesday morning, In the end this election could come down to those last few thousand votes in some of those key battleground states like Ohio. She offered more specifics, pointing to Floridas margins in 2008. We won Florida by 236,000 votes. And while that might sound like a lot, thats just 26 votes per precinct
And if you think thats close, dont forget that we won North Carolina by just 14,000 votes. Thats just five votes per precinctfive!