Supreme Court to review law on minority voting rights

Oh, you mean the same Supreme Court that threw America and her Constitution under the bus over Obamacare? Don’t bother. You have made yourself irrelevant to anything dealing with serious issues. Go away.

I like folks like AZWarrior. They show the exact ideological ranting/illogical arguments that cost the GOP the election.

What in the world does a decision on a health care law have to do with voting rights? Look, you guys lost the election, get over it and get to compromising. Actually, you know what? Don’t. Hopefully the GOP falls then and Libertarians will take their place instead.

When it comes to voting there is NO minority or majority. There is only eligible or not eligible. Illegal immigrants are NOT eligible. Non-citizens are NOT eligible. How do we know who is or who is not eligible because we cannot trust those that are NOT eligible to be honest because they are breaking the law by trying to vote (or are being encouraged to try and vote-now who would do that?)? They(everyone) have to have an ID to PROVE they are eligible. Why is that so hard? And I am not even a lawyer-just a citizen.

@bobber1956 – No bobber, you’re no lawyer but your bias is plainly on display. Read your 5th sentence. Eligibility is not based on trust. I wonder why you say “everyone” and “they” have to have ID instead of “we”. Instances of voter-fraud – actually showing up to vote when when you’re not eligible, not registered or not who you say you are – are rare or non-existent (depending on the state). You know what’s not rare? Bias. Voter-intimidation. Voter-suppression.
You know what’s really interesting about the “Voter-ID” laws. The country got by just fine without them for centuries. All of a sudden “we” don’t know our neighbors? Or all of a sudden “we” don’t trust them? Or is it that there are simply more and more of them? More of the ones that don’t vote like “us”? More of the ones that don’t look like “us”?

The South lost its war against the United States. The United States gets to monitor it. If the southern states do not like this arrangement, they should have fought harder. No different than the conditions we placed on Germany and Japan after they started their started wars…. and lost them.

The southern state governments have not proven up on trustworthiness yet. If they don’t like it, they’re free to throw another punch at Fort Sumter. In the meantime…. prepare to be monitored, Hazzard County.

andyl512
There a lot of immigrants that look like me…if they are illegal they don’t get to vote either. And strangely enough none that look like me have a problem with waiting WHILE THEY WORK TO BECOME CITIZENS. The bias is yours for prejudging (you know-prejudice) my words. When I said everyone I meant everyone. I can understand how you would have problems with simple English. As far as intimidation-you mean like the black panthers…like that? You are an idiot but you can vote. No problem.

AlkalineState
Now THAT was the most idiodic statement you have made barring none. Even if there was an ounce of truth to it are YOU personally going to go and monitor them. Yeah thought so. A liar and a coward.

Attempts to keep minorities from voting continue in the red states. Also there is incredible gerrymandering to reduce the influence of minorities. Incredible sums of public money have been spent by Republican officials to find instances of voter fraud, and they seem to be far more illusive than unicorns.

I went to the Alabama State Legislature website, and looked at the pictures of it’s members. I counted 38 white, and 18 black from A to J then quit. Is the ratio of whites to blacks in Alabama roughly 38:18?

Secondly, I cant quite wrap my head around the small minded argument that since President Obama is black, all racism obviously is gone, or as Edward Blum put it above, “The America that elected and reelected Barack Obama as its first African-American president is far different than when the Voting Rights Act was first enacted in 1965.”
No… it’s not.

I’m all for reexamining the issue of The Voting Rights Act, just not with irrational BS.

Normally, I’d say let the states make their own rules. But the evidence today is that racism remains rampant in the south, even among the youngest demographic:

http://www.zdnet.com/mapping-racist-tweets-where-post-election-hate-came-from-7000007202/

The deep southern states all voted against Obama, too. Coincidence? Or, are they all really convinced that Romney’s flip-flop no-platform was better than steady improvement under the current president?

Perhaps they should continue to have to ask to change election rules.

Normally, I’d say let the states make their own rules. But the evidence today is that racism remains rampant in the south, even among the youngest demographic:

http://www.zdnet.com/mapping-racist-tweets-where-post-election-hate-came-from-7000007202/

The deep southern states all voted against Obama, too. Coincidence? Or, are they all really convinced that Romney’s flip-flop no-platform was better than steady improvement under the current president?

Perhaps they should continue to have to ask to change election rules.

Maybe then, we should get new data on discrimination. The voter ID laws were, at least by some, as witness their on-the-record remarks designed to remove voters from minority ethnic groups from the rolls.

It is time for equality in all government activities. Currently things are out of balance in favor of minorities and females. It is time to look at requirements for voting privileges other than race, creed and color

>bobber1956 wrote:
>When it comes to voting there is NO minority or majority. There is >only eligible or not eligible. Illegal immigrants are NOT eligible. >Non-citizens are NOT eligible.

This is definitely the whole point! To go one sstranger… I witnessed a group of women “registering voters” outside a Safeway market several months ago (don’t know who they were affiliated with, if anyone). A young Mexican man was arguing with them, saying he was NOT an American citizen. One of the women said to him “That doesn’t matter, do you have a drivers license? If you have a drivers license you can register to vote.” The young man was smarter than her though and just shook his head and walked away. But… not all people are that smart or scrupulous. (Obviously!)

@AlkalineState looks like we have another black bigot or racist! These states have done nothing to show just cause to keep on monitoring them! Look you idiot and all others who think like this minority/black racist! (yes people there are racists other than whites) we now have elected a black man for president to a second term! How much more do you want? This isn’t the 1800′s anymore! I will tell you the real problem…minorities will never be happy until they have total control just like the whites did at one time and that makes them know better than our ancestors were! Look, if it is me against a black man for a job…guess who is gonna get it and guess what he will do if I do get the job over him? That’s right…he will scream racism, just like all minorities do whenever they don’t get something handed to them! I am sick of this bshlt you worthless racists! I have never in my life done anything wrong to a black man and in fact my boss is black and we are really good friends! He has worked hard to get where he is and he isn’t out there screaming racist every time he doesn’t get his way aaand he hates Obama too! You all just want everything and won’t ever be satisfied till you do! Therre will Never be an end to racism because people like you need it to survive off the backs of others!

AzWarrior has it right! The Supreme Court and the constitution are gone people so why does it even matter? They will only do what our dear Obama wants as they are on the side of evil! You all won’t ever be happy tll whites are in chains! Thatis called human nature and you ae no better then our ancestors were!

can this comment be approved? Seems like someone ot something is also biased!

It’s kind of fun in a way to watch the old GOP establishment do their best to hold back the inevitable by burying their heads in the sand. It’s a desperate attempt to try and make themselves feel they still have some sort of control in a world that finds them increasingly less relevant. No amount of hoarded wealth funneled into politics or voter discrimination will stop the fact that our nation is evolving. You can make all the laws you want, but you won’t stop nature. The days of the rich old white mens club are over.

Seems to me that Federal laws should be applied to all the nation, not just parts just as all Americans must be screened at airports, not just those who look a certain way. If the Feds are not willing to do so, then the law in question should be abolished.

AlkalineState
I agree, I live in a RED southern state and racism is alive and thriving. The hate spewing out of these Glen Beck listening sheep is really scary.
I am not a minority, so I can’t imagine how it feels to be discriminated against based on the color of my skin. It is wrong and it makes me sick. I hope the supreme court will put strong laws into place to protect all Americans.

Yates said of the Supreme Court…

“..they have made the judges independent, in the fullest sense of the word. There is no power above them to control any of their decisions. There is no authority that can remove them, and they cannot be controlled by the laws of the legislature. In short, they are independent of the people, of the legislature, and of every power under heaven. Men placed in this situation will generally soon feel independent of heaven itself.”

Seems he was spot on. If a cause is debated to the point of needing the Supreme Court, it’s a lost cause.

If anyone thinks the racism is a thing of the past is just eluding themselves from reality. Just because non whites are in positions of power means nothing. These people are on the top tier of socio-economical status, the ones that are at the bottom of the rung are the people that are affected by racism. The republican party is a party of hate they just cannot accept that winds of change are on the way. Remember folks we don’t change with the times, times will change us one way or the other.

Gigimoderate, the Supreme Court does not put laws into place. That’s the job of Congress. The court is there to review laws as needed. Last thing we need is a court writing laws which only it could pass judgment on. And no, we don’t have perfect implementation of this ideal, but we do better than most countries.

bobber1956 wrote:
“They(everyone) have to have an ID to PROVE they are eligible. Why is that so hard? And I am not even a lawyer-just a citizen.”

Voting should be anonymous to avoid abuse by government. Why is that so hard to understand?

The next question is obvious: why are Republicans trying so hard to remove voter anonymity? Historically, the next step for the leaders, once they have the power to track voters, is to suppress the opposition.

Think about that…

Bobber 1956 you know why it is hard, because some voters are eligible but do not have access to the required birth certificates to acquire a proper ID. Some are too old to mobilize to stand in lines, or have money to pay for copies of documents in order to get these ID’s.

White men have suppressed the vote ever since voting began. It is only in recent history that African Americans and Women were allowed to vote respectively. Out of 311 million people, your concerned with an un-provable 12 million so called, “illegal” immigrants that will show up to the polls and vote for whom?

Voter D is not the answer. People can get fake ID’s and have done so for years. The electoral system needs to change from partisan management to a centralized operation. Leave it to the states and they will discriminate….just like they have tried to do in this election.

Notice, it is only white men that are pursuing these efforts. From Bill O, Tucker Carlton, Brit Hume, Megan Kelly, Coulter, Limby, and the rest of the republican white caucus are afraid of the changing Demographic. Life progresses.

Conservatives looks to the past to determine their future, which repeats their past…. because they are conservatives. They boast in fiscal conservatism but spent all the money and have no recorded history of fiscal conservatism. They boast in small government but expanded government more than any other party. Even today, they want government to probe vaginas of women and restrict their right to reproductive healthcare. Some small government. They invented DHS, ICE, the ever invasive FIFA. They want $2T in defense spending to siphon those tax dollars to the coffers of their rich defense contractors, like Halliburton and the others.

For the record, the most educated states are blue states. The least educated states re all red states except Nevada. From the dumber you get dumb ideas. How dumb is it to rally and spend billions behind a candidate that hold two different positions on every issue?

The fact remains, this country is very racially divided and our electoral process must guarantee each “American” of all backgrounds a voice in our political process long dominated by old white men who believe they are entitled.

Boober 1956 WRT, “As far as intimidation-you mean like the black panthers…like that?”

No reported issue about anyone feeling intimidated at their presence. In fact, there are reported incidents of their good intentions, such as, opening doors,FOR ALL RACES, making sure True the Vote props do not harass minority voters. Truth be told, it is the Republicans that are in the news for such acts as dumping ballots, changing ballots and rigging voting machines….it is Republicans that shortened early voting days in predominantly minority neighborhoods. And the voter rolls purge, produced less than 1% in the entire nation, of registered non American voters. Its a problem invented by Republicans, that they themselves are guilty of perpetrating. And it never really existed until George Bush and now, against the incumbent. The states that are challenging the Voting Right Act are among the LEAST educated states in America. Dumb ideas come from dumb people.

It’s time to stop drawing lines of demographics NOW. I think the GOP may have done themselves a huge disfavor by making this the year they try to keep minorities from voting. It was also the year the GOP tried to tell the poor that the wealthy are sick of them, and too bad the safety net is coming out so we can no longer serve you. I hope both parties realize the mistakes made by the GOP, and people should be more outspoken about what they are up to.

@Abulafiah

“Voting should be anonymous to avoid abuse by government. Why is that so hard to understand?”

Anonymous voting leads to huge fraud. You must register to vote. Your district is determined where you personally live. You must show a voter registration card, or a picture id to vote. If voting was anonymous you could vote 100s of times in a day. If voting was anonymous fake votes can be entered in with no way to track who voted, and who did not. We don’t have anonymous voting, and never did.

It seems that the majority of commentors didn’t read the story. The Supreme Court is reviewing the law because it in and of itself is racist. The racist idea is that a person of color needs more protection than a person who is not of color. Everyone, regardless of color should have the same protections, and the same rights.

ahms wrote:

I like folks like ahms. They show the exact ideological ranting/illogical arguments that cost the Democrates the election.

Look, you guys lost the house elections in 2010 and 2012, get over it and get to compromising. Actually, you know what? Don’t. Hopefully the Dems falls then and Conservatives will take their place instead.

The New World

But present society just doesn’t seem to fit into your rosy picture, now does it? Have you seen the blatant onslaught of bigotry and suppression during the last 4 years unto this day? The massive voter suppression tactics against minorities in these same states that was found to have engaged in similar tactics in the past, for that matter?

See for yourself http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act

I hear you though, fairness an all…good for everyone, but life isn’t quite that simple. The actual purpose of the Act to begin with was to PROMOTE FAIRNESS. Not discriminate, but to encourage against it. To protect against it.

Furthermore, the language is clear in the Act, it does not denote to one ethnic group, as your suggesting, but crosses the racial divide in its broad application against discrimination based on race and hue.

The ballot themselves ARE anonymous. The ID is needed only to prove you are eligible to get a ballot. Not exactly racism. If you look at the demographics 10% of minorities and 8% of whites don’t have an ID that are citizens. This 2% difference is not going to change any votes or cause intimidation. If minorities are too scared to go into the DMV to get an ID then they would also be too scared to get any government handouts right? The same would go for the 8% of whites. But w/e just keep screaming racism racism! The only ones who are racists are the ones screaming it.

If you require an argument to prove the need for The Voting Rights Act, all you have to do is read the comments posted here!

Unfortunately, we as a people have not moved beyond racial bias and ignorance, feelings of inferiority/superiority, ethnically based agendas, and outright blatant racism. Additionally, partisan divisions bordering on hatred fed by fear and misinformation appear to be deepening.

72.4% of our population is white. 63% are Republican and 19% Democrat. 59% of whites voted Romney and 37% voted Obama. The fear within the Republican Party that they have lost control of the electorate resulted in several new, last minute voter I.D. laws designed to restrict the non-white vote. These laws were enacted by Republican controlled governments in several states.

Is there anything wrong with the idea of voter I.D.? No. Is there anything wrong with how these voter I.D. laws were designed and the timing of them? Yes! Interestingly, the attempt backfired and actually resulted in a larger than normal minority turnout.

The Voting Rights Act is needed (for now) although it is somewhat outdated. BUT, what IS NEEDED even MORE importantly is a new Voting Rights & Standards Act for ALL STATES! No voter should have to stand in line for over 8 hours regardless of their ethnic origins or party affiliation. No voter should have to feel intimidated to go to their polling place and cast their vote. No legal voter should be disenfranchised because they are unable to obtain the voter I.D. proposed by most of these laws.

The entire voting system needs an overhaul! We can standardize a fair system to verify voter I.D., we can standardize voting hours, early voting, the number of days for voting, the voting machines used and how many should be available, the scanning machines and how many, the number of polling places required all based on local population.

There is no reason it should take me only 10 minutes to vote in California and it should take over 8 hours in Cleveland. There is no reason that California can have election results within 24 hours and Florida takes a week!

National Voting Rights and Standards are needed NOW! We can’t wait until the next big election!

@TrueWatchman

That still doesn’t change the underlying message. Voter suppression based on any factor is wrong. Whether it be for race, religion, philosophical differences, etc. Making one single law based on race does nothing to solve the race issue. It just furthers racist practices in my opinion. Minorities have to be protected from the evil whites, by the good whites that help out the poor minorities because they can’t fend for themselves. If it is based on race, it is racist. Like I said everyone regardless of race should be protected against voter suppression, this law is redundant and not necessary.

I’m a white female living in the South. I happen to be a Democrat, and I can tell you this: on the ground down here, prejudice is alive and well and there is no way the South should be allowed to change any voting laws without some oversight by the government – ever.

I used to defend the South, thinking it (we) had made progress, but after the hatred, venom and vitriol I’ve seen and heard personally before and after this election, I can no longer defend it. We deserve our bad reputation.