Donna Brazile : "A cynical effort to restrict voting by traditionally Democratic-leaning Americans. In more than 30 states, GOP legislators are on the move" - "GOP's 2012 game plan is to keep voters home"

.

Election 2012 : "What the GOP is attempting to do is change the rules of the game, leaving only their players on the field".

USA Today
Brazile: GOP's 2012 game plan is to keep voters home
By Donna Brazile
Donna Brazile, former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, is a syndicated columnist, an author and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
May 17, 2011


Brazile: GOP's 2012 game plan is to keep voters home



Some excerpts :

Across America, Republican lawmakers have talked a big game about cutting budgets, but they also are seeking reductions to something much more fundamental: Americans' voting rights. From coast to coast, the GOP is engaged in what appears to be a coordinated, expensive effort to block voters from the polls.

The motivation is political — a cynical effort to restrict voting by traditionally Democratic-leaning Americans. In more than 30 states, GOP legislators are on the move, from a sweeping rewrite of Florida's election laws to new rules for photo identification in Ohio, Wisconsin, North Carolina and more than 20 other states.

...................

So these voting hurdles won't improve the integrity of our elections, but they will change the face of the electorate.

President Obama was swept into office with overwhelming support from newly registered voters, minority voters and youth voters. I suppose it's not a surprise, then, that heading into the 2012 election, these are the groups who will be most affected by these restrictions.

In my career, I have felt the elation of a hard-fought, successful campaign and the crushing defeat of an equally grueling loss. I've learned that campaigns are about which side makes the more compelling case to the electorate. This is what makes our democracy great. What the GOP is attempting to do is change the rules of the game, leaving only their players on the field.

.