Voter Suppression A Go Go

Voter suppression has always been a part of the American political process. Whether sanctioned by law -- from property requirements (until early 1800s) to blacks (end in 1870) and women (until 1919) -- or through more sinister means like poll taxes, literacy tests (Example) and outright violence, we have a long history of trying to ensure that the people who most need support and representation in our democracy don't get it. Ironically, it was the inchoate Republicans who expanded democracy like no one since the polarizing Andrew Jackson (who helped form the Democratic Party and seriously expanded democratic participation through direct presidential elections and other advances). For many years after the Civil War, in fact, the Democrats were the party that worked to suppress or even outlaw the black vote. But ever since the Southern Strategy that followed in the wake of LBJ's Great Society, it is the GOP that has worked to ensure that fewer people vote. This was obviously the case in Florida in 2000, but exists in various forms across the country from ID requirements to attempts to reinstate the poll tax to rules and voting site allocations that dissuade or blockade minorities from voting.

The Supreme Court today will hear a case (Slate)that could again decide the election. Early voting is allowed in Ohio, and the Democrats have been using the extra  days to get out the minority vote. But the GOP in the state has instituted a series of rules that could end the practice on the last weekend before the election, potentially costing Obama enough votes to lose the state (and maybe election). While there is legal precedent for the change, it makes little sense except to suppress the minority vote (particularly as they want to allow military personnel to continue voting during this period). It is just the latest example in an endless process to try to essentially steal the election by not allowing likely Democratic voters to vote. Is this the democracy we want?