GOP is squeezing voters in red states

By Dave Starr, Las Vegas

Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Ever since Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservatives on the Supreme Court overturned the amendment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, red states have gone nuts with new voter-suppression laws. The laws may differ but they have the same goal: to suppress voting by the poor, elderly and minorities (typical non-Republican voters).

The new laws include:

• Requiring a new specific voter picture ID. Not accepting current driver’s licenses, college student IDs or military IDs that all were acceptable before the new laws.

• Restricting the number of early-voting days and early-voting hours to weekdays and only during normal working hours.

• Restricting registration and voting locations in blue districts within red states, leading to longer waits at voting times; no same-day registration and voting.

• Putting polling places in remote locations far from public transportation, making voting difficult for poor people and/or minorities who have to use public transportation.

• Removing registration and voting locations from university campuses.

• Not letting out-of-state college students vote in the state where they are attending classes while making absentee balloting more difficult.

• Allowing poll watchers to get within 3 feet of voters in line or while voting. Giving misinformation in TV and billboard ads regarding penalties for voter fraud. It’s an intimidation thing.

Democratic officials in red states have no alternative but to sue in state courts regarding the egregious new laws, but their lawsuits have little chance for a hearing.

Blue states have no voter-suppression laws. Why is that? Republicans have lost five of the past six general elections. It must be cheating in red states. Republicans claim voter fraud is the reason for the new laws. But voter-fraud stories are lies by Republicans; the rest of us know the truth.