On Day Of First GOP Primary Debate, The Voting Rights Act Turns 50

Voting Rights Act, “One Of The Most Popular And Effective Civil Rights Laws In American History,” Turns 50. The Voting Rights Act, which was signed by President Lyndon Johnson 50 years ago today, is considered “one of the most popular and effective civil rights laws in American history” for its success in increasing black voter registration and turnout and increasing the number of black elected officials across the country. However, in 2013 the Supreme Court “concluded, on scant evidence, that there was no longer a need for the law's most powerful tool” which has led to “strict and unnecessary voter-identification requirements,” The New York Times explained: 

For the first 48 years of its existence, the Voting Rights Act -- signed by President Lyndon Johnson 50 years ago this week -- was one of the most popular and effective civil rights laws in American history. Centuries of slavery, segregation and officially sanctioned discrimination had kept African-Americans from having any real voice in the nation's politics. Under the aggressive new law, black voter registration and turnout soared, as did the number of black elected officials.

Recognizing its success, Congress repeatedly reaffirmed the act and expanded its protections. The last time, in 2006, overwhelming majorities in both houses extended the law for another 25 years. But only seven years later, in 2013, five Supreme Court justices elbowed in and concluded, on scant evidence, that there was no longer a need for the law's most powerful tool; the Voting Rights Act, they claimed, had done its job.

In truth, the battle for voting rights has had to be unrelenting, and the act itself has been under constant assault from the start. As Ari Berman writes in his new history of the law, “Give Us the Ballot,” the act's revolutionary success “spawned an equally committed group of counterrevolutionaries” who have aimed to dismantle the central achievements of the civil rights movement.

Today there are no poll taxes or literacy tests. Instead there are strict and unnecessary voter-identification requirements, or cutbacks to early voting and same-day registration -- all of which are known to disproportionately burden black voters. [The New York Times, 8/5/15]

2016 GOP Candidates Taking The Debate Stage Have Helped Undermine Voting Rights

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush

Bush's Administration Purged 12,000 Eligible Voters Just Before 2000 Election. A 2012 article in Rolling Stone reported that 12,000 Florida voters were wrongly purged from the voting roles prior to the 2000 election, when Bush was governor of the state:

Back in 2000, 12,000 eligible voters - a number twenty-two times larger than George W. Bush's 537 vote triumph over Al Gore - were wrongly identified as convicted felons and purged from the voting rolls in Florida, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. African Americans, who favored Gore over Bush by 86 points, accounted for 11 percent of the state's electorate but 41 percent of those purged. [Rolling Stone, 5/30/12]

Bush's Administration Attempted A Second Voter Purge In Florida In 2004. In July 2004, the Tampa Bay Times reported, “Nine days after making the names of more than 47,000 potential felon voters public, state officials have scrapped the entire list, saying it was too flawed to be trusted.” [Tampa Bay Times, 7/11/04]

Bush Signed A Bill That Curtailed Early Voting In Florida. In 2012, PolitiFact noted that Bush actually signed a law passed by Florida's Republican-led legislature that “capped” early voting hours and limited early voting locations:

Bush actually signed into law the statewide maximum of 14 days for early voting in 2004. Election supervisors said it was highly popular and asked the Legislature to expand early voting hours and add more locations. But Bush and the GOP-led Legislature went the other way the next year, passing a law that capped the number of hours for early voting and confined it to election offices, city halls and libraries. [PolitiFact.com, 11/8/12]

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Rubio Supported A Voter Purge That Disproportionally Targeted Minority Voters. According to The Huffington Post, in his capacity as a U.S. senator from Florida, Rubio supported a purge of the voter rolls in 2012, despite concerns that it disproportionately targeted minority and likely Democratic voters:

Without [access to a federal database with information about immigrants], Florida began the operation using dated Department of Motor Vehicle citizenship records. An initial list of around 180,000 potential non-citizen voters was trimmed to 2,700, 500 of whom have since been determined to be U.S. citizens.

Concerns over the purge have largely been spurred by reports showing that the effort disproportionately targets minority and Democratic-leaning voters. According to a Miami Herald study, Hispanic voters accounted for nearly 60 percent of the names on the list, while they make up only 13 percent of the overall 11.3 million active registered voters. [The Huffington Post, 6/13/12]

Rubio Asked, “What's The Big Deal?” About Discriminatory Voter ID Laws. CNN.com reported in May 2012 that Rubio “blew off” concerns about voter ID laws while campaigning with presidential candidate Mitt Romney, asking, “What's the big deal?”: 

During a campaign stop last month with Romney in Pennsylvania, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a Cuban-American Republican, blew off what he sees as overhyped concerns about showing photo IDs. People have to show IDs for everything from boarding a flight to renting sports equipment, Rubio reasoned, so why not voting. “What's the big deal? What is the big deal?” Rubio asked. The Brennan Center for Justice, a legal think tank at New York University School of Law that has criticized many of the new voter identification laws as costly and discriminatory, said that 11% of eligible voters lack government-issued identification. Conservatives, however, challenge that estimate. [CNN.com, 5/29/12]

Ohio Gov. John Kasich

Kasich Has Signed A Series Of Laws Rolling Back Voting Rights. Kasich has enabled Republican state legislators' attacks on voting rights in Ohio by signing laws that limit early voting and eliminate same-day voter registration, as MSNBC explained:

The Ohio governor has quietly played a crucial role in the Republican effort to pare back voting rights in the Buckeye State. Just since last year, he's signed laws that: reduce early voting and eliminate same-day voter registration; reduce the minimum number of voting machines that counties must have on hand; make it easier to purge voters from the rolls; make it more likely that provisional ballots will be rejected; and make it harder to obtain an absentee ballot. The early voting cuts are the subject of a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that they discriminate against African-Americans. [MSNBC, 5/13/14]

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

Cruz Praised The Supreme Court For Weakening The Voting Rights Act. After the Supreme Court struck down key parts of the Voting Rights Act -- including the pre-clearance provision, which requires certain states to obtain permission from the Justice Dept. before they can change their voting or election laws -- Cruz spoke out in support of the decision:

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, the former solicitor general of Texas, advocated repealing the provision of the law struck by the court, but was far from spiking the football upon the court's ruling.

“Today, the Supreme Court recognized the enormous progress made toward voting equality in the United States since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965,” Cruz said in a statement. “The Court rightly decided that the statutory standards used decades ago to subject democratically-elected state legislatures to second-guessing by unelected federal bureaucrats no longer survives constitutional scrutiny.” [Politico, 6/25/13]

Cruz Tried To Amend Voter Registration Law To Allow States To Require Proof Of Citizenship Before They Could Register To Vote. The Hill reported in 2013 that Cruz introduced an amendment in the Senate that would “permit states to require people to prove their citizenship before registering to vote” after the Supreme Court overturned an Arizona law requiring that proof. [The Hill, 6/17/13]

Cruz Attempted To Add A Voter ID Amendment To An Immigration Reform Bill. In a 2013 tweet, Cruz announced his intent to add an amendment to an immigration bill that would allow “states to require ID before registering voters.”

I'll file amendment to immigration bill that permits states to require ID before registering voters & close this hole in fed statutory law.

-- Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 17, 2013

[The Washington Post, 5/12/14]

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee

Huckabee Lamented The Fact That You Need An ID At The Airport, But Not To Vote. The Washington Post noted how Huckabee has expressed concern over the fact that people don't need an ID to vote:

The former Arkansas governor told the crowd at an Americans for Prosperity conference last month that sometimes he thinks the United States has less freedom than North Korea. “When I go to the airport, I have to get in the surrender position. People put hands all over me. And I have to provide photo ID in a couple of different forms and prove that I really am not going to terrorize the airplane. But if I want to go vote, I don't need a thing.” [The Washington Post, 5/12/14]

Huckabee Reportedly Suggested Sabotage To Keep Union Supporters From Voting. According to Politico, at an Ohio fundraiser in 2011, Huckabee offered advice to supporters of anti-union legislation:

“Make a list. Call them and ask them, 'Are you going to vote for Issue 2 and are you going to vote for it?'” Huckabee advised, according to an audio recording provided by a foe of the initiative. “If they say no, well, you just make sure that they don't go vote. Let the air out of their tires on election day. Tell them the election has been moved to a different date. That's up to you how you creatively get the job done.” [Politico, 10/17/11]

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Christie: Republicans Need To Control “Voting Mechanisms” For Presidential Election. In October 2014, The Bergen Record reported how Christie said, "Republicans need to win gubernatorial races this year so they're the ones controlling 'voting mechanisms' going into the next presidential election.

Christie stressed the need to keep Republicans in charge of states -- and overseeing state-level voting regulations -- ahead of the next presidential election.

[...]

“Would you rather have Rick Scott in Florida overseeing the voting mechanism, or Charlie Crist? Would you rather have Scott Walker in Wisconsin overseeing the voting mechanism, or would you rather have Mary Burke? Who would you rather have in Ohio, John Kasich or Ed FitzGerald?” he asked. [The Bergen Record, 10/21/14]

Christie “Slams Same Day Voting.” According to MSNBC, “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed a voter registration method as a political ploy this week while speaking in Illinois”:

'Same-day registration, all of sudden, this year comes to Illinois. Shocking. It's shocking. I'm sure it was all based on public policy, good public policy to get same-day registration here in Illinois just this year when the governor is in the toilet and needs as much help as he can get,' Christie said Monday, according to The Chicago Tribune. He was campaigning for Republican Bruce Rauner, who is challenging Illinois' Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn this November. Christie chairs the Republican Governors Association. [MSNBC, 8/28/14]

Christie Vetoed Legislation That Would Have Expanded Early Voting. In 2013, Christie vetoed a bill aimed at allowing early voting at polling places in New Jersey, calling it “hasty, counter productive and less reliable” than the existing voting structure. [NJ.com, 5/9/13]

Christie Threatened To Veto A Bill Aimed At Increasing Registration, Early Voting. Christie threatened to veto a 2015 bill that mandated automatic registration and sought to institute online registration and two weeks of early voting, despite the fact that New Jersey had record-low participation in the 2014 election. As U.S. News & World Report noted:

New Jersey's legislature passed a bill mandating automatic registration, making it the second state to pass this major advance in election law.

New Jersey's Democracy Act would also institute online registration and two weeks of early voting, making the state a national leader on election administration. But Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, has threatened to veto it. He's wrong, and here's why.

New Jersey had record-low participation in 2014, with only 30.4 percent of eligible voters turning out to vote. The rest of the country didn't do much better; the 37 percent national turnout rate was the lowest in 70 years. A big part of the problem is a voting system that is out of touch with modern life. One in four eligible citizens is not on the rolls, and one in eight registration records is out of date or inaccurate, according to the Pew Center on the States. For those signed up correctly, many states have too few options to fit voting into Americans' busy schedules. [U.S. News & World Report, 7/9/15] 

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

Rand Paul: “I Don't Think There's A Problem With Showing Your ID” To Vote.  According to The Huffington Post, Rand Paul told Meet The Press how voter ID laws aren't “unreasonable,” just Republicans shouldn't publicize that they're using them to win elections:

During NBC's “Meet The Press,” host Chuck Todd noted that Paul, a presidential hopeful for 2016, has said in the past that Republicans go too far in their support of voter ID laws.

“My position is pretty clear,” Paul told Todd. “I don't think there's a problem with showing your ID, but I do think there's a problem with Republicans saying, 'Hey, our big issue for the campaign is going to be voter ID,' because what it creates is -- a lot of African-Americans understandably remember the '40s and '50s in the South, and they remember suppression of the vote.”

[...]

Paul said that he supports increased voting access, citing legislation he co-sponsored to restore voting rights to some convicted felons. But voter ID requirements are OK, he said, as long as Republicans don't talk about it too loudly.

“I don't think it's unreasonable, I just think it's dumb for Republicans to emphasize this and say, 'This is how we're going to win the election,'” Paul said Sunday. “Early voting should be out there for everybody. I'm for early votes, more voting. Let's go to the black community and compete for the vote. Let's talk about criminal justice and school choice and economic opportunity. There are ways we can get African-Americans to come to the Republican Party.” [The Huffington Post, 11/2/14]

Paul Believes “It's Not That Unreasonable” To Have Voter ID Laws. MSNBC's MaddowBlog noted how Paul initially said “I don't really object to having some rules for how we vote,” but later declared “It's not an unreasonable thing to ask to show your identification”:

To briefly recap, Paul told a largely African-American audience in Memphis late last week that it's “wrong for Republicans to go too crazy” on voter-ID laws. When the right murmured some disapproval, Paul backed off a bit, saying he never actually “come out against voter-ID laws.”

Then Fox News got involved. By midday yesterday, the Kentucky Republican had abandoned altogether the position that had won him progressive praise.

Tuesday, Paul spoke with Sean Hannity, and abandoned his deviation completely. Paul assured Hannity he fully agrees with the Republican vote suppression strategy on substance, and that his only argument is that Republicans should “emphasize” other issues without changing their policies:

“No I agree, there's nothing wrong with it. To see Eric Holder you've got to show your driver's license to get in the building. So I don't really object to having some rules for how we vote. I show my driver's license every time I vote in Kentucky ... and I don't feel like it is a great burden. So it's funny that it got reported that way.”

Last night, the senator appeared on Fox News' “On The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” and went even further.

"I am very aware of voter fraud, and I think it's not that unreasonable to show your driver's license, but I'm also aware that some people find it - that they think it's nefarious that Republicans are doing this to suppress the African-American vote. [...]

“It's not an unreasonable thing to ask to show your identification.... We shouldn't be tone deaf about this. And that's what I'm saying, is don't be tone deaf, but I'm also not saying, it's not unreasonable idea.”

For the record, voter fraud generally exists only in the imaginations of those who support voter-suppression tactics. [MSNBC, The MaddowBlog, 5/14/14]

Dr. Ben Carson

Carson Gave An “Enthusiastic Endorsement” Of Voter ID Laws, Even With Poll Tax. New York Magazine highlighted Carson's support for voter ID laws in a February 2015 article and noted that he offered an “enthusiastic endorsement” for requiring identification to vote:

In [his book] One Vote, Carson offers an enthusiastic endorsement: “I hope everyone (minorities included) across America will take responsibility for having proper identification documents, which are very easy to obtain as long as one does not wait until the last minute to acquire them.” He is also fine with “fees” for these IDs--knowing full well, as all Republicans are fond of saying, that “fee” is a euphemism for tax and in this case a poll tax. [New York Magazine, 2/24/15]

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

Walker Ended Weekend Voting And Limited Early Voting. In 2014, Walker signed a bill “limiting early voting hours and ending weekend voting” despite the fact that “the loss of weekend hours [is] more likely to affect low-income voters who work two shifts during the week or lack transportation or child care to vote during the week,” the Wisconsin State Journal reported: 

Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill Thursday limiting early voting hours and ending weekend voting, though with a few changes from what the Legislature approved.

The law limits in-person absentee voting to between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the two weeks before an election.

[...]

For Madison, the new law will reduce in-person absentee voting from 127 hours before statewide elections to 110, with the loss of weekend hours more likely to affect low-income voters who work two shifts during the week or lack transportation or child care to vote during the week, according to City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl.

She added that voters can expect longer lines and more delays during in-person absentee voting hours because her staff will also have to take care of their regular business during the week. [Wisconsin State Journal, 3/28/14]

Walker Signed A Discriminatory Voter ID Law Later Ruled Unconstitutional. A Wisconsin law signed by Walker that made photo ID at the polls a requirement was ruled unconstitutional after experts testified that “roughly 300,000 Wisconsin residents, most of whom are African-American and Lationos, would not be able to vote” under the law. [The Capital Times, 5/1/14]

Walker Has Signed A Slew Of Measures That Restricted Voting.  As reported by MSNBC, Walker has signed measures that reduced early voting, increased residency requirements, and made it harder for college students to register:

In addition to the voter ID law, the GOP-led legislature has passed, and Walker has signed, measures that:

o  Reduced the early voting period from 30 to 12 days.

o    Further cut early voting opportunities by eliminating on weekends and in the evening.

o    Eliminated straight-ticket voting for all but overseas and military voters, adding to wait times at the polls.

o    Required proof of residence when registering to vote, except for overseas or military voters.

o    Barred the state from certifying statewide voter registrars, meaning anyone who registers voters can only do so in a particular county where they're certified.

o    Made it harder for college students to use their IDs as proof of residence when registering to vote.

o    Increased residency requirements from 10 to 28 days, except for presidential elections.

o    Required that those who move within the state in the four weeks prior to an election vote in their old location not their new one.  

o    Eliminated the faxing or emailing of absentee ballots, except to overseas or military voters.

o    Barred municipal clerks from returning absentee ballots to voters so they can fix mistakes.

o    Required that an area for poll monitors be set up between three and eight feet from the table where voters sign in." [MSNBC, 6/1/15]