Alabama wants to push voting rights to the back of the bus.
Today in our nation's capital, President Obama helped unveil a new statue dedicated to civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the fight to ensure African Americans in our nation were no longer denied the right to vote. Yet on the very day this historic statue is unveiled, lawyers for Shelby County, Alabama tried to convince the Supreme Court that racial bias is a thing of the past.
Section 5 of The Voting Rights Act requires Alabama, and 15 other states, to get Justice Department approval before making any changes in existing voting laws. The "Pre-Clearance" requirement became law because of a long history of those states trying to block minority voters from the polls. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been upheld numerous times, and even expanded under Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.
This challenge to the Voting Rights Act is just one of many Republican attempts to undermine our democratic process. And, after the discriminatory ID laws and long lines we saw at the polls in the most recent election, it's clear that we need more protection of our voting rights – not less. We shouldn't remove this requirement in the 16 states covered under the law, we should expand it to every state in our nation.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said a half century ago, “we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” We can help make his dream a reality, by eliminating the Republican's power to manipulate our elections. And we can do it by moving to a national popular vote. Let's take control of our democratic process, and remind our leaders that they work for us. Stand up for your voting rights, and go to NationalPopularVote.com.
Comments
Hatred only goes to sleep for a bit then wakes and becomes stronger. there isn't much that can be done to stop these bigots from continuing their sleezy practices these days . we can only stay on top of the situation because when we sleep their still hating.
what year is it? just who do we have to blame, seriously. some parts of the country are just stuck in a time warp or something. the biggest tragedy? is to hear what some of the elected southen' erudite have to spew. imagine all fi'tty states being like that! yikes.
Scalia was badmouthing the bill today with the usual republican talking point that the Act isn't needed anymore. That POS is going to shoot it down. It isn't up to the Supreme Court to do anything to the
Act. They need to butt out.
The more I think of standing up to these gun-crazy ignorant-bigots; the more respect I have for the freedom-fighters who stood-up to them in the sixties. Rosa Parks and so many took it, non-violently and won in principle. We've come a long way; but unfortunately, the scourge of racism and ignorance still infests backward regions today.
As a trained Election Observer of almost a decade, we have a high-quality voter-verified paper-ballot vote-by-mail Election System. Counting machines and networks are industrial-quality and facilities very secure. Staff are professional, trained, experienced, well-supervised and focused. Procedures are complete and well documented. Processing is open and very orderly.
Elections are surprisingly complex, with local taxing-districts requiring up to 180 different ballots. While voter marked ballots may be damaged, contaminated and mis-marked every possible way; every return, ballot and vote is accounted per voter-intent (per State Standards), to the best of everyone's ability. Registration is "in-clusive" rather than "ex-clusive."
It's a very good system, the result of close coordination between responsible long-experienced non-partisan officials and several community election advocacy groups. Elections can be done right.
That's why news of officials futzing with elections infuriates me. Election Fraud by officials is a conscious act, likely requiring two or more co-conspirators -- in my mind, the equivalent of treason, which should be a capital offense. (But political professionals apparently don't even care).
I imagine Martin Luther King & Rosa Parks rolling over and over in their graves. Aparteid in America is alive and well in the 21st Century! (And "Scalia" sounds like the name of some sorta skin disease. Seems kinda symbolic, doesn't it!)
This country is moving backwards so fast, it's mind boggling... Sometimes all I want to do is jump off the train. - Alice I.W.
When Scalia smiles and opens his mouth you know that some racist rant is going to come out for all the world to hear. How does this man continue to express his opinions that undermine democracy? It seems to me that every part of our government is falling to the extreme right. How much hate is there in this country? It's a very sad day when the Voting Rights Act is questioned and might be torn from the books. Very sad.
If we ever needed an EMPIRICAL fact to prove the Republican FANTASY MINDSET it might never meet the level as expounded by Fascisti Scalia! (he was a kid member of his Daddies pro-Mussolini Club)
It's as if every Republican in this Country has their fingers firmly planted in their one ear shuffling about murmurring LA-LA-LA-LA amongst themselves, while plugged into the other is the direct connection to FOX.
On EVERY ISSUE OF CRISIS for our NATION the Republicans can't believe that their stuff don't work even though we've been trying it for THIRTY YEARS and no matter how hard they wish it won't be better this time!
But! What's worse is that they are are still regarded as "serious people" even though they've flunked out of everything they do!
pray tell, which societies was he talking about? Like the Dead Kennedys once sang: "brace yourself, my dear, its a Holiday in Cambodia, were you'll do what your told.." . or perchance, 'We've got a bigger problem now', is more appropriate, being that Scalia is drinking the formaldehyde directly from the jar with Hitlers brain in it.
All states have discminationary laws and proceduresfrom the republicans and democrats who are on the take from the cranky rich. The solution is for the American people to thow out the bums out as they did in the election of 1948 which put the republicans on the back bench for 45 years. Next, as they did to provided Obamacare, the new majority should cut all private funding in all forms out of the eletion cycle. We need to keep the cranky rich out of controlling the US. Otrherwise, the Halliburton company and others will reduce the vast majority to paupers. We saw this as BIF'S world in one of the Back to the Future movies.
By their actions and statements, Republicans are sociopathic and psychopathic fascists.
Politically:
1. They have attempted to foment societal fear and hatred of minorities, gays, unions, workers, women and educators for political gain;
2. They wish to emulate Nazi Germany’s barbed wire concentration camps for law-abiding, patriotic homosexuals, protesters, union members and/or destitute Americans;
3. They wish to impose mandatory instruction in Christianity for all Americans, at gunpoint, and the suppression of religious freedom and expression of other faiths;
4. They wish to corrupt public education in America by insinuating Christianity and a Biblical presence in all schools, and by denying empirical scientific teachings;
5. They actively engage in voter suppression, intimidation, fraud and misinformation;
6. They wish to replace the Constitution with the Bible, and to repeal all laws dealing with civil rights and corporate, financial and political accountability;
7. They deny bipartisan representation to citizens by gerrymandering political districts in their favor;
8. They engage in racist political obstructionism, resulting in loss of jobs and incomes;
9. They engage in egregious deceit and character assassination in order to keep citizens from making intelligent political choices affecting them and the nation;
10.They are pro-war, pro-torture and anti-veterans’ benefits and services;
11.They favor fascist governments such as China, North Korea, Uganda and Israel;
12.They favor defunding all social services benefiting the unemployed and poor;
13.They deny health care to all uninsured persons, and those with pre-existing conditions;
14.They oppose public safety by deregulating assault weapons and defunding public services such as firefighters, infrastructure repair and construction, EMT agencies, teachers, schools, police and by refusing disaster relief to communities;
15.Economically, they favor the wealthiest citizens over the less fortunate, demand Constitutional personhood for inanimate objects such as corporations, and are opposed to a living minimum wage, hoping to create national financial chaos;
16.They favor rape and violence against women legislatively, are anti-reproductive rights and encourage the murder of those who provide such services;
17.They are pro-environmental destruction by pandering to energy companies & others;
18.They favor international policies based on fictional “prophesies” in the Christian Bible.
Unless and until we repudiate their flagitious* behavior and presence in Government, America will be a nation enslaved.
*flagitious: utterly corrupt, thoroughly villainous
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