The Kaplan Post says it’s: a test of principle versus partisanship. It’s really: choosing between riding with Romney or getting kicked to the curb. Virginia Republican legislators didn’t give suppression enough thought. They could have suppressed the vote and still allowed McDonnell the veep seat.
These new restrictions fall most heavily on young, minority, elderly, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities. This wave of changes may sharply tilt the political terrain for the 2012 election and beyond. – Brennan Center for Justice
Requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification is a hardship on as many as 10% of the electorate. But that may not be as effective as more surreptitious methods. Limiting early voting is one. Another is making registration much more difficult. But Virginia Republicans chose the lightning rod.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, “state governments across the country have enacted an array of new laws that could make it significantly harder for as many as 5 million eligible Americans to vote.” This is part of a tide that started in 2011.
There are lessons learned available to Republican legislators flowing from lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that overturned flawed suppression attempts. A court in Arizona struck down a portion of an Arizona law that required proof of citizenship to vote. Adjustments are probably already incorporated into the sample legislation that ALEC now hides from the public.
Transvaginal, nee Taliban Bob has options. Allow the law to take effect and accept the fallout. Or, his better bet: veto the current legislation to remain in the veep sweepstakes. If he gets the nod, Virginia Republicans will credit this as an astute maneuver and forget all about it in their excitement. If he doesn’t, it still matters: he won’t have to confront this in any confirmation hearings. Failing even a cabinet post, he can cover his tracks next session with one of the more crafty suppression methods.
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