*Even with due allowance made for all those voters who have died or moved* *away—those whose names should be scrubbed from the voter rolls—the numbers* *noted here, of those unfairly disenfranchised, to ensure more "victories" by the* *GOP, are startling.*
*Indeed, so startling are those numbers that they should impel the Democrats* *to mount a vast campaign for automatic voter registration of all citizens on* *their 18th birthdays: i.e., a plan of universal voter registration that would * *obviate the anti-democratic hodgepodge of exclusionary rules in place from* *coast to coast today.* *So why aren't the Democrats promoting such a plan? Not even the * *Congressional Black Caucus seems ever to have bothered even* *to discuss the possibility, much less push for it.* *What this tells us is that neither party really wants the USA to be a* *democratic country, as that would put an end to the vast spoils **system * *that enriches the elites both "left" and right (and whose real **job **it is to * *keep the war machine in place, enriching the **elite that both those * *parties * *really serve).* *MCM * > > *From Victor Provenzano: * > > > > *According to the Brennan Center at NYU, almost 16 million voters --- more > often than not minority and disproportionately African American --- were > removed from the voter rolls nationwide between 2014 and 2016 > (https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/08/09/many-states-are-purging-voters-from-the-rolls > <https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/08/09/many-states-are-purging-voters-from-the-rolls>). > According > to BBC journalist Greg Palast, another 14 million voters were removed from > the U.S. voter rolls in the year 2017 alone > (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubTsM6bdlGA > <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubTsM6bdlGA>). Yet this kind of "vote > scrubbing" is only one of the major elements in the GOP's nationwide effort > at "voter suppression" (which is now the most widely used euphemism in the > U.S. for "election theft"). In addition to the 30 million > disproportionately minority voters --- or FIFTEEN PERCENT of the U.S. > electorate --- that were removed from the voter rolls in the U.S. from > January 2014 until the end of 2017, there are also more than 30 U.S. states > with ID laws > (http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id.aspx > <http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id.aspx>) that > often seem to be designed to prevent minorities, the poor, youth, students, > the disabled, and the elderly poor from voting. Moreover, hundreds of > polling places in strongly Democratic voting districts have been shut down > in the Sun Belt from Georgia to Arizona > (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/10/30/midterm-elections-closed-voting-sites-impact-minority-voter-turnout/1774221002/ > <https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/10/30/midterm-elections-closed-voting-sites-impact-minority-voter-turnout/1774221002/>), > electronic votes are often "flipping" from "D" to "R" in Texas and > elsewhere > ( > https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Voting-machine-errors-changed-some-Texans-13339298.php > <https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Voting-machine-errors-changed-some-Texans-13339298.php>), > and the list goes on. Charlie Cook, the premier expert in the U.S. on > election outcomes, said earlier this year that if it had not been for the > wide-scale gerrymandering in 2010, there would have been up to NINETY-NINE > House seats in play in 2018 > (https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/national/fivethirtyeight/hating-gerrymandering-easy-fixing-it-harder > <https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/national/fivethirtyeight/hating-gerrymandering-easy-fixing-it-harder>). > How many might be in play, then, if it were not for wide-scale voter > suppression? In the end, an informed citizen has to ask if the supposed > "Blue Wave" this year will be anything more than a "Blue Ripple." We shall > soon see. What is quite certain, however, is that the 2018 election is > being stolen on a new and unprecedented scale by the GOP and its dozens of > secretaries of state. * > > > *Victor Provenzano* > >> >>>>>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. If you'd like to donate to News From Underground, please visit http://markcrispinmiller.com/donate - we appreciate your ongoing support. Ways to unsubscribe, 1) send a blank email to [email protected]. PLEASE NOTE: you must unsubscribe using the SAME email with which you subscribed; 2) go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com
