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Posted on 07/07/2011 8:23:42 AM PDT by freespirited
Former President Bill Clinton Wednesday compared GOP efforts to limit same-day voter registration and block some convicted felons from voting to Jim Crow laws and poll taxes.
In a speech to liberal youth activists Wednesday, the former president called out proposals in battleground states like Florida and Ohio that could limit the voter rolls.
“I can’t help thinking since we just celebrated the Fourth of July and we’re supposed to be a country dedicated to liberty that one of the most pervasive political movements going on outside Washington today is the disciplined, passionate, determined effort of Republican governors and legislators to keep most of you from voting next time,” Clinton said at Campus Progress’s annual conference in Washington.
“There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today,” Clinton added.
Clinton mentioned Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s move in March to overturn past state precedent — including under former GOP governors — that allows convicted felons to vote once they’ve served they’ve finished probation periods.
“Why should we disenfranchise people forever once they’ve paid their price?” Clinton said. “Because most of them in Florida were African Americans and Hispanics who tended to vote for Democrats. That’s why.”
He also cited the New Hampshire proposal — which is currently stymied by a veto from Democratic Gov. John Lynch – that would stop college students who are from other states from registering to vote where they go to school.
Other states with powerful new GOP majorities have also drawn fire for their recent proposals to change voting laws.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign a bill that eliminates several early voting options and also eliminates a week-long period when voters could register and cast ballots at the same time. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a law in May requiring voters to show identification at the polls and to have lived in their ward 28 days before the election.
And Maine Gov. Paul LePage last month approved a bill that negates a 38-year old law allowing same-day registration.
“Why is all of this going on? This is not rocket science. They are trying to make the 2012 electorate look more like the 2010 electorate than the 2008 electorate,” Clinton said.
Chris Jankowski, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, pushed back against Clinton’s charge that the GOP is out to keep people from making it to the voting booth.
“It’s just not fair to paint all these proposals with the same broad brush,” he said.
“The Republican legislative majorities and their governors around the country are standing up for the integrity of the election process,” he added. “We support everyone who is entitled to vote to vote. And to take issue with that, to be opposed to that principle means you’re actually supporting illegal voting.”
Jankowski also said that turnout is fair game in politics. “Each party is free to do everything they should and possibly can to turn out their voters,” he said.
Carolyn Fiddler, communications director for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, welcomed Clinton’s remarks on an issue her organization has been closely tracking. “It’s such a serious issue, and it’s exciting to know Clinton is speaking out on it,” she said.
That old crock, BJ?
You lose. People in general are not as dumb as you think they are.
Republicans seek to reduce election fraud. Democrats cry racism. Why aren’t they forced to make the case that only blacks vote fraudulently? That’s the only way the laws could be construed as racist.
Just like the butterfly ballots. The only way their dispute made sense is if one accepted their unspoken premise that Democrat voters are idiots who can’t figure out simple instructions. I wished that every time they brought it up they were forced to first prove said idiocy.
LOL. What a tool. Remember this:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/bill-clinton-ob.html
He is truly a despicable man. I wish at even public event he attends that there would be a group protesting and humiliating this POS. Liberals are truly evil human beings. God forbid, but if our Republic should collapse, I would want the MSM and Liberal politicians hunted down like rabid dogs and [you know the rest]
LOL...GREAT rant there, and SPOT ON.
Thanks, that made me smile. As serious as this is, the truth will do that...:)
Yes, your understanding is correct.
It is also why Martin Luther King was a registered Republican.
Do not try to tell today's illiterate ignorati about any of this, though.
Did Willy mention his vivid memories of black-church burnings in Arkansas when he was a boy?
I sure do.
Exactly! Enterprise made the point in a way that captured exactly how I felt, but didn’t have time to elaborate on.
Don’t get me started. I spent a fair amount of time examining the ballot situation in the Franken election, and my blood pressure didn’t go down for a LONG time...
Thank you. The amount of people who truly would need to register the same day as they vote because of recent change of address has to be minuscule. It’s just another reason though for the Democrats to subvert the elections.
It’s good to hear impeached former president Man-child admit that most criminals are Democrats. Maybe next he could address the problem of Democratic party chairmen going into graveyards election eve and chanting the words `Klaatu barada nikto demokratico.’ Let the dead rest in peace.
Blah! Blah! Blah! Bubba!
Dear Bill, How many Republicans were members of the KKK?
Dear Bill, How many Democrats were members of the KKK? That includes former Senators BTW.
One other question Bill, do you pay your “fair share” of Income Taxes or do you Itemize to cheat the Government out of the money you “earn” speaking to ignorant Democrat College Students?
I just do nit uderstand how they can even say this with a straight face.You need a photo ID for a bank accout for social security and you need a photo ID for welfare.Where is the problem?Is it because the dems know that 25+% of their vote is from fraud?
Hey slick - put some ice on it.
It doesn't sound like a conservative principle, in fact it sounds like something a Democrat came up with. I will need to look into that.
Not that long ago in this country, when you were released from prison they would hand you your guns back. It wouldn't be possible to convince me that we are better off today than we in that time.
I liken his time with Juanita Broderick to rape.
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