Jimmy Carter is ‘disheartened, saddened and angry’ by the G.O.P. push to curb voting rights in Georgia.

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by bluestblue
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Mr. Carter said he was particularly upset that Republicans in the state repeatedly invoked a 2005 report he prepared with former Secretary of State James Baker, which recommended the use of identification checks to avert fraud.

Mr. Carter now says that “new technologies” have made the use of absentee ballots much safer.

“In the 16 years since the report’s release, vote-by-mail practices have progressed significantly,” he added. “In light of these advances, I believe that voting by mail can be conducted in a manner that ensures election integrity.”

The Georgia bill is part of a nationwide effort by Republicans in red or swing states to clamp down on the expansion of ballot access championed by Democrats and civil rights groups after the 2020 presidential election. (President Biden narrowly won Georgia, as did the two Democratic Senate candidates in January.)

At almost the same time that the Georgia Senate was passing its legislation on Monday, the governor of Iowa was signing new voting restrictions into law.

But the Georgia bill’s passage is by no means assured.

After hours of intense and occasionally emotional debate on Monday, multiple Republican senators abstained from voting. The Senate bill passed just one vote above the required 28-vote majority threshold.

brain_overclocked on March 9th, 2021 at 19:40 UTC »

In Supreme Court, GOP attorney defends voting restrictions by saying they help Republicans win

“What’s the interest of the Arizona RNC in keeping, say, the out-of-precinct ballot disqualification rules on the books?" Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked, referencing legal standing.

“Because it puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats,” said Michael Carvin, the lawyer defending the state's restrictions. “Politics is a zero-sum game. And every extra vote they get through unlawful interpretation of Section 2 hurts us, it’s the difference between winning an election 50-49 and losing an election 51 to 50.”

In leaked audio, a top Trump adviser said the Republican party has 'traditionally' relied on voter suppression

"Traditionally it's always been Republicans suppressing votes in places," Clark told the group, which included Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and the executive director of the state's Republican party.

"Let's start protecting our voters," he continued, partly referring to Election Day monitoring of polling places. "We know where they are [...] Let's start playing offense a little bit. That's what you're going to see in 2020. It's going to be a much bigger program, a much more aggressive program, a much better-funded program."

If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.

knoxknight on March 9th, 2021 at 19:34 UTC »

If you make Jimmy Carter sad and angry, you have truly failed at life.

NSAsnowdenhunter on March 9th, 2021 at 19:15 UTC »

LBJ wasn’t kidding about losing the south for a generation after Civil Rights. He might have even understated it.