The Grandfather Clause. Many people dont know the notorious origin of that term. Heres a quick history lesson: As part of the post-Civil Wars Jim Crow laws, many Southern States instituted a Poll Tax which was a fee to vote. Prior to its passage, advocates of the poll tax argued that anyone who couldnt afford the tax, was either lazy or didnt care enough about democracy to vote. Opponents argued that it was solely meant to suppress the black vote, and since they were poor, the tax was overly-restrictive and a clear impediment to minority voting. After the passage of the poll tax, many poor whites were disenfranchised and complained that it was unconstitutional to take their vote. In response, the Southern legislators created a grandfather clause exception which created a waiver of the poll tax for anyone whose grandfather could vote. Since this tax came shortly after the Civil War, no blacks had grandfathers that could vote since all were slaves. And so this exception allowed poor whites to vote even though the alleged reason for the supposed poll tax was to keep the lazy and unmotivated from voting. Fast forward to 2014. Today we have Voter ID laws that are the clear offspring of yesterdays Jim Crow Poll Tax. Advocates say anyone can afford an ID and only the lazy wont get an ID and they shouldnt vote anyway. Sound familiar? Its the same arguments as those in favor of a poll tax. Every study has shown that minorities often cannot afford even a free ID because of the cost of producing the underlying documents (i.e., a birth certificate costs anywhere from $50 to $175). And also, most poor cannot afford to take the day off from work to get an ID and/or have no transportation to the DMV. Not surprisingly, at the federal trial, Texas could only show 2 cases of in-person voter fraud over the last 20 years. Yes, 2 out of MILLIONS of votes cast. So even though in-person voter fraud is statistically non-existent, the GOP has instituted a solution in search of a problem. Despite the fact that Voter ID does nothing to stop nonexistent fraud, the EFFECT of Voter ID is to suppress the minority vote in statistically significant enough numbers to change the course of elections. Thats no longer theoretical. The nonpartisan OAG just produced an intensive study which conclusively demonstrated that states which passed Voter ID laws had the EFFECT of suppressing the minority vote in election-changing percentages while failing to address any so-called voter fraud whatsoever. Lets call it what it is: Jim Crow, II.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 17:41:44 +0000
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