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Former FL GOP Chairman: “Political consultants and staff were talking about voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting.”
People who follows the Voter ID issue closely — and particularly those who oppose it vehemently — understand the way in which such laws suppress the voting ability of certain demographics. Within the framework of electoral politics, the Voter ID conversation often focuses on the interest of Republicans in limiting the vote of populations most likely to swing Democrat. This is, of course, the case, but the truly nauseating aspect of the issue centers on the racial and class-based impact. The fact that minorities and the poor — who appear disproportionately and adversely affected by Voter ID laws — happen to vote predominantly Democrat is an afterthought, an inconsequential byproduct even, when compared to the civil and human rights violations associated with voter suppression.
So, for us — the understanders — the inclination to do a victory lap is strong when someone admits or confirms how horrible Voter ID is. The problem is, you don’t exactly celebrate someone or some group of people coming out as racist. It’s just…uncool.
That said, let’s friggin’ belt this one from the the rooftops: Florida’s disgraced former GOP chairman says the party had meetings about “keeping blacks from voting”:
In a 630-page deposition recorded over two days in late May, Greer, who is on trial for corruption charges, unloaded a litany of charges against the “whack-a-do, right-wing crazies” in his party, including the effort to suppress the black vote.
In the deposition, released to the press yesterday, Greer mentioned a December 2009 meeting with party officials. “I was upset because the political consultants and staff were talking about voter suppression and keeping blacks from voting,” he said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He also said party officials discussed how “minority outreach programs were not fit for the Republican Party,” according to the AP.
The comments, if true (he is facing felony corruption charges and has an interest in scorning his party), would confirm what critics have long suspected. Florida Gov. Rick Scott is currently facing inquiries from the Justice Department and pressure from civil rights groups over his purging of voter rolls in the state, an effort that critics say has disproportionately targeted minorities and other Democratic voters. One group suing the state claims up to 87 percent of the voters purged from the rolls so far have been people of color, though other estimates place that number far lower.
Not much else to say, other than #SIFUABS.
Read Salon‘s complete piece HERE.
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