While the city of St. Louis continues to be hampered by its provincial politics and racial mistrust, and our state politics are in the grip of ideologues who maintain many positions that are contradicted by generally accepted reality (e.g., regarding stem cell research), there also has been a profound change in national party politics that has enabled Republicans to dominate the seats of power in the White House and Congress.
The GOP now holds a monopoly on power in Washington. Provoking and capitalizing on bitter cultural wars, Republicans are using their power to consolidate further the electoral gains created by their base supporters (including social conservatives, who have swelled their ranks in many states, particularly in the South).
The GOP has been quietly seeking to nullify Democratic support from African Americans and Hispanics. Over the last 14 months, they have been supporting legislation and initiatives in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Ohio that would force voters to present a special kind of identification at polling places or when they want to register. Republicans know that these sorts of requirements disproportionately affect African-American and Hispanic voters, the very voters who are less likely to have government-issued photo IDs. The Bush administration is quietly aiding and abetting these efforts.
An important case in point is the outlandish bill the Republican Georgia legislature passed last spring that requires voters that don’t have a driver’s license to pay $20 for an ID at the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. There is no doubt that this measure targets black voters in a state that only has 56 DMV offices – none in predominantly black Atlanta. Despite an injunction issued by a district court judge in October, comparing the law to a Jim Crow-style poll tax, Republicans vow to introduce a new version of the bill that would not require the $20 fee.
The Bush administration is expected to monitor such questionable changes in voting regulation to see if they accord with the Voting Rights Acts. Yet it promptly accepted Georgia’s law after political appointees inside the Civil Rights Division overruled the recommendation of career lawyers. Moreover, Bush has nominated the now-Chief Justice John Roberts, who took a leading role during the Reagan administration in attempts to dilute the Voting Rights Act, and Sanuel Alito, who has expressed skepticism about “one man, one vote” to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The huge disparity in wealth, power and access created by the chance circumstances of birth in this country compel us to afford a political voice to those who have not shared in the good fortune of many. The declared claims about concern over voter fraud are largely bogus. They are really attempts to repress voter turnout among minorities.