Jesse Jackson: “Florida Ground Zero for Voter Suppression”

Jesse Jackson’s conference call last week with reporters had this tidbit: “I think Florida may be ground zero for the voter suppression movement,” Jackson said in a conference call Friday with Florida reporters.

Apparently Ground Zero is no longer Texas, as it was a few months ago with the debates on Voter ID there.  Neither is it Wisconsin anymore.  Perhaps might it be Rhode Island next with its recent passage of voter ID?  Unlikely.  The bill was sponsored by an African-American Senator and signed by a Democrat governor.

What is the law that qualifies Florida as “ground zero for voter suppression?”  Rearranging the days of early voting despite keeping the same amount of hours available to vote before the election, and, requiring third party voter registration groups to turn in the forms they harvest in a timely fashion.

With over the top statements like this, pretty soon folks might not take Rev. Jackson very seriously on these issues.

Voter ID: Data v. the SEIU

The SEIU said hundreds of thousands of Ohioans may be without photo identification to use at the polls in conformity with the new voter ID law.  There’s one little problem, the data don’t agree.  Columbus Dispatch:

“But records from the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles show about 8.83 million voting-age residents have an Ohio driver’s license or photo ID – about 28,000 more than there are voting-age residents in the state, according to the 2010 census.”

Of course the opponents of voter ID argue that some people have multiple driver’s licenses or might have moved away.  But they don’t have any social science data to back up that assertion, yet.

“Redistricting reform could redraw political map for Jews”

JTA.com.  It seems the Voting Rights Act is impacting Jewish representation in Congress, in a negative way:

“‘It is not good for Jews,’ said Hank Sheinkopf, a New York Democratic political consultant, warning that redistricting reform efforts could ‘undo’ Jewish power in Congress.  Two veteran Jewish Democrats already have received some bad news from California’s new independent redistricting commission, whose proposed congressional maps set the stage for a potential battle royal between Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman, both pro-Israel stalwarts.”

In first, Texas goes to Court with redistricting plans

Public News Service out of Texas reports:

Texas’ redistricting plan, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry this week, requires federal clearance before it can be implemented. Attorney General Greg Abbott asked a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., for that approval Tuesday. It’s the first time Texas has opted for the courts rather than the Department of Justice to review new political maps for congressional, legislative, and State Board of Education districts. The state is allowed to choose between administrative and court venues to hear arguments that its plan complies with provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act that guarantee adequate minority representation.

Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, a progressive research organization, says the state’s decision to bypass the administrative option is politically strategic.