Fewer Democrats Are Voting This Year In (Surprise!) States With Strict New Voter Laws

[Rob L 3,811]

As voting rights advocates predicted loud and often, new voter ID laws seem to be hitting Democrats harder than Republicans.

GOP voter turnout in this year's presidential race is up 62 percent relative to 2008, the last time both parties had open contests. But Democratic voter turnout is down by 29 percent across all the primary and caucus states that have voted so far. In all but two states, fewer Democrats turned out to vote in 2016 than did in 2008.

Evidence suggests that new voting restrictions are at least a contributing factor.

Eight out of the 16 states that have held primaries or caucuses so far have implemented new voter ID or other restrictive voting laws since 2010. Democratic turnout has dropped 37 percent overall in those eight states, but just 13 percent in the states that didn't enact new voter restrictions. To put it another way, Democratic voter turnout was 285 percent worse in states with new voter ID laws.

ALISSA SCHELLER/THE HUFFINGTON POST

There is also "mounting research" that shows voter ID laws "affect voter turnout and disproportionately affect certain types of voters," said Jennifer Clark, a lawyer for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program at New York University. African-Americans and Latinos are the most likely to be hurt by the new restrictions.

In other words, research suggests that voter ID laws suppress Democratic votes more than Republican ones. A recent study from the University of California, San Diego, looked at election behavior before and after states enacted stricter voter ID laws. It found that Democratic voter turnout dropped by 8.8 percent while Republican turnout fell by only 3.6 percent. The change was most apparent among minority voters.

Of course, other factors could also be at work. Engaged social media, competitive races and strong grass-roots-oriented campaigns all boost voter turnout. Eight years ago, when Democrats were faced with a crowded field and the chance to retake the White House after two terms with a Republican they didn't like, their primary season turnout was much higher than that of the other party.

This year, higher Republican turnout could stem from dissatisfaction with the current administration, a competitive field and a front-runner who's receiving a lot of media attention. Democrats might be in less haste to vote since most are satisfiedwith either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton.

Voter ID rules "could have a large underlying role" in suppressing turnout this year but it's too early to know for sure, said UC San Diego professor Zoltan Hajnal, who worked on the study. "We can't assess it yet," he said.

On Tuesday in Texas, which has one of the toughest voter ID regimes, over half a million registered voters lacked the proper ID to cast a ballot due to new restrictions. The Nation reported on one Prairie View A&M University student who was turned away for not having the proper ID: Under the state's law, a student ID didn't qualify, but a gun permit would have worked.

Democratic voter turnout was down 50 percent in the Lone Star State from 2008, more than in any other early-voting state so far. Republican voter turnout in Texas grew by 108 percent, second only to Virginia, where it was up 109 percent.

Clark anticipates that new voting restrictions could have an even greater impact in November, when in many states voters who haven't voted since the last presidential election go to the polls and discover new rules. "We will see this magnified in the general election," she said.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misidentified the affiliation of the Texas student cited in The Nation; the student attends Prairie View A&M, not Texas A&M. Language has also been amended to more accurately paraphrase Clark's remarks on the effect of voter restrictions in the general election.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Let's not forget they closed some locations for getting identification as well.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/alabama-dmv-closings-draw-call-federal-voting-rights-probe

[Ban Hammer 14,271]

There is also "mounting research" that shows voter ID laws "affect voter turnout and disproportionately affect certain types of voters," said Jennifer Clark, a lawyer for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program at New York University.

yeah, dead people can't vote anymore.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

That's a shocker. Anti voter fraud, measures hurt the Democrats.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Voter ID rules "could have a large underlying role" in suppressing turnout this year but it's too early to know for sure, said UC San Diego professor Zoltan Hajnal, who worked on the study. "We can't assess it yet," he said.

[Expat1 971]

Voter ID rules "could have a large underlying role" in suppressing turnout this year but it's too early to know for sure, said UC San Diego professor Zoltan Hajnal, who worked on the study. "We can't assess it yet," he said.

Seems there wont be more votes than registered voters in Democratic "strongholds" anymore. RIP to those who have finally been laid to rest

[ExPatty 502]

The sort of person who doesn't have the ID to get through these is likely too ignorant/uneducated/misinformed to have an opinion they should be sharing at the ballot box anyway.

[eieio 1,594]

It is good to see that a crackdown on voter fraud is actually working.

[Expat1 971]

Idea for next restriction - no thieves, no liars, and no commies can register to run for office. Democratic turnout will drop to zero.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Expat1

[Póg mo 1,749]

Too many trolls, and not enough bridges!

[Expat1 971]

Too many trolls, and not enough bridges!

That was critical. Thanks for adding value!

[Póg mo 1,749]

That was critical. Thanks for adding value!

No, no! Thank you!

[jyaku 138]

Idea for next restriction - no thieves, no liars, and no commies can register to run for office. Democratic turnout will drop to zero.

Great so Hildabeast wins by default since Trump is a thief, a liar and a commie who wants free healthcare for all.

+1 expat.

[Rob L 3,811]

yeah, dead people can't vote anymore.

Where did dead people vote ?

It is good to see that a crackdown on voter fraud is actually working.

Evidence? Where is the fraud?

[Rob L 3,811]

That's a shocker. Anti voter fraud, measures hurt the Democrats.

These are not anti fraud laws and the sponsors know it.

Governor Chris Christie: Same-Day Voter Registration Is a “Trick” and GOP Needs to Win Gubernatorial Races So They Control “Voting Mechanisms”

Gov. Chris Christie during a campaign stop in Connecticut for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley. (AP)

Earlier this week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke at a US Chamber of Commerce gathering in Washington, DC. In his comments, The Record reports that Christie “pushed further into the contentious debate over voting rights than ever before, saying Tuesday that Republicans need to win gubernatorial races this year so that they’re the ones controlling ‘voting mechanisms’ going into the next presidential election.”

This isn’t the first time Christie’s come clean about GOP intentions at the ballot box. In August, while campaigning in Chicago for Bruce Rauner, the GOP candidate challenging Gov. Pat Quinn, Christie complained that Illinois would become the 11th state to permit same-day voter registration this November — a move supporters say will increase turnout and improve access. Christie didn’t see it that way, calling it an underhanded Democratic get-out-the-vote tactic. Christie said of Quinn: “I see the stuff that’s going on. Same-day registration all of a sudden this year comes to Illinois. Shocking,” he added sarcastically. “I’m sure it was all based upon public policy, good public policy to get same-day registration here in Illinois just this year, when the governor is in the toilet and needs as much help as he can get.” He added that the voter registration program is designed to be a major “obstacle” for Republican gubernatorial candidates.

Fran Millar: Georgia Senator Complains About Polling Place Being Too Convenient for Black Voters

Rep. Fran Millar (AP Photo/Ric Feld)

Georgia state Senator Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) wrote an angry op-edfollowing the news that DeKalb County, part of which he represents, will permit early voting on the last Sunday in October. The voting will take place at the Gallery at South DeKalb mall. Here’s what Millar wrote in The Atlanta-Journal Constitution: “[T]his location is dominated by African-American shoppers and it is near several large African-American mega churches such as New Birth Missionary Baptist… Is it possible church buses will be used to transport people directly to the mall since the poll will open when the mall opens? If this happens, so much for the accepted principle of separation of church and state.” Millar, who is senior deputy whip for the Georgia Senate Republicans, promised to put an end to Sunday balloting in DeKalb County when state lawmakers assemble in the Capitol in January.

Doug Preis: An Ohio GOP Chair Says We Shouldn’t Accommodate the “Urban — Read African-American — Voter-Turnout Machine”

In 2012, Republican officials in Ohio were limiting early voting hours in Democratic-majority counties, while expanding them on nights and weekends in Republican counties. In response to public outcry, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted mandated the same early voting hours in all 88 Ohio counties. He kept early voting hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays from October 2 to 19 and broadened hours from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from October 22 to November 2. But he refused to expand voting hours beyond 7 p.m. during the week, on weekends or three days prior to the election — which is when voting is most convenient for many working-class Ohioans. Here’s what the Franklin Party (Columbus) Ohio GOP chair, Doug Preis, and close adviser to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said about limiting early voting. “I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine.” (And yes, he actually said “read African-American,” that wasn’t inserted.)

Greg Abbott: Texas AG Says Partisan Districting Decisions Are Legal, Even if There Are “Incidental Effects” on Minority Voters

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr CC 2.0)

The 2010 Census results showed that 89 percent of the population growth in Texas came from minorities, but “when it came to fitting those new seats in the map, Republican lawmakers made sure three of them favored Republicans, who tend to be white,” according to the Associated Press. The Justice Department claims that Texas lawmakers intentionally redrew the state’s congressional districts in order to dilute the Hispanic vote. Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is running for governor of Texas, wrote the following in a letter to the Department of Justice defending the state’s voting maps:

“DOJ’s accusations of racial discrimination are baseless. In 2011, both houses of the Texas Legislature were controlled by large Republican majorities, and their redistricting decisions were designed to increase the Republican Party’s electoral prospects at the expense of the Democrats. It is perfectly constitutional for a Republican-controlled legislature to make partisan districting decisions, even if there are incidental effects on minority voters who support Democratic candidates.”

Ted Yoho: Only Property Owners Should Vote

Rep. Ted Yoho (Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr CC 2.0)

While running for a Florida congressional seat in 2012, Ted Yoho suggested that only property owners should have the right to vote, as you can watch in this video. Here’s what he said: “I’ve had some radical ideas about voting and it’s probably not a good time to tell them, but you used to have to be a property owner to vote.” He also called early voting by absentee ballots “a travesty.” And yes, Yoho won the election, and is now a member of Congress.

Don Yelton: North Carolina GOP Precinct Chair: Voter ID Law Will “Kick Democrats in the Butt” and Hurt “Lazy Blacks”

In an interview last year with The Daily Show, Don Yelton, a GOP precinct chair in Buncombe County, North Carolina, defended the state’s new voter ID law, saying so many offensive things, he was asked to resign the day after it aired. Yelton admits at the start of the segment that the number of Buncombe County residents who commit voter fraud is one or two out of 60,000 a year. The interview correspondent, Aasif Mandvi, replies that those numbers show “there’s enough voter fraud to sway zero elections,” and then Yelton replies, “Mmmm…that’s not the point.” He goes on to say that “if it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks that want the government to give them everything, so be it.” and then adds, “The law is going to kick the Democrats in the butt.” After the segment aired, the Buncombe County GOP Chair issued a statement on Yelton’s comments, calling them “offensive, uniformed and unacceptable of any member within the Republican Party” and called for Yelton’s resignation. He obliged.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Rob L