The legislature’s data on racial voting patterns showed that “African Americans disproportionately used the first seven days of early voting,” and so “the General Assembly amended the bill to eliminate the first week of early voting.” The data showed that “African American voters disproportionately used [same-day registration] when it was available,” and so same-day registration was cut as well. The law also eliminated out-of-precinct voting, which “required the Board of Elections in each county to count the provisional ballot of an Election Day voter who appeared at the wrong precinct, but in the correct county, for all of the ballot items for which the voter was eligible to vote.” African-Americans, meanwhile, were especially likely to take advantage of this practice.
Yet for all these changes, the lawmakers exempted absentee voting from the law’s new voter ID restriction, and it did so after discovering “that African Americans did not disproportionately use absentee voting; whites did.” Thus, as Motz summarizes the facts of the case, “the General Assembly enacted legislation restricting all — and only — practices disproportionately used by African Americans.”
And this is what I tried to explain to you. The mere fact that more blacks used the first seven days isn't meaningful. What matters is why. If the changes were solely to exclude black voters that is one thing. If the changes were to address administrative problems that is something else. I haven't followed this so I have no idea which it might be.
The Left constantly imputes racists behavior on the Right -- sometimes such imputation may be warranted but in many instances it isn't. How many times have whites who disapproved of Obama's actions been called racists? For no reason other than disagreeing with his political actions.
This has been exacerbated by Obama's own actions and it is the reason his presidency has been the most divisive in history. Where there is racism it should be eliminated. But where there are non-racial reasons people should lay off.
On a slightly different point, the question of whether making it easier to vote -- black or white -- is a good thing. There is something to be said for making getting out to vote something you have to make an effort to do. Convenient, yes. But encouraging the uninformed to vote is not a good idea, IMO. |
