The Republican Policy “Gerrymandering” of the Right to Vote

Republicans today, as they have historically, are advancing policies to limit the number of people who can vote. Similar to geographical gerrymandering, where electoral district lines are drawn to reduce the ability of minority voters to elect officials whom they favor, voting policy “gerrymandering” is not politically neutral but designed to disproportionately reduce the number of voters who vote for Democrats. It is happening now and may change the outcome of the 2012 national elections, not only for President but also for Congress.

Please read this February 12th New York Times article by Alexander Keyssar, “The Strange Career of Voter Suppression.” His article concludes, “Even a cursory survey of world events over the last 20 — or 100 — years makes plain that democracies are fragile, that democratic institutions can be undermined from within. Ours are no exception.”

 As I pointed out in my book, How We Are Our Enemy—And How to Stop:

 “The failure of the electoral process in Florida in 2000 was not a one-time failure but a portent of the future. The flaws were structural. Our failure to correct the flaws is a continuing national failure. This failure due to our inaction is partly how we are the enemy of the values we profess.”—p18.