GOP Prefers Low Turnout

Rating:  Insightful
Author:  Gaylard French, Waxahachie
"GOP Prefers Low Turnout"

Re: "Make voting a requirement of citizenship -- It would reduce polarization and improve representation of all Americans, says William Galston," Tuesday Viewpoints.

Making voting mandatory is a good idea, but I don't think the Republican Party would ever support a law like this because low voter turnout has historically been beneficial to the Republican Party. Suppressing the vote in various ways -- e.g., the new photo ID laws enacted in the name of preventing voter fraud, of which they could not cite any examples -- has been their M.O. This is a solution looking for a problem.

I disagree with your opinion that making voting mandatory is a good idea.  I am of the view that the less our government can "require" of us  the better off all of us will be.

Alternately, if you have read my previous posts which, as side comments, touch on requiring a voter ID, then you know that I am of the opinion the GOP does favor a low turnout and does believe it will benefit from any barriers making voting more difficult.  On the other hand, I don't want my vote negated by anyone who has not the right to affect the course of our nation legally.  

So, I suggest a compromise with takes the sense that a voter ID protects us but which does not make requiring such an idea a barrier to voting along the lines of Jim Crow laws and poll-taxes.  Require that the state certify everyone who wants to vote through application for a free Voter ID at as many ubiquitous government office locations as possible - courthouses, Driver's License application sites, etc.

Because, I think you would agree, what the GOP prefers is a low turn out caused by imposing a fee to obtain the necessary ID and the maximum inconvenience in obtaining one.  States like Ohio and Texas, just to cite two, wish to impose the cost and inconvenience of obtaining certification as a legal voter, not because there is evidence anywhere in any form that voter fraud is a major concern in their states but because a fee and the inconvenience will result in a low turnout from which they expect to gain.

So, let's go along and get along by recognizing their stated concern while undermining their true, but hidden, agenda of producing an overall low voter turn out.