Voter suppression isn’t robust debate
“Come out to vote on November 6. Before you come to vote make sure you pay your parking tickets, motor vehicle tickets, overdue rent, and most important any warrants.”
That’s the text of a flier distributed in African-American and Hispanic communities the weekend before Election Day of the Ehrlich-Townsend gubernatorial race (talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/balt.vote.suppress.html).
Nov. 6 would be too late to vote; it was a Wednesday. Failure to pay the rent or parking or motor vehicle tickets is not a barrier to voting; neither is an outstanding warrant.
The Maryland General Assembly first outlawed voter suppression efforts in 1896, making it illegal to use “force, threat, menace, intimidation, bribery, or reward, or offer … or [to] otherwise unlawfully, either directly or indirectly, influence or attempt to influence any voter in giving his vote.” ...
http://www.gazette.net/article/20120106/OPINION/701069680/1033/voter-suppression-isn-t-robust-debate&template=gazette