Stereotypes often have a grain of truth — and sometimes more than a grain. That's something Virginia's Republican Party should keep in mind the next time it bristles at allegations that it is hostile to minorities.
The General Assembly is moving along Republican-backed bills, bitterly opposed by black legislators, allegedly written to crack down on voter fraud. As the bills' critics have noted so many times that it is becoming a cliché, this is a solution in search of a problem. The state's registrars have not exactly been rushing forward with tales of voters trying to pull a fast one.
On the other hand, Virginia — along with much of the rest of the South — does have a long and repugnant history of racial discrimination. Voter suppression played a significant role in that systematic oppression, as black Virginians who are old enough can vividly recall. The GOP-backed voter ID measures may be written neutrally, but their effect will fall most heavily on black, Hispanic and other minorities. The result is that they seem designed to keep blacks and other minorities from casting ballots.
That perception seems fair in light of this: Last year Paul Schurick, who managed Republican Robert Ehrlich's gubernatorial campaign in Maryland, was convicted of authorizing an Election-Day fraud in 2010. Robocalls went to 112,000 voters in predominantly black areas of the state, telling them there was no need to vote: "[Democratic] Governor [Martin] O'Malley and President Obama have been successful. Our goals have been met. . . . Relax. Everything's fine. The only thing left is to watch it on TV tonight. Congratulations, and thank you."
Unlike the sort of voter fraud the Virginia GOP claims to be concerned about, for which there is not even apocryphal evidence, here is an actual instance of electoral skullduggery. What's more, Newt Gingrich says a signature-collector committed fraud by turning in fake signatures in an effort to get Gingrich on the Virginia ballot. Yet so far Virginia Republicans have not introduced a single bill to increase penalties for such behavior. If their goal truly is clean elections — rather than suppressing the minority vote — then why haven't they?
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