Florida Republicans’ cold, calculated effort to suppress the vote

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More evidence that we still need the Voting Rights Act: Theracial bias that led to it is alive and well.
            Here’s thevoter suppression debate in a nutshell:
            Republicans:We just want to cut back on early voting and impose photo identificationrequirements to curb fraud.
            Democrats:You just want to make it harder for poor people and people of color to vote.
            But once inawhile, a Republican tells the real story – as when Mike Turzai, the majority leaderof the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, seen on this 13-second video, explainsexactly why his state passed a voter ID law:

            And now, acold dose of reality from the Sunshine State – straight from the elephants’mouths.
            First, Florida’sformer Republican governor, Charlie Crist said that, as The Palm Beach Post put it in acomprehensive story Sunday, “fraud concerns were advanced only asa subterfuge for the law’s main purpose: GOP victory.”  Then came a former chairman of the FloridaRepublican Party – Jim Greer.

            “TheRepublican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe thatearly voting is bad for Republican Party candidates,” Greer told The Post. “It’s done for one reason and one reason only.… ‘We’ve got to cut down on early voting because early voting is not good forus,’ ” Greer said he was told by those staffers and consultants. “They nevercame in to see me and tell me we had a (voter) fraud issue,” Greer said. “It’sall a marketing ploy.”

            Current top Republican officialsin Florida dismiss Greer and Crist as the equivalent of disgruntledex-employees. Crist became an independent and endorsed President Obama.  ThePost notes that Greer faces criminal charges of stealing $200,000 from theparty.  Greer denies the charges – and issuing the party.
But Crist and Greer aren’t the only onescoming forward.  The Post quotes what it calls “two veteran GOP campaignconsultants” who confirm their charges.

Wayne Bertsch, who handles local andlegislative races for Republicans, said he knew targeting Democrats was thegoal.  “In the races I was involved in in 2008,when we started seeing the increase of turnout and the turnout operations thatthe Democrats were doing in early voting, it certainly sent a chill down ourspines. …

Another GOP consultant, who did not want tobe named, also confirmed that influential consultants to the Republican Partyof Florida were intent on beating back Democratic turnout in early voting after2008.

All of these current and formerRepublicans said the voter suppression efforts targeted African Americans.
Attempts to stop African Americans andother people of color from voting are why Congress passed the Voting Rights Actof 1965 – and why it was reauthorized by near-unanimous vote in 2006.  Now, a key provision of the law has beenchallenged in the Supreme Court.  Thatprovision requires certain states and localities – including five counties inFlorida – to get permission from the U.S. Department of Justice or a federalcourt before changing voting procedures. As a result, Florida had to negotiatewith the federal government over voting hours in those counties.
But what happens if the Supreme Courtrules this key section of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional?  Will that further embolden those whose realgoal is preventing people of color from voting?