Difference between revisions of "Voter suppression"
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African Americans in the South were left to the mercy of increasingly hostile state governments dominated by white Democratic legislatures; neither the legislatures, law enforcement or the courts worked to protect freedmen.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties|author=Finkelman, Paul|year=2006}}</ref> As [[Democrats]] regained power in the late 1870s, they struggled to suppress black voting through intimidation and fraud at the polls. [[Paramilitary]] groups such as the [[Red Shirts]] acted on behalf of the Democrats to suppress black voting. From 1890 to 1908, 10 of the 11 former Confederate states passed disfranchising constitutions or amendments,<ref>{{cite book|title=Democracy's Privileged Few|author=Chafetz, Joshua Aaron|year=2007}}</ref> with provisions for [[poll tax]]es,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004">{{cite book|title=From Jim Crow to Civil Rights|author=Klarman, Michael J.|year=2004}}</ref> residency requirements, [[literacy test]]s,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004"/> and [[grandfather clause]]s that effectively disfranchised most black voters and many poor white people. The disfranchisement also meant that black people could not serve on juries or hold any political office, which were restricted to voters; those who could not vote were excluded from the political system. | African Americans in the South were left to the mercy of increasingly hostile state governments dominated by white Democratic legislatures; neither the legislatures, law enforcement or the courts worked to protect freedmen.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties|author=Finkelman, Paul|year=2006}}</ref> As [[Democrats]] regained power in the late 1870s, they struggled to suppress black voting through intimidation and fraud at the polls. [[Paramilitary]] groups such as the [[Red Shirts]] acted on behalf of the Democrats to suppress black voting. From 1890 to 1908, 10 of the 11 former Confederate states passed disfranchising constitutions or amendments,<ref>{{cite book|title=Democracy's Privileged Few|author=Chafetz, Joshua Aaron|year=2007}}</ref> with provisions for [[poll tax]]es,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004">{{cite book|title=From Jim Crow to Civil Rights|author=Klarman, Michael J.|year=2004}}</ref> residency requirements, [[literacy test]]s,<ref name="Klarman, Michael J. 2004"/> and [[grandfather clause]]s that effectively disfranchised most black voters and many poor white people. The disfranchisement also meant that black people could not serve on juries or hold any political office, which were restricted to voters; those who could not vote were excluded from the political system. | ||
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| + | ===Civil rights era=== | ||
| + | [[File:Democratic voter suppression.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Democratic voter suppression, 1963.]] | ||
| + | The [[McGovern-Fraser Commission]] required state parties to develop written rules and post uniform statewide notification of the date, time, and location of precinct caucus meetings or party primary elections. There was a common practice in some Southern states such as Mississippi were all-white local party bosses held meetings in obscure locations so that Black majorities in a county or district were unaware of the time and place of party elections. Although many provisions the commission brought about were undone in the early 1980s by Walter Mondale and Ted Kennedy, several provisions have remained. Prior to McGovern-Fraser, several states had no written guidelines governing party conventions, caucuses, and the delegate selection process at each level, and were based mostly on local tradition, which often meant cronyism, discrimination, voter suppression and the boss's rule. The system had been used effectively by Democrats in their voter suppression of Blacks for over 100 years. | ||
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| + | After the 1972 election, Congresswoman [[Barbara Mikulski]] was asked by the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC) to chair the [[Mikulski Commission]] to review and make recommendations on how effective the pre-convention McGovern-Fraser reforms rules were. According to [[CNN]], the commission | ||
| + | {{quotebox|replaced the demographic quotas of 1972 with [[affirmative action]] requirements to increase participation by women, blacks and other minorities. (However, this specific plan had the OPPOSITE effect, decreasing the proportion of women from 38% in 1972 to 36% in 1976. The proportion of blacks declined from 15% in 1972 to 7% in 1976. After 1976, quotas for women delegates were reimposed.) PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION, the distribution of delegates among candidates to reflect their share of the primary or caucus vote, was mandated by party rules.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/rules/index.shtml All Politics, CNN Time, Facts.] Sources: ‘’The National Journal’’, August 23, 1980; ‘’Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections’’; also quoted in ‘’Democratic party convention rule changes’’, academic.regis.edu , below.</ref>}} | ||
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| + | The Mikulski Commission did away with the secret ballot and required a public declaration in front of the election judges or on registration forms and a party-specific ballot given to the voter to cast.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_elections_in_the_United_States#Types_of_primaries]</ref> Now in most states a non-partisan primary voter who wishes to vote for a Democrat for President and a Republican for Senate experiences voter suppression and denial. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 21:45, July 3, 2020
The Democratic party exercised voter suppression in of the African American vote in the South for the first 100 years after the Republican-controlled Congress and states passed the 15th Amendment. In 1964, a near unanimous vote of Republicans, coupled with a bi-partisan coalition of some Democrats, passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 allowing for federal intervention end Jim Crow laws in Blue States.
Voter suppression occured through discriminatory practices at polling stations and often through intimidation and violence by the terrorist wing of the Democrat party - the Ku Klux Klan.
History
With the defeat of the Democrats and the South, to the victors went the spoils. Republicans immediately stripped white males who engaged in rebellion against the United States of the vote, and gave it to Blacks. Newly freed Blacks held local, state and federal elected and non-elected positions as Republicans. The white males who were deprived of the vote were also barred from holding any civil service position and were universally Democrats. This disenfranchisement created enormous resentment among Democrats, so they formed the Ku Klux Klan to engage in voter intimidation and suppression.
African Americans in the South were left to the mercy of increasingly hostile state governments dominated by white Democratic legislatures; neither the legislatures, law enforcement or the courts worked to protect freedmen.[1] As Democrats regained power in the late 1870s, they struggled to suppress black voting through intimidation and fraud at the polls. Paramilitary groups such as the Red Shirts acted on behalf of the Democrats to suppress black voting. From 1890 to 1908, 10 of the 11 former Confederate states passed disfranchising constitutions or amendments,[2] with provisions for poll taxes,[3] residency requirements, literacy tests,[3] and grandfather clauses that effectively disfranchised most black voters and many poor white people. The disfranchisement also meant that black people could not serve on juries or hold any political office, which were restricted to voters; those who could not vote were excluded from the political system.
Civil rights era
The McGovern-Fraser Commission required state parties to develop written rules and post uniform statewide notification of the date, time, and location of precinct caucus meetings or party primary elections. There was a common practice in some Southern states such as Mississippi were all-white local party bosses held meetings in obscure locations so that Black majorities in a county or district were unaware of the time and place of party elections. Although many provisions the commission brought about were undone in the early 1980s by Walter Mondale and Ted Kennedy, several provisions have remained. Prior to McGovern-Fraser, several states had no written guidelines governing party conventions, caucuses, and the delegate selection process at each level, and were based mostly on local tradition, which often meant cronyism, discrimination, voter suppression and the boss's rule. The system had been used effectively by Democrats in their voter suppression of Blacks for over 100 years.
After the 1972 election, Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski was asked by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to chair the Mikulski Commission to review and make recommendations on how effective the pre-convention McGovern-Fraser reforms rules were. According to CNN, the commission
replaced the demographic quotas of 1972 with affirmative action requirements to increase participation by women, blacks and other minorities. (However, this specific plan had the OPPOSITE effect, decreasing the proportion of women from 38% in 1972 to 36% in 1976. The proportion of blacks declined from 15% in 1972 to 7% in 1976. After 1976, quotas for women delegates were reimposed.) PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION, the distribution of delegates among candidates to reflect their share of the primary or caucus vote, was mandated by party rules.[4]
The Mikulski Commission did away with the secret ballot and required a public declaration in front of the election judges or on registration forms and a party-specific ballot given to the voter to cast.[5] Now in most states a non-partisan primary voter who wishes to vote for a Democrat for President and a Republican for Senate experiences voter suppression and denial.
See also
References
- ↑ Finkelman, Paul (2006). Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties.
- ↑ Chafetz, Joshua Aaron (2007). Democracy's Privileged Few.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Klarman, Michael J. (2004). From Jim Crow to Civil Rights.
- ↑ All Politics, CNN Time, Facts. Sources: ‘’The National Journal’’, August 23, 1980; ‘’Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections’’; also quoted in ‘’Democratic party convention rule changes’’, academic.regis.edu , below.
- ↑ [1]