LOD: Laughable Madness

The impact of last year’s crop of voter suppression laws is showing up in various states in bizarre and disastrous ways. The Colbert Report profiles a Florida teacher charged with voter fraud for registering her students and failing to get the forms to the elections agency within 48 hours instead of the old 10-day deadline. Legislatures across the nation are back in session, debating a new round of wacko bills that should shame any real patriot. The extremist measures would be more laughable if they weren’t so frightening. In North Carolina, Rep. Stephen LaRoque of Kinston is pledging to introduce a bill, when the General Assembly convenes in May, that would give his county government authority to impose a photo ID restriction on local voters; such legislation would very likely be unconstitutional, but that doesn’t bother LaRoque who says the bill is needed to “prevent potential  fraud.” He seems to miss the irony of fighting “corruption” while he is the target of corruption investigations. He also wants to prohibit the Kinston city council from having council members elected from districts; he doesn’t like who’s been winning. The Brennan Center for Justice has a new electronic newsletter that surveys the status of voter suppression initiatives state by state, as well as new reports on aspects of voter registration, election administration, and more.