Original article from: Forbes
Donald Trump’s 2016 digital campaign team categorized millions of Black Americans for “Deterrence,” voters it hoped wouldn’t cast a ballot on Election Day, and targeted online ads at them despite previous claims it hadn’t, according to an investigation published Monday by the U.K.’s Channel 4 News.
LEFT VIEWPOINTS
Ending voter suppression requires Supreme Court reform
- Trump’s 2016 campaign launched a social media ad barrage designed to prevent African-Americans from showing up to vote.
- When politicians rig elections using “tricks” they erode faith in government.
- In 2013, in the Supreme Court case, Shelby County v. Holder, critical aspects of the 1965 Voting Rights Act were stripped away, leading to widespread voter suppression.
- America is in dire need of Supreme Court reform because the Court is being used as a weapon to make Americans less free.
Is it so radical to suggest that everyone should be encouraged to vote and that voting should be as easy as possible? When politicians rig elections using “tricks” they erode faith in government. This is exactly how Trump pulled off his upset in 2016. Granted, Hilliary Clinton didn’t help herself by not visiting Michigan and other battleground states, but without the voter-suppression tactics that Trump deployed using social media, he would not have won.
In 2013, in the Supreme Court case, Shelby County v. Holder, critical aspects of the 1965 Voting Rights Act were stripped away. It was a 5/4 decision. Guess which judge the five were? When the ruling happened, Republican-governed states employed some of the most blatant, undemocratic voter suppression tactics seen in 50 years.
Voter suppression tactics often appear rational. However, voter suppression tactics are designed to increase the chances of a specific Party winning. Voter suppression tactics may include:
- Mass purging of the voting rolls
- Strict voter ID laws
- Moving polling sites to inconvenient locations
- Shutting down polling sites completely
- Making it more difficult to register to vote by imposing unreasonable, last-minute requirements
- Limiting absentee ballots to those who are likely to vote for a specific Party
- Cuts to early voting
- Systemic disenfranchisement
This cannot be America. Left or right, people can excuse this away. Democracy needs to spread, and if it means your side loses, then your side needs to adjust its message — not make it more difficult for people to have a say. This is one reason America is in dire need of Supreme Court reform. Democracy is the key to a better future for everyone, and we can’t let an idealistic minority erode it.