Think Progress: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a tea party senator with a long history of opposition to civil rights laws, told an audience in Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday that there is no evidence of black voters being excluded from the franchise. According to local NPR host Phillip Bailey, Paul said that he does not believe “there is any particular evidence of polls barring African Americans from voting,” during a speech to the non-partisan Louisville Forum.
If Paul is not aware of the evidence indicating widespread efforts to prevent African Americans from voting, then he must not be looking very hard. During the 2012 election, black and Hispanic voters waited nearly twice as long to cast a ballot as white voters. In Florida, lines of up to six hours led an estimated 201,000 people to become frustrated and leave the polls. These lines existed largely because of a voter suppression bill signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) which reduced early voting hours in the state. After the election, top Republicans admitted that the purpose of cutting early voting was to reduce Democratic turnout. One Republican operative conceded that early voting was cut on the Sunday proceeding Election Day because “that’s a big day when the black churches organize themselves.”
The Republican party wants to steal elections by robbing all manner of poor, disabled, elderly, young, and minority Americans of their ability to vote. Their efforts are nationwide and ongoing. National studies put the anticipated number of disenfranchised at over 5 million. And that was before the Republican repeal of the voting Voting Rights Act.
It's no wonder Paul wants to plead ignorance. To admit the obvious means he's an anti-democratic, anti-american, corrupt piece of shit. But the reality is, of course these laws suppress the black vote and the Democratic vote in general. If they didn't, the Republicans wouldn't be bothering.
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