Shocker! Florida government tried to suppress the vote.

[Stinger]

Former Florida GOP leaders say voter suppression was reason they pushed new election law
Former GOP chair, governor - both on outs with party - say voter fraud wasn’t a concern, but reducing Democratic votes was.

By Dara Kam and John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau

A new Florida law that contributed to long voter lines and caused some to abandon voting altogether was intentionally designed by Florida GOP staff and consultants to inhibit Democratic voters, former GOP officials and current GOP consultants have told The Palm Beach Post.

Republican leaders said in proposing the law that it was meant to save money and fight voter fraud. But a former GOP chairman and former Gov. Charlie Crist, both of whom have been ousted from the party, now say that fraud concerns were advanced only as subterfuge for the law’s main purpose: GOP victory.

Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer says he attended various meetings, beginning in 2009, at which party staffers and consultants pushed for reductions in early voting days and hours.

“The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early 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 for us,’ ” Greer said he was told by those staffers and consultants.

“They never came in to see me and tell me we had a (voter) fraud issue,” Greer said. “It’s all a marketing ploy.”

Greer is now under indictment, accused of stealing $200,000 from the party through a phony campaign fundraising operation. He, in turn, has sued the party, saying GOP leaders knew what he was doing and voiced no objection.
“Jim Greer has been accused of criminal acts against this organization and anything he says has to be considered in that light,” says Brian Burgess, Florida GOP spokesman since September.

But Greer’s statements about the motivations for the party’s legislative efforts, implemented by a GOP-majority House and Senate in Tallahassee in 2011, are backed by Crist — also now on the outs with the party — and two veteran GOP campaign consultants.

Wayne Bertsch, who handles local and legislative races for Republicans, said

And then there were the long and deceptively-worded ballad initiatives that made it a two-page ballot. And the law that almost made it a crime to register anyone to vote. It was so punitive that the League of Women voters refused to even attempt to register new voters -- their normal pattern being to hold numerous voter registration drives.

Does this surprise anyone?

I think it backfired, and I think that's why voter turnout was so high and why people stood in line so long to vote.

[O Really]

“Jim Greer has been accused of criminal acts against this organization and anything he says has to be considered in that light,” says Brian Burgess, Florida GOP spokesman since September.

Yes, let's. And what is that light? Whistleblowing is almost exclusively done by people who have either been booted from their organization or are willing to be booted for reporting malfeasance.

While being convicted of theft might damage his credibility, being accused by the organization you've pissed off doesn't disqualify him from being credible, particularly if his story is supported by others, and particularly when the story appears to fit other known facts. Like, was there voter fraud caused by ID and early voting issues? No, no evidence presented for that. Does early voting favor Dems? Yes. Consistently. Was it the party who was most disadvantaged by early voting and more stringent ID requirements that was pushing the law change? Yes. Are Florida Republicans even more scurrilous than others? No doubt. And have other Republicans made similar statements? Yes, in PA, when ID passed and the law sponsor said, "we've just won the state for Romney."

[billy.pilgrim]

so repug jim greer admits there was no voter fraud to hang new voter suppression on, instead it was a marketing ploy to fool the ragin moron tools into believing that the coloreds were coming to marry his children


Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer says he attended various meetings, beginning in 2009, at which party staffers and consultants pushed for reductions in early voting days and hours.

“The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early 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 for us,’ ” Greer said he was told by those staffers and consultants.

“They never came in to see me and tell me we had a (voter) fraud issue,” Greer said. “It’s all a marketing ploy.”