GOP Official Accused of Racist Comment
in Ohio Voting Battle
The struggle over voting rights is continuing to rage in Ohio (The rights of Republicans in Ohio to vote have long been protected, and made pretty easy, while the rights of college students and black Ohioans have been supressed in stunning fashion - who needs Diebold to steal an election when you can freeze out enough of the opposition voters to steal the election?). Last week, Secretary of State Jon Husted announced all counties would follow uniform hours for early voting after criticism the state’s uneven hours benefited white Republicans while disenfranchising people of color. Advocates had continued to push for early voting hours to be extended to the weekends. But a few days ago, Husted suspended two local election officials who voted to extend early voting to weekends in one county (No doubt, this is a conincidence?). Tension increased this week when the chairman of the Republican Party in another Ohio county was accused of making a racist statement. Doug Preisse, a top adviser to Republican Gov. John Kasich, was quoted in a local paper saying: "I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — read African American — voter turnout machine (Um, 'voter turnout machine?' By this I suspect he really means the most informed marginalized cohort in America)."
