It seems so “Back to the Future.” For several years, Virginia’s Republican politicians and some Democrats have been raising the specter of massive voting fraud that needs to be corrected by tougher voter-identification requirements. The fears are centered upon undocumented aliens somehow gaming the voter-registration system so they can twist elections in their favor. An even more frightening reason is to push African Americans living in Virginia and several other Southern states back to where they were before theVoting Rights Act of 1965 protected them from abusive vetting tactics when they tried to register to vote.
There is no evidence of large-scale voter registration fraud, but that hasn’t stopped some Virginia Republicans from nitpicking small items on changes in the voter registration form.
These involve allowing registrants to skip checking boxes stating that they are U.S. citizens or are not convicted felons who don’t meet voting eligibility requirements. Efforts to address the changes have been delayed by the State Board of Elections.
Full Article: Virginia’s ‘Back to the Future’ voting registration debate – The Washington Post.