On Monday, in her role as Secretary of State, Cathy Cox sounded the alarm saying that thousands of Georgians, many of them poor, elderly or minority, will have their right to vote effectively suspended because of red tape they are not responsible for. Cox is advocating for the rights of these voters while Republicans are criticizing her for even uncovering the problem and, even in the face of this crisis, are joining with others in Congress to try to stop the renewal of The Voting Rights Act.
I expected this from the Republicans, after all, many have long been suspicious that the Voter ID Law is nothing more than an effort to disenfranchise African American voters, but where is Mark Taylor's voice in this issue? Has anyone seen a recent statement he has issued?
As Lt. Governor, can he not applaud Secretary Cox for taking the necessary steps to uncover this new evidence and join her in supporting the rights of all Georgia voters? Is he afraid to join hands with Cox on this issue because it might hurt his campaign? Aren't the rights of Georgia voters more important? He had certainly had no trouble sending surrogates out to talk about this issue when he thought that it might work to his advantage. But now, less than a month before voter head to the polls, Taylor is silent.
Mark Taylor says that he cares about a lot of things, and maybe he does, but, over and over, it seems that he only "takes care of the Little Guy" when it benefits the Big Guy.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Taylor Silent As Voting Crisis Looms
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3 comments:
All the candidates are urging people to be aware of the changes in the rules about absentee voting...so why should she refrain?
pS--I can think of lots of differences between Cathy Cox and G.W. Bush.
(I'm a non-cynical progressive. Have lived long enough to know that cynicism doesn't work.)
Sounds like you're fine with Taylor using this issue for political gain and then disappearing when the crisis is upon us. By the way, who was presiding over the Georgia Senate when the Voter ID law passed? Oh, that would've been Lt. Governor Taylor who so successfully reached across the asile to appeal to his collegues that he prevented the bill from passing. Right? Wrong. The Rebpulicans he had so offended with his heavy handed partisanship stripped him of his power the moment they had the chance. Just remember, "Cry Me a River" Taylor can become a "ceremonial Governor", too.
Sure, the politically expedient thing would've been for Cathy to vote "no", and for lesser people, that incentive would've ruled the day. Instead, Cox put her constitutional duties ahead of her own political wellbeing, and even her own opinion, in this instance. How refreshing. She has always opposed the Voter ID Law. Everyone, even Mark Taylor, knows that.
The more complicated voting becomes,and the more broomsticks to jump over, the more voters will stay home...especially those who have difficulties navigating the system, i.e. elderly, poor, disabled, those without adequate transportation. These are populations who are more likely to vote democratic than republican. I believe Cox is right that many Georgians will not understand the new rules and will not vote. We usually have a high percent of non-voters in this state anyhow. While doing a voter education project in 2004 I remarked on the high number of eligibles in Georgia who do not vote and got a sassy reply from a bystander who said: "And I hope it STAYS that way." Unfortunately there are a lot of people in Georgia who hope it STAYS that way....but Cathy Cox is not one of them.
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