To the editor:

In the election of 1948, Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond swept the South. Of the states he carried, the highest voter turnout was in Louisiana. It was 18 percent. Laws, such as the poll tax and literacy tests had effectively disenfranchised the poor and minorities.

In modern times, voter suppression has become a standard Republican tactic, even here in Lawrence. In one legislative election, postcards were mailed to registered Democrats telling them that if they didn’t have their voter registration card with them, they would not be allowed to vote. It was a lie meant to discourage Democrats from going to the polls.

But not since the old Jim Crow days have we seen such a brazen assault on democracy. If you thought the Republican “reform” of the voting laws is unique to Kansas, you would be wrong. In state after state, legislation is being introduced and passed to make it harder to register and vote. These laws are carefully crafted to affect three groups: the young, minorities and the less affluent (e.g., renters). In some states exemptions have been made for Republican voter groups (e.g., in Texas, gun owners are exempt). The strategy seems to be, you don’t have to win their hearts and minds if you can just keep them from voting.

It’s ironic that in North Africa and the Middle East, people are fighting and dying to establish democracy, while here in America, we are quietly watching it slip away.