Founder of Mississippi Republican immigration opposition group: Don't let the Hispanics vote

Dr. Rodney Hunt, founder of the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (MFIRE for short), penned an article in Friday's Clarion-Ledger titled "Would amnesty solve Republicans' problems with Hispanic voters?"

Since his group has the word "enforcement" in its title, how do you think he answered that question?

Dr. Hunt spends the first 2/3rds of his column on stats regarding the number of Hispanic voters and how they lean Democratic.  Then he hits us with this:

Most grassroots conservatives understand that legalization of 11 million illegal aliens would forever transform our country from one that is divided almost 50-50 to a nation of one-party rule by the liberal coalition. This will result in national policies being determined by progressives and consistent losses for conservatives.

That's about as clear an admission one can get that to "conservatives" like Dr. Hunt immigration reform isn't about morality, it's about winning elections.  And if Republicans can just keep non-whites from voting, they can win.

Maybe Chief Justice Roberts can repeat for us his bedtime story about race no longer being an issue in our elections.

Jeppie Barbour's "Dog Whistle" Email Suggests New Ways to Stop Voters in Mississippi

Every once in a while, something comes across our desks that throws one of us in a funk. Like many Mississippians, even Cottonmouth writers would like to think that we've moved forward as a state. In many ways we truly have.

But today we've come across an email that is particularly troubling to me. In an open transmission to conservative leaders across Mississippi, Jeppie Barbour (Former Governor Haley Barbour's brother & former mayor of Yazoo City) sent out a list of explanations regarding some of the more...confusing aspects of Mississippi's newly implemented Voter ID law. In it, he explains how photo identification can (should?) be used as an "application of good faith", and that the rules are essentially left to the poll workers for interpretation.

For example, Barbour encourages his allies to change their IDs, so that they exactly match that of the poll books:

Let’s look at examples. There’s the voter registration name and the driver’s license name.


            Johnny Smith and John Taylor Smith

            Mary Wilson Jones and Mary Jones Howard (She’s gotten married or re-married).

            J. L. Jackson and John Louis Jackson

            Mrs. Betty Bond and Betty Anderson Bond


Make your own decision on these people but remember that you don’t get a say at the polls. People who have these two names are at the mercy of the poll workers. Even honest poll workers will turn down some of these.

But not only does this email lay out a very specific set of instructions on how to follow the law, it also highlights it's deliberately confusing arbitrary rules, and explains to poll workers how easy it is to drop someone off of the voter rolls.

One of the more stunning admissions comes a few paragraphs down:

That will mean that we have a good faith application of the law but people whose names are just a little different can not be sure that they’ll get to vote.

There are other people who can be very sure that they WILL NOT be allowed to vote. They won’t vote unless they re-register.

Read the whole thing after the jump, presented to you in full. It might just make your head explode.



To:          Conservative county leaders

From:      Jeppie Barbour

Subject:  Voting under the new Voter ID

Delbert Hosemann: I want to run the Hinds County elections

There is a ginned-up issue out there, folks, that threatens to end local control of elections in majority-black counties.  It is part and parcel of nationwide Republican plans to suppress minority votes.  This is important, so please pay attention:

According to the Hinds County Circuit Clerk, Barbara Dunn (D), there are 57 Hinds County residents who are eligible to cast military absentee ballots, 12 of which are in the country. The 45 overseas military absentee voters were contacted and informed that they could vote online. The 12 in the U.S. wanted paper ballots, and they will get those once they are printed.

The remaining absentee ballots haven't been printed yet because the Election Commissioner race involving Bobbie Graves is the subject of a lawsuit currently pending before the Mississippi Supreme Court. Contrary to what some people are saying, the law allows for situations such as this. Note the last part of Section 23-15-9(a) of the Mississippi Code:

(a) Not more than forty-five (45) days nor later than 12:00 noon on the Saturday immediately preceding elections held on Tuesday, the Thursday immediately preceding elections held on Saturday, or the second day immediately preceding the date of elections held on other days, he shall appear in person before the registrar of the county in which he resides, or for municipal elections he shall appear in person before the city clerk of the municipality in which he resides and, when the elector so appears, he shall execute and file an application as provided in Section 23-15-627 and vote by absentee ballot, except that if the ballot has not been printed by forty-five (45) days preceding the election, the elector may appear and file an application anytime before the election. Then the absentee ballot shall be mailed by the circuit clerk to the elector as soon as the ballot has been printed.

All of this is apparently giving Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann (R) the vapors, because he is claiming he has already drafted a lawsuit to take over the Hinds County elections.  This lawsuit, if filed, could create the legal precedent Hosemann would need to take over a county's elections any time he sees a problem.  And guess where he's going to see problems?  That's right, the same places he thinks he sees the rampant voter fraud he's not prosecuting.  Which happen to be the same places the MSGOP sends poll watchers.  And all of which just happen to be the majority-black areas of our state.

***BREAKING - US DOJ REQUEST MEANS NO VOTER ID IN MISSISSIPPI THIS ELECTION

Here is the letter from the United States Department of Justice regarding Mississippi's application for review of the Voter ID statute.  Essentially, the DOJ wants more information concerning the reasons for the law, and that means NO VOTER ID THIS ELECTION CYCLE.

Voter ID Response 10 01 12

The Republican War on Voting (Mississippi Edition)

Mississippi's registered voters will not be required to present identification in order to vote in November-- just don't expect to hear that from Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann or any of his fellow Republicans.

Mississippi's voter ID plan is currently under review by the Department of Justice, a process likely to extend beyond November 6.  But instead of carrying out his constitutional duties and clarifying the current state of voter laws in advance of election day, our Secretary of State is doing all he can to muddy the water. 

This month, Hosemann has spent considerable time telling any coffee klatch who will listen that Mississippi has passed a voter ID law, that the the new law will require voters to present identification before voting, and that the Department of Justice is a bunch of meanies.  He also pauses for the occasional photo op.

 Any questions?

Careful observers will note that Hosemann has been on a Katherine Harris-like trajectory for years now and it's unlikely his office will engage in any honest to goodness voter education projects between now and November 6.

But Hosemann isn't the only one who wouldn't mind a little voter confusion in Mississippi.  This photo has been running inexplicably in a Mississippi newspaper for the past several months: