Rotten Peaches: Fulton County Georgia Judge Christopher Brasher Denies Petition to Process Nearly 50,000 Missing Voter Registration Forms

Fulton County (GA) Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher

Looks like it's back to business for the state of Georgia as a court ruling shut the door to the polling booth for almost 50,000 newly registered voters whose registration forms (some sent in months ago) have mysteriously vanished.

Earlier today the Republican-appointed Superior Court Judge of Fulton County, Christoper Brasher denied a petition brought by the NAACP and the New Georgia Project that sought to compel Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp to immediately process thousands of voter registration forms that were submitted over the summer but do not appear on the state's official voter registration rolls just days before the critical November elections.

The bulk of the missing forms are from newly registered young voters and minorities from three counties in Georgia that are critical to the upcoming Governor's and Senate races; Fulton, Muscogee and Clayton Counties. 

It was only last June when the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the1965 Voter Rights Act (Section 4) that mandated that districts with a proven history of racial discrimination against voters must first obtain pre-approval from the courts for any changes in voting laws that could impact minority votes.

Writing for the majority opinion in the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, Chief Justice John Roberts stated:
"...voting discrimination still exists; no one doubts that. The question is whether the Act’s extraordinary measures, including its disparate treatment of the States, continue to satisfy constitutional requirements. As we put it a short time ago, “the Act imposes current burdens and must be justified by current needs.""

One can only wonder what Justice Roberts thinks of the "constitutional requirements" of the state of Georgia to allow almost 50,000 newly registered (and mostly black) voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote in next week's gubernatorial and Senate elections.

By the arcane logic of the Roberts Court, the abstract issue of "disparate treatment of the States" trumps the very real issue of the denial of basic voting rights of marginalized citizens seeking to have a say in the electoral process.

What's next in Georgia, a poll tax? Guys in hoods standing at polling places with clubs?

America isn't the only nation in the midst of critical elections. In Ukraine, parliamentary election results seem to have favored pro-European leaning candidates as Ukrainian citizens began heading to the polls last week; unfortunately the political voice of Crimea was not heard as President Putin ordered it annexed in violation of international law.

As the world knows by now, opposition political parties are a definite no-no for Mr. Putin.
 
On a lighter note, an electrician named Victor Shevchenko was denied the chance to vote in the Ukrainian elections, but for far different reasons than the sickening voter repression tactics being employed by the Republican party here in the states. 

The gravity and seriousness of the Ukrainian elections received a highly-publicized respite when the mischievous Shevchenko showed up to vote last Sunday dressed as Darth Vader.

Shevchenko, who actually ran under the name Darth Vader, milked his fifteen minutes of fame for all it was worth by pulling up to the polling site atop a dark colored van blaring composer John Williams' imposing 'Imperial March'. 

He was denied the chance to cast his ballot when he refused to remove his mask.

At least Ukrainians have logical reasons for denying their citizens the right to vote.

Pretty Little Liar: Fox's Megyn Kelly Busted for Lying About Colorado Voter Fraud

Fox host Megyn Kelly

As a rule I really try my utmost to refrain from mentioning Fox News anchor/host Megyn (It's Meagan with a "Y"!) Kelly if at all possible.

The cacophony of half-truths, uninformed reactionary drivel, fictional controversies and flat out stupidity that spills out of this woman's mouth is such low-hanging fruit that the blog could basically be about her.

Admittedly it is difficult to resist her moments of hard-hitting journalism, like when she boosted everyone's holiday spirit last December by assuring her younger viewers that Santa and Jesus Christ are both white.

Yup. That Megyn Kelly.

Denver TV station KUSA was one of the first media outlets to report that during the Tuesday October 21st broadcast of Fox News' "The Kelly File", the bubbly blond anchor took to the air to whip up concocted fears about a provision of the new Colorado voter law.

In an ominous tone Kelly suggested that 2013 changes to the law enacted by Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper allowed Colorado voters to print out a ballot on their home computers and simply give it to what she termed were unspecified "collectors".

Turns out she lied TWICE on that one. First: active duty Colorado citizens who are serving in the military, or are overseas ARE permitted to print out their own ballots and mail them in; but that law has been on the books for years, it wasn't changed in 2013 as she claimed.

Second: Colorado citizens are NOT allowed to print out a ballot on their printer and give it to a "collector", they must vote at their assigned polling site or state law allows them to mail in a ballot - which is also allowed in many other states and is perfectly legal.

True to form, neither Fox News nor Kelly has bothered with any kind of apology or explanation; they rarely do after being caught trying to pass off lies as truth.

But kudos to the local Colorado TV stations who took responsibility for publicly calling out Kelly on her lies in order to clarify the issue for Colorado voters; a number of whom actually contacted television stations to ask about Kelly's bogus claims.

Her comments reflect a Republican party desperate to try and win back a majority in the US Senate and there's no tighter Senate race than the one in Colorado. Democratic incumbent Mark Udall is locked in a tight race with GOP candidate Corey Gardner (Republican Congressman representing Colorado's 4th District) who has a slim 1-percentage point lead over Udall according to an article on the Latin Post.com Website.

It's sad enough that the GOP has to lean on Fox News chief Roger Ailes to use faux-tainment hosts like Kelly to pass off false information about Colorado voter laws, but the laughable part?

The Republican party are the ones openly using a national campaign of voter discrimination, voter repression and voter misinformation to try and achieve victory in November.

Take these examples that were reported on ThinkProgress.org, Texas election judge William Parsely was forced to turn away a 93-year old US veteran who came out early to vote - the man was registered to vote but his driver's license had expired a few years ago as he no longer drives. So he was turned away and will have to obtain a valid state ID before the elections to vote as he has for years.

Or how about Georgia, where campaign workers have labored to fan out across the state to register as many black voters as possible in the past few months. When organizers checked their databases against the state's in August, they found that some 50,000 new voter registrations have simply vanished - mysteriously most of the missing registrations are for minority voters who live in the counties surrounding Atlanta; areas with large black populations where Republicans are desperate to keep voter participation low because of the large increases in black, Latino and and Native American populations in the state in recent years.

Reps from progressive groups like the New Georgia Project and the NAACP have taken Secretary of State Brian Kemp to court in an effort to get the missing voter registrations counted in time for the November elections; Kemp refused repeated requests to meet with the groups to provide information on how the state lost 50,000 registration forms.

Remember Brian Kemp is the same Secretary of State who was caught on tape at a GOP fundraiser earlier this summer warning attendees that "registering all these minority voters" could tip the balance in favor of Democrats.

Yup, same guy responsible for "misplacing" 50,000 new voter registration forms.

It's a pretty sad state of affairs for today's GOP. Unable to win on the issues, they view stripping people of their voter rights as a logical strategy to win the November elections; an idea that is repugnant to the basic principles of Democracy and the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution.

So it's not surprising that false information about Colorado voter laws are spread by a pretty little liar like Megyn Kelly. You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.