Once again, a liberal at MSNBC has chosen to rewrite history by pretending that Republicans are the political party with a history of denying minorities the right to vote. Appearing on her daily MSNBC show, liberal co-host Krystal Ball went on a tirade against Republicans in Virginia claiming they are the “rightful heir to the Jim Crow legacy.”
Ms. Ball, who lost a landslide election in Virginia’s First Congressional district in 2010, used her “Krystal Ball” commentary segment to rail against the GOP in Virginia for trying to “rig the electorate” and have “damaged faith in a fair electoral process.” After complaining that Republicans have “purged nearly 40,000 voters from the rolls” Ball ridiculously argued that, “Republicans have seemingly sought maximum disenfranchisement at every stage of the process.”
Not surprisingly, Ball doubled-down on her anti-GOP hysteria, complaining that:
All that's to say nothing of the state's new voter ID laws slated to go into effect in 2014 or the state's onerous policy on reinstating voting right to felons, a policy that means 20% of the black population of the state is unable to vote. This is the picture of just one state, but as we know, similar efforts are under way across the country.
Not satisfied, Krystal Ball did what all MSNBC liberals do, give Republicans advice, because the clearly has the GOP’s best interest at heart:
Is it worth it, Republicans? Because right now in Virginia, it looks like all you have got for your efforts was a Democratic statewide sweep with a side of burnishing your image as a party that cheats to win. The party that doesn't want people to vote the rightful heir to the Jim Crow legacy. There is another choice though Republicans.
Ball never explained how exactly Republicans requiring voters show a valid ID to vote or ensuring that voter rolls are accurate is akin to Democrats requiring African Americans to pay a poll tax or complete a literacy test in order to vote but still slanderously tried to compare Republican efforts to protect the electoral process with Democratic efforts in the 1960s at stopping all African Americans in the South from voting.
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC
The Cycle
November 12, 2013
3:56 p.m. Eastern
KRYSTAL BALL: 117 votes as of this morning. That was the number of votes separating Democrat Mark Herring from Republican Mark Obenshain in the race to become Virginia’s next Attorney General. In a race in which over 2.2 million ballots were cast the margin will be counted in the dozens of votes. The race to replace Ken Cuccinelli as the Attorney General of Virginia has been well we’ll call it illuminating. Illuminating in the ways Republicans continue to try to rig the electorate. Illuminating in how much Republicans have damaged faith in a fair electoral process. After election night, it was clear that the A.G. race was extremely close so as precincts moved to figure out which provisional ballots would count the Republican board of elections sent out a memo to clarify the process for review of those provisional ballots. A clarification that would only impact Fairfax County, the largest county in the state and a Democratic stronghold. Democrats immediately cried foul, and really who can blame them, since Republicans have done their best to disenfranchise and suppress voters in this election. In fact, if you back up a few weeks, there is a good reason why a number of voters may not have shown up on the voter rolls and would have had to cast a provisional ballot. Back in October, the Republican State Board of Elections purged nearly 40,000 voters from the rolls in a process so flawed that one Republican registrar after testing a sample of 1,000 of those names called the list of purged voters clearly inaccurate and unreliable. So they purged legitimate voters from the rolls and since Virginia does not have same-day registration, those wrongly purged voters would have been forced to cast provisional ballots. And then the state Board of Elections issues new guidance that changes Fairfax's longstanding process for evaluating provisional ballots. Even if this final step really was just a clarification as a state board of elections insists, you can't blame Democrats for questioning their motives, since Republicans have seemingly sought maximum disenfranchisement at every stage of the process. And all that's to say nothing of the state's new voter ID laws slated to go into effect in 2014 or the state's onerous policy on reinstating voting right to felons, a policy that means 20% of the black population of the state is unable to vote. This is the picture of just one state, but as we know, similar efforts are under way across the country. And here's what I want to know. Is it worth it, Republicans? Because right now in Virginia, it looks like all you have got for your efforts was a Democratic statewide sweep with a side of burnishing your image as a party that cheats to win. The party that doesn't want people to vote the rightful heir to the Jim Crow legacy. There is another choice though Republicans. Chris Christie managed to win an election without trying to exclude black voters from the process, it can be done. Colin Powell suggests the way to do it is to make it easier for them to vote and then give them something to vote for that they can believe in. It's a novel idea. Republicans, if you aren't moved by the moral case against disenfranchising voters, perhaps you'll listen to the pragmatic one. Want to win elections again, stop trying to suppress the vote and start trying to win it.
