By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
As Mitt Romney scrounges around looking for anything to use as fodder for his negative political attacks, Mr. One Percent recently decided to weigh in on the presidential election in Russia.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had just won an election to another six-year term, but independent observers have suggested that the electoral process was marred by numerous violations and voter fraud.
In a statement criticizing the Obama administration for being too tepid in its election results response, Mr. Romney said, ”Instead of stating that it‘congratulates the Russian people on the completion of the presidential election,’ as the Obama administration has done, it should have condemned the flagrant manipulation and media restrictions that marred this election.” He went on to further suggest that democracy had been severely dimmed in Russia as a result of this flawed process.
It is rather ironic (and politically expedient) for Mr. Romney to be so outspoken about the questionable election in Russia . Most would agree that Mr. Putin’s recent victory doesn’t pass the“democratic smell test” for being fair and unfettered. But, Mr. Romney shouldn’t cast stones. His political party, the GOP, is going to extraordinary lengths to undermine the electoral process right here in America.
Under the guise of alleging rampant voter fraud, millions of eligible voters now stand at-risk of being denied their right to cast their vote.
Wisconsin was one of 34 states nationwide that debated creating more restrictive voter ID rules in 2011. Eleven percent of Americans– about 21 million people – don’t have government- issued IDs, and the vast majority of them are people of color, senior citizens, and younger voters.
We are all familiar with the expression: Do as I say, not as I do. These words do in deed ring true when it comes to the Republicans’ scandalous obsession to suppress the vote through voter ID restrictions.