Happy almost Mother’s Day!
While many of us will take a pause this weekend to thank maternal figures in our lives, Republicans in state legislatures are busy doing things their moms are probably pretty ashamed of.
I mean, I know +my+ mom would be pretty embarrassed of me if I went around trying to keep people from voting or exercising their right to determine what they do with their own bodies or trying to throw student activists in jail or …
Well, you get the idea.
Campaign ActionMama Tried: … presumably, to teach her Republican Tennessee sons to not be garbage humans.
But woof did she fail.
- A fews weeks ago, I wrote in this space about the heinous anti-voter registration bill making its way through the Volunteer State legislature.
- Bad news, everyone: It passed, and the governor signed it into law.
- In case you’ve forgotten just how bad this new law is, allow me to refresh your recollection.
- The law would fine community groups conducting voter registration drives that turn in incomplete applications.
- The fine, a civil penalty, would be levied against groups who file 100 or more so-called “deficient” voter registration forms, starting at $150 in each county were a “violation” occurred.
- A person or group that filed more more than 500 incomplete applications could be fined up to $10,000.
- And as if that weren’t sufficient discouragement for folks looking to register voters, this bill also criminalizes the practice of setting a minimum goal of registration forms for workers to collect. Violators could face a fine of up to $2,500 and a year in jail.
- The fine, a civil penalty, would be levied against groups who file 100 or more so-called “deficient” voter registration forms, starting at $150 in each county were a “violation” occurred.
- This law creates some of the most aggressive voter registration penalties in the country.
- Tennessee already ranks 45th out of 50 states in terms of its voter registration rate, so suppressing registration even further seems pretty bonkers.
- … until you remember that Tennessee is run by Republicans and that Republicans really can’t stand things like “expanding the electorate” and “more people voting.”
- Several groups that champion ballot box access, including NAACP and ACLU, are alreadysuing over the new law.
- Tennessee already ranks 45th out of 50 states in terms of its voter registration rate, so suppressing registration even further seems pretty bonkers.
- The law would fine community groups conducting voter registration drives that turn in incomplete applications.
But that’s not the only bullshit afoot in Tennessee.