Battleground Ohio: The war against the Republican war on democracy

By Michael J.W. Stickings

ThinkProgress:

Earlier this year, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) signed a sweeping bill intended to make it harder to vote in his state's elections. Kasich's anti-voter law drastically cuts back on early voting and erects new barriers for absentee and even for election day voters. Today, however, opponents of Kasich's war on voting will submit over 300,000 signatures to the Secretary of State's office — well over the 231,000 signatures necessary to suspend the law until it can be challenged in a referendum in November of 2012. If enough of the signatures are deemed valid, the practical effect of this petition will be that Kasich's law will not be in effect during the 2012 presidential elections when Republicans hoped the law would weaken President Obama's efforts to turn out early voters who support his reelection. 

Long story short: Republicans hate democracy and do everything they can to restrict the exercise of the franchise, that is, to manipulate democracy by making it harder for certain people (and specifically those likely to vote against them) to vote. Once upon a time, this meant blocking blacks from voting, especially in the South. It's a bit more subtle now, but the intent remains the same.