William Henry Moody Quotes
We find that fraud in election is an old ulcer … it is too old, it is too malignant, to warrant any generous surgery. We have got to cut it out if healthy flesh comes with it. If we do disfranchise now and then an honest elector it is really for his own benefit and the benefit of his own State and county.
They were voting on ignoring the fraudulent vote count in Dallas County, Alabama. The counter argument was that it would disenfranchise those honest voters of the country whose votes would not then be counted.
William Henry Moody, 1853-1917, U. S. Congressman (Republican, MA), U. S. Supreme Court Justice, House Debate on Election Fraud in Alabama, March 12, 1896
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Bruce was the first Black to complete a full term in the Senate
The Black community and the Democrats had conducted a very successful voter registration drive and Preisse didn’t want them to have any further advantage. It is much easier for middle class and wealthy people to adjust their work schedules so that they can vote during the voting hours. Saturday voting, extending the voting hours and other means that would help the working person who cannot control his own time schedule would help voter turnout a great deal. But of the voters who would be assisted, the belief is that most would vote Democrat. As a result, Republicans tend to oppose making voting any easier and support any steps that can make it more difficult for the poor or the working class. However, the admission that the motivation was to keep Blacks from voting was terribly embarrassing to the Republican Governor and other party leaders. However, it was not embarrassing enough to extend the voting hours.
This quotation from Judge Posner was particularly meaningful because previously the judge had ruled that Voter ID was constitutional. Subsequently, Voter ID laws were passed by a number of states where many of the sponsors were found to intend voter suppression. Also, it was the case that there were so few voter fraud cases in the entire country that it was highly unlikely that for the prevention of a handful of improper votes all the money would be spent by the states to implement the Voter ID laws. The real motivation was most experts concluded was voter suppression. Posner had come to that conclusion also as this quotation demonstrates.
He had won the previous election but the old ruler and dictator, Robert Mugabe, refused to relinquish power. After massive economic boycotts that hurt the nation badly, Tsvangirai and Mugabe agreed to a power sharing model where Tsvangirai would be the prime minister but Mugabe would be president with the military, police, and justice departments reporting directly to the President, so Tsvangirai ended up as no more than a figure head. He and his followers reasoned that at the next election Mugabe would be ousted. But Mugabe with the police and military did not allow Tsvangirai to campaign in the rural areas where Mugabe had most of his voting strength. And then on the day of the election, Mugabe’s henchmen disenfranchised over 1 million voters in the cities where Tsvangirai had his voting strength. So Tsvangirai could not improve in the country side and his vote count in the cities was much less than previously, so Mugabe claimed to have won the election.
Preclearance was a requirement that any change in the voting or registration laws, rules or procedures needed to be approved by the Federal Justice Department.
He was explaining why preclearance was necessary. Preclearance was a requirement that any change in the voting or registration laws, rules or procedures needed to be approved by the Federal Justice Department.
A counter ethical argument says that voter suppression is ethically no different from gerrymandering, or having too few locations for voting, or voting on a Tuesday where poor people cannot often get to the polls with work and/or child obligations. For Republicans to suppress Black voting is only logical since such a high percentage of Blacks vote Democratic. It would be the same if Democratic legislatures could make it difficult for business executives to vote. It part of the rough and tumble reality of American politics.
At a Kansas State legislative hearing Kobach admitted that there only 5 cases that they had found of non-citizen voting, and 6 cases that were referred to prosecutors for alleged “double voting” (voting in Kansas and another state). The Prosecutors refused to go ahead with any of the alleged charges for lack of evidence. Mr. Kobach had a unique definition of “many, many”.
William Henry Moody was an American politician and jurist who held positions in all three branches of the Government of the United States.
