Former President Bill Clinton advised a room of more than 1,200 young activists Wednesday to join in the fight against GOP efforts to limit same-day voter registration and block convicted felons from voting.
The former president compared the voting regulations to the notorious segregation era Jim Crow Laws, saying “there has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crown burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today.”
Clinton specifically cited Florida Governor Rick Scott’s move in March to overturn a recent proposal that allows convicted felons to vote once they’ve served or finished probation periods and bemoaned new and powerful GOP leaders who are joining the band wagon and changing current proposals on voting laws, including Ohio Governor John Kasich and Maine Governor Paul LePage.
“Why is all of this going on? This is not rocket science. They are trying to make the 2012 electorate look more like the 2010 electorate than the 2008 electorate,” Clinton said.
In light of Independence Day passing on Monday, the former president said “I can’t help thinking since we just celebrated the Fourth of July and we’re supposed to be a country dedicated to liberty that one of the most pervasive political movements going on outside Washington today is the disciplined, passionate, determined effort of Republican governors and legislators to keep most of you from voting next time.”