South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Reader takes exception with ‘propaganda’ pieces by ‘Boy King’ Blunt

To the editor:

Have you folks at the Call decided to change your name to the Matt Blunt Gazette?

It seems that every time I flip your paper open lately, I see a photo and/or a new propaganda piece penned by the Boy King himself. The latest was in regard to Senate Bill 1014, Blunt’s voter suppression scheme, which passed after Senate Republicans used a rare parliamentary move to cut off debate.

For the first time, Missourians will be required to present a government issued photo ID at the polls before they are permitted to cast their ballot. Blunt says the intent is to prevent fraud at the polls. Voter fraud overwhelmingly consists of well-documented cases of voter intimidation, not voter impersonation. Several years ago, when Blunt was still Missouri’s secretary of state, he denied voter fraud was even a problem.

The real intent of SB1014 is to erect Jim Crow equivalent barriers to voting, which could disenfranchise as many as 200,000 Missourians. These Missourians are mostly poor, elderly, and minorities, the same demographic Blunt shafted last year when he callously took away their health care. This is also a demographic that votes overwhelmingly Democratic.

Does anyone really believe the Republicans would have so gleefully rammed this through the Legislature if they believed for one nano second it would cost any Republican votes?

Blunt says not to worry because registered voters without government photo ID can cast a provisional ballot that can be verified later. Don’t bet on it. Provisional ballots are baloney ballots. Over 1 million provisional ballots cast in 2004 were never counted and ended up tossed in the trash. I understand that a legal challenge based on the constitutionality of SB1014 is expected soon.

I pray this happens before the mid-term elections are hijacked this November.

Kathleen Lees

Oakville

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