The new GOP 'National Ballot Security Task Force' is ready to harass voters

  (Raw Story) : While the media devotes much hand-wringing to Republican vulnerability in this November’s election because of abortion, virtually no attention is paid to what’s been that party’s primary electoral strategy since the 1960s: preventing citizens from voting. This year, it appears, voter purges, signature challenges, and election worker intimidation are how the GOP thinks they can overcome America’s distaste for their support of criminalized abortion. In the run-up to New Jersey’s 1981 gubernatorial election, Republicans in that state put together what they called the National Ballot Security Task Force. They recruited hundreds of off-duty cops and private security guards, arming them with guns, walkie-talkies, and armbands that said “Task Force.” Large signs were posted that said: “WARNING – THIS AREA IS BEING PATROLLED BY THE NATIONAL BALLOT SECURITY TASK FORCE. IT IS A CRIME TO FALSIFY OR TO VIOLATE ELECTION LAWS.” In slightly smaller print, the posters referenced state laws about voter eligibility and then proclaimed, in bold type, “$1,000 Reward for information leading to arrest and conviction of persons violating New Jersey election law” along with a voter fraud tip line phone number. READ: A neuroscientist explains why Trump’s criminal trials will strengthen his support White voters in New Jersey rarely encountered the task force: instead the vigilantes targeted majority-Black neighborhoods in “Newark, East Orange, Bridgeton, Vineland, and locations throughout Mercer and Atlantic counties.” When Black or Hispanic voters showed up to vote, the Task Force officers ..