Sam Gejdenson: “what has developed here over a number of years is class warfare. It is exhibited in almost every action taken by the…”

“what has developed here over a number of years is class warfare. It is exhibited in almost every action taken by the Republican majority on the Sanchez matter. It did not start with Sanchez. In 1980, we watched men wearing black armbands descend upon polling places that have large minority populations trying to dissuade them from voting. Any of us who are immigrants, who come here without all the guarantees of freedom and protection of law, know how easy it is to intimidate the poor and the new Americans from participating, how they can easily remember the fears of the countries they fled. The Republican majority opposes motor-voter and particularly opposes poor people having systems where the poor can get registered. One of the members of the Committee on Appropriations in a discussion last week said that the real motive behind the Sanchez contest was not simply Sanchez, the reason for pursuing it was to get motor-voter. We have a right and an obligation to review elections. But the extent, the lack of due process that has occurred in this review is outrageous. On the money side, $30 to $50 million of investigations have been initiated by those who claim to be careful with dollars.…”