Florida’s GOP binges on voter purges

>>> the face of florida's many well documented voting issue is no longer jeb bush or hanging chad 's. it is a world war ii vet. in time for the memorial day holiday they mailed 91-year-old bill to say essentially thanks for your service, bill, but you can't vote. this to a man who reportedly won a bronze star for his bravery during the battle of the bulge and now one of many innocent victims in governor rick scott 's purge meant to reduce voter roles in advance of november elections. the miami herald reports about 2, 600 voters have received them. back with us now are julian epstein, michael eric dyson and s.e. and you are in miami as i speak. if i may quote senator marco rubio during an appearance with romney last month asked about voter i d laws his response, what's the big deal ?

>> yeah. the point is that they don't make it a big deal and earlier when we were talking about the republican purchase if you will on the black and latino vote and especially in african-american communities will be at a record low because there is no interest, no motivation, no aspiration to move out from the narrow con centric circles to get to the broader issues. here is a issue that cries out and screams out for redress. these voter laws are thinly veiled attacks upon latinos, african- american people and some older segments of our population who have done nothing more than exist and breathe and therefore have offended the republican party . earlier on i think the republicans shrewdly comprehended that the way obama got into office was by a significant upsurge and uptick in the african-american and latino vote and i think this time around they're determined tooth and nail to resist that uptick and somehow discourage it by sending out these false calls to suggest that you voted this day and you vote another day and there is confusion and deflection and the like. i am not blaming the republican partien mass. i am saying there are elements detrimental to the voting of lots of people in segments in our society and this is something that's going on across the board. florida is simply the most recent example.

>> the miami herald found the targets of the more than 2,600 letters were mostly as i said hispanic democratic and independent minded voters, pure coincidence i assume. is it pure coincident.

>> as professor dyson says, if republicans are desperate to keep minorities from voting, i think you could also make the argument that obama is desperate to retain them.

>> focus on the issue if you wouldn't mind.

>> i am. i am giving you the other side of the coin here.

>> i am asking you is it a coincidence.

>> both sides politicized the electorate as recently as yesterday when obama dispatched eric holder to black congregations to teach them how to vote right.

>> what a lewd cross comparison. can i jump in?

>> it is right on.

>> what a ludicrous comparison to say they try to appeal to african-americans and hispanic and it is okay for the republicans and equivalence between that and the republicans trying to use i will legitimate needs to exclude them from polls. let me tell you, this issue has been studied extensively. there is no problem in the united states in terms of in person voting fraud . it was studied in ohio. it was studied in kansas. the estimates are that these voter i.d. laws could disen franchise as much as 20 million voters and why you ask shouldn't people have a driver's license or some other photo i.d. ? because studies have shown in many places, particularly in rural areas, you have dmvs or other state offices open five hours a week, located as many 150 miles away from a particular residence which plaxz it almost impossible particularly for low income people to get that. again, this has been studied to death. there is no and seu could not point to a single piece of evidence that says there is an in-person voting fraud in the country that justifies the voter i.d. laws. it is a thinly veiled attempt to disen franchise people and the fact you compare to efforts by the president to appeal to those constituents and vote for him is absurd.

>> julian epstein, professor michael eric dyson and s.e., i am sorry we have run out of time. thank you for your wisdom on the issues.