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OLBERMANN: "Dumont Brings You Pantomime Quiz" will not be seen tonight so we can instead
bring you "Countdown" the longest continuously running 8 PM news hour on cable. Unless you
consider Fox - news. Our primary replays at 11 PM Eastern and 11 PM Pacific. We call it
"our little guest lecture."
It was a moment from last month that seemed like it better belonged in 1955 - a 96-year-old
African-American woman in Tennessee went to vote bringing with her her Social Security
Card, her Chattanooga police department-issued photo I.D., her voter-registration card, her
rent receipt and her birth certificate. It was not enough. She did not have, under a
new law, a state-issued voter I.D. card.
In our third story on the "Countdown" - Congressman Keith Ellison, who joins us presently, has
had enough, and he's co-sponsoring one bill to permit same-day registration, another to
fight back against the voter I.D. scam. Collectively, a kind of Voters' Bill of Rights. In addition,
a larger group of Democrats is sending letters to every secretary of state and election administrator
across country. One of them, Charles Gonzalez of Texas, says Governor Rick Perry declared
a legislative emergency to ram through the disenfranchisement of certain citizens.
(Excerpt from video clip) CHARLES GONZALEZ: It's going to be the elderly. It's gonna be
the minorities, of course. It'll be the disabled.
OLBERMANN: His Texas colleague, Al Green, added an ironic detail about Texas voter identification.
(Excerpt from video clip) AL GREEN: If it's your gun license, then it's a good photo I.D.
If it's your student I.D., it's not enough of an ID.
OLBERMANN: Judy Chu of California said Asian-Americans will be harmed because they vote by mail more
than most and that options being restricted.
(Excerpt from video clip) JUDY CHU: But this year, this right is being eroded right before
our very eyes - an unprecedented 42 bills in states attacking the rights of U.S. citizens.
OLBERMANN: And Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri compared the Republican effort to poll taxes
and literacy tests, the ones that stopped his own grandfather from voting in the Jim
Crow era.
(Excerpt from video clip) EMANUEL CLEAVER: Every American ought to be ashamed at what's
going on in this country.
OLBERMANN: As promised, here is representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota. Good evening,
sir.
KEITH ELLISON: Hey, good evening Keith. How are you?
OLBERMANN: Very good, and yourself?
ELLISON: Well, you know, I'd be better if these crazy voter I.D. laws were not proliferating
all over America, but we are fighting against it.
OLBERMANN: Is it too late to unravel this voter-suppression effort by the Republicans?
ELLISON: Well, it's too late to stop them from starting, but it's not too late to stop
them at all. I mean, if we have a massive awakening of Americans all across this country,
who insist that people get to vote and select their leaders, I think we can beat these things
back. I mean, but by no means have we even begun to fight.
And so, I am entering my bills - I'm filing them, even against this very tough Republican
majority - because I really want to see every person be able to cast a vote and select leaders
of their choice. Which is something that these voter I.D. laws are trying to prevent. They
don't want to win on the issues. They just want to exclude certain people from being
able to vote - like Dorothy Cooper from Chattanooga, Tennessee, who you just talked about.
OLBERMANN: For people whose wallet might be stuffed with I.D.'s and more than they'd want
and stuff from the state and stuff from the federal government - the nuisance factor may
still be obvious, if you didn't have one and you have to go and get one, it's the same
kind of pain in the butt no matter where you are, what your voter circumstances is, or
the color of your skin or what religion you are. But explain the other part of it - why
it becomes like a poll tax, why that comparison is apt.
ELLISON: Well, because - first of all, in some states - you have to pay for the I.D.
And even when the states, where they say you don't have to pay for the I.D. - you have
to pay for documents to get this state-issued I.D., such as a passport, or you might have
to pay a fee to get your birth certificate. You have to get transportation to get these
documents. And so - it is a poll tax in time and money. Just think about a person who may
happen to be homebound, may not have a car, maybe they're even in a wheelchair - they
may have to leave the place they live, perhaps a nursing home, get on a bus, travel across
town and take what little money they have to get the documents to then go to the authority
to get the state-issued I.D. This is a poll tax. It is a price to pay before you can vote.
OLBERMANN: Let me ask you about the second measure, the one about same-day registration.
Is there any evidence where we have had this - where we experimented with short-term registration,
registration by mail - is there anything that suggests that that enables the voter fraud
the Republicans claim to be fighting against?
ELLISON: Their claims of fraud are a fraud. We've had voter - we've had same-day voter
registration in Minnesota for a long time. And it has served both parties. I mean, Tim
Pawlenty was a Republican governor elected with same-day voter registration. As was Mark
Dayton. As was Governor Ventura, who was neither Republican or Democrat, but Independent. This
does not favor anybody, except for those who want to get the vote out.
So, the fact of the matter is, is that there's no - we have the cleanest elections in the
country, in Minnesota. We also have the highest voter turnout. Same-day voter registration
is easy to do. And we should encourage the practice. Sad thing about the Republican onslaught
of these 34 states, trying to reduce the electorate, is that the history of America has been increasing
the trajectory of opportunity when it comes to voting.
You know, first of all - it wasn't good enough to be a white male to vote. You had to be
a white male who was Protestant, who owned property. Then that changed. Then, of course,
the Civil War came and black men could vote. Then women could vote, then 18-year-olds could
vote. The trajectory of voting has been expansion of rights, and they are trying to roll this
back. We cannot let it happen.
OLBERMANN: This is a little off what we've been talking about - but why do we vote on
Tuesdays? Would not a switch to - say, either Saturday or Sunday or maybe, what the hell
- do it both days, only going to vote ones once anyway, give them both days - wouldn't
that undercut most of the suppression efforts almost as easily as pushing back on I.D.'s?
ELLISON: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, that's a great bill I did, Keith - you know,
I'll get working on. But you know, there's are a lot of things that have been put in
place to undermine people's ability to get to the polls. And I think voting on a week
- work day is one of them. Saturday's a great idea to vote. We should have a national holiday
so people can go vote. But you know, ever since - for the whole history of the vote
- it's been fought over. We've had vote dilution. We've had raw, naked terrorism to stop people
from voting at the polls. We've had every kind of trick and device to keep people from
being a part of this electorate. And you know what? They're still up to.
But you know, when people come together, we can defeat these things. So I'm confident,
you know, and I am telling you - all over the country, people are waking up to this
stuff. You know, the NAACP is waking up to it, The Brennan Center issued a great report,
saying up to 5 million people - or one and a half percent of the electorate - you know,
could be shaved off if these bills are allowed to go into place. We're asking for, you know,
in some cases, the Department of Justice, in some cases, lawsuits to be filed - but
there's nothing better than good old people power, and I hope and pray that the Occupy
movement takes this voter-suppression effort up as an issue of theirs. I am not trying
to invade on their prerogative but I think that would be a very good idea, as they fight
for a greater level of justice in America, to think about how this voter-suppression
movement is trying to curtail their rights.
OLBERMANN: The two things go hand in glove, as they say. Representative Keith Ellison
from the Minnesota Fifth. Always a pleasure, Congressman, thanks for your time.
ELLISON: Yes, sir. Bye.
OLBERMANN: The Texas judge caught on tape beating his then-16-year-old daughter who
had cerebral palsy says it was totally justified, the real story hasn't come out yet and involves
money. "Worst Persons" ahead on Countdown.