by
U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain
With all the political hot water -- or contaminated water -- Gov. Rick Snyder was in because of Flint, you'd think he'd avoid more political taint and do the right thing in this case.
Yet, that was not to be. In January, he hopped aboard the sham train and signed an anti-Democrat, anti-black bill to block the electorate from voting a single-party, straight ticket at the polls.
It was a bill nothing short of shameful, if not criminal.
How could the state GOP so blatantly mess with democracy? We're supposed to make voting easier, not harder.
Statistics show Democrats, more often than Republicans in Michigan, tend to vote straight tickets. Also, eliminating the straight-ticket option forces voters to go through every category, which slows lines and frustrates people -- particularly in highly-populated urban areas, which just happen to have a lot of African American residents who overwhelmingly vote for Democrats.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain, a true gentleman on the federal bench in Detroit, saw through the facade.
Kudos.
Ruling in favor of plaintiffs challenging the law, Drain, an African American, issued a preliminary injunction to halt the sham.
"The court finds (the law) presents a disproportionate burden on African Americans' right to vote," he wrote in an opinion. The case will still go trial, if necessary, but Drain said that he issued the injunction with the thought the case will go in favor of the plaintiffs, not the state.
Republicans around the country have tried many ploys before to undermine votes of African Americans.
In this case, some proponents of the bill insist that it's for the voter's own good. They argue that straight-party voting encourages ill-prepared voters to pick officeholders solely on party affiliation, not qualifications. How caring of them.
The federal judge wasn't buying that and a lot of other people aren't either.
GOP lawmakers in Lansing and Snyder should be embarrassed by it all.
