Newly minted Minnesota House Elections Committee Chairman Steve Simon (DFL-St. Louis Park)  may be trying to bring early voting to Minnesota.

Hallelujah.  After all, a goal of any democracy should always be to foster democratic participation.  Early voting improves democratic participation by 1) expanding the participation time window to fit more voters’ busy schedules and 2) mitigating Election Day barriers, such as chaotic environments and long waiting times.

Still, you can bet that Minnesota GOPers will cry “fraud” and “savings” as reasons to oppose early voting.  But if you want to know what GOPers are really saying to each other behind closed doors when they talk about why to oppose early voting, listen to the remarkably candid remarks from a top Republican leader in a state that has recently dramatically cut back on early voting:

Jim Greer, the former head of the Florida Republican Party, recently claimed that a law shortening the early voting period in the state was deliberately designed to suppress voting among groups that tend to support Democratic candidates, the Palm Beach Post reports.

“The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early voting is bad for Republican Party candidates,” Greer told the Post. “It’s done for one reason and one reason only…‘We’ve got to cut down on early voting because early voting is not good for us.’”

The HB 1355 law, which was passed by Florida’s Republican legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in Nov. 2011, cut the number of early voting days from 14 to eight. It was publicly sold as an effort to reduce voter fraud and to save money, but Greer says that this was simply a “marketing ploy.”

Greer also acknowledged that the effort to restrict early voting would directly affect turnout among Florida’s African Americans, a demographic that consistently supports Democrats.

“The sad thing about that is yes, there is prejudice and racism in the party, but the real prevailing thought is that they don’t think minorities will ever vote Republican,” he told the Post.

Greer went on to suggest that there was “absolutely nothing” state Republicans wouldn’t do in following their “absolute obsession with retaining power.”

So when Minnesota Republicans soon start crying “fraud” and “savings” to justify their opposition to early voting, keep Mr. Greer’s candid comments in mind.

Loveland

Note:  This post was also featured in Politics in Minnesota’s Best of the Blogs.