Right-wing puts up billboards to suppress voting by blacks and la

I live near a billboard that until recently had a sign telling people that "vote fraud is a felony". The sign was at 34th and Lincoln Avenue. This is an area with a strong Latino population. The sign, and others like it, are put up in minority areas in the city of Milwaukee in order to depress the vote.

Those who sponsored these billboards, were too cowardly to put their name behind them. This sponsor did not put any of them in conservative/ white areas of the city or county. They wanted to scare minority and Obama voters (some with misdemeanors) not to vote though only felons are barred from voting. They are also hoping that felons who completed their sentences believe they don't have a right to vote, though they do in Wisconsin once off of probation/parole.

The fact is that many of these laws taking away the right to vote, are the direct result of Jim Crow laws that targeted blacks in the post Civil War. The lifetime bans on voting for felons, are predominate in Southern states such as Alabama or Mississippi.

While African Americans use illegal drugs at about the same rate as the rest of America, they are more targeted by the police and the judicial system, so a higher percentage of them lose their right to vote versus whites. 13% of African Americans have lost their right to vote based on felonies, versus 6% of whites. In a relatively close election, this of course can swing an election to Republicans. Don't be naive to think that Republican legislators in states that have these laws, don't realize this.