There is some reason for optimism out in the states that voters are beginning to take the attacks on the franchise seriously as a reason to go to the polls and revenge themselves in the proper democratic fashion against the vandals who have been running wild over the past decade.

First, master vote-suppressor Kris Kobach is underperforming in his race to become the next governor of Kansas. (Losing independents by nine points is an ominous rumbling across the prairie.) Second, in Michigan, a pair of ballot proposals aimed at undoing election finagling both have opened up huge leads in recent polling. A "Yes" vote on Proposal 2, which would establish a nonpartisan citizens commission to undo the state's heavily gerrymandered map, is leading 48-32, and Proposal 3, which would make registering to vote automatic when a citizen gets or renews a driver's license, as well as authorizing other measures to make voting easier, is crushing it in the recent numbers, with "Yes" leading 70-24.

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And, perhaps most significantly, a ballot measure in Florida that would amend the state's constitution to return the franchise to some 1.5 million ex-felons and, in doing so, perhaps permanently change the nature of the electorate in that crucial state, also cracked the 70 percent ceiling in a poll conducted by the University of North Florida. (It needs 60 percent in November to pass.) From The Orlando Sentinel:

The referendum garnered the most support among African Americans, with 82 percent saying they would vote yes. Among whites, 69 percent said they would vote yes, along with 65 percent of Hispanics. “These results reflect the status of African-Americans as the population most directly affected by Florida’s felon disenfranchisement laws,” Natasha Christie, chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at UNF, said in a statement. “With such a large majority of likely voters saying they would vote ‘yes’ on Amendment 4, this indicates views on this issue are becoming more progressive overall throughout the state, regardless of race,” Christie said.

These questions, and dozens more like them around the country, are going to get buried in the national news on Election Night, especially if one or both houses of Congress change hands, but they are going to be monumentally important in 2020, which it is too soon to think about, but what the hell.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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