Republicans stage a statewide version of the long lines of Lincoln U students at Lower Oxford Polls in 2008. GOP VOTER SUPPRESSION BILL on Governor Wolf’s desk

Republicans are trying to create long lines to deny Democrats in large communities their right to vote. 

Republican Chester County Commissioner Terence Farrell was instrumental in stopping black Lincoln University students and professors and stopping only black people from voting in the 2008 Presidential Elections at Lower Oxford East.

"The state of Pennsylvania is on the cusp of approving a major piece of voter suppression legislation ahead of the 2020 election, despite a Democrat serving as governor. 

The bill, passed largely along party lines with nearly universal opposition from Democrats in the state legislature, is on the governor’s desk. If signed into law, it would ban what’s known as “straight-ticket” voting, which allows a voter to cast a ballot for all Democrats, or all Republicans, at once. Because precincts in Democratic areas of the state, particularly in Philadelphia, are heavily under-resourced relative to the size of the voting population, banning straight-ticket voting would mean much longer lines at the polls, as each voter needs more time behind the curtain. Studies have shown the longer lines depress Democrat turnout significantly.

The ban is a longtime goal of Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel. In late 2015, Republicans succeeded in banning straight-ticket voting in Michigan, spurring litigation that lasted for a couple of years."

MORE AT:

Democratic Governor Considering Signing Major GOP Voter Suppression Legislation in Pennsylvania

Akela Lacy

July 2 2019, 4:00 a.m.

"15. Defendants Carol Aichele, Terence Farrell and Kathi Cozzone are elected members of the Chester County Board of Commissioners and the Chester County Board of Elections. All three are sued in their official capacities; Defendants Aichele and Farrell are sued in their individual capacities as well."

In predominantly white Chester County, Pa., Lower Oxford East Township contains the largest concentration of African-American voters, largely because of Lincoln University, one of the oldest historically African-American universities in the country.  

The township made national news following the 2008 presidential election, when some voters were forced to wait literally all day in pouring rain in order to vote. Many voters had to leave without casting their votes, disenfranchised by inadequate polling facilities.  

Despite numerous warnings before the election that the cramped polling place would cause problems, the County Board of Elections had refused to change the location of the polling place – a tiny community center that could accommodate only two lines of voters, a small number of privacy booths, and a single ballot scanner.  And even after the 2008 fiasco, the Board of Elections rejected a petition to move the polling place to the campus of Lincoln University, where it had previously been located for years."

- See more at:

PUBLIC INTEREST LAW CENTER OF PHILADELPHIA Voting Access in Chester County