Scott Brown ‘Outraged’ That Citizens Who Don’t Even Own Property Registering To Vote

Sen. Scott Brown is soo mad, you guys! He apparently just found out about this little-known secret plot to destroy him by adding a lot of undesirable poors to the voter rolls! The culprit is the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, aka the “Motor Voter Law,” which since 1995 has required state governments to offer people the opportunity to register to vote when they access government services, like getting a driver’s license or — and here’s the UNFAIR! thing — applying for welfare benefits. This aggression, says the furry-chested former Cosmo sexyboy, will not stand, man.

You see, a number of groups have been suing states to ensure that the law was actually followed. One of those suits was pursued in Massachusetts — a woman complained that she wasn’t offered the chance to register to vote when she applied for assistance, and rather than fight the case, the Commonwealth settled, saying Oh, yeah, right, that federal law thing. As part of the settlement, Massachusetts agreed to offer voter registration, by mail, to the 477,944 people who had not been given the chance to register when they applied for various benefits, as they should have been.

Scott Brown sees this move to enforce a federal law for exactly what it is: an attempt to steal his Senate seat, which rightfully belongs to him. Never mind that seven other states also face similar lawsuits aimed at forcing them to comply with the Motor Voter law; Brown has seized on the fact that one of the four voting-rights advocacy groups in the Massachusetts case is chaired by the daughter of his opponent, Elizabeth Warren. See? Totally unfair! Brown’s campaign issued a statement that is not at all whiny, and that conveniently forgets to mention that Massachusetts agreed to the settlement because it was violating a federal law:

I want every legal vote to count, but it’s outrageous to use taxpayer dollars to register welfare recipients as part of a special effort to boost one political party over another. This effort to sign up welfare recipients is being aided by Elizabeth Warren’s daughter and it’s clearly designed to benefit her mother’s political campaign. It means that I’m going to have to work that much harder to get out my pro-jobs, pro-free enterprise message.

To be perfectly clear, this is a sitting US Senator complaining about people having access to the vote, in compliance with the nation’s election laws. But… but… they receive welfare! That must make their votes illegal somehow! (You will be astonished to learn that the press release also mentions ACORN! You did not see that coming, did you?)

Brown’s dog-whistle strategy here fits nicely with Mitt Romney’s lies about welfare reform: Beware, America! An army of Poors (especially the black black blaackety-black-black blacks) is being mobilized by the food-stamp President to steal your moneys! WITH VOTES!

[ThinkProgress]