Federal Elections Bill of 1890 Passes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodge_Bill

Lets say that the GOP manages to squeak this through the Senate. No idea how, they were a few seats of a Filibuster-proof majority, but they manage (feel free to suggestion possible ways this could happen). Prez. Harrison is pretty pro-Civil Rights for the era, and had already indicated that he would sign it.

How well does the Federal government manage to implement this? How furious do the Southern Democrats get?
 
It could easily be defeated.

The Dixiecrats will set up a parallel registration system for state and local elections, since those elections wouldn't be covered by the law.

Senators were appointed by the states back then.

Black people could vote for the House of Representatives, but Baker v Carr wasn't in effect so you would likely see districts with wildly varying populations so all of them would be majority white.
 
How furious do the Southern Democrats get?

Pretty furious. Just look at how viciously they suppressed black suffrage in the 1870's. Unfortunately, the bill would probably be repealed when the Democrats regain control in 1893. And that's if the Supreme Court doesn't strike down the bill first as they did to the Grant-era legislation in 1883.

As for butterflies, it could increase Senator Lodge's national stature and improve President Harrison's historical reputation while diminishing Cleveland's. It could also galvanize efforts for Republicans and Populists to form bipartisan, biracial coalitions in the South. But, as sad as it is to say, those actions will still be met with a fierce racist backlash as in OTL and the Southern states will still change their constitutions to prevent minorities and poor whites from voting. The problem here is that in 1890 the parts of the country that weren't violently racist tended to be apathetic towards civil rights. It wasn't until after the Great Migration and both world wars that the US started to change on this issue and the 1964 Act was signed after a tremendous effort on Kennedy and Johnson's part.
 
I don't think we'd see it repealed, but enforcement might be laxed if the Nine don't overturn it. Does this help or hurt Harrison's reelection bid?
 
I don't think we'd see it repealed, but enforcement might be laxed if the Nine don't overturn it. Does this help or hurt Harrison's reelection bid?

I think he would gain more votes overall thanks to the Bill's impact in the South, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome Cleveland's dominance in the North. Also the South would do it's utmost to make sure the bill is implemented as poorly as possible, meaning that the votes Harrison manages to pick up from blacks and poor whites would be few compared to the supermajority that Cleveland still obtains in the Old Confederacy. The 1892 map could look similar to 1876, with Harrison at the very possible best getting one or two Southern states while Cleveland sweeps the rest of the South. Unlike Tilden, Cleveland would still win much of the North thanks to the Populists acting as spoilers for the GOP.
 
I think he would gain more votes overall thanks to the Bill's impact in the South, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome Cleveland's dominance in the North. Also the South would do it's utmost to make sure the bill is implemented as poorly as possible, meaning that the votes Harrison manages to pick up from blacks and poor whites would be few compared to the supermajority that Cleveland still obtains in the Old Confederacy. The 1892 map could look similar to 1876, with Harrison at the very possible best getting one or two Southern states while Cleveland sweeps the rest of the South. Unlike Tilden, Cleveland would still win much of the North thanks to the Populists acting as spoilers for the GOP.
So you still see the populists running a separate ticket under these circumstances?
 
So you still see the populists running a separate ticket under these circumstances?

They were most popular in the Midwest and West, with some supporters in the South. Their 1892 Presidential nominee was from Iowa. So the Lodge Bill won't have much of an effect on that front.
 
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