In 1940, West Virginia cast 870,000 votes, Maryland cast 620,000, and Virginia only 350,000. During this period the Byrd Organization dominated politics throughout the state. It restricted the franchise to the smallest in the country as a proportion of population.
And it is no coincidence modern-era Republicans (especially in the South) want to return to those days, this time with the roles flipped of course. They can't be too open about it, so they make intellectually dishonest claims (because I suspect even they know they're talking bull-crap) about wanting to fight 'voter fraud' when minority and youth voters attempt to exercise their franchise.
