Can we simply admit that all along that GOP efforts to change voting laws in favor of what is called voter integrity, even asking for voter ID have been all along about voter suppression.
We also need to recognize that when the Supreme Court overturned the voting rights act, that they were simply parroting the complaints of the states mostly of the old confederacy - states that wanted to return to the suppression of the black vote? Were the justices honest they would have come back years after and retracted their decision -- because they were wrong. The changes that were made in the electorate under the voting rights act were not a sign that the spirit of Jim Crow had ended - they only existed because of the voting rights act.
That does not mean that we cannot have some means of identifying who a voter is, but having registered to vote in the old days, with a birth cert and a utility bill, a permanent signature record seemed enough for all these years.
Being from NJ, I remember vote fraud from the old machine politics days - but these happened generally at the counting and not by individual voters. (And for more - read Robert Caro on LBJs 1948 senate bid).
Oh - the GOP seems to hate the notion that churches and civic minded groups might want to encourage voting. That by itself should be a red flag. They always wanted fewer voters, and their complaints sound very much like the segregationists complaints about ignorant black voters (ad please look up one of James Jackson Kilpatrick's old essay to see the old racist spirit. )
Out here in Orange County, the GOP uses the churches, mainly evangelical and LDS, to pump up their votes. It’s a careful and deliberate strategy that has paid dividends for decades.
It's an interesting point you raise. Right now I'm reading a book called 'Nonverts' about the growing numbers of secular voters in the U.S. - about 25% of all adults right now. I've been wondering about the effect of the growing numbers of non-religious voters on the republican party. The current numbers among the 18-25 bracket is 33% and rising quickly. The way republicans have lashed themselves to the evangelical, christian nationalists will put them more and more out-of-touch with large swaths of the electorate.
I hope it happens soon out here. We’ve been making good progress turning the county purple, just have some strong old school GOP areas that have heavy evangelical and LDS church participation. We have churches that aren’t aligned with the GOP as well, of course.
Yes, it used to be. We actually have several thousand more registered Democrats in the county now and the county went for Hillary and Joe. We still have some deep red pockets and a very effective and entrenched Republican machine. They fight dirty.
"Can we simply admit that all along that GOP efforts to change voting laws in favor of what is called voter integrity, even asking for voter ID have been all along about voter suppression." Ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with asking for a photo ID to vote. And the enactment of that requirement has not led to fewer people voting. The signature requirement only was a joke. Your comment on having a "permanent signature record" is not a real thing. People's signatures change dramatically over time. Plus poll workers aren't trained to be handwriting experts. Democrats would be well advised to stop this idiotic blanket opposition to photo ID requirements and instead focus on what ID should be accepted.
Dems initial opposition to photo ID was that it does disenfranchise POC in many instances, as many do not have a formal photo ID, no drivers license, no state ID, and no easy way to get to an office to obtain one and no way to easily afford to pay for one. I don't know the percentages but it was felt to be significant in attempts at voter suppression. I don't have a problem with showing a driver's license etc but for those who do not have a state-issued photo ID the answer would seem to be to pay for one. It bothers me more that you can show a utility bill to verify your address for voting purposes (which has probably led to arguments over noncitizens voting).
Amen Terry! I am 63 years old, and I can not recall any case of "voter fraud" that amounted to anything even remotely capable of swinging an election. For the GOP, It has ALWAYS been about suppressing the Black vote.
North Carolina was one of the first states to jump on the voter suppression bandwagon after the Shelby County decision was handed down. The resulting laws were so obviously aimed at POC and Democrats, that The Daily Show sent correspondent Aasif Mandvi down here to interview a local GOP official, Don Yelton, who was then a member of the NC Republican Executive Committee. The result was an infamous segment in which Yelton was so proud the GOP's dirty work that Mandvi at one point flat out asked Yelton, "You know that we can hear you, right?"
Can we simply admit that all along that GOP efforts to change voting laws in favor of what is called voter integrity, even asking for voter ID have been all along about voter suppression.
We also need to recognize that when the Supreme Court overturned the voting rights act, that they were simply parroting the complaints of the states mostly of the old confederacy - states that wanted to return to the suppression of the black vote? Were the justices honest they would have come back years after and retracted their decision -- because they were wrong. The changes that were made in the electorate under the voting rights act were not a sign that the spirit of Jim Crow had ended - they only existed because of the voting rights act.
That does not mean that we cannot have some means of identifying who a voter is, but having registered to vote in the old days, with a birth cert and a utility bill, a permanent signature record seemed enough for all these years.
Being from NJ, I remember vote fraud from the old machine politics days - but these happened generally at the counting and not by individual voters. (And for more - read Robert Caro on LBJs 1948 senate bid).
Oh - the GOP seems to hate the notion that churches and civic minded groups might want to encourage voting. That by itself should be a red flag. They always wanted fewer voters, and their complaints sound very much like the segregationists complaints about ignorant black voters (ad please look up one of James Jackson Kilpatrick's old essay to see the old racist spirit. )
Out here in Orange County, the GOP uses the churches, mainly evangelical and LDS, to pump up their votes. It’s a careful and deliberate strategy that has paid dividends for decades.
It's an interesting point you raise. Right now I'm reading a book called 'Nonverts' about the growing numbers of secular voters in the U.S. - about 25% of all adults right now. I've been wondering about the effect of the growing numbers of non-religious voters on the republican party. The current numbers among the 18-25 bracket is 33% and rising quickly. The way republicans have lashed themselves to the evangelical, christian nationalists will put them more and more out-of-touch with large swaths of the electorate.
I hope it happens soon out here. We’ve been making good progress turning the county purple, just have some strong old school GOP areas that have heavy evangelical and LDS church participation. We have churches that aren’t aligned with the GOP as well, of course.
Orange County is sort-of republican ground zero, isn't it? That will probably make it slower to feel the cultural change that's underway.
Yes, it used to be. We actually have several thousand more registered Democrats in the county now and the county went for Hillary and Joe. We still have some deep red pockets and a very effective and entrenched Republican machine. They fight dirty.
They fight dirty. Kind of a given, eh? Sounds like you're getting there, though. Keep up the good work!
"Can we simply admit that all along that GOP efforts to change voting laws in favor of what is called voter integrity, even asking for voter ID have been all along about voter suppression." Ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with asking for a photo ID to vote. And the enactment of that requirement has not led to fewer people voting. The signature requirement only was a joke. Your comment on having a "permanent signature record" is not a real thing. People's signatures change dramatically over time. Plus poll workers aren't trained to be handwriting experts. Democrats would be well advised to stop this idiotic blanket opposition to photo ID requirements and instead focus on what ID should be accepted.
Dems initial opposition to photo ID was that it does disenfranchise POC in many instances, as many do not have a formal photo ID, no drivers license, no state ID, and no easy way to get to an office to obtain one and no way to easily afford to pay for one. I don't know the percentages but it was felt to be significant in attempts at voter suppression. I don't have a problem with showing a driver's license etc but for those who do not have a state-issued photo ID the answer would seem to be to pay for one. It bothers me more that you can show a utility bill to verify your address for voting purposes (which has probably led to arguments over noncitizens voting).
I hope you aren't saying that it's okay to suppress the votes of minorities as long as you don't talk about it.
Okay, glad of that.
Amen Terry! I am 63 years old, and I can not recall any case of "voter fraud" that amounted to anything even remotely capable of swinging an election. For the GOP, It has ALWAYS been about suppressing the Black vote.
North Carolina was one of the first states to jump on the voter suppression bandwagon after the Shelby County decision was handed down. The resulting laws were so obviously aimed at POC and Democrats, that The Daily Show sent correspondent Aasif Mandvi down here to interview a local GOP official, Don Yelton, who was then a member of the NC Republican Executive Committee. The result was an infamous segment in which Yelton was so proud the GOP's dirty work that Mandvi at one point flat out asked Yelton, "You know that we can hear you, right?"
This was in 2013. This kind of voter suppression has been going for a decade. Here's the Daily Show segment: https://www.cc.com/video/dxhtvk/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-suppressing-the-vote
Triple like on video, thanks