You only have to listen to interviews with Raffensberger and Sterling to understand that voter suppression was the point. Or compare the number of polling places in Atlanta to those in Buckhead, for example.
You only have to listen to interviews with Raffensberger and Sterling to understand that voter suppression was the point. Or compare the number of polling places in Atlanta to those in Buckhead, for example.
Voting was pretty high in the last election. I live in Atlanta and am also Black and can tell you that I had no problem voting early. People who voted on election day had even fewer issues. This is an overblown issue and is used to cover up some serious problems with a key component of the Democratic base.
I mean, CA has all mail voting and turnout among Black and Latino voters was down. Where is the voter suppression? Dems are just using this as an excuse to avoid dealing with the real issues that are causing this malaise.
The way it works is this: first, these voters stop voting for you, then after a few elections, they start voting for the other guys.
Dems better get their heads out of their rears and figure out what is going on.
Ok. YouтАЩre black and in Atlanta. What are the тАЬreal issues?тАЭ
IтАЩm in OH, where suppression is real and verifiable. IтАЩve worked the polls my entire adult life and the ID rules have tightened to the extent that anyone on a small, fixed income, who does not drive, would be hard-pressed to obtain the accepted form. The goal is to increase provisional voting. As IтАЩm a paper ballot judge I can tell you that provisional ballots slow down the flow of a polling place and are more likely to be rejected.
We are also limited to one ballot box per county. Franklin County, where Columbus is located, is huge. This was a new law in 2020, when Trump was running for re-election. A coincidence? I donтАЩt think so. Ohio is the most gerrymandered state in the country (we voted this year with maps declared unconstitutional *five times* by our state Supreme Court) and we have a GOP supermajority in our General Assembly. Both houses.
IтАЩm glad you and your friends had no difficulty voting but anecdotes arenтАЩt evidence.
Umm, actually this is not an anecdote, since I am directly affected by the very laws you seem to insinuate are causing all the problems. I am giving you a first hand, on the ground assessment based on my own experience. Its also backed up by data. I too have worked polls (as has my wife), and have seen it first hand. Now, if you want to say that people don't want to come out to vote because they don't want to deal with any hassles caused by the new laws, then fine. But my question would be, what is the hassle of showing an ID to vote? In GA, state IDs are free, and unlike most states (looking at you VA), our DMVs are very efficient and can get you in and out in like 15 minutes. If the only way people will vote is if they are able to do it from their house, then we will have problems (although I am sure some people would just find some other excuse for not voting).
Also, I am sorry that you live in OH and have to deal with this. I agree that based on what you have described, you have a problem. I also agree that the GOP in OH has been radicalized. I am not sure what to tell you. If I were you, I would move, but that is just me.
The drop box issue only becomes an issue in situations with mail in ballots. Not sure of the rules in OH, but in GA, mail in ballots had historically not been a big part of the voting process and only became so during the 2020 elections, due to COVID. However, the GOP state leg did not get rid of mail in voting, but did restrict it. While I would have mail in voting if I had the power to wave a magic wand and make it so, the state assembly decided otherwise. Note CT, NY, DE, PA, MA, MI, and VA do not have mail in voting at all, while GA, UT, AK, and WI all allow no-excuse vote by mail. So not sure its a Dem v GOP issue.
Also, I think you should be asking yourself what is going on in OH? I mean, Obama and Clinton won the state twice, and it had an evenly divided state SC just last year. Yet in the last election, the GOP won every statewide race, even after all the political BS the GOP pulled. Why? I don't believe its voter suppression. It's just that your friends and neighbors have become meth-addicted a-holes who blame all of their problems on others. The states politics have been radicalized because the states voters have been radicalized. Tim Ryan was on Bill Maher this past weekend and said straight up that the Dem brand is toxic in too many places in the state. Why? Again, I have my thoughts on this; racial resentment, social instability, anger over these two, changing demos, and lack of government action to solve problems, are to me the main ones, but you live there and may have a better view of what is going on.
Finally, I don't know what the reasons are for why Black and Latino turnout has dropped since 2018. I am also not paid to figure that out. I already have a day job. Those who we give money to are the ones who are supposed to figure it out. What I do know is that sending Obama out a week before the election is not enough. Obama is extremely popular among most Dems, but there is some lingering resentment toward him among a certain segment of Black voters, especially Black men. I think that is part of the problem.
You only have to listen to interviews with Raffensberger and Sterling to understand that voter suppression was the point. Or compare the number of polling places in Atlanta to those in Buckhead, for example.
Voting was pretty high in the last election. I live in Atlanta and am also Black and can tell you that I had no problem voting early. People who voted on election day had even fewer issues. This is an overblown issue and is used to cover up some serious problems with a key component of the Democratic base.
I mean, CA has all mail voting and turnout among Black and Latino voters was down. Where is the voter suppression? Dems are just using this as an excuse to avoid dealing with the real issues that are causing this malaise.
The way it works is this: first, these voters stop voting for you, then after a few elections, they start voting for the other guys.
Dems better get their heads out of their rears and figure out what is going on.
Ok. YouтАЩre black and in Atlanta. What are the тАЬreal issues?тАЭ
IтАЩm in OH, where suppression is real and verifiable. IтАЩve worked the polls my entire adult life and the ID rules have tightened to the extent that anyone on a small, fixed income, who does not drive, would be hard-pressed to obtain the accepted form. The goal is to increase provisional voting. As IтАЩm a paper ballot judge I can tell you that provisional ballots slow down the flow of a polling place and are more likely to be rejected.
We are also limited to one ballot box per county. Franklin County, where Columbus is located, is huge. This was a new law in 2020, when Trump was running for re-election. A coincidence? I donтАЩt think so. Ohio is the most gerrymandered state in the country (we voted this year with maps declared unconstitutional *five times* by our state Supreme Court) and we have a GOP supermajority in our General Assembly. Both houses.
IтАЩm glad you and your friends had no difficulty voting but anecdotes arenтАЩt evidence.
Umm, actually this is not an anecdote, since I am directly affected by the very laws you seem to insinuate are causing all the problems. I am giving you a first hand, on the ground assessment based on my own experience. Its also backed up by data. I too have worked polls (as has my wife), and have seen it first hand. Now, if you want to say that people don't want to come out to vote because they don't want to deal with any hassles caused by the new laws, then fine. But my question would be, what is the hassle of showing an ID to vote? In GA, state IDs are free, and unlike most states (looking at you VA), our DMVs are very efficient and can get you in and out in like 15 minutes. If the only way people will vote is if they are able to do it from their house, then we will have problems (although I am sure some people would just find some other excuse for not voting).
Also, I am sorry that you live in OH and have to deal with this. I agree that based on what you have described, you have a problem. I also agree that the GOP in OH has been radicalized. I am not sure what to tell you. If I were you, I would move, but that is just me.
The drop box issue only becomes an issue in situations with mail in ballots. Not sure of the rules in OH, but in GA, mail in ballots had historically not been a big part of the voting process and only became so during the 2020 elections, due to COVID. However, the GOP state leg did not get rid of mail in voting, but did restrict it. While I would have mail in voting if I had the power to wave a magic wand and make it so, the state assembly decided otherwise. Note CT, NY, DE, PA, MA, MI, and VA do not have mail in voting at all, while GA, UT, AK, and WI all allow no-excuse vote by mail. So not sure its a Dem v GOP issue.
Also, I think you should be asking yourself what is going on in OH? I mean, Obama and Clinton won the state twice, and it had an evenly divided state SC just last year. Yet in the last election, the GOP won every statewide race, even after all the political BS the GOP pulled. Why? I don't believe its voter suppression. It's just that your friends and neighbors have become meth-addicted a-holes who blame all of their problems on others. The states politics have been radicalized because the states voters have been radicalized. Tim Ryan was on Bill Maher this past weekend and said straight up that the Dem brand is toxic in too many places in the state. Why? Again, I have my thoughts on this; racial resentment, social instability, anger over these two, changing demos, and lack of government action to solve problems, are to me the main ones, but you live there and may have a better view of what is going on.
Finally, I don't know what the reasons are for why Black and Latino turnout has dropped since 2018. I am also not paid to figure that out. I already have a day job. Those who we give money to are the ones who are supposed to figure it out. What I do know is that sending Obama out a week before the election is not enough. Obama is extremely popular among most Dems, but there is some lingering resentment toward him among a certain segment of Black voters, especially Black men. I think that is part of the problem.
An anecdote is a story unsupported by empirical evidence.
IтАЩd rather stay in OH to do battle, thanks. And I told you whatтАЩs going on in Ohio, except itтАЩs not meth, itтАЩs fentanyl and heroin.
You seem convinced that voter тАЬintegrityтАЭ laws are not designed to suppress, so I fold. IтАЩm a lawyer and I know what laws do.
Have a nice day, seriously. IтАЩm out.