Voter Suppression

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

Wonder if one could just put a cooler of water bottles close to the lines with a sign that says “NOT free water, wink wink”. 

[Underdog 28457]

21 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Republicans in GA shot themselves in the dick over this.  They have a big absentee GOTV operation and that they just made harder.  Also, they pissed off all the black voters if they haven't done that enough already.

Takes me back to that great quote at the end of Tora, Tora, Tora... 

 I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.

Thinking/wishing GA lawmakers are about to find out. 

 

[Underdog 28457]

19 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

signing a new law behind LOCKED doors is just wrong

 

Guess the bunker was being remodeled. 

[Underdog 28457]

7 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

 

Sic'em, George. 

[Js1 85119]

25 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Wonder if one could just put a cooler of water bottles close to the lines with a sign that says “NOT free water, wink wink”. 

So self serve drink stations are permissible. 

The whole intent is to prevent “electioneering.” Bc only Democrats would feed and water people waiting hours to vote. Jesus wouldn’t approve. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11810]

5 hours ago, Nivek said:

We have bigger things to worry about, the debt, Gina Carano’s movie career, Mr. Potato Head. Real shit man.... /Republican traitors.

I hope 100% of these facist, racist motherfuckers end up in nursing homes with no diapers, no water, and lots of pissed off non-white nurses.

[Js1 85119]

 

[softlynow 1784]

The Federalists fucked around with the Alien and Sedition Acts and found out in 1800. A little bit of history rhyming, I hope. 

[gmr548 16518]

On 3/26/2021 at 9:10 AM, SydneyCarton said:

We HOPE that would be the case. But there is a human threshold. If you reduce the hours of voting till 1 hour after folks get off work, and severely limit the hours/weekends by which they can vote (and many of these folks have jobs that aren't flexible) then you're going to have attrition. People will get tired and quit. Not everyone will wait 12 hours. Some folks won't pack water. Does anyone really think that removing super sites, less voting machines, less hours to vote, and requiring more identification and hoops to jump through will result the same or more turnout we saw in GA in 2022?

I generally agree, but in a state like GA it will be very interesting because it has been essentially black vs. white for its entire electoral history. In the past few cycles, you have the highest propensity/highest info white voters migrating to the Democratic side. The casual, presidential election only, election day white Republican who just votes R out of blind habit could, in theory, be the most impacted, as black voters see this as an assault on their rights and voice and will adapt. Same for the higher educated/more engaged white voters. I'm not sure I think that's how it will play out, but it's a scenario I could envision.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

Here's a perspective; article is by David Atkins of Washington Monthly:

Excerpt:
 

Quote

 

The result is that Republicans must increasingly hold power through minority rule–both by consolidating unjust structural advantages in the gerrymandered House and the malapportioned Senate and Electoral College, and by suppressing the votes of the majority liberal-left coalition. The Republican Party had a choice to try to moderate its behavior and appeal to disenchanted voters, or to double down on unpopular white supremacy, patriarchy, religious extremism and voter suppression, on a path toward open apartheid and authoritarianism. It chose the latter. This is all open knowledge, though the mainstream press sometimes has difficulty calling it like it is.

But less widely discussed is the fascinating unfolding dynamic in the Republican base itself. Republicans increasingly need to pass draconian voter suppression laws not only to quell a growing body of opposition votes, but to keep their own base engaged. It is stated only in euphemisms and hushed tones, but there is genuine terror in the Republican establishment that conservative voters will simply tune out if these measures are not passed. The Big Lie—endlessly repeated in false, unsubstantiated and often defamatory claims by conservative media—that Trump really won the 2020 election but was denied power through fraud is particularly important in explaining this phenomenon.

 

Article is a few paragraphs, short read. It's interesting that on some RW forums, the GA and similar states' laws are being feted. Opposing viewpoints are countered with a few different refrains--if you can't get out to vote between 7:00-7:00 then it's not that important to you, mail in voting is ballot harvesting, people need to learn how to bring their own water, why do you have the bigotry of low expectation for urban (read: POC) voters, people can stand in line it's not that big a deal, and my personal favorite: women shouldn't be allowed to vote anyway because they're too emotional. Is violence emotional because it isn't women who are shooting up massage parlors, Mr. Misogynist.

None of those address the point mentioned earlier about legislatures being able to change the outcome of an election if they don't like the result. That is the Biggest Lie of all the GOP is trying to sell. That elections going forward are to be free and fair no matter your gender or skin color or religion or party.

[Js1 85119]

50 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

I generally agree, but in a state like GA it will be very interesting because it has been essentially black vs. white for its entire electoral history. In the past few cycles, you have the highest propensity/highest info white voters migrating to the Democratic side. The casual, presidential election only, election day white Republican who just votes R out of blind habit could, in theory, be the most impacted, as black voters see this as an assault on their rights and voice and will adapt. Same for the higher educated/more engaged white voters. I'm not sure I think that's how it will play out, but it's a scenario I could envision.

As the GOP trades more affluent, better educated voters who vote in every election for less educated, poorer white voters who don’t reliably vote in midterms, it seems their new base would be less likely to stand in line to vote.  And the older GOP base will be impacted by new mail-in/absentee restrictions. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

Also: another one that is similar...

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

 

[Underdog 28457]

I think it's safe to say a lot of us are waiting for Trump to hand out the kool-aid to his followers. 

 

Edited March 27, 2021 by Underdog

[jimmyjazz 45563]

It would be nice to see a study of wait times on election day as a function of race breakdown.  Let's just get right to the numbers, across the country.

[pyrohornIII 4809]

 

4 hours ago, UpperWestside said:

I think the amazing part of the story is they thought that would be it for Abrams and she would not be relevant going forward.

For every door closed like that one was for her another one was opened. It can be argued that that “win” by Kemp actually turned into a loss for them because Abrams helped engineer a massive GOTV effort in Georgia that gave Democrats control of the government at the exact time and moment that our country absolutely had to have them. 

It brought out in the open a lot of voter shit going on, and she is helping other states like Texas get the word out on voter protection and laws.   She definitely did not go quiet into that good night.

[JimmyJames 12271]

1 hour ago, pyrohornIII said:

 

It brought out in the open a lot of voter shit going on, and she is helping other states like Texas get the word out on voter protection and laws.   She definitely did not go quiet into that good night.

Stacey Abrams is making Texas and the LBJ school of public affairs proud. 

[tokamak 6352]

Here's a perspective; article is by David Atkins of Washington Monthly:
Excerpt:
 

 
The result is that Republicans must increasingly hold power through minority rule–both by consolidating unjust structural advantages in the gerrymandered House and the malapportioned Senate and Electoral College, and by suppressing the votes of the majority liberal-left coalition. The Republican Party had a choice to try to moderate its behavior and appeal to disenchanted voters, or to double down on unpopular white supremacy, patriarchy, religious extremism and voter suppression, on a path toward open apartheid and authoritarianism. It chose the latter. This is all open knowledge, though the mainstream press sometimes has difficulty calling it like it is.
But less widely discussed is the fascinating unfolding dynamic in the Republican base itself. Republicans increasingly need to pass draconian voter suppression laws not only to quell a growing body of opposition votes, but to keep their own base engaged. It is stated only in euphemisms and hushed tones, but there is genuine terror in the Republican establishment that conservative voters will simply tune out if these measures are not passed. The Big Lie—endlessly repeated in false, unsubstantiated and often defamatory claims by conservative media—that Trump really won the 2020 election but was denied power through fraud is particularly important in explaining this phenomenon.
 

Article is a few paragraphs, short read. It's interesting that on some RW forums, the GA and similar states' laws are being feted. Opposing viewpoints are countered with a few different refrains--if you can't get out to vote between 7:00-7:00 then it's not that important to you, mail in voting is ballot harvesting, people need to learn how to bring their own water, why do you have the bigotry of low expectation for urban (read: POC) voters, people can stand in line it's not that big a deal, and my personal favorite: women shouldn't be allowed to vote anyway because they're too emotional. Is violence emotional because it isn't women who are shooting up massage parlors, Mr. Misogynist.
None of those address the point mentioned earlier about legislatures being able to change the outcome of an election if they don't like the result. That is the Biggest Lie of all the GOP is trying to sell. That elections going forward are to be free and fair no matter your gender or skin color or religion or party.

How the fuck is it possible that coastal media types STILL think there is a significant Republican establishment that is horrified by all this? They’ve been repeating that shit for 5 years now and it gets less true every day. The Republican “establishment” is fundamentally Trumpist in nature now.

[tx 3 putt 76417]

9 hours ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Wonder if one could just put a cooler of water bottles close to the lines with a sign that says “NOT free water, wink wink”. 

 

i thought you could leave a cooler there but not hand out the water 

[tx 3 putt 76417]

9 hours ago, Underdog said:

Guess the bunker was being remodeled. 

 

still cleaning it up after that hitler fiasco 

[tx 3 putt 76417]

6 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

It would be nice to see a study of wait times on election day as a function of race breakdown.  Let's just get right to the numbers, across the country.

 

non whites wait much longer to vote because their polling sites are shrinking, v the burbs 

[Buzzrock 14874]

From the WSJ:

Georgia’s new law leaves in place Sunday voting, a point of contention with earlier proposals, given that black churches have a “souls to the polls” tradition after services. The Legislature, rather, decided to expand weekend early voting statewide, by requiring two Saturdays instead of only one under current law. In total, Georgia offers three weeks of early voting, which began last year on Oct. 12. This is not exactly restrictive: Compare that with early voting that started Oct. 24 last year in New York.

The new law also leaves in place no-excuses absentee voting. Every eligible Georgia voter will continue to be allowed to request a mail ballot for the sake of simple convenience—or for no reason at all. Again, this is hardly restrictive: More than a dozen states, including Connecticut and Delaware, require mail voters to give a valid excuse.

So what does the Georgia law do? First, it gets rid of signature matching, so election workers aren’t trying to verify mail ballots by comparing John Hancocks. This subjective process should concern both sides. It creates avenues for contested outcomes, with fighting over ambiguous signatures. In 2018 about 2,400 ballots in Georgia were rejected for issues with the signature or oath, according to a recent paper in Political Research Quarterly. Those voters were 54% black.

Instead of signature matching, voters will submit a state ID number with their mail ballots or applications. This way there’s no arguing over handwriting: The ID number either matches or it doesn’t. Georgians who vote in person are already asked to show identification. Anyone who lacks an ID can get one for free.

The law says the state can suspend local election directors and appoint temporary replacements, which is painted as a plot against Democratic metropolitan areas. More likely it will be used on slipshod conduct in places like Floyd County, which last year initially overlooked some 2,600 ballots. The chief elections clerk was fired, but it’s hard to blame the state for wanting to head off similar trouble.

Much hay is being made about a provision that prevents third parties from giving gifts, including “food and drink” to those standing in line at the polls. But the point is to prevent activists from showing up in union shirts—or National Rifle Association shirts, for that matter—and passing out drinks and snacks, with some subtle electioneering thrown in.

As for the genuinely thirsty, the new law specifically allows poll workers to provide “self-service water from an unattended receptacle.” Also, the legislation recognizes that it’s a failure if voters stand in line long enough to get parched. That’s why it says wait times at large precincts must be measured three times throughout Election Day. If the line hits an hour, changes are required before the next election.

The law makes ballot drop boxes a permanent part of Georgia’s voting architecture. The terms are tighter than they were during last year’s pandemic emergency, but how is it part of “Jim Crow 2.0” to give absentee voters more options than they had in 2019? The legislation also says applications for mail ballots are due 11 days before the election, instead of four days. If that’s racist, so is the U.S. Postal Service, which urges voters to allow 15 days for two-way delivery.

The runoff period will be shortened to four weeks. “The lengthy nine-week runoffs in 2020 were exhausting for candidates, donors, and electors,” lawmakers said in their findings. “By adding ranked choice voting for military and overseas voters, the run-off period can be shortened to a more manageable period.” This is politically touchy, since Democrats won two Senate runoffs on Jan. 5, but let’s hear the policy argument for nine-week runoffs, instead of ad hominem attacks.

[Beantown Express 2.0 6555]

9 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

From the WSJ:

Georgia’s new law leaves in place Sunday voting, a point of contention with earlier proposals, given that black churches have a “souls to the polls” tradition after services. The Legislature, rather, decided to expand weekend early voting statewide, by requiring two Saturdays instead of only one under current law. In total, Georgia offers three weeks of early voting, which began last year on Oct. 12. This is not exactly restrictive: Compare that with early voting that started Oct. 24 last year in New York.

The new law also leaves in place no-excuses absentee voting. Every eligible Georgia voter will continue to be allowed to request a mail ballot for the sake of simple convenience—or for no reason at all. Again, this is hardly restrictive: More than a dozen states, including Connecticut and Delaware, require mail voters to give a valid excuse.

So what does the Georgia law do? First, it gets rid of signature matching, so election workers aren’t trying to verify mail ballots by comparing John Hancocks. This subjective process should concern both sides. It creates avenues for contested outcomes, with fighting over ambiguous signatures. In 2018 about 2,400 ballots in Georgia were rejected for issues with the signature or oath, according to a recent paper in Political Research Quarterly. Those voters were 54% black.

Instead of signature matching, voters will submit a state ID number with their mail ballots or applications. This way there’s no arguing over handwriting: The ID number either matches or it doesn’t. Georgians who vote in person are already asked to show identification. Anyone who lacks an ID can get one for free.

The law says the state can suspend local election directors and appoint temporary replacements, which is painted as a plot against Democratic metropolitan areas. More likely it will be used on slipshod conduct in places like Floyd County, which last year initially overlooked some 2,600 ballots. The chief elections clerk was fired, but it’s hard to blame the state for wanting to head off similar trouble.

Much hay is being made about a provision that prevents third parties from giving gifts, including “food and drink” to those standing in line at the polls. But the point is to prevent activists from showing up in union shirts—or National Rifle Association shirts, for that matter—and passing out drinks and snacks, with some subtle electioneering thrown in.

As for the genuinely thirsty, the new law specifically allows poll workers to provide “self-service water from an unattended receptacle.” Also, the legislation recognizes that it’s a failure if voters stand in line long enough to get parched. That’s why it says wait times at large precincts must be measured three times throughout Election Day. If the line hits an hour, changes are required before the next election.

The law makes ballot drop boxes a permanent part of Georgia’s voting architecture. The terms are tighter than they were during last year’s pandemic emergency, but how is it part of “Jim Crow 2.0” to give absentee voters more options than they had in 2019? The legislation also says applications for mail ballots are due 11 days before the election, instead of four days. If that’s racist, so is the U.S. Postal Service, which urges voters to allow 15 days for two-way delivery.

The runoff period will be shortened to four weeks. “The lengthy nine-week runoffs in 2020 were exhausting for candidates, donors, and electors,” lawmakers said in their findings. “By adding ranked choice voting for military and overseas voters, the run-off period can be shortened to a more manageable period.” This is politically touchy, since Democrats won two Senate runoffs on Jan. 5, but let’s hear the policy argument for nine-week runoffs, instead of ad hominem attacks.

No offense to your state Buzzrock but isn’t this bolder part laughable?  I mean I would bet all the money I have that there will be lines of over an hour especially in African American urban areas in the next election so why wait to see it again before acting on it now.  I actually get some of what they are doing and don’t have a problem with new laws if they help ALL people have the ability to easily vote but if these GA state reps were really trying to do the right thing to help people vote and vote honestly they would figure out how to get way more polling stations into urban areas so the lines weren’t so long.  The same goes for my home state of TX.  I live in a heavy Republican area in Dallas and the longest I have waited in 20 years of voting is 15 minutes (this year I waited 3 minutes) because there are polling stations every 2 miles all over the place but if you go down to the heavily democratic areas near downtown Dallas those people wait hours.  It would be easy to fix as you can just add more voting stations in those areas but for some reason the TX elected officials haven’t figured out the easy way to fix it.  Strange isn’t it.  This is the same in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and I would guess many other states like Georgia where there conveniently never seem to be enough voting places in the Atlanta area.  I wonder why that is.

[WhatTheBuck 28716]

19 hours ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Wonder if one could just put a cooler of water bottles close to the lines with a sign that says “NOT free water, wink wink”. 

Define what constitutes as “in line” and hand out free bottles of water and power bars outside that perimeter. 

[Js1 85119]

10 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

i thought you could leave a cooler there but not hand out the water 

Correct. Handing out water to voters in line now constitutes electioneering. 

[RDCanecutter 26289]

The one thing the Georgia law accomplishes, maybe the only thing it was meant to accomplish, is to help some state rep from Squalor Holler look bluff and tough so Trumpier-than-Thou dude across the road doesn't primary him.

[pyrohornIII 4809]

1 hour ago, Buzzrock said:

From the WSJ:

Georgia’s new law leaves in place Sunday voting, a point of contention with earlier proposals, given that black churches have a “souls to the polls” tradition after services. The Legislature, rather, decided to expand weekend early voting statewide, by requiring two Saturdays instead of only one under current law. In total, Georgia offers three weeks of early voting, which began last year on Oct. 12. This is not exactly restrictive: Compare that with early voting that started Oct. 24 last year in New York.

The new law also leaves in place no-excuses absentee voting. Every eligible Georgia voter will continue to be allowed to request a mail ballot for the sake of simple convenience—or for no reason at all. Again, this is hardly restrictive: More than a dozen states, including Connecticut and Delaware, require mail voters to give a valid excuse.

So what does the Georgia law do? First, it gets rid of signature matching, so election workers aren’t trying to verify mail ballots by comparing John Hancocks. This subjective process should concern both sides. It creates avenues for contested outcomes, with fighting over ambiguous signatures. In 2018 about 2,400 ballots in Georgia were rejected for issues with the signature or oath, according to a recent paper in Political Research Quarterly. Those voters were 54% black.

Instead of signature matching, voters will submit a state ID number with their mail ballots or applications. This way there’s no arguing over handwriting: The ID number either matches or it doesn’t. Georgians who vote in person are already asked to show identification. Anyone who lacks an ID can get one for free.

The law says the state can suspend local election directors and appoint temporary replacements, which is painted as a plot against Democratic metropolitan areas. More likely it will be used on slipshod conduct in places like Floyd County, which last year initially overlooked some 2,600 ballots. The chief elections clerk was fired, but it’s hard to blame the state for wanting to head off similar trouble.

Much hay is being made about a provision that prevents third parties from giving gifts, including “food and drink” to those standing in line at the polls. But the point is to prevent activists from showing up in union shirts—or National Rifle Association shirts, for that matter—and passing out drinks and snacks, with some subtle electioneering thrown in.

As for the genuinely thirsty, the new law specifically allows poll workers to provide “self-service water from an unattended receptacle.” Also, the legislation recognizes that it’s a failure if voters stand in line long enough to get parched. That’s why it says wait times at large precincts must be measured three times throughout Election Day. If the line hits an hour, changes are required before the next election.

The law makes ballot drop boxes a permanent part of Georgia’s voting architecture. The terms are tighter than they were during last year’s pandemic emergency, but how is it part of “Jim Crow 2.0” to give absentee voters more options than they had in 2019? The legislation also says applications for mail ballots are due 11 days before the election, instead of four days. If that’s racist, so is the U.S. Postal Service, which urges voters to allow 15 days for two-way delivery.

The runoff period will be shortened to four weeks. “The lengthy nine-week runoffs in 2020 were exhausting for candidates, donors, and electors,” lawmakers said in their findings. “By adding ranked choice voting for military and overseas voters, the run-off period can be shortened to a more manageable period.” This is politically touchy, since Democrats won two Senate runoffs on Jan. 5, but let’s hear the policy argument for nine-week runoffs, instead of ad hominem attacks.

This sounds good, but it's not that great here in rural Texas.  The ID might be free, but it can be a pain in the ass for some of these folks.  Elders who don't drive trying to get into the DPS office that is only open afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays....or is it Mon and Thursday?   Then once they get there, they have to wait in line with all the people trying to get licenses.  It's bullshit and designed to make it frustrating enough that people say fuck it.  

 

Now if they are truly married to the idea of such IDs, then they should have mobile units that cover the state like bloodmobiles to show up, set up and service people in these rural communities.  

Personally, I think the signature is more reliable than a number.  Much more room for fraud if people start selling their numbers.   

The signature falls apart when someone can't make the same signature they did on the application. Strokes and accidents are examples.  Texas election officials are allowed to go back to previous signature cards if available.  

 

Every election should be based on rank choice voting, IMO.

[WhatTheBuck 28716]

30 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Correct. Handing out water to voters in line now constitutes electioneering. 

How can elections be secure if a registered American voter can have a drink of water in a line so long that it might discourage them from waiting in that line if they can’t have a drink of water? Sheesh!

[pyrohornIII 4809]

33 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Correct. Handing out water to voters in line now constitutes electioneering. 

But harassing voters while they stand in line to vote is just fine.  Like Crenshaw's goons did at Reliant this past election.    

The issue I think is that the 100 ft limit on electioneering goes out the window when the line goes beyond the 100 ft.  And with spacing during Covid season, it wasn't hard to fall out of the protection of that limit.  We got several calls on this, Crenshaw's thugs acting like strikebreakers.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

11 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

But harassing voters while they stand in line to vote is just fine.  Like Crenshaw's goons did at Reliant this past election.    

The issue I think is that the 100 ft limit on electioneering goes out the window when the line goes beyond the 100 ft.  And with spacing during Covid season, it wasn't hard to fall out of the protection of that limit.  We got several calls on this, Crenshaw's thugs acting like strikebreakers.

I didn't read it closely, but SB 7 had something about the poll watchers and distance too. Seemed like they are going to be breathing down the necks of some of the counters in the near future. I would be pissed if I was trying to work and some heavyset stinky mouthed poll watcher decided he wanted to lean in over my shoulder while I was working. They crossed out 'conveniently' and made it 'near enough to see and hear' the election officers...

 

 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33844]

this shit's gonna get thrown out in the courts, right?

[Js1 85119]

1 minute ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

this shit's gonna get thrown out in the courts, right?

Bahahaha. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

3 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Bahahaha. 

Uh-huh, we'll laugh at the idea but in the end we're going to cry....

 

 

[tx 3 putt 76417]

16 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

this shit's gonna get thrown out in the courts, right?

 

this man has a serious hard on for suppressing the vote 

[tx 3 putt 76417]

Some John Roberts reading for y’all :

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/john-roberts-voting-rights-act-121222/

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/21211880/supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts-voting-rights-act-election-2020
 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/03/27/politics/supreme-court-georgia-voting-law-john-roberts-shelby-county/index.html
 

RiP :

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/ruth-bader-ginsburg-shelby-county-kemp-georgia.amp

[pyrohornIII 4809]

4 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

I didn't read it closely, but SB 7 had something about the poll watchers and distance too. Seemed like they are going to be breathing down the necks of some of the counters in the near future. I would be pissed if I was trying to work and some heavyset stinky mouthed poll watcher decided he wanted to lean in over my shoulder while I was working. They crossed out 'conveniently' and made it 'near enough to see and hear' the election officers...

 

 

If HR6 goes through then there could be criminal penalties lodged against election workers.  But I'm sure that won't have any effect on finding people to work polls.  Especially Democrats working polls in Red held counties.

[Orale 1087]

This sounds good, but it's not that great here in rural Texas.  The ID might be free, but it can be a pain in the ass for some of these folks.  Elders who don't drive trying to get into the DPS office that is only open afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays....or is it Mon and Thursday?   Then once they get there, they have to wait in line with all the people trying to get licenses.  It's bullshit and designed to make it frustrating enough that people say fuck it.  
 
Now if they are truly married to the idea of such IDs, then they should have mobile units that cover the state like bloodmobiles to show up, set up and service people in these rural communities.  
Personally, I think the signature is more reliable than a number.  Much more room for fraud if people start selling their numbers.   
The signature falls apart when someone can't make the same signature they did on the application. Strokes and accidents are examples.  Texas election officials are allowed to go back to previous signature cards if available.  
 
Every election should be based on rank choice voting, IMO.

Yep. I'm not opposed to requiring an ID to vote necessarily, but only if obtaining the ID is free and easy for everyone no matter their condition. If they're elderly and/or infirm and located in boondock Texas, they get a free mobile registration that comes to their residence.

[pyrohornIII 4809]

Thing is, the ID is only necessary when voting in person.  Not for mail in ballots.   But in the last election if someone wanted to drop off a ballot and not mail it, then the actual voter needed to drop it off...with ID.   Dumb.

[Js1 85119]

I think my very first mail-in ballot in Colorado, I had to include a copy of my ID. But not since, just a signature 

[Horn Dog 9674]

8 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Define what constitutes as “in line” and hand out free bottles of water and power bars outside that perimeter. 

So how about they sprinkle the sidewalks outside of voting areas with pennies the night before, then sell water and power bars for 1 cent.  Or have an ashtray filled with pennies ‘for customer use’ like they do at 7-Elevens.

[WhatTheBuck 28716]

On 3/26/2021 at 9:57 AM, Js1 said:

I do remember there was a black lawmaker in Georgia I think who said every time you change the rules, we will just figure it out and play by those and win again. 

Its not going to deter them. It emboldens them to vote. 

Build a higher wall, we’ll build a taller ladder. 

[WhatTheBuck 28716]

On 3/26/2021 at 10:55 AM, Mole said:

‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

I think this is a clear violation of my religious freedoms.

Jesus was a socialist. 

[Buzzrock 14874]

22 hours ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

No offense to your state Buzzrock but isn’t this bolder part laughable?  I mean I would bet all the money I have that there will be lines of over an hour especially in African American urban areas in the next election so why wait to see it again before acting on it now.  I actually get some of what they are doing and don’t have a problem with new laws if they help ALL people have the ability to easily vote but if these GA state reps were really trying to do the right thing to help people vote and vote honestly they would figure out how to get way more polling stations into urban areas so the lines weren’t so long.  The same goes for my home state of TX.  I live in a heavy Republican area in Dallas and the longest I have waited in 20 years of voting is 15 minutes (this year I waited 3 minutes) because there are polling stations every 2 miles all over the place but if you go down to the heavily democratic areas near downtown Dallas those people wait hours.  It would be easy to fix as you can just add more voting stations in those areas but for some reason the TX elected officials haven’t figured out the easy way to fix it.  Strange isn’t it.  This is the same in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and I would guess many other states like Georgia where there conveniently never seem to be enough voting places in the Atlanta area.  I wonder why that is.

I think it has to do with the idea that you can't plan for the worst-case scenario. The balance has to land somewhere between a single voting machine at the top of a mountain that's only available for ten minutes on election day, and free piggy-back rides to the polls for every eligible voter. The turnout in this last election was unprecedented and we all know why. At times there were long lines in regions of the state no matter the demographics, but they seemed to be for different reasons. One group seemed really eager to vote early, and so lines were long at some polling locations in the early days but then non-existent later. Another group seemed to think that voting in person on election day was the best option, and so they had long lines on election day at sites where there had been no lines for weeks. Personally I just watched the app on my phone and when I saw the lines dry up around me I went and voted. It took about ten minutes.

I do think Georgia makes it very easy to vote. Absolutely anyone can get a mail-in ballot for no reason at all (this bill doesn't change that), and we offer weeks of early voting. Personally I think an ID number is more accurate than a signature. My signature is different almost every time I sign something, and it certainly looks nothing like the tiny cramped signature on my driver's license.

[Buzzrock 14874]

21 hours ago, pyrohornIII said:

This sounds good, but it's not that great here in rural Texas.  The ID might be free, but it can be a pain in the ass for some of these folks.  Elders who don't drive trying to get into the DPS office that is only open afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays....or is it Mon and Thursday?   Then once they get there, they have to wait in line with all the people trying to get licenses.  It's bullshit and designed to make it frustrating enough that people say fuck it.  

 

Now if they are truly married to the idea of such IDs, then they should have mobile units that cover the state like bloodmobiles to show up, set up and service people in these rural communities.  

Personally, I think the signature is more reliable than a number.  Much more room for fraud if people start selling their numbers.   

The signature falls apart when someone can't make the same signature they did on the application. Strokes and accidents are examples.  Texas election officials are allowed to go back to previous signature cards if available.  

 

Every election should be based on rank choice voting, IMO.

Voter fraud is statistically non-existent, I don't expect a spike when this change takes effect. And I wholeheartedly agree with your last statement. It's the only way Libertarians will ever gain a meaningful foothold (it would help if they ran electable candidates).

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

13 hours ago, Horn Dog said:

So how about they sprinkle the sidewalks outside of voting areas with pennies the night before, then sell water and power bars for 1 cent.  Or have an ashtray filled with pennies ‘for customer use’ like they do at 7-Elevens.

There's a thread over in DT that may have a fellow with a wheelbarrow full of pennies. Might solve more than one problem.....

[wildcat09 29264]

On 3/26/2021 at 4:47 PM, tx 3 putt said:

 

this piece of shit has a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG history of fighting to suppress voting rights. when the GA case hits the supreme court, he'll gladly rubber stamp it and probably comment that these new laws are not extreme enough and that the state has more room to suppress voting rights. 

No, he'll rubber stamp it but his entire decision won't mention race or racism once.

[wildcat09 29264]

21 hours ago, pyrohornIII said:

This sounds good, but it's not that great here in rural Texas.  The ID might be free, but it can be a pain in the ass for some of these folks.  Elders who don't drive trying to get into the DPS office that is only open afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays....or is it Mon and Thursday?   Then once they get there, they have to wait in line with all the people trying to get licenses.  It's bullshit and designed to make it frustrating enough that people say fuck it.  

 

Now if they are truly married to the idea of such IDs, then they should have mobile units that cover the state like bloodmobiles to show up, set up and service people in these rural communities.  

Personally, I think the signature is more reliable than a number.  Much more room for fraud if people start selling their numbers.   

The signature falls apart when someone can't make the same signature they did on the application. Strokes and accidents are examples.  Texas election officials are allowed to go back to previous signature cards if available.  

 

Every election should be based on rank choice voting, IMO.

Buzzrock is just parroting GOP propaganda, but signature matching is bullshit. 

[Bozo_Casanova 26294]

I don't have a consistent signature and I doubt that most people do. 

[brakeman 28255]

[Js1 85119]

23 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I don't have a consistent signature and I doubt that most people do. 

Same.

I can tell you the signature on my driver's license and passport don't match.  So I didn't even know what I signed when I did my mail-in ballot.  I kept checking to see if it was accepted or not.