It's about the supression, stupid!

[Spurminator]

Big Government Yonivore wants more laws so we can prevent hypothetical crimes from happening. He must be a huge gun control proponent.

[Yonivore]

The article you copied those quotes from without linking suggests that claim is unsubstantiated.
It's linked in the post. The testimony states that 213 people that pre-deceased the election, voted. That wasn't a suggestion but, an under-oath statement.


http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2012/jul/24/greg-abbott/greg-abbott-dead-voters-Texas/

So how many arrests were made?
How do you find who used a dead person's registration to vote? Cameras aren't allowed at polling places so, what investigative technique do you suggest be employed to divine who took on the identities of 213 dead people, walked into a polling place, and cast a ballot?

I say we make it harder for dead people to vote by making them show a valid, government-issued, photo identification card when they show up at the poll.

[Spurminator]

It's linked in the post. The testimony states that 213 people that pre-deceased the election, voted. That wasn't a suggestion but, an under-oath statement.

Ohhh, it was under oath, well that means they proved it, I guess. Nevermind!

They must just be working on those arrests... I know these investigations take time, but I'm sure A.G. Greg Abbott was highly motivated to get to the bottom of all of this when the report was sent to his office.


How do you find who used a dead person's registration to vote? Cameras aren't allowed at polling places so, what investigative technique do you suggest be employed to divine who took on the identities of 213 dead people, walked into a polling place, and cast a ballot?

I'm not a detective, but the process starts with proving how many of those were the result of clerical errors, something that clearly had not been investigated fully at the time that claim was made, if you read the Politifact article.


I say we make it harder for dead people to vote by making them show a valid, government-issued, photo identification card when they show up at the poll.

I say dead people haven't shown a propensity to want to vote so it's a solution to a nonexistent problem.

[Yonivore]

Yeah, well, Voter ID is now the law and it doesn't appear the U. S. Supreme Court is going to overturn it.

So, we can continue to agree to disagree on the matter.

I'll gladly present my photo ID when I vote.

[boutons_deux]

It's about the supression, stupi (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202966&page=7)d!




Which elections have been thrown by alleged voter fraud?

Which elections have been thrown by voter suppression, disenfranchisement, insane gerrymandering by the Repugs?

note: SCOTUS5 says gerrymandering is OK for screwing the opposition, building a structural block to losing elections, but gerrymandering based race isn't. :lol fucking SCOTUS, what a joke. NO LAW IS ABOVE THE MAN.

[Spurminator]

Yeah, well, Voter ID is now the law and it doesn't appear the U. S. Supreme Court is going to overturn it.

So, we can continue to agree to disagree on the matter.

I'll gladly present my photo ID when I vote.

I must have mistakenly given the impression that I had any delusions that we would not continue to disagree on the matter. I just wanted to show that you are a shill with no substantial rationale or intellectual honesty behind your position on Voter ID, and I think I've succeeded in doing that.

Thanks for the discussion!

[Yonivore]

Yeah, you won the internet, Spurminator. Good job.

[Th'Pusher]

Yeah, you won the internet, Spurminator. Good job.
I enjoyed reading him/her logically dismantle your arugements. :lol

[Yonivore]

I enjoyed reading him/her logically dismantle your arugements. :lol

His/her logic could have been used by me

Show me evidence that voter ID laws suppress voter turnout. See how that works?

[boutons_deux]

Show me evidence that voter ID laws suppress voter turnout.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202966&p=7678559&viewfull=1#post7678559

[Th'Pusher]

His/her logic could have been used by me

Show me evidence that voter ID laws suppress voter turnout. See how that works?

So your default position is to implement laws and regulation regardless of whether or not there is a need?

[Yonivore]

So your default position is to implement laws and regulation regardless of whether or not there is a need?
I believe there's a need.

I believe there is voter fraud.

So do the voter's that passed the Voter ID law. (That's right, voters. We elected the Legislature that passed the law - they represent us.)

I don't believe requiring a voter to identify and qualify themselves, when voting, is an undue burden on the voter.

Nor do the courts.

[Th'Pusher]

I believe there's a need.

I believe there is voter fraud.

But you've already conceded your belief is not based on any imperial evidence. It's based solely on emotion. Sorry, but that doesn't make for good policy.


So do the voter's that passed the Voter ID law. (That's right, voters. We elected the Legislature that passed the law - they represent us.)

I don't believe requiring a voter to identify and qualify themselves, when voting, is an undue burden on the voter.

Nor do the courts.

That's a lie: https://www.texastribune.org/2014/10/09/federal-judge-rules-texas-voter-id-law-unconstitut/

[Yonivore]

But you've already conceded your belief is not based on any imperial evidence. It's based solely on emotion. Sorry, but that doesn't make for good policy.
I've conceded nothing of the sort. The evidence supporting voter fraud is just as empirical as that of voter ID suppressing votes.


That's a lie: https://www.texastribune.org/2014/10/09/federal-judge-rules-texas-voter-id-law-unconstitut/
And, yet, The Supreme Court stayed the ruling until after the election. Something tells me that if they thought it was even a close call, they wouldn't have waded in. Incidentally, they've upheld similar laws in other states so, I'm guessing this one will pass muster, as well.

[Th'Pusher]

I've conceded nothing of the sort. The evidence supporting voter fraud is just as empirical as that of voter ID suppressing votes.

It's really not. You've yet to provide any empirical evidence that in-person voter fraud exists. When asked to do so, you linked to some unsubstantiated bullshit and when you were called on it, you simply said whelp, it's the law of the land. You have not provided any evidence that voter ID law is good policy.


And, yet, The Supreme Court stayed the ruling until after the election. Something tells me that if they thought it was even a close call, they wouldn't have waded in. Incidentally, they've upheld similar laws in other states so, I'm guessing this one will pass muster, as well.


The ruling was stayed due to the proximity of the ruling to the election. The Texas ruling was unique in that explicitly stated the law "was imposed with an unconstitutional discriminatory purpose". We'll see if it's upheld, but to act as if it's a foregone conclusion is simply another emotional response.

[RandomGuy]

Ballots cast in Houston using dead voters' names (http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2008/10/dead-voters-still-registered-in-harris-county/)

Been there, seen it.

Doesn't say what you hope it does.


In the method Texas Watchdog used, matching first, last and middle names and dates of birth, two people with a common name born on the same day could be mixed up with each other.

You have evidence of clerical lag.

FAIL.

[RandomGuy]

I believe there's a need.

I believe there is voter fraud.

So do the voter's that passed the Voter ID law. (That's right, voters. We elected the Legislature that passed the law - they represent us.)

I don't believe requiring a voter to identify and qualify themselves, when voting, is an undue burden on the voter.

Nor do the courts.

You always seem to be vague about the types of fraud you say exists.

Either deliberately misleading, or ignorant of what fraud actually exists.

[RandomGuy]

Are you suggesting 213 dead people didn't vote in Houston?


In one case identified by Texas Watchdog, a poll worker's mistake may have led to a faulty record.

John Medford said there must have been a mix-up when he was told his father -– who died in 2006 –- had voted in the March Democratic primary.

They lived at the same Neff Street address. They shared their name: John Curtis Medford. But the father was born in 1917, the son in 1951.

“My mom and I voted. That’s all I know,” Medford said. But the younger Medford didn’t vote, records show.

Poll workers apparently recorded the father as showing up to the polls, not the son.

I will suggest precisely that.

[RandomGuy]

Ballots cast in Houston using dead voters' names (http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2008/10/dead-voters-still-registered-in-harris-county/)


"Ingram put it this way in his testimony: 'We believe 239 folks voted in the recent election after passing away' including, he said, 213 who voted in person."
...
"Mortara asked Ingram: 'Does the investigation you performed on the May voting data tell you anything about the prevalence of in person voter fraud of this type?'

"Ingram replied: 'It tells us that it's more common than we thought...'"

Your quote isn't in that article.

Wow... that is misleading... even for you.

[RandomGuy]

Ah... there we go.

Found Yoni's quote.

Unsurprisingly..

Greg Abbott says state proved in court that more than 200 dead people voted in the latest Texas elections

http://static.politifact.com.s3.amazonaws.com/rulings%2Ftom-mostlyfalse.gif

http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2012/jul/24/greg-abbott/greg-abbott-dead-voters-Texas/


Our ruling

Abbott said the recent trial proved that more than 200 dead people voted in the latest elections, the May 2012 party primaries.

But the trial was less conclusive.

To recap: An elections official testified that after comparing a list of 50,000 dead registered voters -- where’s that headline? -- to records of voters in the recent primaries, "we believe" that 239 "folks voted in the recent election after passing away," meaning 239 voters cast ballots using voter registrations of dead Texans. According to his testimony, the state then took the best matches and sought death certificates "for as many of those as we could round up in a short time." Ten death certificates came back and, the official testified, four names, birth dates and Social Security numbers completely aligned on the lists and death certificates.

We can see how this information might raise flags, but we do not see that it proves there were more than 200 dead voters, so to speak. That's because there’s a difference between suspecting fraud and proving it. After all, Abbott's office has been handed the 200-plus matches to investigate.

His claim rates Mostly False.

Nothing was actually proven, other than Abbott is willing to manufacture evidence to provide cover for cynical ploys to disenfranchise voters. Nobody went to jail. No investigation of this heinous crime ever brought a prosecution.

What a scumbag.

[Yonivore]

Your quote isn't in that article.

Wow... that is misleading... even for you.
It wasn't intentional. I had two articles up and pasted the wrong one without noticing.

So, how many votes were suppressed by the law?

The dead can vote in NYC (http://nypost.com/2013/12/30/the-dead-can-vote-in-nyc/)

Voter substitution can and does occur. The only way to stop it at the polling place is to require a voter to qualify themselves when they show up to vote and, the best way to do that is to require a government-issued photo identification.

[Yonivore]

Ah... there we go.

Found Yoni's quote.

Unsurprisingly..

Greg Abbott says state proved in court that more than 200 dead people voted in the latest Texas elections

http://static.politifact.com.s3.amazonaws.com/rulings%2Ftom-mostlyfalse.gif

http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2012/jul/24/greg-abbott/greg-abbott-dead-voters-Texas/



Nothing was actually proven, other than Abbott is willing to manufacture evidence to provide cover for cynical ploys to disenfranchise voters. Nobody went to jail. No investigation of this heinous crime ever brought a prosecution.

What a scumbag.
Trying to figure out who cast the votes is a waste of time, after the fact. You're not going to change the outcome of the election and you're going to spend a lot of money trying to identify people who are not required to identify themselves and are not subject to being photographed or recorded when they commit the crime. The best you're going to do is prove the fraudulent votes occurred and, according to the testimony, the AG's office was satisfied the fraud occurred. Requiring a photo ID at the polls will go a long way to ending this type of fraud.

[Yonivore]

Ah... there we go.

Found Yoni's quote.
Spurminator beat you by about 9 hours (according to the forum's clock).

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202966&p=7678797&viewfull=1#post7678797

[boutons_deux]

"AG" :lol

Of course, Abbott would "run" a politicized, REPUG AG office in fucking TX "satisfied" that the Repugs' decades propaganda of rampant, election-throwing voting fraud was confirmed :lol

[Yonivore]

THE “DISENFRANCHISEMENT” MYTH (http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/11/the-disenfranchisement-myth.php)


After much soul searching, the left has found the explanation for the walloping suffered by Democrats last week — “disfranchisement” of likely Democratic voters. Wendy Weiser (http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/how-much-difference-did-new-voting-restrictions-make-yesterdays-close-races) of the left-wing Brennan Center for Justice argues that “in several key races, the margin of victory came very close to the likely margin of disenfranchisement.”

The race between Thom Tillis and Kay Hagan is the only Senate contest Weiser discusses in which the Republican won. She notes that four years ago, 200,000 ballots were cast during the seven days of early voting that North Carolina eliminated when it shortened the early voting period. The state also eliminated Election Day registration. In 2012, 100,000 North Carolinians registered on Election Day, almost one-third of whom are Black.

Thom Tillis’ margin of victory over Kay Hagan was around 48,000 votes. Weiser believes that the new rules account for Hagan’s shortfall.

Weiser’s case is unpersuasive. As election law expert Rick Hasen (http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68164) points out, the relevant question is: “how many people who WANTED to vote this year DID NOT DO SO (and reasonably could not have done so) BECAUSE of the changes in the voting rules.”

One cannot assume that the 200,000 people who, in 2010, cast votes during the seven days of early voting that were eliminated before the 2014 election did not vote in 2014. They might well have voted on remaining early voting dates or they might have voted on Election Day or through an absentee ballot. Similarly, many voters who would have registered on Election Day had this been allowed might have registered earlier in response to publicity about the change in the election laws.

Francis Barry (http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-11-11/no-voting-laws-didnt-doom-democrats) of Bloomberg, having looked more closely than Weiser at the numbers, concludes that North Carolina’s voting law changes did not determine the outcome of the Senate race. He notes that even with seven fewer early voting days, early voting in North Carolina increased this year by 35 percent compared with the 2010 midterm.

Moreover, statewide turnout as a whole increased from the previous midterm election, from 43.7 percent to 44.1 percent. And the share of the Black vote as a percentage of the total increased from its 2010 level.

In short, Blacks seem to have responded at least as intelligently and nimbly as Whites to the simple changes in North Carolina’s voting procedure. Eric Holder’s expert witness and the leftists who share his views appear to have been wrong in assuming (http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/10/holder-doj-expert-witness-blacks-are-dumber-and-less-civic-minded-than-whites.php) that Blacks are dumber and less civic-minded than Whites.

[RandomGuy]

It wasn't intentional. I had two articles up and pasted the wrong one without noticing.

So, how many votes were suppressed by the law?

The dead can vote in NYC (http://nypost.com/2013/12/30/the-dead-can-vote-in-nyc/)

Voter substitution can and does occur. The only way to stop it at the polling place is to require a voter to qualify themselves when they show up to vote and, the best way to do that is to require a government-issued photo identification.

Ah. So the quote and link it was supposed to go though was just an honest mistake. Fair enough.


As for your link: you have evidence of clerical sloppiness, and the fact that NY post was willing to find people to commit fraud, not that any in-person fraud actually exists, and that voter ID laws would prevent that.

Your own article notes that the problem stemmed from delays in removing deceased people from the rolls.

If one is really concerned about this issue, it would seem that this would be far more cost effective to simply improve the reconciliation process that removes the deceased from voter rolls. That would prevent this just as easily.

My theory, though, is that you aren't really concerned about voter fraud. I genuinely think that your only motivation is to deter potential Democratic voting blocs.

The only evidence I have for that, though, is that you can't show there is a problem to begin with. Since you generally hold that government interference and waste is a horrible thing, openly advocating for a wasteful policy appears incongruent with that, and opens up the question of motive in my mind.

[RandomGuy]

Trying to figure out who cast the votes is a waste of time, after the fact. You're not going to change the outcome of the election and you're going to spend a lot of money trying to identify people who are not required to identify themselves and are not subject to being photographed or recorded when they commit the crime. The best you're going to do is prove the fraudulent votes occurred and, according to the testimony, the AG's office was satisfied the fraud occurred. Requiring a photo ID at the polls will go a long way to ending this type of fraud.

A crime would have been committed. Are you saying that investigating crime is a waste of time?

Seems an odd attitude for someone concerned about deterring fraud.

[RandomGuy]

Spurminator beat you by about 9 hours (according to the forum's clock).

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202966&p=7678797&viewfull=1#post7678797

Fair enough. Spurminator pwned you faster than I did.

[Yonivore]

A crime would have been committed. Are you saying that investigating crime is a waste of time?

Seems an odd attitude for someone concerned about deterring fraud.
it's more cost effective to deter the fraud in the first place.

Again, how would you go about finding someone that voted in the stead of an eligible voter that, even though registered, did not cast a vote? How would you even go about finding a person that voted in place of a dead person?

[Yonivore]

Fair enough. Spurminator pwned you faster than I did.

Not really. Judging by my response to Spurminator, I still didn't realize my mistake.

[RandomGuy]

it's more cost effective to deter the fraud in the first place.

Again, how would you go about finding someone that voted in the stead of an eligible voter that, even though registered, did not cast a vote? How would you even go about finding a person that voted in place of a dead person?

Deterrent:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=laws+against+voter+fraud

Finding one case, next to impossible.

Finding something systemic, far easier.

Precisely my point.

If a problem is systemic or large enough to affect a national election, it would be fairly easy to detect.

[RandomGuy]

Not really. Judging by my response to Spurminator, I still didn't realize my mistake.

The real mistake is wasting taxpayer money solving a problem that doesn't exist. ;)

[DarrinS]

How would one go about identifying the kind of voter fraud that photo id would supposedly prevent? Seems pretty naive just to say it doesn't exist because you can't quantify something that went unnoticed in the first place.

[boutons_deux]

The real mistake is wasting taxpayer money solving a problem that doesn't exist. ;)

parallels with red states spending $100Ks on drug testing welfare recipients, and finding nothing, destroying the REPUG LIE that welfare recipients use welfare to buy drugs.

[RandomGuy]

parallels with red states spending $100Ks on drug testing welfare recipients, and finding nothing, destroying the REPUG LIE that welfare recipients use welfare to buy drugs.

There is that minor bit of hypocrisy.

"I hate government spending so much, I am going to make the government spend more money!"

:rolleyes

[RandomGuy]

How would one go about identifying the kind of voter fraud that photo id would supposedly prevent? Seems pretty naive just to say it doesn't exist because you can't quantify something that went unnoticed in the first place.

I will let you re-think that question, before pointing it out.

Think carefully, and I bet you can answer it.

[Yonivore]

If a problem is systemic or large enough to affect a national election, it would be fairly easy to detect.
537 is a small number.

[Yonivore]

I will let you re-think that question, before pointing it out.

Think carefully, and I bet you can answer it.
Go ahead and point it out. How do you know the person standing before you, at the polling place, presenting a voter registration card, is the person named on that card?

Wouldn't it be easy with a government issued photo identification card?

[RandomGuy]

537 is a small number.

Again, the problem with your theory is that if any given area is known to be critical for an election, both parties tend to send extra observers. But such concerns are something of red herring, if the subject is whether or not there is evidence to support your assertion.

So, once more, I am left with simply asking you to provide reasonable proof that a problem exists that would be solved by voter ID laws.

Reasonable proof you, or anyone else for that matter, has yet to provide.

[RandomGuy]

["randompropaganda"]Describes you perfectly.

Propaganda generally involves deliberate misinformation.

If all I am asking for, is simply reasonable evidence for a problem, so I can determine for myself whether it exists, I have provided no information at all.

(edit)

Deliberate misinformation though, would generally be characterized as something that fails basic fact checks.

i.e. Yoni's post of a claim that was rated mostly false.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202966&page=10&p=7679845&viewfull=1#post7679845

Wouldn't you agree?

[Yonivore]

Again, the problem with your theory is that if any given area is known to be critical for an election, both parties tend to send extra observers. But such concerns are something of red herring, if the subject is whether or not there is evidence to support your assertion.

So, once more, I am left with simply asking you to provide reasonable proof that a problem exists that would be solved by voter ID laws.

Reasonable proof you, or anyone else for that matter, has yet to provide.
You keep moving the goalpost, Random.

First you say the problem would have to be widespread in order to affect a national election. 537 votes in one state says otherwise.

Then you say there's no proof of a problem. Aside from the fact most of the suspected fraudulent activities occurs in areas, where the party fighting such controls, dominate the political landscape, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence abuses occur.

Requiring a valid photo ID is a modest means for addressing one such method of fraud. Again, what's your objection?

[Yonivore]

Propaganda generally involves deliberate misinformation.

If all I am asking for, is simply reasonable evidence for a problem, so I can determine for myself whether it exists, I have provided no information at all.

(edit)

Deliberate misinformation though, would generally be characterized as something that fails basic fact checks.

i.e. Yoni's post of a claim that was rated mostly false.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202966&page=10&p=7679845&viewfull=1#post7679845

Wouldn't you agree?
Would you agree voting is a qualified right and that states have an obligation to ensure a voter is qualified to exercise that right?

[RandomGuy]

THE “DISENFRANCHISEMENT” MYTH (http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/11/the-disenfranchisement-myth.php)

The last election was not really much effected by disenfranchisement.

I have not claimed it was.

You are either, therefore, committing a strawman attack, or yet another red herring fallacy.

Which type of lie is it?

But, since you brought it up, let's see what the Brennan center is actually saying.


State governments across the country enacted an array of new laws making it harder to register or to vote. Some states require voters to show government-issued photo identification, often of a type that as many as one in ten voters do not have. Other states have cut back on early voting, a hugely popular innovation used by millions of Americans. Two states reversed earlier reforms and once again disenfranchised millions who have past criminal convictions but who are now taxpaying members of the community. Still others made it much more difficult for citizens to register to vote, a prerequisite for voting.

These new restrictions fall most heavily on young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities. This wave of changes may sharply tilt the political terrain for the 2012 election. Based on the Brennan Center’s analysis of the 19 laws and two executive actions that passed in 14 states, it is clear that:

These new laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.
The states that have already cut back on voting rights will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012 – 63 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency.
Of the 12 likely battleground states, as assessed by an August Los Angeles Times analysis of Gallup polling, five have already cut back on voting rights (and may pass additional restrictive legislation), and two more are currently considering new restrictions.
States have changed their laws so rapidly that no single analysis has assessed the overall impact of such moves. Although it is too early to quantify how the changes will impact voter turnout, they will be a hindrance to many voters at a time when the United States continues to turn out less than two thirds of its eligible citizens in presidential elections and less than half in midterm elections.

This study is the first comprehensive roundup of all state legislative action thus far in 2011 on voting rights, focusing on new laws as well as state legislation that has not yet passed or that failed. This snapshot may soon be incomplete: the second halves of some state legislative sessions have begun.

(edit to add links-RG)
http://www.brennancenter.org/publication/voting-law-changes-2012
Pdf study:
http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Democracy/VRE/Brennan_Voting_Law_V10.pdf
(end edit)

Once one starts looking at the groups affected, and who is pushing hardest to restrict access to voting, the pattern does become a lot clearer.

It's about the suppression, stupid.

[RandomGuy]

Would you agree voting is a qualified right and that states have an obligation to ensure a voter is qualified to exercise that right?

Not addressed to you. Sorry.

(edit)

But yes. Where we will disagree is what that obligation entails. I prefer policy solutions based on things like evidence.

[Yonivore]

The last election was not really much effected by disenfranchisement.

I have not claimed it was.

You are either, therefore, committing a strawman attack, or yet another red herring fallacy.

Which type of lie is it?

But, since you brought it up, let's see what the Brennan center is actually saying.



(edit to add links-RG)
http://www.brennancenter.org/publication/voting-law-changes-2012
Pdf study:
http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Democracy/VRE/Brennan_Voting_Law_V10.pdf
(end edit)

Once one starts looking at the groups affected, and who is pushing hardest to restrict access to voting, the pattern does become a lot clearer.

It's about the suppression, stupid.
My link was a direct response to the Brennan report (well, an opinion piece written by one of its authors, actually).

Weiser's example for suppression was North Carolina. Voting was up in North Carolina, over 2010 midterms. Voting, among groups she claimed were suppressed, were also up.

Hence, the "Myth" in the title.

Weiser and the Brennan group tried to perpetuate a "myth," unfortunately for them, there are people willing to actually look at the numbers and not just pull crap out of their collective asses.

[Yonivore]

Not addressed to you. Sorry.

(edit)

But yes. Where we will disagree is what that obligation entails. I prefer policy solutions based on things like evidence.
You have your preferences and I have mine.

[DarrinS]

I will let you re-think that question, before pointing it out.

Think carefully, and I bet you can answer it.



Go ahead and point it out. How do you know the person standing before you, at the polling place, presenting a voter registration card, is the person named on that card?

Wouldn't it be easy with a government issued photo identification card?



I guess RG didn't want to elaborate.

[Winehole23]

31 allegations of voter fraud in the US since 2000, out of one billion votes cast. voter ID is still clearly a solution in search of a problem.


I’ve been tracking allegations of fraud (https://web.archive.org/web/20070622014244/http:/truthaboutfraud.org/index.html) for years now (http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/The%20Truth%20About%20Voter%20Fraud.pdf), including the fraud ID laws are designed to stop. In 2008, when the Supreme Court weighed in on voter ID, I looked at every single allegation (http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/Democracy/Analysis%20of%20Crawford%20Allegations.pdf) put before the Court. And since then, I’ve been following reports wherever they crop up.


To be clear, I’m not just talking about prosecutions. I track any specific, credible allegation that someone may have pretended to be someone else at the polls, in any way that an ID law could fix.


So far, I’ve found about 31 different incidents (some of which involve multiple ballots) since 2000, anywhere in the country. If you want to check my work, you can read a comprehensive list of the incidents below.
To put this in perspective, the 31 incidents below come in the context of general, primary, special, and municipal elections from 2000 through 2014. In general and primary elections alone, more than 1 billion ballots (http://www.fec.gov/general/library.shtml) were cast in that period.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/06/a-comprehensive-investigation-of-voter-impersonation-finds-31-credible-incidents-out-of-one-billion-ballots-cast/

[Winehole23]

or maybe the problem, as Greg Abbott so delicately put it, is how to keep certain traditional Democratic constituencies at home on election day.

[boutons_deux]

31 allegations of voter fraud in the US since 2000, out of one billion votes cast. voter ID is still clearly a solution in search of a problem.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/06/a-comprehensive-investigation-of-voter-impersonation-finds-31-credible-incidents-out-of-one-billion-ballots-cast/

BUT BUT BUT .... thos 31 "allegations" totally changed the outcome of the elections.

voter fraud, yet another Repug LIE

[Winehole23]

the occurrence is minuscule, double digits in a decade and a half. the remedy disenfranchises thousands of citizens every time there is a general election.

[boutons_deux]

the occurrence is minuscule, double digits in a decade and a half. the remedy disenfranchises thousands of citizens every time there is a general election.

The only way the Repugs can is by fucking democracy, voter suppression, gerrymandering, by lying, while fucking their constituents in the 99%.

[boutons_deux]

Ohio’s Voter Fraud Investigation Finds Almost Nothing


Ohio Secretary Jon Husted’s office announced last week that his ongoing investigation into voter fraud has identified 27 people who are not citizens, but voted in Ohio elections. An earlier report by Husted’s office found that 17 “non-citizens” had cast ballots, adding up to a total of 44 illegally cast ballots since 2012.

Given these numbers, a mere 0.000006 percent of the 7.7 million (http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/03/44_registered_ohio_voters_ille.html#incart_river) registered voters in Ohio cast illegal ballots.

Despite the miniscule numbers, Husted hailed the efforts as a success. :lol Repug newspeak! :lol

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/03/16/ohios-voter-fraud-investigation-finds-almost-nothing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rhrealitycheck+%28RH+Reality+ Check%29

How many Dem voters were denied the vote?

[boutons_deux]

Fox Host: 'Do We Really Want Everybody Voting? I Don’t Think So!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/andrea-tantaros-no-mandatory-voting?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

[boutons_deux]

SCOTUS allows Amercan-democracy-loving Repug/Walker/Kock/ALEC voter suppression to stand. No doubt, other states will go as extreme as WI.

[boutons_deux]

BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Texas’s Voter ID Law

One day before the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act_of_1965), one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country wielded that law to strike down a Texas voter suppression law (http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/texas-5th-cir.pdf).

A unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an opinion written by a George W. Bush appointee, held that Texas’s voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act and must, at the very least, be significantly weakened.

Though the court did not accept every argument raised against the state’s voter ID law, and its opinion does not go nearly as far as a trial judge’s decision which also struck down this law, it is a significant blow to the state’s efforts to make voting more difficult.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/08/05/3688384/breaking-federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-texass-voter-id-law/

whoa! The hyper-conservative 5th Circuit? WTF?

This much more important than the Billionaire's Klown Show.

[boutons_deux]

Conservatives have been disenfranchising (black) CITIZENS since the PROGRESS of the 1960s.

A Dream Undone

Inside the 50-year campaign to roll back the Voting Rights Act.

In 2008, for the first time, black turnout was nearly equal to white turnout, and Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first black president.

Since then, however, the legal trend has abruptly reversed. In 2010, Republicans flipped control of 11 state legislatures and, raising the specter of voter fraud, began undoing much of the work of Frye and subsequent generations of state legislators.

They rolled back early voting, eliminated same-day registration, disqualified ballots filed outside home precincts and created new demands for photo ID at polling places.

In 2013, the Supreme Court, in the case of Shelby County v. Holder (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf), directly countermanded the Section 5 authority of the Justice Department to dispute any of these changes in the states Section 5 covered.

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, declared that the Voting Rights Act had done its job, and it was time to move on. Republican state legislators proceeded with a new round of even more restrictive voting laws.

All of these seemingly sudden changes were a result of a little-known part of the American civil rights story.

It involves a largely Republican countermovement of ideologues and partisan operatives who, from the moment the Voting Rights Act became law, methodically set out to undercut or dismantle its most important requirements.

The story of that decades-long battle over the iconic law’s tenets and effects has rarely been told, but in July many of its veteran warriors met in a North Carolina courthouse to argue the legality of a new state voting law that the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University Law School has called one of the “most restrictive since the Jim Crow era (http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/Voting_Laws_Roundup_2013.pdf).”

The decision, which is expected later this year, could determine whether the civil rights movement’s signature achievement is still justified 50 years after its signing, or if the movement itself is finished.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/magazine/voting-rights-act-dream-undone.html?_r=1

So all you rightwingnutters TELL US AGAIN how y'all aren't RACISTS!

[boutons_deux]

GOP officials sue Florida: Laws against gerrymandering are ‘thought policing’ our ‘partisan thoughts’

Two Republican officials have filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida

claiming that their First Amendment right to “partisan thought” was being violated by laws designed to prevent gerrymandering.

Pasco County Republican Party Chair Randy and Maggard Walton County Chair Tim Norris filed suit in the Pensacola division of the Northern District of Florida, just weeks before a special legislative session is set to redraw congressional districts in the state,Politico reported (http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/gop-suit-florida-redistricting-law-equals-thought-policing-121039.html).

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/gop-officials-sue-florida-laws-against-gerrymandering-are-thought-policing-our-partisan-thoughts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[boutons_deux]

Texas Lawmakers Are Much Better At Disenfranchising Voters Than We Thought


A Texas law, which closely resembles similar laws erecting obstacles to the franchise in other states, does far more to keep voters from casting a ballot (http://www.texastribune.org/2015/08/06/study-law-discouraged-more-those-without-voter-id/) than previously thought, according to a study conducted by researchers at Rice University and the University of Houston.

Typically, analysts examining how voter ID laws affect turnout have honed in on voters who lack ID as the obvious victims of such a law. The Rice/Houston study, however, reveals that these laws reach far beyond the universe of people without IDs. “[T]he most significant impact of the Texas voter photo ID law on voter participation,” at least within the congressional district examined by the study, “was to discourage turnout among registered voters who did indeed possess an approved form of photo ID, but through some combination of misunderstanding, doubt or lack of knowledge, believed that they did not possess the necessary photo identification.”

The study surveyed 400 registered voters who did not cast a ballot in the November 2014 election. All of these non-voters reside in Texas’s 23rd Congressional District — a district the researchers describe as “the only one of the state’s 36 U.S. House districts where both the Democratic Party and Republican Party candidates have a realistic chance of victory in November.” In 2014, Republican Will Hurd narrowly defeated (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_i n_Texas,_2014#District_23) Democratic incumbent Rep. Pete Gallego in the 23rd district.

Altogether, 12.8 percent of the non-voters surveyed in the study said that lack of identification was a reason why they did not vote in the 2014 election, and 5.8 percent said that this was the principal reason why they did not vote. Yet, despite the relatively high numbers of voters who cited lack of ID when asked why they did not cast a ballot, the researchers determined that only “2.7% of the respondents did not possess any of the seven valid forms of photo identification” and “only 1.0% did not possess a photo ID and agreed that a lack of this photo ID was a reason why they did not vote.”

At best, this suggests that more than half of the voters who did not cast a ballot because they believed they lacked the identification required to do so actually did have a valid form of ID.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/08/10/3689809/texas-lawmakers-are-much-better-at-disenfranchising-voters-than-we-thought/

So beside the EXPLICIT TX Repug voter suppression, there is IMPLICIT voter suppression caused by FUD in voters with good voter IDs, but the FUD keeps them away.

Repugs, nasty, dirty fucking sonsofbitches

[boutons_deux]

Anti-Voting Crusader Plans Purge Of 30,000 Citizens From Voting Rolls


Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) — notorious voter suppression architect who now wields the power (http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/05/21/3661651/kobach-prosecute-voter-fraud/) to prosecute people for voter fraud — has proposed a change to state regulations which would allow his office to purge more than 30,000 incomplete voter registration applications being held because voters have not yet provided proof of citizenship.

Four state lawmakers, including one Republican, have come out against (http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/aug/10/lawmakers-question-kobachs-effort-purge-suspense-v/) the proposal, claiming it would disproportionately impact low-income, minority and elderly voters who may need more than 90 days to provide their proof of citizenship. State Rep. Jim Ward (D) told ThinkProgress that not every Kansas citizen has a drivers’ license and other forms of identification can be hard for people to procure in a short period of time.

“[Kobach] said we gave more time than other states who have imposed this purge rule, and we thought it was fair,” Ward said. “But there really wasn’t any kind of analysis on how long it would take” voters to produce a proof of citizenship.

Soon after taking office, Kobach advocated for a law requiring new voters (http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/07/17/2315391/kansas-proof-of-citizenship-law-leaves-12000-voters-in-limbo-because-of-a-computer-delay/) in Kansas to show proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register. The law took effect in 2013, and immediately 12,000 people were placed in limbo because they could not prove their citizenship, despite the fact that the threat of non-citizens casting a ballot of virtually non-existent (http://www.kansas.com/opinion/editorials/article1054826.html).

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/08/11/3690433/kris-kobach-voter-purge/

Repugs just adore the Consritution, and Love America so damn much.

[boutons_deux]

Federal lawsuit filed against Kansas Secretary of State for massive voter registration purge (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/01/1426679/-Federal-lawsuit-filed-against-Kansas-Secretary-of-State-for-massive-voter-registration-purge)

The lawsuit was filed byformer Kansas gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis: (http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article37126992.html)


The state enacted a requirement that beginning in 2013, prospective voters must provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, when they register to vote – a policy Kobach championed.Since the law went into effect, nearly 37,000 voters have been left in suspended registration status. For perspective, Davis lost to Gov. Sam Brownback in the last election by fewer than 33,000 votes. Davis said he didn’t think proof of citizenship affected the outcome of the election.

Kobach has moved forward with a new rule, set to take effect on Friday, that would remove a person’s name from the list if he or she failed to show proof of citizenship after 90 days. Kobach has said the policy will save county election offices money, but his critics accuse him of trying to purge the list.


More on the basis of the lawsuit: (http://cjonline.com/news/2015-09-30/paul-davis-representing-kansans-federal-lawsuit-challenging-kobach-purge-incomplete)


Davis, along with attorney Will Lawrence, is representing Douglas County residents Alder Cromwell and Cody Keener in the lawsuit. In an interview, Davis said the two men were in their late teens and early 20s and seeking to register to vote for the first time.The lawsuit says the requirement that individuals provide proof of citizenship to register is “overly broad,” infringes on their rights to participate in elections and isn’t narrowly tailored to a compelling state interest.

The lawsuit also alleges the 90-day elimination rule violates the National Voter Registration Act. The lawsuit says the rule will unlawfully remove Cromwell from the statewide voter registration database even though Kansas is required to place him in the database as a valid voter under the federal law.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/01/1426679/-Federal-lawsuit-filed-against-Kansas-Secretary-of-State-for-massive-voter-registration-purge?detail=email

[boutons_deux]

After Passing Voter ID Law, Alabama Closes Driver’s License Offices In Democratic Counties

However, Alabama has announced that it is now closing 31 driver’s license bureaus throughout the state, leaving 29 of the state’s counties without an office where voters can easily obtain a state-issued driver’s license (http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/voter_id_and_drivers_license_o.html). Not coincidentally, the impact of closures will be disproportionately felt by low income voters. Also unsurprisingly, offices targeted for closure are heavily concentrated in predominately African-American, Democratic leaning counties

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/01/passing-voter-id-law-alabama-closes-drivers-license-offices-democratic-counties.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

[SpursforSix]

After Passing Voter ID Law, Alabama Closes Driver’s License Offices In Democratic Counties

However, Alabama has announced that it is now closing 31 driver’s license bureaus throughout the state, leaving 29 of the state’s counties without an office where voters can easily obtain a state-issued driver’s license (http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/voter_id_and_drivers_license_o.html). Not coincidentally, the impact of closures will be disproportionately felt by low income voters. Also unsurprisingly, offices targeted for closure are heavily concentrated in predominately African-American, Democratic leaning counties

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/01/passing-voter-id-law-alabama-closes-drivers-license-offices-democratic-counties.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

This was for budget cuts.

[boutons_deux]

This was for budget cuts.

:lol Shit for brains, too. :lol

[SpursforSix]

:lol Shit for brains, too. :lol

anyway, something needs to be done to offset all the illegals that will be voting for Demorats

[boutons_deux]

anyway, something needs to be done to offset all the illegals that will be voting for Demorats

proof that illegals are voting at all?

Even Hispanic Americans don't vote much (or TX would be BLUE)

[I. Hustle]

proof that illegals are voting at all?

Even Hispanic Americans don't vote much (or TX would be BLUE)

That's an assumption.

[SpursforSix]

proof that illegals are voting at all?

Even Hispanic Americans don't vote much (or TX would be BLUE)

send me your email address and I'll send you the files

[ChumpDumper]

anyway, something needs to be done to offset all the illegals that will be voting for DemoratsAh, the old massive vote fraud chestnut.

[SpursforSix]

Ah, the old massive vote fraud chestnut.

ah...a response from old chinnuts

[ChumpDumper]

ah...a response from old chinnutsYou do know that the bush administration made prosecuting vote fraud a priority, right?

Do you remember how that went?

[boutons_deux]

That's an assumption.

check the population of the regions in TX that are both BLUE and heavily Hispanic.

also, what Repug policies would cause TX Hispanics to vote TX Repug? closing (poor women's) health clinics? refusing to ACA-expand Medicaid? disenfranchisement of poor people needing voter ID? b0x-car-ring Ms of Hispanics southwards?

[SpursforSix]

You do know that the bush administration made prosecuting vote fraud a priority, right?

Do you remember how that went?

who cares. both choices were shitty.

[ChumpDumper]

who cares. both choices were shitty.One tries to suppress legal voting.

[boutons_deux]

One tries to suppress legal voting.

wrong. Repugs SUCCEED in (Dem) voter suppression

[SpursforSix]

One tries to suppress legal voting.

I wish it had happened in 2008 or 2012.

[ChumpDumper]

I wish it had happened in 2008 or 2012.It did, both times.

[boutons_deux]

Fox News legal analyst denies voting is a ‘fundamental right’ in US democracy

Not so, according to Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano. Decrying California’s new law that will automatically register people to vote when they get driver’s licenses, Fox News host Steve Doocy raised fears that the law would let undocumented people “sneak” into citizenship, Mediaite reports (http://www.mediaite.com/tv/foxs-andrew-napolitano-right-to-vote-isnt-fundamental/).

“There’s a lot of debate, without getting too academic about what the right to vote is,” Napolitano said. “Is it a fundamental right that comes from our humanity like thought and speech and association and worship and self-defense? Or is it a privilege given by the government? In my view, the Supreme Court has wrongly said it’s a fundamental right.”

He then went on to say California will allow people to vote who “aren’t qualified by law to vote.”

According to the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/us/california-law-will-automatically-register-drivers-to-vote.html?_r=0), only qualified voters will be registered, and Californians can opt out of registering if they wish. California Gov. Jerry Brown enacted the law to counter record low voter turn out, following in the footsteps of Oregon, which has similar legislation.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/fox-news-legal-analyst-denies-voting-is-a-fundamental-right-in-us-democracy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[boutons_deux]

Kobach Files First Voting Fraud Charges Since Being Given Authority To Prosecute

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's (R) office said Tuesday that he filed his first criminal voter fraud charges since being granted the authority to prosecute such cases earlier this year.

Kobach's office on Friday filed complaints in Johnson County that accused

Betty M. Gaedtke and

Steven K. Gaedtke of "voting without being qualified," a misdemeanor, during the 2010 election. A third complaint filed in Sherman County accused

Lincoln L. Wilson

of election perjury, a felony, as well as voting without being qualified in three elections between 2010 and 2014.

Gov. Sam Brownback (R) in June signed legislation (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/brownback-signs-voter-fraud-bill-kobach) that granted Kobach the authority to pursue criminal charges in voter fraud cases even if local prosecutors opted against advancing those cases.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kris-kobach-voter-fraud-criminal-charges

THREE! :lol Go Get 'Em, KK!

those don't sound like black or mexican names! :lol

[boutons_deux]

Kansas Voter ID Law Sets Off a New Battle Over Registration

Ms. Flores, who said she was born in Washington State, unwittingly joined a list of more than 36,000 people in Kansas who have tried to register to vote since the law went into effect in 2013, but then did not complete their registration. This month, under a rule adopted by the Kansas secretary of state’s office, county election officials throughout the state began to cull names from the voters list, removing people who had been on it at least 90 days. Those removed from the list must start the registration process over in order to vote.

The move has touched off a new battle over voter registration, pitting the Republican secretary of state, Kris W. Kobach, an ardent supporter of strict voting rules, against Democrats and advocates of voting rights who say the law was intended to suppress voter turnout. Mr. Kobach was named in a federal lawsuit filed in September by two plaintiffs who had applied to register to vote in Kansas but were added to the roll of incomplete registrants when they did not submit proof of their citizenship.

In an interview, Mr. Kobach said culling the list would help address complaints from county clerks that notifying people of the law’s requirements was costly and often ineffective.

He asserted that most of the people on the list had moved since their initial registration or “never had any intention of voting in the first place.”

And he defended the law as necessary to prevent voter fraud. :lol

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/us/politics/kansas-voter-id-law-sets-off-a-new-battle-over-registration.html?_r=0

[boutons_deux]

Proof of citizenship for voter registration makes things tough in Kansas, especially for the young (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/16/1433814/-Proof-of-citizenship-for-voter-registration-makes-things-tough-in-Kansas-especially-for-the-young)

There are 36,000 incomplete voter registration forms (http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article32820537.html) languishing in Kansas thanks to a voter I.D. law that makes it harder for some people to register. Secretary of State Kris Kobach's solution? Purge them. Just throw them out after 90 days.

He says it's not a purge though because these people have never been registered to vote. And, he says, Georgia and Arizona dump incomplete applications after 30 days and 45 days, respectively.So how did this happen?

Kansas passed a strict new law that requires people registering to vote to prove they are a U.S. citizen. And some people learn this when they try to register for the first time and are told they need a passport, birth certificate and naturalization papers to verify their citizenship. Trouble is, lots of people don't have those documents or don't have access to them. Julie Bosman reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/us/politics/kansas-voter-id-law-sets-off-a-new-battle-over-registration.html?ref=politics&_r=0):


Douglas Bonney, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said the Kansas requirements might particularly discourage young voters who do not have ready access to the required documents. “It has caused a massive wall for them,” he said. [...]“This disproportionately hits 18- to 24-year-olds,” said Jamie Shew, a Democrat and the county clerk for Douglas County. “For a lot of them, they say, ‘I’m not going to worry about it.’ They’re busy, and this is just one more thing to do.”


Another problem is that the Kansas form includes the proof of citizenship requirement, but the federal form does not. Those Kansans who fill out the federal form can only vote in federal elections, not state and local ones.In September, two people sued in federal court over the situation. Opponents of purging the incomplete registrations include the League of Women Voters.

“From the league’s perspective,” said Marge Ahrens, co-president of the Kansas league, “We don’t just throw away people who say they want to vote.”The fact that more than 30,000 such applications are pending, with 1,100 added each month, she said, shows that the law is cumbersome.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/16/1433814/-Proof-of-citizenship-for-voter-registration-makes-things-tough-in-Kansas-especially-for-the-young?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29#

Kobach is your run-of-the-mill redstate Repug kunt

[boutons_deux]

Alabama is closing DL (aka voter ID) offices to suppress the black vote, but it's insisting on keeping open state-liquor shops, even the ones losing money, because if they were closed, the boozers would have to drive too far.

:lol

[boutons_deux]

Chris Christie Vetoes Legislation Making It Easier To Vote In New Jersey

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoed legislation Monday that would have added 1.6 million new voters to the state’s rolls and made New Jersey the third state in the country (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/06/15/3669765/democracy-act-new-jersey/) to adopt automatic voter registration.

After sitting on the “Democracy Act” for almost five months (http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/06/major_changes_to_nj_voting_laws_now_in_christies_h .html), the governor and Republican presidential candidate vetoed his second voting rights-related bill in three years, according to the Brennan Center for Justice (https://www.brennancenter.org/press-release/gov-christie-vetoes-groundbreaking-voting-reform-new-jersey). Christie has previously said that he does not support making it easier for residents of his state to vote.

“In New Jersey, we have early voting that are available to people,” he said in June (http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/06/clinton_doesnt_know_what_shes_talking_about_on_vot .html). “I don’t want to expand it and increase the opportunities for fraud.” :lol same old bullshit LIE :lol

But Analilia Mejia, the director of New Jersey Working Families, which spearheaded the initiative to have lawmakers introduce the legislation, told ThinkProgress (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/06/15/3669765/democracy-act-new-jersey/) earlier this year that the bill would not be “reinventing the wheel.”

“Most of these things have been moved and adopted in other states successfully,” she said. “It’s just mind-bending that a governor of a state would be against every single one of his citizens having full ease and access to participate in the voting process.”

New Jersey currently ranks 39th in the country in both percentage of eligible voters who are registered and percentage of voters who actually case a ballot, according to NJWF.

The state does not allow in-person early voting, but requires citizens who want to cast an absentee ballot early to apply for one at an election official’s office.

New Jersey also does not permit online voter registration, something that is allowed in 33 other states.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/11/09/3720574/christie-veto-democracy-act/

[boutons_deux]

Reagan-Appointed Federal Judge Who Approved First Photo ID Law in 2008 Writes Devastating Dissent AGAINST Photo ID Voting Restrictions (http://bradblog.com/?p=10867)

If you read just one top-to-bottom dismantling of every supposed premise in support of disenfranchising Photo ID voting restrictions laws in your lifetime, let it be this one [PDF] (http://bradblog.com/Docs/JudgePosnerDissent_PhotoID_WI_101014.pdf)!

It is a dissent, released on Friday, written by Judge Richard Posner, the Reagan-appointed 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judge who was the one who approved the first such Photo ID law in the country (Indiana's) back in 2008, in the landmark Crawford v. Marion County case which went all the way to the Supreme Court, where Posner's ruling was affirmed.

If there was ever evidence that a jurist could change their mind upon review of additional subsequent evidence, this is it (http://bradblog.com/Docs/JudgePosnerDissent_PhotoID_WI_101014.pdf). If there was ever a concise and airtight case made against Photo ID laws and the threat they pose to our most basic right to vote, this is it (http://bradblog.com/Docs/JudgePosnerDissent_PhotoID_WI_101014.pdf). If there was ever a treatise revealing such laws for the blatantly partisan shell games that they are, this is it (http://bradblog.com/Docs/JudgePosnerDissent_PhotoID_WI_101014.pdf).

His dissent includes a devastating response to virtually every false and/or disingenuous rightwing argument/talking point ever put forth in support of Photo ID voting restrictions, describing them as "a mere fig leaf for efforts to disenfranchise voters likely to vote for the political party that does not control the state government."

Posner is, by far, the most widely cited legal scholar of the 20th century, according toThe Journal of Legal Studies (http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/468080). His opinions are closely read by the Supreme Court, where the battle over the legality and Constitutionality of Photo ID voting laws will almost certainly wind up at some point in the not too distant future. That's just one of the reasons why this opinion is so important.

This opinion, written on behalf of five judges on the 7th Circuit, thoroughly disabuses such notions such as:

these laws are meant to deal with a phantom voter fraud concern ("Out of 146 million registered voters, this is a ratio of one case of voter fraud for every 14.6 million eligible voters");

that evidence shows them to be little more than baldly partisan attempts to keep Democratic voters from voting ("conservative states try to make it difficult for people who are outside the mainstream...to vote");

that rightwing partisan outfits like True the Vote (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9770), which support such laws, present "evidence" of impersonation fraud that is "downright goofy, if not paranoid";

and the notion that even though there is virtually zero fraud that could even possibly be deterred by Photo ID restrictions, the fact that the public thinks there is, is a lousy reason to disenfranchise voters since there is no evidence that such laws actually increase public confidence in elections and, as new studies now reveal (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10856), such laws have indeed served to suppress turnout in states where they have been enacted.

There is far too much in it to appropriately encapsulate here for now. Ya just really need to take some time to read it in full (http://bradblog.com/Docs/JudgePosnerDissent_PhotoID_WI_101014.pdf). But it was written, largely, in response to the Appellate Court ruling last week by rightwing Judge Frank Easterbrook whichcontained one embarrassing falsehood and error after another (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10850), including the canards about Photo ID being required to board airplanes, open bank accounts, buy beer and guns, etc. We took apart just that one paragraph of Easterbrook's ruling last week here (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10850), but Posner takes apart his colleague's entire, error-riddled mess of a ruling in this response.

Amongst my favorite passages (and there are so many), this one [emphasis added]...

The panel is not troubled by the absence of evidence. It deems the supposed beneficial effect of photo ID requirements on public confidence in the electoral system "'a legislative fact'-a proposition about the state of the world," and asserts that "on matters of legislative fact, courts accept the findings of legislatures and judges of the lower courts must accept findings by the Supreme Court." In so saying, the panel conjures up a fact-free cocoon in which to lodge the federal judiciary. As there is no evidence that voter impersonation fraud is a problem, how can the fact that a legislature says it's a problem turn it into one?

If the Wisconsin legislature says witches are a problem, shall Wisconsin courts be permitted to conduct witch trials?

If the Supreme Court once thought that requiring photo identification increases public confidence in elections, and experience and academic study since shows that the Court was mistaken, do we do a favor to the Court - do we increase public confidence in elections-by making the mistake a premise of our decision?

Pressed to its logical extreme the panel's interpretation of and deference to legislative facts would require upholding a photo ID voter law even if it were uncontested that the law eliminated no fraud but did depress turnout significantly.

And this one...

There is only one motivation for imposing burdens on voting that are ostensibly designed to discourage voter-impersonation fraud, if there is no actual danger of such fraud, and that is to discourage voting by persons likely to vote against the party responsible for imposing the burdens.

And remember, once again, this is written by Richard Posner, the conservative Republican icon of a federal appellate court judge --- the judge who wrote the opinion on behalf of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals approving of the first such Photo ID law in the country in 2008, the very case that rightwingers from Texas to Wisconsin now cite over and over (almost always incorrectly (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10226)) in support of similar such laws --- now, clearly admitting that he got the entire thing wrong.

One last point (for now): Our legal analyst Ernie Canning, who (along with me) will undoubtedly have much more to say on this dissent in upcoming days, suggests we award The BRAD BLOG's (http://www.bradblog.com/) almost-never-anymore-bestowed Intellectually Honest Conservative Award (http://www.bradblog.com/?cat=194) to Judge Posner.

And so it shall be.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10867

[boutons_deux]

The New Attack on Hispanic Voting Rights

After the Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act, tactics to suppress minority voting are flourishing — especially in states where Hispanic voters are reshaping the electorate. Part two of an ongoing series.


In 2000, Pasadena, then with a population of about 140,000, was 48 percent Hispanic, on its way to 63 percent today.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/magazine/block-the-vote.html?_r=0

[boutons_deux]

Kockistan news

Wisconsin GOPers Want To Block Local Governments From Issuing Voter IDs

Wisconsin Republicans are pushing state legislation that would block local governments from issuing voter ID cards -- which are required at the ballot box under a 2011 law -- even though the locals IDs currently being considered in a Milwaukee program aren't meant to be used for voting.

Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard and state Rep. Joe Sanfelippo are floating a proposal that would bar cities and villages from issuing any photo ID card, according to the Journal Sentinel (http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/republican-bill-seeks-to-limit-local-photo-id-cards-b99642472z1-364007741.html). It also would require that any ID issued by local governments to state clearly that it does not meet the state's voter ID requirements. Nor can local government IDs be used for any public benefits program, under the proposal.

The memo being circulated claims that the legislation would prevent fraud, and that local IDs would be "potentially misleading, confusing, and unfair to the card's recipient" who would believe he or she qualified for public benefits.

The legislation appears to be a direct response to a program in the works in the Milwaukee area (http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/county-supervisors-propose-local-id-cards-for-those-without-licenses-b99603858z1-337248691.html)that would fund the issuance of a photo ID for residents to use when seeking health care, obtaining library cards and setting up bank accounts. The local IDs are meant for Milwaukee's immigrant and homeless populations, as well as victims of domestic violence, runaway youths and transgender people who also face obstacles obtaining state IDs.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wisconsin-id-local-governments?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

[boutons_deux]

Voter Fraud Honcho Kobach Blasts ACLU And LWV As 'Communist'

http://a1.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/c_fill,fl_keep_iptc,g_faces,h_365,w_652/nesjutbknhcqtdkersg6.jpg


Facing lawsuits over Kansas' requirement for proof of citizenship to register to vote, Secretary of State Kris Kobach on Saturday railed against the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the League of Women Voters, labeling both groups "communist."

"The ACLU and their fellow communist friends, the League of Women Voters — you can quote me on that, the communist League of Women Voters — the ACLU and the communist League of Women Voters sued," Kobach said at the Kansas Republican Party's state convention,

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kris-kobach-aclu-communists?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Dominant characteristic of Repug politicians: fucking stupid

[boutons_deux]

A Republican lawmaker may have inadvertently confirmed Democrats' suspicions of voter ID

On Tuesday, Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) got a bit too real about the effect Wisconsin's voter ID law may have on the 2016 presidential election.

Asked about how Ted Cruz or Donald Trump could win Wisconsin in the general election, Grothman said,

"I think Hillary Clinton is about the weakest candidate the Democrats have ever put up. And now we have photo ID, and I think photo ID is going to make a little bit of a difference as well."

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/6/11377078/voter-id-republicans-grothman

gawddam, all y'all Repugs are as stupid as you are racist, mean, nasty.

[boutons_deux]

Kansas Sec. of State'sSpanish-language voter guide misleads voters (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/11/1513810/-Kansas-Sec-of-State-s-Spanish-language-voter-guide-misleads-voters)

Notorious Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach apparently can't even perform the basics of his job—correctly inform people how to register to vote. The state’s Spanish-language voter guide relayed incorrect information about both the registration deadline and acceptable forms of ID for proving one’s citizenship.

Daily Kos diarist Chris Reeves first flagged (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/7/1512132/-Kansas-New-Play-On-Voter-Disenfranchisement-Voter-Guidelines-Are-Different-In-Spanish) the major discrepancy last week between the English and Spanish-language versions of the voter guide:

One said voters "must be registered 21 days before" the election, while the other stipulated "15 días," or days, prior to the election.

You'll be shocked to learn that 21 days, the English version, is correct, which means anyone following the Spanish-language version might easily miss the registration deadline. (Reeves also posted the story (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/8/1512862/-Guias-para-votar-son-diferentes-en-Espa-ol-No-deprivan-el-voto-Latino) in Spanish.)

The Spanish-language instructions also conveniently

failed to inform voters that using a passport is an acceptable form of ID for proof of citizenship.

Kobach's office is now covering its tracks, reports (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kansas-spanish-voter-guides-errors?utm_content=bufferf971b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer) Caitlin MacNeal:

Craig McCullah, the official in charge of publications for the Kansas secretary of state, claimed responsibility and said that the office would correct the errors, according to the Kansas City Star (http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article70943892.html).

"It was an administrative error that I am diligently working to fix," he said. :lol


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/04/11/1513810/-Kansas-Sec-of-State-s-Spanish-language-voter-guide-misleads-voters?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos %29

error? :lol

KS Repugs cheat as if KS were ever going to turn blue (or brown or black)

[Wild Cobra]

Have you guys even considered the facts i presented in post #3?

[Blake]

Have you guys even considered the facts i presented in post #3?

Lol "facts"

[boutons_deux]

Free From Jail, Imprisoned by Debt (http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/14/free-from-jail-imprisoned-by-debt/)

When White was sentenced, he was saddled with $5,800 in criminal fines and fees. By the time he was released, he was stunned to learn that with interest, his debt had grown to $15,000 — and continues to grow even now.

More than 50 years after the 24th Amendment made poll taxes unconstitutional in the United States, formerly incarcerated people in at least 30 states are still barred from voting because they’re unable to fully pay their court-related fines and fees.

millions of people — including an estimated 1.5 million African Americans — are blocked from voting because they can’t afford their criminal debt.

That debt starts at sentencing and can grow at interest rates of 12 percent or more while inmates serve their sentences.

It continues to grow after they’re released and face the numerous barriers to finding work (https://thejobgap.org/) and housing.

The reality of racism in the United States and the criminalization of poverty means that black people and other people of color are more likely to be arrested, convicted, and locked up for longer than whites. Blacks are also less likely to regain their right to vote once they’re released.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/14/free-from-jail-imprisoned-by-debt/

[RandomGuy]

And, I'm telling you it doesn't have to be WIDESPREAD.

Why don't we agree to disagree.

Fuck no. If it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist.

That is like "agreeing to disagree" about the need for tax-funded unicorn crossing guards.

The thing that differentiates you from the useful idiots, is that you KNOW there is no problem. You are the one cynically manipulating the stupid people, like Wild Cobra.

Much, much worse, IMO.

[RandomGuy]

Have you guys even considered the facts i presented in post #3?

Yes.

Have you bothered to fucking say one goddamned word about how that applies to in-person voter fraud that an ID law might prevent?

My guess is you will, again, say two things... jack... and shit about that.

[Winehole23]

nothing to say, really. voter impersonation fraud is infinitessimal. the remedy is worse than the problem.

[Winehole23]

way worse.

disqualifies more voters than crooks.

[Winehole23]

but maybe that was the pernt (http://www.yourdictionary.com/pernt) to start with

[boutons_deux]

Republicans’ voter-ID laws ‘work’ as intended

In recent weeks, we’ve seen some high-profile examples of Republicans accidentally telling the truth about voter-ID laws. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), a far-right freshman congressman, admitted (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/house-republican-accidentally-tells-the-truth-about-voter-id) a month ago, for example, that these laws are likely to make a difference boosting Republicans in the 2016 elections.

Former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), now the head of the Heritage Foundation, added (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/accidental-republican-candor-about-voter-id-laws) last week that Republicans have kept up the crusade in support of this policy

“because in the states where they do have voter ID laws you’ve seen, actually, elections begin to change towards more conservative candidates.”

But what sometimes goes overlooked is the fact that anti-voting policymakers aren’t just spinning their wheels, pushing an idea that may or may not have some effects on the margins. As the New York Times reported (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/stricter-rules-for-voter-ids-reshape-races.html) yesterday, Republicans are championing voter-ID laws precisely because they have the intended effect.


Since their inception a decade ago, voter identification laws have been the focus of fierce political and social debate. Proponents, largely Republican, argue that the regulations are essential tools to combat election fraud, while critics contend that they are mainly intended to suppress turnout of Democratic-leaning constituencies like minorities and students.

As the general election nears – in which new or strengthened voter ID laws will be in place in Texas and 14 other states for the first time in a presidential election – recent academic research indicates that the requirements restrict turnout and disproportionately affect voting by minorities.



The Times highlighted a study published by Zoltan Hajnal, a UC San Diego political science professor, whose research found that “strict voter ID laws double or triple the gap in turnout between whites and nonwhites.”

Republicans, frustrated by a series of defeats, had a choice: change and adapt in order to appeal to a larger group of American voters, or take steps to rig the game in order to give GOP candidates a built-in advantage.

In recent years, the party has preferred the latter, finding it vastly easier than actually earning more public support.

And while none of this is especially new – we’ve heard the same ridiculous arguments about the imaginary “voter fraud” scourge for years – candidates this year will face an altered landscape.

The Times’ report added that in 2016, “new or strengthened voter ID laws will be in place in Texas and 14 other states for the first time in a presidential election.”

It means Democrats, who are otherwise optimistic about their chances this year, can’t be satisfied with a lead in the polls going into Election Day – because in much of the country, they’ll need a large enough advantage to overcome voter-suppression tactics.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republicans-voter-id-laws-work-intended?cid=sm_fb_maddow

The Repugs/VRWC corrupted SCOTUS with 5 extreme right wing/pro-business ACTIVISTS, and it's paying off fantastically.

America is fucked and unfuckable. ( I'm still waiting for the evidence-based counter-claim, y'all )

[spurraider21]

democrat voter laws have worked as intended, too

http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55fad9869dd7cc15008bb1ba-480/hillary-clinton-thumbs-up.jpg

[boutons_deux]

democrat voter laws have worked as intended, too

http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55fad9869dd7cc15008bb1ba-480/hillary-clinton-thumbs-up.jpg

Link to Dem voter ID laws?

[Th'Pusher]

democrat voter laws have worked as intended, too

http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55fad9869dd7cc15008bb1ba-480/hillary-clinton-thumbs-up.jpg
I think spurraider is having trouble distinguishing the difference between DNC rules for electing delegates and legislation passed by congress and signed into law by the executive.

[RandomGuy]

Have you guys even considered the facts i presented in post #3?

Have you even considered any of the articles posted by boutons?

How much evidence do you need before you think it is a problem?

[pgardn]

Have you even considered any of the articles posted by boutons?

How much evidence do you need before you think it is a problem?

I don't. And on many topics I agree with boots. He is detrimental to his own cause. When the message comes from a zealot it's a waste of time.

Just a Fckn link and a brief summary including a short opinion. One or two selected quotes.

[boutons_deux]

I don't. And on many topics I agree with boots. He is detrimental to his own cause. When the message comes from a zealot it's a waste of time.

Just a Fckn link and a brief summary including a short opinion. One or two selected quotes.

:lol poor little pgardn, "bleeding from wherever"

[pgardn]

:lol poor little pgardn, "bleeding from wherever"

The eyes.

The eyes from your large font run on articles.

Link and stop.
Link and stop.

[boutons_deux]

The eyes.

The eyes from your large font run on articles.

Link and stop.
Link and stop.

:lol poor little pgardn, "bleeding from wherever"

[pgardn]

:lol poor little pgardn, "bleeding from wherever"

Nice boots.

Very nice.

[RandomGuy]

I don't. And on many topics I agree with boots. He is detrimental to his own cause. When the message comes from a zealot it's a waste of time.

Just a Fckn link and a brief summary including a short opinion. One or two selected quotes.

I genuinely think there is some amorphous movement on the party of the GOP to surpress Democratic turnout.

At this point, boutons is my id as well. I am just about as angry and fed-up with the right's bullshit as he is.

I just try to keep a more even keel. It is more interesting that way. :)

[boutons_deux]

I just try to keep a more even keel. It is more interesting that way. :)

your even keel is as complicit with the right's bullshit as Hillary incrementalist overseeing the decline.

The Repugs/Christian Taliban/VRWC are fucking crazily destructive. You wag finger, trim your sails to that keel ever so even, when the radical shit we're in now demands a lot "over turning the moneychangers' tables" anger.

[pgardn]

your even keel is as complicit with the right's bullshit as Hillary incrementalist overseeing the decline.

The Repugs/Christian Taliban/VRWC are fucking crazily destructive. You wag finger, trim your sails to that keel ever so even, when the radical shit we're in now demands a lot "over turning the moneychangers' tables" anger.

There ya go.

Take a cookie from the zealot extremist.

[boutons_deux]

Kockenstein WI news

Wisconsin county clerk objects to weekend voting because it gives urban (knitter) areas ‘too much access’
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/wisconsin-county-clerk-objects-to-weekend-voting-because-it-gives-urban-areas-too-much-access/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[boutons_deux]

Federal Court Allows Ohio To Continue Purging Thousands Of Voters

Over the last five years, Ohio has purged about 2 million (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/04/06/3766944/ohio-purge-lawsuit/) people from its rolls simply because they have not voted in the past three elections. It is one of just a handful of states that penalize people for not remaining active voters.

Under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, commonly know as the “motor voter law,” states can only remove voters (https://www.justice.gov/crt/national-voter-registration-act-1993-nvra) from the rolls if they request the removal, die, or move out of state. The law also demands the procedure for purging voters be nondiscriminatory.

Yet a recently-released Reuters analysis (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-votingrights-ohio-insight-idUSKCN0YO19D) found that far more Democrats than Republicans are being purged in Ohio’s most populous counties.

The investigation found that in Ohio’s major cities, including Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, voters have been removed from the rolls in Democratic-leaning neighborhoods at about twice the rate (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-votingrights-ohio-insight-idUSKCN0YO19D) as in Republican neighborhoods. In some neighborhoods in Cincinnati with a high proportion of poor, African-American residents, as much as 10 percent of the voting population has been purged.

Because Democratic voters have lower turnout rates for mid-term, off-year elections, they are at greater risk of being purged. Counties that backed President Obama in 2008 have had far more residents kicked off the rolls than counties that backed John McCain.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/06/30/3794591/ohio-purge-upheld/

[boutons_deux]

Iowa high court upholds felony voting ban. Why is that unusual?

The Iowa Supreme Court voted 4-3 to uphold a system that would strip convicted felons of their right to vote unless it is restored by the governor, moving against a growing trend.

Iowa's Supreme Court made a move in the other direction on Thursday, upholding a law that would automatically strip felons of their right to vote for life unless it was restored by the state's governor.

The 4-3 decision would permanently disenfranchise thousands of former offenders. Democrats and civil-liberties advocates condemned the decision, while election officials said the court’s ruling was in line with Iowa’s Constitution.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2016/0630/Iowa-high-court-upholds-felony-voting-ban.-Why-is-that-unusual

Iowa cornholers have formalized voter suppression in their state constitution. :lol

[boutons_deux]

Appeals court says Texas voter ID law has ‘discriminatory effect’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/appeals-ourt-says-texas-voter-id-law-has-discriminatory-effect/2016/07/20/781bf340-4cef-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html?tid=sm_fb

[boutons_deux]

Federal judge knocks a rough edge off Wisconsin's strict voter law, but devil is in the enforcement (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/20/1550164/-Federal-judge-knocks-a-rough-edge-off-Wisconsin-s-strict-voter-law-Devil-is-in-the-enforcement)

In a 44-page ruling (https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/frank-v-walker-preliminary-injunction-motion-granted?redirect=legal-document/frank-v-walker-motion-granted) issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman extended voting rights to citizens of Wisconsin previously disenfranchised because they have had difficulty in acquiring the right kind of ID to meet state standards for casting a ballot. This will not affect the state’s August 9 primary, only the general election in November. Wisconsin’s voter ID law, passed in 2011, is one of the strictest in the nation.

Consequent to the ruling, voters without acceptable ID will still be able to cast ballots by signing an affidavit explaining why they couldn’t obtain ID. Then they will be given a provisional ballot.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/appeals-ourt-says-texas-voter-id-law-has-discriminatory-effect/2016/07/20/781bf340-4cef-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html?tid=sm_fb

[RandomGuy]

Appeals court says Texas voter ID law has ‘discriminatory effect’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/appeals-ourt-says-texas-voter-id-law-has-discriminatory-effect/2016/07/20/781bf340-4cef-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html?tid=sm_fb

Worth noting that this was one of the most conservative appeals courts in the US, per NPR's analyst.

[spankadelphia]

https://i.imgur.com/Z85YhQp.pngVoter I.D. laws are something typically found in first world nations to prevent the integrity of the voting process from being undermined. We Banana Republic now.

[boutons_deux]

Worth noting that this was one of the most conservative appeals courts in the US, per NPR's analyst.

yep, any court with Priscilla Owen is a politicized Repug cesspool.

That's why Repugs starts so much shit in TX becasue the legal appeals path goes through New Orleans.

[RandomGuy]

https://i.imgur.com/Z85YhQp.pngVoter I.D. laws are something typically found in first world nations to prevent the integrity of the voting process from being undermined. We Banana Republic now.

Voter ID laws solve a problem that doesn't exist.

Do you think laws imposing costs on people should be passed to solve problems that don't exist?

[CosmicCowboy]

Do you think laws imposing costs on people should be passed to solve problems that don't exist?

Sadly, it happens all the time in Washington.

[boutons_deux]

Sadly, it happens all the time in Washington.

Everything that happens in your hated Washington is done by politicians paid to do it (not elected to do it). And guess who pays? yep, your donors, BigCorp, BigFinance.

[CosmicCowboy]

Everything that happens in your hated Washington is done by politicians paid to do it (not elected to do it). And guess who pays? yep, your donors, BigCorp, BigFinance.

The regulations imposing cost on business are typically initiated by unelected bureaucrats justifying their non-productive jobs by generating more and more unneeded rules and regulations so they can increase their bloated size monitoring the unneeded regulations.

[boutons_deux]

The regulations imposing cost on business are typically initiated by unelected bureaucrats justifying their non-productive jobs by generating more and more unneeded rules and regulations so they can increase their bloated size monitoring the unneeded regulations.

nope, they are mostly to protect workers, to protect the environment, to prevent theft, fraud, abuses by you businessmen.

[RandomGuy]

Sadly, it happens all the time in Washington.

Sure.

In the case of voter ID laws, though, those are passed by states, and more specifically by Republicans at the state level, many of whom KNOW there is no problem.

The real reason these laws are passed is to reduce Democratic turnout. Can you admit to that? Or do you really want me to re-hash the evidence supporting that assertion?

[CosmicCowboy]

Sure.

In the case of voter ID laws, though, those are passed by states, and more specifically by Republicans at the state level, many of whom KNOW there is no problem.

The real reason these laws are passed is to reduce Democratic turnout. Can you admit to that? Or do you really want me to re-hash the evidence supporting that assertion?

Personally, if they are too lazy/stupid to get a picture ID I'm OK with them not voting.

[RandomGuy]

Personally, if they are too lazy/stupid to get a picture ID I'm OK with them not voting.

What if they are neither?

What if it is very difficult to get the documentation?

[boutons_deux]

Personally, if they are too lazy/stupid to get a picture ID I'm OK with them not voting.

so you want an intelligence test to qualify voters? Been tried, unConstitutional.

[CosmicCowboy]

What if they are neither?

What if it is very difficult to get the documentation?

Cry me a river. How unbelievably difficult can it be? Can they go to the doctor? Can they go to the grocery store? If they can do that they can get a picture ID. If they are bed ridden and can't do either they probably aren't gonna go vote either.

[RandomGuy]

Cry me a river. How unbelievably difficult can it be? Can they go to the doctor? Can they go to the grocery store? If they can do that they can get a picture ID. If they are bed ridden and can't do either they probably aren't gonna go vote either.

Who gives a shit if it is hard or easy or why?

Just let them vote. They are your fellow citizens, and are just as affected by policies, good or bad as you are.

Your need to feel superior is not really a valid reason to be pissy and not let them vote.

[CosmicCowboy]

Who gives a shit if it is hard or easy or why?

Just let them vote. They are your fellow citizens, and are just as affected by policies, good or bad as you are.

Your need to feel superior is not really a valid reason to be pissy and not let them vote.

It's not about being superior or pissy. I think all people should have a picture ID, if nothing else to assist the police in identifying habitual criminals.

What are the police supposed to do when they pull someone over without an ID?

[boutons_deux]

It's not about being superior or pissy. I think all people should have a picture ID, if nothing else to assist the police in identifying habitual criminals.

What are the police supposed to do when they pull someone over without an ID?

Americans have been repeatedly against a national ID, and state level IDs would be all over the park in requirements, format, etc. and what good to police is a state ID for an out-of-state police target? all the state ID would have to be in a national database, and lots of people hate that.

[CosmicCowboy]

Why don't one of you actually answer my question?

What should the police do with someone that doesn't have an ID?

[boutons_deux]

Why don't one of you actually answer my question?

What should the police do with someone that doesn't have an ID?

Ask yourself, what do police do now?

is it against the law not to carry "papers" (like in apartheid Zuid Afrika)?

[CosmicCowboy]

Ask yourself, what do police do now?

is it against the law not to carry "papers" (like in apartheid Zuid Afrika)?

Why don't you answer, bitch? What should the police do?

Lets say a rapist with a warrant for his arrest gets pulled over. He tells the officer he doesn't have an ID. What should the police do?

[boutons_deux]

Why don't you answer, bitch? What should the police do?

Lets say a rapist with a warrant for his arrest gets pulled over. He tells the officer he doesn't have an ID. What should the police do?

ask to see insurance papers, trace the license plate, VIN, shoot the knitter for disrespecting The Man?

[CosmicCowboy]

ask to see insurance papers, trace the license plate, VIN, shoot the knitter for disrespecting The Man?

Doesn't have insurance
His friends car
Doesn't have an ID

What is the office supposed to do?

[CosmicCowboy]

*crickets*

[boutons_deux]

Doesn't have insurance
His friends car
Doesn't have an ID

What is the office supposed to do?

Let him go? shoot him?

[rmt]

Would someone tell me how these people without picture ID pick up their kid if he/she is sick or has an appointment? As far as I know, every school here requires picture ID to let a kid go during school hours.

[boutons_deux]

Virginia Court Ruling Leaves Hundreds of Thousands Disenfranchised

On Friday, in a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court of Virginia held that Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s proclamation restoring the right to vote for people with past felony convictions is unconstitutional. In response, New Virginia Majority, a local grassroots group, and Advancement Project, a multi-racial civil rights organization, issued the following statement:

“Today’s ruling presents another unfair hurdle for access to the ballot, and reaffirms the Commonwealth’s Jim Crow legacy,” said Tram Nguyen, Co-Executive Director of New Virginia Majority. “It is difficult news for members of the community, who for months felt redeemed and that they had a voice. Excluding Virginians from the ballot, even after they’ve paid their debts to society, is a cruel, inhumane reminder of past mistakes. Importantly, today’s ruling validates entrenched interests in the Virginia General Assembly bent on silencing a large swath of Black Virginians in order to maximize their political power. Going forward, the same organizing energy that went into creating Gov. McAuliffe’s proclamation will translate into a vigorous push for the access to the ballot we deserve. Virginians have sacrificed too much for the right to vote, dating back to the early days of the Commonwealth. We will not stop the fight now.”

Organizations like New Virginia Majority have worked to expand access to the ballot box for years. NVM’s advocacy and organizing was key to Gov. McAuliffe’s proclamation, which could have restored voting rights for up to approximately 206,000 Virginians who were previously disenfranchised.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/07/23/virginia-court-ruling-leaves-hundreds-thousands-disenfranchised

Jim Crow, lock 'em by the 100Ks (War on Drugs),

http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/wp-content/uploads/w-on-d-cc-565x435.jpg

destroy their lives, and above all deny them the vote.

Tricky Dick starting the War on Drugs was, yet again, in reaction to the VRA and other progress of the 1950s.

[boutons_deux]

Another racist slave state gets kicked in the teeth

Appeals Court Rejects Strict North Carolina Voting Law

A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the heart of a North Carolina voting law seen as the strictest in the nation, finding that Republican lawmakers intentionally discriminated against African-Americans when they passed it.

A divided 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the measure's provisions "target African-Americans with almost surgical precision."

The ruling is just the latest court win for voting rights advocates. A different federal appeals court ruled this month that Texas's voter ID law is racially discriminatory and must be softened.

And a district court softened Wisconsin's ID law, too, though that decision is being appealed.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/appeals-court-strikes-down-strict-north-carolina-voting-law-n619836?cid=sm_fb

[boutons_deux]

A Georgia town is sending police to black residents’ homes to challenge their voting rights

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/a-georgia-town-is-sending-police-to-black-residents-homes-to-challenge-their-voting-rights/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[boutons_deux]

...

[boutons_deux]

Federal Judge Bars North Dakota From Enforcing Restrictive Voter ID Law

A federal judge on Monday barred North Dakota from enforcing the state’s strict voter identification-card law, adding to several recent federal court rulings (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/us/federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-north-carolina-voter-id-provision.html) that such laws may disenfranchise minority voters.

Judge Daniel L. Hovland of the United States District Court for North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which he said had made it difficult and sometimes impossible for some Native Americans on rural reservations to cast ballots.

Judge Hovland’s injunction did not strike down the law. But North Dakota’s secretary of state, Alvin Jaeger, indicated in an interview that the state would not appeal the decision and that November’s election would revert to using less restrictive identification rules that were in force before the 2013 law was enacted.

“The record is replete with concrete evidence of significant burdens imposed on Native American voters attempting to exercise their right to vote,” Judge Hovland wrote.

Nor, he stated, was there any evidence that the state needed such a restrictive ID policy.

“To the contrary,” he wrote, “the record before the court reveals that the

secretary of state acknowledged in 2006 that he was unaware of any voter fraud in North Dakota.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/us/north-dakota-voter-identification-law.html?partner=rss&emc=rss (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/us/north-dakota-voter-identification-law.html?partner=rss&emc=rss)

iow, the racist, white-supremacist Repugs LIE when they say voter fraud is rampant and that they are only protecting the sanctity of the (white) vote.

[boutons_deux]

North Carolina Spent Nearly $5 Million Defending Voter ID, And Lost

North Carolina’s Republican governor and Republican-controlled legislature spent more taxpayer money defending their voter ID law — which was recently struck down as unconstitutional (https://thinkprogress.org/breaking-federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-the-worst-voter-suppression-law-in-the-nation-7de6c6fa9a6d#.x8q4wih62) — than the state spent hiring outside lawyers over the previous decade.

New data (http://www.wral.com/legislature-s-legal-bills-top-9m-in-defense-of-state-laws/15905135/) reveals state leaders spent nearly 5 million dollars since 2011 defending a voting law that “bears the mark of intentional discrimination,” according to the federal court that ruled against the state in July (https://thinkprogress.org/federal-court-says-north-carolinas-gerrymandered-maps-are-unconstitutional-332151751a74#.andhlq72v).

The law in question

eliminated (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/01/25/3742000/nc-voter-id-trial/) same-day voter registration,

cut a full week of early voting,

barred voters from casting a ballot outside their home precinct,

ended straight-ticket voting, and

scrapped a program to pre-register high school students who would turn 18 by Election Day.

It also mandated one of the country’s strictest voter ID requirements, which does not count student IDs (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/03/15/3760266/north-carolina-voter-id/).

https://thinkprogress.org/north-carolina-legal-spending-voter-id-f0aa75082518#.7kegtghah

[boutons_deux]

Republican court blocks remedy to WI voter suppression

Appeals Court Blocks Remedy To Weaken Wisconsin Voter ID Law

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/appeals-court-blocks-remedy-wisconsin-voter-id?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

[boutons_deux]

Federal Panel Strikes Down North Carolina Legislative Districts As Gerrymanders

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal judges on Thursday struck down nearly 30 North Carolina House and Senate districts as illegal racial gerrymanders, but will allow General Assembly elections to be held using them this fall.


The decision by a three-judge panel comes six months after another set of judges struck down North Carolina's congressional districts for similar reasons. Thursday's ruling covering 19 House and nine Senate districts is yet another blow to the GOP lawmakers in North Carolina, which has seen several laws it enacted either partially or wholly overturned by the federal courts.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced in June that it would hear the appeals of Republican state leaders in that case, where two majority-black congressional districts were thrown out. The previous map drawn in 2011 and still being challenged helped give the state GOP more seats within the congressional delegation in the swing state.

The legislative maps, also approved in 2011, also helped Republicans pad their majorities in the two chambers after they took control of the legislature for the first time in 140 years the year before.

Writing for the panel in Thursday's ruling, U.S. Circuit Judge James Wynn said requiring lawmakers to redraw maps now would result in confusion for voters, candidates and election officials. State lawmakers will be required to fashion new plans when they reconvene for their legislative session early next year.

Postponing the 2016 legislative elections "would cause significant and undue disruption to North Carolina's election process," Wynn wrote.

"Nonetheless, plaintiffs, and thousands of other North Carolina citizens, have suffered severe constitutional harms stemming from defendants' creation of 28 district racially gerrymandered in violation of the equal protection clause."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/judge-strikes-down-nc-gerrymandering?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

So the racist NC Repugs get to win one more election with gerrymandered districts.

Repugs win only by lying, cheating, being anti-Constitutional.

[boutons_deux]

Smoking Gun Memo Reveals GOP Voter Fraud Bamboozlement In North Carolina

On the heels of appeals court ruling that restored a week's worth of early voting in North Carolina, the executive director of the state's Republican Party emailed a memo to members of local elections boards urging them to push for "party line changes" that cut back on early voting hours, The News and Observer reported (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article96179857.html#storylink=cpy).

The memo (http://blog.wataugawatch.net/2016/08/gop-leadership-in-raleigh-gave-marching.html?m=1), sent by NCGOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse on Sunday, said that Republican board members "should fight with all they have to promote safe and secure voting and for rules that are fair to our side."

“Our Republican Board members should feel empowered to make legal changes to early voting plans, that are supported by Republicans,” Woodhouse wrote. “Republicans can and should make party line changes to early voting.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/north-carolina-early-voting-memo?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Repugs protecting the SANCTITY OF THE VOTE! :lol

[baseline bum]

Smoking Gun Memo Reveals GOP Voter Fraud Bamboozlement In North Carolina

On the heels of appeals court ruling that restored a week's worth of early voting in North Carolina, the executive director of the state's Republican Party emailed a memo to members of local elections boards urging them to push for "party line changes" that cut back on early voting hours, The News and Observer reported (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article96179857.html#storylink=cpy).

The memo (http://blog.wataugawatch.net/2016/08/gop-leadership-in-raleigh-gave-marching.html?m=1), sent by NCGOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse on Sunday, said that Republican board members "should fight with all they have to promote safe and secure voting and for rules that are fair to our side."

“Our Republican Board members should feel empowered to make legal changes to early voting plans, that are supported by Republicans,” Woodhouse wrote. “Republicans can and should make party line changes to early voting.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/north-carolina-early-voting-memo?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

Repugs protecting the SANCTITY OF THE VOTE! :lol





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a9hnOk9AG4

[boutons_deux]

Shit from the Kock-sucking ogre of Kockistan

The Scorching Cynicism of Scott Walker’s Assault on Voting

As the federal courts intervene to restore early voting, the governor admits that he signed antidemocratic legislation without considering the consequences.

 Walker has emerged as a national leader in the fight for rules and restrictions on practices and procedures that are designed to make voting easy. That has put the governor at odds with Wisconsin’s historic commitment to high-turnout elections.

But he has not pushed forward, signing stacks of bills that erect barriers to participation in the political process.

“There have been so many anti-voting laws in this state, it’s hard to keep track,”

he has made the fight to constrain and constrict voting central to his governorship.

 US District Judge James Peterson overturned Walker’s restrictions, writing (http://www.citizenactionwi.org/federal_judge_finds_conservatives_voting_restricti ons_motivated_intentional_racial_discrimination) that the law limiting early voting “intentionally discriminates on the basis of race.”

“I reach this conclusion because I am persuaded that this law was specifically targeted to curtail voting in Milwaukee without any other legitimate purpose,”

 Peterson also overturned a number of other Walker-approved measures that made voting harder, including laws that extended Wisconsin’s residency requirement for voters from 10 days to 28 days and blocked the distribution of absentee ballots by e-mail and fax.

 The legislation limiting early voting had a serious impact on elections in Wisconsin. It made it harder (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/wisconsin-throws-major-voter-registration-hurdle) for voters to cast ballots. It put Wisconsin at odds with the Constitution,

https://www.thenation.com/article/the-scorching-cynicism-of-scott-walkers-assault-on-voting/

[boutons_deux]

The GOP's Stealth War Against Voters

Will an anti-voter-fraud program designed by one of Trump's advisers deny tens of thousands their right to vote in November?

What's far more likely to undermine democracy in November is the culmination of a decade-long Republican effort to disenfranchise voters under the guise of battling voter fraud.

The latest tool: Election officials in more than two dozen states have compiled lists of citizens whom they allege could be registered in more than one state – thus potentially able to cast multiple ballots – and eligible to be purged from the voter rolls.

The data is processed through a system called the

Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program,

which is being promoted by a powerful Republican operative, and its lists of potential duplicate voters are kept confidential.

But Rolling Stone obtained a portion of the list and the names of 1 million targeted voters. According to our analysis,

The Crosscheck list disproportionately threatens solid Democratic constituencies:

young, black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters –

with some of the biggest possible purges underway in Ohio and North Carolina, two crucial swing states with tight Senate races.

Like all weapons of vote suppression, Crosscheck is a response to the imaginary menace of mass voter fraud.

Some states have dropped out of Crosscheck, citing problems with its methodology, as Oregon's secretary of state recently explained: "We left [Crosscheck] because the data we received was unreliable."

But because voting twice is a felony, state after state told us their lists of suspects were part of a criminal investigation :lol and, as such, confidential.

Then we got a break. A clerk in Virginia sent us its Crosscheck list of suspects, which a letter from the state later said was done "in error."

The Virginia list was a revelation. In all, 342,556 names were listed as apparently registered to vote in both Virginia and another state as of January 2014. Thirteen percent of the people on the Crosscheck list, already flagged as inactive voters, were almost immediately removed, meaning a stunning 41,637 names were "canceled" from voter rolls, most of them just before Election Day.


We were able to obtain more lists – Georgia and Washington state, the total number of voters adding up to more than 1 million matches – and Crosscheck's results seemed at best deeply flawed.

We found that one-fourth of the names on the list actually lacked a middle-name match.

The system can also mistakenly identify fathers and sons as the same voter, ignoring designations of Jr. and Sr. A whole lot of people named "James Brown" are suspected of voting or registering twice, 357 of them in Georgia alone.

But according to Crosscheck, James Willie Brown is supposed to be the same voter as James Arthur Brown. James Clifford Brown is allegedly the same voter as James Lynn Brown.

...

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-gops-stealth-war-against-voters-w435890 (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-gops-stealth-war-against-voters-w435890)

voting twice is a felony, disenfranchising Ms of voters is legal, rigging voting machines is not even checked. no paper trail

USA, Greatest Democracy in The History of The Universe.

[boutons_deux]

SCOTUS ties, the 4 Repug assholes voted to approve NC voter suppression, the other 4 didn't.

Lower court ruling blocking the voter suppression stands.

[boutons_deux]

‘He is a LIEberal’: Shep Smith tells the truth about voter ID — and conservatives freak out

Fox News host Shepard Smith drew the ire of conservatives online on Wednesday after reporting on the Supreme Court’s decision (http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/supreme-court-rejects-nc-gov-mccrorys-bid-to-reinstate-voter-id-law-for-november-election/) not to reinstate North Carolina’s voter ID law for the November election.

“North Carolina had put in one of those ‘You have to show an ID’ rules which so often in Republican states are designed to keep some minorities from being able to vote, and they tried to reduce the number of voting days,” Smith explained.

“The US Supreme Court says that will not happen.”

The short update quickly had conservatives on Twitter convinced that Smith was out to get them — or worse, auditioning for a “liberal” network, as indicated by the posts below.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/he-is-a-lieberal-shep-smith-tells-the-truth-about-voter-id-and-conservatives-freak-out/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[RandomGuy]

http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/nc-4th.pdf


After years of preclearance and expansion of voting access,
by 2013 African American registration and turnout rates had
finally reached near-parity with white registration and turnout
rates. African Americans were poised to act as a major
electoral force. But, on the day after the Supreme Court issued
Shelby County v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013), eliminating
preclearance obligations, a leader of the party that newly
dominated the legislature (and the party that rarely enjoyed
African American support) announced an intention to enact what
he characterized as an “omnibus” election law. Before enacting
that law, the legislature requested data on the use, by race, of
a number of voting practices. Upon receipt of the race data,
the General Assembly enacted legislation that restricted voting
and registration in five different ways, all of which
disproportionately affected African Americans.

[boutons_deux]

Justice Department Accuses Texas Of Circulating 'Misleading' Voter ID Info
The Justice Department is accusing the state of Texas of defying a federal court order by misleading voters and poll workers about the state's voter ID law requirements in advance of November's elections.

In a court filing Tuesday, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to order Texas to correct information it is circulating about its voter ID law, accusing the state of offering poor explanations to voters and poll workers about the updated requirements for voting, the Texas Tribune (https://www.texastribune.org/2016/09/07/feds-accuse-texas-misleading-relaxed-voter-id-requ/?utm_campaign=trib-social&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1473266289) reported.

"Voters are receiving in accurate or misleading information that suggests they will not be able to cast ballots that count in November. Limited funds are being used on inaccurate materials," the filing reads.

The dispute over the pre-election materials is the latest development in a long-running legal battle over the Texas voter ID law. After he struck down (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/texas-voter-id-law-struck-down) the law earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos approved an agreement between Texas and those challenging the voter ID law to soften its restrictions for the November election.

As part of the agreement, Ramos directed Texas to develop a program to educate poll workers and voters about the updated rules regarding voter ID.

In its new filing, the Justice Department argued that Ramos told Texas to inform voters about "the opportunity for voters who do not possess SB 14 ID and cannot reasonably obtain it to cast a regular ballot" – but that materials printed by the state inform voters that they can cast a ballot if they "have not obtained" and "cannot obtain" a required form of photo identification.

The filing argues that by eliminating the word "reasonably," the state "has narrowed dramatically the scope of voters protected by the Court’s order."
The Justice Department said in the filing that it has asked Texas to change the documents but said the state “declined to correct these materials."

A spokesman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Marc Rylander, told the Texas Tribune that the office is "currently reviewing the DOJ’s motion and will file a response by Friday."


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/federal-filing-texas-misleading-voter-id?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

slave state TX still fucking the knitters and Mexicans

Thanks, Repug SCOTUS racists, you knew gutting the VRA would screw mythical US democracy even more.

[RandomGuy]

http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/nc-4th.pdf


After years of preclearance and expansion of voting access,
by 2013 African American registration and turnout rates had
finally reached near-parity with white registration and turnout
rates. African Americans were poised to act as a major
electoral force. But, on the day after the Supreme Court issued
Shelby County v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013), eliminating
preclearance obligations, a leader of the party that newly
dominated the legislature (and the party that rarely enjoyed
African American support) announced an intention to enact what
he characterized as an “omnibus” election law. Before enacting
that law, the legislature requested data on the use, by race, of
a number of voting practices. Upon receipt of the race data,
the General Assembly enacted legislation that restricted voting
and registration in five different ways, all of which
disproportionately affected African Americans.

Why are rank and file republicans not outraged about this?

101a ?

Cosmic Cowboy ?

anyone?

[boutons_deux]

http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/nc-4th.pdf

Why are rank and file republicans not outraged about this?

101a ?

Cosmic Cowboy ?

anyone?

... because rankinfile Repugs and ST rightwingnuts are, by definition, by genetics, by party affiliation, RACISTS.

[boutons_deux]

PREVENTING EX-CONS FROM VOTING: A CRIME AGAINST DEMOCRACY?

The disenfranchisement of felons plays a big role in determining who votes in US elections.

Just as with laws restricting the number of polling places, limiting early voting options, and requiring voter ID, the rules that keep felons from casting their ballot are tailored to make voting more difficult for certain demographic groups— largely minority populations.

The Sentencing Project (http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/felony-disenfranchisement-laws-in-the-united-states/) has found, “An estimated 2.6 million people are disenfranchised in states that restrict voting rights even after completion of sentence.”

University of Pennsylvania political science professor Marie Gottschalk details how Al Gore would have won the 2000 election had Florida’s restrictive laws not kept felons from the polls.

Similarly, the outcome of tight races for other statewide offices would have been different, had similar disenfranchisement laws been in effect in various states.

This is not a small matter. About 2.5% of the voting age population will be barred from casting a ballot this year because of a previous criminal conviction.

Florida and Virginia, which are once again crucial battleground states in the presidential election, have particularly restrictive rules, although Virginia’s governor recently has restored voting rights to 13,000 ex-felons.

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/08/27/preventing-ex-cons-voting-crime-democracy/

Repugs know they can win only by cheating, counting fraud, voter suppression, voter intimidation (as Trash espouses), etc, because the Repugs adore the "freedoms" of the Constitution.

[CosmicCowboy]

http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/nc-4th.pdf



Why are rank and file republicans not outraged about this?

101a ?

Cosmic Cowboy ?

anyone?

Meh...looks like the system worked. A bad law was passed and the courts overruled it.

[boutons_deux]

Lawsuit: 'Exact Match' System Negatively Impacts Georgia's Minority Voters

Georgia's strict system for adding new voters to the rolls risks disenfranchising tens of thousands of minorities in the battleground state this fall, according to a new lawsuit by several voting rights groups.

Since July 2013, Georgia has failed to process more than 42,000 voter registration applications because the personal information provided didn't exactly match

existing information in state-maintained databases, lawyers for the groups said. Over 86 percent of those whose applications weren't processed were non-white, even though whites have made up nearly half of those who have sought to register during that period.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, charges that the "exact match" system used by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp violates the Voting Rights Act's ban on racial discrimination in voting. It asks that the state be required to stop using the system immediately, while there's still time for affected applicants to be added to the rolls.

Georgia's strict system for adding new voters to the rolls risks disenfranchising tens of thousands of minorities in the battleground state

this fall, according to a new lawsuit by several voting rights groups.


"Georgia, like many (red, slave) states across the country, has erected another burdensome and unnecessary obstacle for those seeking to register and vote," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the lead groups behind the suit.

"The Secretary of State's exact-match program penalizes those seeking to register and vote because of errors contained in databases maintained by the state."

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/lawsuit-exact-match-system-negatively-impacts-georgia-s-minority-voters-n648251?cid=sm_tw&cid=sm_fb_lastword

[RandomGuy]

Meh...looks like the system worked. A bad law was passed and the courts overruled it.

So why are you not outraged about this? Why do you let Republican leaders do this?

[CosmicCowboy]

So why are you not outraged about this? Why do you let Republican leaders do this?

:lol

I can no more control what some tools do in some state legislature than control the rotation of the earth.

you are being ridiculous.

[Th'Pusher]

:lol

I can no more control what some tools do in some state legislature than control the rotation of the earth.

you are being ridiculous.

Does it bother you that he party you support actively works to disenfranchise voters?

[CosmicCowboy]

Does it bother you that he party you support actively works to disenfranchise voters?

i personally don't see a problem with asking for a valid picture ID and a voter registration, especially when they are really cheap.

I think it's terribly condescending to assume that minority citizens aren't capable of getting one if they want one.

[RandomGuy]

:lol

I can no more control what some tools do in some state legislature than control the rotation of the earth.

you are being ridiculous.



The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

No, you are right. You can do nothing.

Keep voting for the tools, and not demanding your party change. Republicans, rank and file, should be the ones screaming the loudest about this.

The information bubble effect is destroying the long term viability of the GOP in ways like this.

The people getting shat on, definitely get the message.

[RandomGuy]

i personally don't see a problem with asking for a valid picture ID and a voter registration, especially when they are really cheap.

I think it's terribly condescending to assume that minority citizens aren't capable of getting one if they want one.

"it is easy to get a photo ID" is factually incorrect for many people.

Getting a photo ID so you can vote is easy. Unless you’re poor, black, Latino or elderly.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/getting-a-photo-id-so-you-can-vote-is-easy-unless-youre-poor-black-latino-or-elderly/2016/05/23/8d5474ec-20f0-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html

Well Actually, It’s Pretty Hard for Some People to Get a Photo ID So They Can Vote
https://rewire.news/ablc/2014/10/16/well-actually-pretty-hard-people-get-photo-id-just-vote/

This Is How Hard It Is To Get A Voter ID In Wisconsin
https://thinkprogress.org/this-is-how-hard-it-is-to-get-a-voter-id-in-wisconsin-8be821ef8a88#.dnftt72xd


I can go on.

There is no voter fraud problem that having an ID solves.


Bad policy, and being used to DELIBERATELY target a minority, merely because of their political affiliation.

Why have you bought into this propaganda without thinking for yourself?

[Th'Pusher]

i personally don't see a problem with asking for a valid picture ID and a voter registration, especially when they are really cheap.

I think it's terribly condescending to assume that minority citizens aren't capable of getting one if they want one.

We're not talking about voter ID. We're talking about a "bad law" (your words) thats intention was to suppress the constitutionally granted voting rights of a demographic that generally votes for the opposition party.

That should be a big deal to anyone who respects the democratic process.

My guess is your level of concern would be escalated had it been democrats attempting to suppress the rural white vote.

[RandomGuy]

The same people requiring the IDs to vote are probably the ones making the IDs hard to get for the people who need them.

I am by far not a conspiracy asshat, but you get no few Republican leaders who let slip exactly what the effects are.

2016:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wisconsin-voter-id-2016_us_5704a2eee4b0a506064d90cf
2014:
http://billmoyers.com/2014/10/24/voter-discrimination/
2013:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/28/republicans-admit-voter-id-laws-are-aimed-at-democratic-voters.html


If there were actual data that voter ID prevents material, existing fraud, why have these people not presented it? IF IT EXISTED IT WOULD BE EASY TO SHOW.

[RandomGuy]

This makes me very very mad. Sorry about the caps and so forth. I think that is better than me cussing.

[RandomGuy]

The evidence that voter ID laws suppresses turnout is pretty clear:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/03/how-voter-id-laws-are-being-used-to-disenfranchise-minorities-and-the-poor/254572/



Jonathan Chait, in a smart recent New York magazine piece titled "2012 or Never," offered some numbers supporting the theory. "Every year," Chait wrote, "the nonwhite proportion of the electorate grows by about half a percentage point -- meaning that in every presidential election, the minority share of the vote increases by 2 percent, a huge amount in a closely divided country." This explains, for example, why Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona are turning purple instead of staying red. "By 2020," Chait writes, "nonwhite voters should rise from a quarter of the 2008 electorate to one third. In 30 years, "nonwhites will outnumber whites."

As a Democrat, maybe I should just let the GOP shoot itself in the foot. More Democrats would be elected.

Personally, I don't care about that. Given some time to think, I really do think elections should be more competitive, and a weakened GOP does not help that.

But in the final analysis, if the GOP decides it can't compete on ideas, then maybe they deserve to lose.

[clambake]

you think you might have lost little objectivity?


you're going in pretty deep.

[rmt]

What is the problem with producing a photo ID when voting? I need a photo ID to pick up my kids at school if they are sick or have an appointment, to get a library card, to use my health insurance at the doctor/hospital/lab/etc., to get into gated communities, to get on a plane, to open a checking/savings account.

[clambake]

What is the problem with producing a photo ID when voting? I need a photo ID to pick up my kids at school if they are sick or have an appointment, to get a library card, to use my health insurance at the doctor/hospital/lab/etc., to get into gated communities, to get on a plane, to open a checking/savings account.

now thats funny

[rmt]

now thats funny

What's funny about it? Do schools just hand over kids to people with no photo ID over there? Better not live in Miami - these people here are so careful, they check your signature against emergency contact card before calling the kid to the office. If you aren't authorized, you ain't getting the kid.

[clambake]

its funny because the people you're talking about wouldn't be doing most of those things.

[rmt]

its funny because the people you're talking about wouldn't be doing most of those things.

What? Poor people don't have kids in school? They're never sick, never have to leave school in the middle of the day?

[clambake]

What? Poor people don't have kids in school? They're never sick, never have to leave school in the middle of the day?

this yes

everything else, no


thats what i meant by "most of those things"

and i promise, i do not have a dog in this fight.

[rmt]

Well, what about Medicaid, food stamps, section 8/subsidized housing, etc? Don't people have to show photo ID and proof of (lack of) income?

Sorry, don't mean to target you personally.

[clambake]

Well, what about Medicaid, food stamps, section 8/subsidized housing, etc? Don't people have to show photo ID and proof of (lack of) income?

Sorry, don't mean to target you personally.

medicaid don't matter. you can still walk in and get care. food stamps, you'd think so.

sorry, had to edit, sec.8 of course there is some kind of identification needed for the records. thats all the property owners care about. supply whatever hud requires and cash the check.

[ducks]

i personally don't see a problem with asking for a valid picture ID and a voter registration, especially when they are really cheap.

I think it's terribly condescending to assume that minority citizens aren't capable of getting one if they want one.

is it to hard to do the paper work to to get free food stamps?
to hard to do the paper work for becoming a legal usa citizen?

[clambake]

is it to hard to do the paper work to to get free food stamps?
to hard to do the paper work for becoming a legal usa citizen?

i guess not

[ducks]

my wife worked at a bank and as a new employer she had to ask some customers to show id to give them money
guess what they were MAD
you would think they wanted to make sure the right person got the money
people are stupid they should be happy to prove who they are!
do they like fraud?

[rmt]

And to add to above, you can't even get in the school building/front office without signing in and producing picture id. They run in through one of those machines (like in the hospital) and you get a sticker with your picture/name on it and where you're going.

[clambake]

And to add to above, you can't even get in the school building/front office without signing in and producing picture id. They run in through one of those machines (like in the hospital) and you get a sticker with your picture/name on it and where you're going.

im in socal and that wasn't needed in our district.

you can get care with or without id.

[ducks]

cal is like another country

[clambake]

where you at, ducks?

[Spurminator]

Arizona, where everything is normal.

[RandomGuy]

you think you might have lost little objectivity?


you're going in pretty deep.

How exactly have I lost objectivity here?

The objective evidence says that ID laws hinder certain types of voters disproportionately.

The objective evidence says that the types of fraud that ID laws are targeted at doesn't exist.

The objective evidence is that you get GOP led legislatures that ask for studies about how different races use different aspects of the voting system, then immediately after getting that data, decide to eliminate features that are used by minorities that vote for Democrats.

This is not really open for debate.

What the fuck are you talking about here? Looks to me like you are trying to say two sides in the debate are equal. They aren't, not by a long shot. I have always found the stupid, lazy "well the truth must be in the middle" to be worse the than useless.

See "balance fallacy":
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Balance_fallacy

You trying for that false equivalence? Clarify.

[RandomGuy]

What is the problem with producing a photo ID when voting? I need a photo ID to pick up my kids at school if they are sick or have an appointment, to get a library card, to use my health insurance at the doctor/hospital/lab/etc., to get into gated communities, to get on a plane, to open a checking/savings account.

The problem is:

It is difficult for some people.
It doesn't really prevent any fraud.
Therefore, it is a waste of taxpayer money.

Do you think taxpayers should both have their money wasted, and their ability to vote wrongly denied?

[ducks]

30 minutes away from my tax dollars are paying for illegals crossing the boarder to go to school
Where the school teacher has 35 students to many to teach.
it would be better if they atleast pay for the education
Did you know each student cost the gov 12k
That unreal I heard that hard to believe though hope someone can prove that wrong!

I go to mexico all the time to get my eyeglasses and dental work done. Hell I even got my wisdom teeth taken out down there.
I have no problem with the Mexicans if I did I would not live so close to the boarder!

[clambake]

How exactly have I lost objectivity here?

The objective evidence says that ID laws hinder certain types of voters disproportionately.

The objective evidence says that the types of fraud that ID laws are targeted at doesn't exist.

The objective evidence is that you get GOP led legislatures that ask for studies about how different races use different aspects of the voting system, then immediately after getting that data, decide to eliminate features that are used by minorities that vote for Democrats.

This is not really open for debate.

What the fuck are you talking about here? Looks to me like you are trying to say two sides in the debate are equal. They aren't, not by a long shot. I have always found the stupid, lazy "well the truth must be in the middle" to be worse the than useless.

See "balance fallacy":
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Balance_fallacy

You trying for that false equivalence? Clarify.

i wasn't even referring to the id debate. i should have been clear.

i meant, overall, that in this election cycle......you seem to be a little ted nugent out of control.

[ducks]

The problem is:

It is difficult for some people.
It doesn't really prevent any fraud.
Therefore, it is a waste of taxpayer money.

Do you think taxpayers should both have their money wasted, and their ability to vote wrongly denied?
I think the ones that have problems they should receive but they should get it
do you think some might have problems so we change the rules just to help out a very small percentage of people
I want 100 percent of the usa citizen to vote that are alive and voting age

[RandomGuy]

What's funny about it? Do schools just hand over kids to people with no photo ID over there? Better not live in Miami - these people here are so careful, they check your signature against emergency contact card before calling the kid to the office. If you aren't authorized, you ain't getting the kid.

So let's contrast your example:

ID for picking up kids from school.
--evidence exists that kids can be picked up and put in dangerous situations

Problem exists. Ask for ID.

ID for voting to prevent in person voter fraud.
--evidence does not exist that in person voter fraud is real

See the difference there?

One solves a real problem, the other... doesn't.

[ducks]

proven fact dead people have voted before

[RandomGuy]

i wasn't even referring to the id debate. i should have been clear.

i meant, overall, that in this election cycle......you seem to be a little ted nugent out of control.

This issue pisses me off. It is very clear cut. Not going to make any apologies for that.

[RandomGuy]

proven fact dead people have voted before

No actually they haven't.

The instances you refer to were investigated, and all were found to be essentially clerical errors.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/29/the-smoking-gun-proving-north-carolina-republicans-tried-to-disenfranchise-black-voters/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/07/09/7-papers-4-government-inquiries-2-news-investigations-and-1-court-ruling-proving-voter-fraud-is-mostly-a-myth/?tid=a_inl
7 papers, 4 government inquiries, 2 news investigations and 1 court ruling proving voter fraud is mostly a myth


"In 95 percent of so-called 'cemetery voting' alleged in the 2010 midterm election in South Carolina, human error accounts for nearly all of what the state's highest law enforcement official had informed the U.S. Department of Justice was fraud."

[ducks]

do you think people should only vote absent ballot?

[RandomGuy]

do you think people should only vote absent ballot?

the "dead people" voting were mostly chalked up to people with similar names. Basically volunteer poll workers confused the alive "John A. Smith" with the dead "John H. Smith", when recording who was actually voting, i.e. "Your ID says John Smith, so I am going to attribute your vote to the first John Smith on my list, without making sure that the name matches the person".

The databases weren't scrubbed of dead voters, allowing such errors to happen.

[RandomGuy]

do you think people should only vote absent ballot?

Do you think a political party should be able to prevent voters from opposing political parties from casting ballots?

[RandomGuy]

my wife worked at a bank and as a new employer she had to ask some customers to show id to give them money
guess what they were MAD
you would think they wanted to make sure the right person got the money
people are stupid they should be happy to prove who they are!
do they like fraud?

Another good example.

Evidence exists that people will pretend to be someone else to get money.
Ok to ask for ID, to prevent this problem.

Evidence does not exist that shows in person voter fraud is a problem.

Again, see the difference there?

Asking for ID in one case solves a real problem.
Asking for ID in another case does not solve a real problem.

[RandomGuy]

Fraudulent Votes, Voter Identification and the 2012 US General Election, by John Ahlquist and Kenneth R. Mayer of the University of Wisconsin, and Simon Jackman of Stanford.
The authors conducted a survey experiment "to measure the prevalence of two specific types of voter fraud: repeat/fraudulent ballot casting and vote buying." Their conclusion: "The notion that voter impersonation is a widespread behavior is totally contradicted by these data."

[rmt]

im in socal and that wasn't needed in our district.

you can get care with or without id.

I don't mean in the ER - they're gonna treat you with or without ID there. I meant when I'm visiting someone in the hospital or if I have to take x-ray/procedure.

[RandomGuy]

Caught in the Act: Recent Federal Election Fraud Cases, by Delia Bailey of the Washington University in St. Louis. Bailey unearthed only nine federal election fraud cases occurring between 2000 and 2005.

[clambake]

i don't know....i'm kinda ready to support that vote buying thing you're talking about.

[RandomGuy]

They Just Do Not Vote Like They Used To: A Methodology to Empirically Assess Election Fraud


Results. After examining approximately 2.1 million votes cast during the 2006 general election in Georgia, we find no evidence that election fraud was committed under the auspices of deceased registrants.
http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/facpubs/2165/

[ducks]

Do you think a political party should be able to prevent voters from opposing political parties from casting ballots?

this has nothing to do with a political party
the minority people are the ones likely to have no id
there is also a greater chance in the USA that a minority person is not a legal person that is not a racist statement that just is a fact

in 20 years whites might be the minority in the usa

[clambake]

I don't mean in the ER - they're gonna treat you with or without ID there. I meant when I'm visiting someone in the hospital or if I have to take x-ray/procedure.

you understand that you live differently, right? you got everything that people should have or least should try to obtain.

they're not trying to suppress your vote.

[clambake]

this has nothing to do with a political party
the minority vote and the minority people are the ones likely to have no id
there is also a greater chance in the USA that a minority person is not a legal person that is not a racist statement that just is a fact


boom

[rmt]

you understand that you live differently, right? you got everything that people should have or least should try to obtain.

they're not trying to suppress your vote.

My point is that not having a photo ID prevents one (at least in Miami) from doing all those things I mentioned above. If poor people do anyone of those things above, then they have photo IDs and I don't see the problem with requiring one to vote. Don't you people need ID to enter court/government buildings? to do jury duty? basically to function in society? Why aren't people blasting the school officials, hospital administrations, court/government officials from preventing them from entering those buildings or collecting benefits?

[clambake]

My point is that not having a photo ID prevents one (at least in Miami) from doing all those things I mentioned above. If poor people do anyone of those things above, then they have photo IDs and I don't see the problem with requiring one to vote. Don't you people need ID to enter court/government buildings? to do jury duty? basically to function in society? Why aren't people blasting the school officials, hospital administrations, court/government officials from preventing them from entering those buildings or collecting benefits?

i don't think you need it to do all that. then again i'm not positive. but like i said, a lot of people don't function in society like we do.

[RandomGuy]

My point is that not having a photo ID prevents one (at least in Miami) from doing all those things I mentioned above. If poor people do anyone of those things above, then they have photo IDs and I don't see the problem with requiring one to vote. Don't you people need ID to enter court/government buildings? to do jury duty? basically to function in society? Why aren't people blasting the school officials, hospital administrations, court/government officials from preventing them from entering those buildings or collecting benefits?

(shrugs)

not opposed to the concept of having IDs and being functional people.

BUT

The cost of keeping legitimate voters away, is far, far outweighed by the NON-EXISTANT benefit of preventing a type of voter fraud that doesn't exist.

The thing that should concern you far more is that GOP leadership knows the problem doesn't exist, but push for it anyway.

Should people have their votes take from them by the Republican party for the sole reason that they might vote Democrat?

[RandomGuy]

this has nothing to do with a political party
the minority people are the ones likely to have no id
there is also a greater chance in the USA that a minority person is not a legal person that is not a racist statement that just is a fact

in 20 years whites might be the minority in the usa

It has everything to do with a political party.

Why are the only people pushing for this Republican?

Why did the legislature ask for the effects of cutting back on voting hours/places by race, then vote to cut back the ones that affected minorities most?

[RandomGuy]

http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/nc-4th.pdf


After years of preclearance and expansion of voting access,
by 2013 African American registration and turnout rates had
finally reached near-parity with white registration and turnout
rates. African Americans were poised to act as a major
electoral force. But, on the day after the Supreme Court issued
Shelby County v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 2612 (2013), eliminating
preclearance obligations, a leader of the party that newly
dominated the legislature (and the party that rarely enjoyed
African American support) announced an intention to enact what
he characterized as an “omnibus” election law. Before enacting
that law, the legislature requested data on the use, by race, of
a number of voting practices. Upon receipt of the race data,
the General Assembly enacted legislation that restricted voting
and registration in five different ways, all of which
disproportionately affected African Americans.

[boutons_deux]

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Under Fire for Voter Registration Decision

Florida Gov. Rick Scott's refusal to extend his state's deadline for voter registration in response to Hurricane Matthew is leading to fears that perhaps tens of thousands of Floridians could be kept from registering, potentially impacting the presidential race.

The deadline to register is Tuesday, but with 1.5 million Floridians under mandatory evacuation orders, the Hillary Clinton campaign had urged Scott to extend it. He declined.

"Everybody has had a lot of time to register," Scott, a Republican and staunch Donald Trump supporter, said Thursday night. "On top of that, we've got lots of opportunities to vote: Early voting, absentee voting and Election Day. So I don't intend to make any changes."

NBC News, in partnership with the voter file company TargetSmart, analyzed data from 2012 for the 12 Florida counties that were evacuated due to Hurricane Matthew. During the final week of registration that year, 24,656 new Democrats registered, compared to 10,322 new Republicans. There were 21,485 registrations for "no party."

when asked whether it appeared Scott refused to extend the voter registration deadline for partisan reasons.

"Absolutely," he said.

for Democrats, because of the demographic groups that take particular advantage of late registration.

They're often people of lower socioeconomic status, who didn't register at the DMV because they don't have cars or drive. Or they're young voters who didn't make registration a priority. Or they're newly-naturalized citizens who didn't want to wait in line to register to vote after their naturalization ceremony. In short, likely Democratic voters.

"It's a whole swath of individuals, many of them are going to be lower socioeconomic, tend to be younger and tend to be minority. And as a result, they disproportionately do register as either Democrats or no-party affiliates and we know that just by going back and looking at previous records,"

"We're on a massive voter registration intake right now," said Goodman, whose organization is non-partisan. "It's come to a grinding halt in these coastal areas."

"Gov. Scott is awful. Is disenfranchising voters really the GOP's only strategy to try to win? Sadly it seems so."

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/florida-gov-rick-scott-under-fire-voter-registration-decision-n661796?cid=sm_fb

[boutons_deux]

Federal Judge Orders More Time for Voter Registration in Florida

A federal judge in Florida late Monday ordered the state to extend the deadline for registering to vote by one day and set a hearing on whether to extend it even further.

Under Florida law, voters had until Tuesday, Oct. 11, to register to vote. But Judge Mark Walker said in view of the disruption caused by Hurricane Matthew (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/hurricane-matthew), the state should have extended it to Wednesday.

Noting that that storm's damage affected some parts of the state more than others, the judge said "it would be grossly inappropriate" to allow voters in Jacksonville to register later than those in Pensacola.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/federal-judge-orders-more-time-voter-registration-florida-n664101?cid=sm_fb_lastword

Repugs always respecting the "credibility of the electoral process" :lol

[RandomGuy]

Another good example.

Evidence exists that people will pretend to be someone else to get money.
Ok to ask for ID, to prevent this problem.

Evidence does not exist that shows in person voter fraud is a problem.

Again, see the difference there?

Asking for ID in one case solves a real problem.
Asking for ID in another case does not solve a real problem.

[boutons_deux]

New Mexico Republicans threaten Albuquerque residents: “Your neighbors will know” if Democrats win

The flier warns voters leaning Democrat that they will be outed because "voting is a matter of public record"

While it’s a matter of public record if you’ve voted, a secret ballot election ensures that no one will know how you’ve voted.

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/17/new-mexico-republicans-threaten-albuquerque-residents-your-neighbors-will-know-if-democrats-win/

[boutons_deux]

While Donald Trump talks of a “rigged election,” Mike Pence may suppress the votes of nearly 50,000 African-Americans

Is Mike Pence using law enforcement in his state to gin up false fears of voter fraud?

http://www.salon.com/2016/10/17/while-donald-trump-talks-of-a-rigged-election-mike-pence-may-suppress-the-votes-of-nearly-50000-african-americans/

[boutons_deux]

The GOP Created the “Rigged Vote” Myth


http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2016/10/the_gop_created_the_rigged_vote_myth.html

[boutons_deux]

Because Repugs love knitters as much as they love the Constitution

MASSIVE VOTER SUPPRESSION IN OHIO STOPPED JUST IN TIME

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/10/27/massive-voter-suppression-ohio-stopped-just-time/

... is why Repugs LOVE Kasich and his racist OH administration.

Remember, it was OH Secy of State Blackwell/Repug who fraud-counted dubya in 2004 to be elected by SCALIA.

[boutons_deux]

Nevada's tea party secretary of state rejects Indian tribes' request for reservation polling sites (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/27/1587516/-Nevada-s-tea-party-secretary-of-state-rejects-Indian-tribes-request-for-reservation-polling-sites)

federal district Judge Miranda Du ordered (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/12/1581491/-Federal-ruling-giving-Nevada-Indians-better-voting-access-may-be-key-in-close-election-outcome) the state of Nevada to provide early voting and Election Day polling sites on the reservations of two of the state’s Indian tribes.

The tribes had complained that their members had to drive scores of miles to register and to vote, and the judge agreed that they were being treated differently than non-Indian rural residents of the state.

But when nine other Nevada tribes sought after Du’s ruling to get polling places set up on their own reservations—members of one of the tribes, Duckwater Shoshone Reservation in Nye County, must make a 275-mile roundtrip to register and vote—Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske said (https://thinkprogress.org/native-tribes-denial-7e0315de3810#.slmqfd2wk) nothing doing.

She told the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, which made the request, that their letter (https://www.scribd.com/document/328441956/Itcn-Letter-Oct-21-2016#from_embed) had arrived too late, just 24 hours before a two-week schedule of early voting began:

Cegavske added that she consulted with each of the seven county officials who would be impacted by the request and determined that it is too late to redistribute voting machines “because they are already in place and calibrated for use at their current early voting locations.”

She also noted that “there is insufficient time” to recruit and train poll workers.

Finally, she added, “there is still considerable legal uncertainty as to who would be authorized to investigate and prosecute potential election law violations occurring on sovereign tribal lands.”


That’s not the view of Bret Healy, who consults with Four Directions. He said that previously, the secretary of state’s office has set up additional polling locations in other rural parts of the state in less than 48 hours.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/27/1587516/-Nevada-s-tea-party-secretary-of-state-rejects-Indian-tribes-request-for-reservation-polling-sites

[boutons_deux]

Who watches the poll watchers? Militia and dirty tricksters seek to intimidate voters. (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/27/1587519/-Who-watches-the-poll-watchers-Militia-and-dirty-tricksters-seek-to-intimidate-voters)

http://images.dailykos.com/images/318294/story_image/GettyImages-459636166.jpg?1477586212
Oath Keeper militia member on roof of building in Ferguson, Missouri


Trump campaign is still pushing for followers to get out there and watch those treacherous polls. And Trump supporters are responding (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/oath-keepers-tell-members-watch-polls-undercover-election-day).

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes urged members of his fringe group to head to the polls on Election Day to make sure that the 2016 race is not “stolen” from American voters. …

“We call on you to form up incognito intelligence gathering :lol and crime spotting :lol teams and go out into public on election day, dressed to blend in with the public,

without any Oath Keepers hat or T shirt on, and with video, still camera, and notepad in hand, to look for and document suspected criminal vote fraud or intimidation activities,” :lol :lol

Rhodes wrote on the group’s website.


Oath Keepers brought armed members to Ferguson to guard white-owned businesses, and its members also made up a portion of those present at the Bundy Ranch.

Rhodes isn’t the only one urging this kind of action. Trump ally Roger Stone created a group that planned to go out with both cameras and fake badges (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vote-protectors-voter-intimidation_us_580e4e63e4b0a03911ee03bc).

Vote Protectors, the anti-voter-fraud group hosted by Donald Trump ally and political dirty trickster Roger Stone, plans to send volunteers to monitor polling places in nine cities with high minority populations on Election Day, Stone said last week. Untrained poll-watchers have intimidated voters in previous elections. But Vote Protectors is going further than its predecessors.



And that’s far from all the Trump forces on their way to “watch” the polls.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/27/1587519/-Who-watches-the-poll-watchers-Militia-and-dirty-tricksters-seek-to-intimidate-voters?detail=email&link_id=6&can_id=4217e8eb109c68bd0c2e4143dd2d8c15&source=email-this-is-awesomethe-editorial-board-at-the-yale-record-did-not-endorse-hillary-clinton&email_referrer=this-is-awesomethe-editorial-board-at-the-yale-record-did-not-endorse-hillary-clinton___125567&email_subject=cartoon-how-lucky-ducky-gets-all-the-tax-breaks

:lol what a bunch of self-important, self-aggrandizing rightwingnut sickos.

[RandomGuy]

Who watches the poll watchers? Militia and dirty tricksters seek to intimidate voters. (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/27/1587519/-Who-watches-the-poll-watchers-Militia-and-dirty-tricksters-seek-to-intimidate-voters)

http://images.dailykos.com/images/318294/story_image/GettyImages-459636166.jpg?1477586212
Oath Keeper militia member on roof of building in Ferguson, Missouri


Trump campaign is still pushing for followers to get out there and watch those treacherous polls. And Trump supporters are responding (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/oath-keepers-tell-members-watch-polls-undercover-election-day).

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes urged members of his fringe group to head to the polls on Election Day to make sure that the 2016 race is not “stolen” from American voters. …

“We call on you to form up incognito intelligence gathering :lol and crime spotting :lol teams and go out into public on election day, dressed to blend in with the public,

without any Oath Keepers hat or T shirt on, and with video, still camera, and notepad in hand, to look for and document suspected criminal vote fraud or intimidation activities,” :lol :lol

Rhodes wrote on the group’s website.


Oath Keepers brought armed members to Ferguson to guard white-owned businesses, and its members also made up a portion of those present at the Bundy Ranch.

Rhodes isn’t the only one urging this kind of action. Trump ally Roger Stone created a group that planned to go out with both cameras and fake badges (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vote-protectors-voter-intimidation_us_580e4e63e4b0a03911ee03bc).

Vote Protectors, the anti-voter-fraud group hosted by Donald Trump ally and political dirty trickster Roger Stone, plans to send volunteers to monitor polling places in nine cities with high minority populations on Election Day, Stone said last week. Untrained poll-watchers have intimidated voters in previous elections. But Vote Protectors is going further than its predecessors.



And that’s far from all the Trump forces on their way to “watch” the polls.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/27/1587519/-Who-watches-the-poll-watchers-Militia-and-dirty-tricksters-seek-to-intimidate-voters?detail=email&link_id=6&can_id=4217e8eb109c68bd0c2e4143dd2d8c15&source=email-this-is-awesomethe-editorial-board-at-the-yale-record-did-not-endorse-hillary-clinton&email_referrer=this-is-awesomethe-editorial-board-at-the-yale-record-did-not-endorse-hillary-clinton___125567&email_subject=cartoon-how-lucky-ducky-gets-all-the-tax-breaks

:lol what a bunch of self-important, self-aggrandizing rightwingnut sickos.




"Vote Protectors"?

This oughta be good.

[RandomGuy]

I am only interested in a valid, scientifically conducted exit poll.” Stone later noted that Vote Protectors was collaborating with his group, Stop the Steal, but he said they were not one and the same.

Stone said that unlike the model currently run by Vote Protectors, his group would “ask each poll worker to sign a sworn affidavit that the information they turn in for tabulation is true based on interviews.”

These affidavits, Stone told radio host Alex Jones Tuesday, could then be used by the Trump campaign to contest the election results.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vote-protectors-voter-intimidation_us_580e4e63e4b0a03911ee03bc

Alex Jones is all up in it.

One can only hope Jones finally blows a blood vessel in his brain.

[RandomGuy]

For years, the Republican Party engaged in widespread voter intimidation and, in 1981, the Democrats called them on it in court. In a gubernatorial election in New Jersey, the Republican National Committee (RNC) targeted racial and ethnic minority voters by, among other things, recruiting armed “off-duty sheriffs and police officers to intimidate voters by standing at polling places in minority precincts during voting with ‘National Ballot Security Task Force’ armbands”. To resolve the lawsuit, the RNC agreed to stop “engag[ing[ or assist[ing] in voter fraud prevention” without the pre-approval of a federal court. This agreement expires next year, as long as the RNC stays clean. But if the party violates the rules this fall, the decree will be extended for another eight years.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2016/10/entangled-rigging

[boutons_deux]

How a Utah County Silenced Native American Voters -- and How Navajos Are Fighting Back

Sixteen years ago, when Jones joined the board of the Utah Navajo Health System, he realized his neighbors were dying because the closest ambulances -- the county's, in Blanding, and the tribe's, in Kayenta, Arizona -- were an hour away "on a good day." So Jones asked the county commission if one of San Juan's ambulances could be housed in a garage in Montezuma Creek. From there, it would take half the time to rush an elder suffering a heart attack to medical care.

But the county wasn't interested. Over the next decade, Jones says, he and other health advocates repeatedly tried to get the commission to improve ambulance service on the reservation. But while the sole Navajo commissioner was supportive, the two white commissioners were usually not.

many Navajo requests -- from building schools to implementing bicultural education to improving roads -- have been denied by Anglo residents, who have always held a majority in elected offices despite comprising less than half of the county's population.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled that San Juan County violated both the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution by relying on race to draw the boundaries of its voting districts. By engaging in "racial gerrymandering," San Juan County systematically diluted the strength of the Native vote, keeping Natives out of power and skewing the makeup of the county commission and the school board. The system, perpetuated for decades, "offends basic democratic principles,"

In 1957, Utah became one of the last states in the nation to grant Native Americans the right to vote, doing so only after being forced by a federal judge.

the way the county drew its lines still violated the Voting Rights Act, because it packed minority voters into a single district while spreading the white vote over multiple districts. That meant Native voters could only elect one representative of their choice while white voters got two, even as the Native population surpassed the white population, 52 to 46 percent.

as recently as 1995, the county denied that it was responsible for educating Navajo children;

Requests to bring running water or electricity to the Navajo community of Westwater were denied in 2007, because, one county commissioner argued, residents were too poor to pay for utilities anyway.

"The struggles, the racism we all read about in history books … I'd like to believe that the overtness of what happened then isn't happening today," he says. "But in some places, it is."

Under both the Voting Rights Act and Utah state law, counties must redraw voting districts at least every 10 years to ensure that the population is spread evenly across districts. But San Juan County hadn't redrawn its voting districts since 1986.

Judge Shelby ruled unequivocally in the Navajos' favor. He ordered the county to remap both its school board and county commission voting districts. Commissioner Adams says the county is complying.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36485-how-a-utah-county-silenced-native-american-voters-and-how-navajos-are-fighting-back

[boutons_deux]

Republican states still flouting judges' orders (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/29/1588057/-This-week-in-the-war-on-voting-Republican-states-still-flouting-judges-orders)

voter suppression is the ongoing refusal of a few states to abide by court orders (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/26/1587118/-Relentless-suppression-Some-states-still-ignoring-court-orders-regarding-voting-procedures) regarding voting procedures. Meteor Blades:


In Texas, some election officials still haven't gotten it through their heads that they must comply with court orders regarding voting procedure. They are still posting or passing out bad information about what kind of identification is needed to be able to cast a ballot—and it's confusing many Texans. […]Confusion is one of the most effective weapons in the suppressors' arsenal. One outcome: An unknown but possibly quite large number of citizens who believe they must have the mandated ID will simply choose not to vote at all.

In Wisconsin, which also has a very strict voter ID law, the federal courts ruled that the state's restrictions went too far and that it should quickly provide a for-voting-only ID. Quickly did not happen, and other obstacles arose.
Some would-be voters seeking one of the new IDs have been told by election officials that they would need an original copy of their birth certificate. But that's not true. Despite court orders, the officials continue to pass out bits of bad information.


In Texas, they're not just refusing to take down old signage with incorrect information. They're actively lying to voters (http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2016/10/27/175203/confusion-over-voter-id-spreads-as-early-voting-continues/):

But attorney Matt Williams says he saw something different when he went to vote in Dripping Springs, near Austin."Almost immediately upon arriving and getting in line," he says, "one of the poll workers started kind of intercepting the people walking out of the parking lot yelling, 'You have to have a valid photo ID to vote today.'

And she continued, probably for the next half hour, her and one other lady would walk up and down the line, and they would yell that same information."

Williams says several people in line protested, calling attention to the recent court ruling. They even pointed out the language on posters in the polling station explaining the new rules. Williams says the poll workers ignored them. "If I hadn't had a valid ID, I would have walked away thinking I could not vote."




Oh, hey. Look. Voter fraud in Iowa (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2016/10/28/voter-fraud-suspect-arrested-des-moines/92892042/). "Terri Lynn Rote […] a registered Republican, reportedly cast an early voting ballot at the Polk County Election Office, 120 Second Ave., and another ballot at a county satellite voting location in Des Moines, according to a Des Moines police report." Yep. A Trump supporter voting twice. Wonder where she got the idea to try that? By the way, she got caught. Because the system is not rigged.
Another Trump supporter in Texas was arrested for electioneering (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/brett-hauthe-arrested-wearing-trump-gear-texas-polling-place) in a polling place. He went their wearing his "Basket of Deplorables" T-shirt and Trump hat. Because that's what Trump voters do.
Voter intimidation comes even to Idaho. You'd think that Republicans have such a lock on this state that it isn't necessary, but one Republican legislator—Rep. Heather Scott (who is also a big booster of the Bundy clan) has turned her goons (http://www.ktvb.com/news/politics/elections/id-democratic-party-alleges-voter-intimidation-calls-on-govt-to-investigate/343483431)out against her opponent. The Idaho Democratic Party has requested the U.S. Attorney investigate after local law enforcement blew off complaints.
Pennsylvania Republicans have requested "an injunction ordering the state to allow poll watchers to work in counties other than where they live." A recipe for disaster in a state where Donald Trump has been trying to incite his followers to "poll watch" in Philadelphia, where "those" people vote. Secretary of State Pedro Cortes has urged a federal judge (http://www.mcall.com/news/local/elections/mc-gop-poll-watcher-lawsuit-cortes-response-20161026-story.html) to reject that request, saying the GOP has not proven a lack of poll watchers.
The DNC filed a motion this week (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/27/1587586/-DNC-files-motion-going-after-RNC-for-violating-consent-decree-barring-intimidation-at-the-polls) calling on a federal judge to hold the Republican National Committee in contempt for violating a long-standing consent decree barring it from intimidating voters at the polls. See the bullet point directly above. The RNC has been under the decree since 1981, and just can't stop suppressing voters long enough to get out from under it.
Nevada is still refusing (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/27/1587516/-Nevada-s-tea-party-secretary-of-state-rejects-Indian-tribes-request-for-reservation-polling-sites) to open polling sites on reservations, even after "federal district Judge Miranda Du ordered the state of Nevada to provide early voting and Election Day polling sites on the reservations of two of the state's Indian tribes." There are nine other tribes who have requested polling sites.
Republicans in Wisconsin are once again making their suppression intention (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/25/1586747/-Green-Bay-email-shows-clear-intent-to-suppress-student-vote-because-they-re-like-to-vote-Democratic)clear, this time in the form of an email in which a Green Bay clerk doesn't want to open up an early voting location at a university. Because "I have heard it said that students lean more toward the democrats." Sic.
Still in Wisconsin, absentee voters (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/24/1586375/-Wisconsin-absentee-voters-face-stealth-change-in-deadline) take note—the state has quietly moved up the deadline for receiving ballots. They now have to be received by 8:00 pm on Election Day, not just post-marked before then. This means they have to be sent by Tuesday of next week.
North Carolina Republicans are once again (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/27/1587634/-North-Carolina-Republicans-try-to-stop-100-year-old-Grace-Bell-Hardison-from-voting) in the news, this week for voter caging—a tactic to force voters—predominantly people of color who vote for Democrats—off the rolls by sending mailers to bad addresses. When the mailer is returned as undeliverable, that voter's registration is challenged. They picked on 100-year-old Grace Bell Hardison this time around. Which was a mistake. She went to the local media and shamed the Republicans into dropping their complaint. North Carolina voters? If your registration is challenged, call the press.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has until 10 AM Monday morning to file a response with the U.S. Supreme Court (http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2016/10/25102016---neoch-stay-motion.html) to a request for an emergency stay on two laws tightening the rules for absentee and provisional voters. These provisions require "Ohioans to accurately complete five fields of information on requests for absentee or provisional ballots. If a mistake is made, the ballot is thrown out even if elections officials can identify the voter."


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/29/1588057/-This-week-in-the-war-on-voting-Republican-states-still-flouting-judges-orders?detail=email&link_id=15&can_id=4217e8eb109c68bd0c2e4143dd2d8c15&source=email-why-fbi-director-james-comey-did-the-wrong-thing-again&email_referrer=why-fbi-director-james-comey-did-the-wrong-thing-again&email_subject=why-fbi-director-james-comey-did-the-wrong-thing-again



Repug gerrymandering and voter suppression RIGS the election 1000x more than in-person voter fraud.

[boutons_deux]

Repugs workin hard to screw non-Repugs

(Extreme right-wing, activist, VRWC shooges) Supreme Court ensures thousands of Ohio ballots will be thrown out for small errors

The last hope for a lawsuit brought by a coalition of Ohio voters experiencing homelessness died (http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/11/01/ohio-politics-now-one-voting-lawsuit-rejected-another-filed.html) at the U.S. Supreme Court this week, leaving the state’s policy of throwing away provisional ballots with small errors (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-ohio-insight-idUSKBN12W3LQ) in place for the 2016 election.

Now, voters who forget to include their middle name or zip code, make a typo on their birth date, or sign their name in cursive in the “print name” box could have their ballot tossed.

https://thinkprogress.org/supreme-court-ensures-thousands-of-ohio-ballots-will-be-thrown-out-for-small-errors-1ebfc8fe5c5f#.5ln3bl9h1

[boutons_deux]

here's how slave state GA intimidates their knitters, esp female knitters

Something stinks in Coffee County, Georgia, as activist grandmother is prosecuted for voter fraud (http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/11/1/1589586/-Something-stinks-in-Coffee-County-GA-as-activist-grandmother-is-prosecuted-for-voter-fraud)

Olivia Pearson, a 55-year-old African American in Coffee County. She believes in the power of the vote to change things. And she’s spent a lot of time trying to nudge, cajole, arm-twist, and otherwise get her fellow African Americans, including members of her own family, to register and get to the polls, often ferrying them there herself. One of those was her nephew. Hoping to instill in him a favorable lifelong attitude regarding the importance of voting, she persuaded him to cast his first vote ever in 2012 for Barack Obama.

But now, years after that election, she’s one of five people being prosecuted for alleged voter fraud. The state is claiming she crossed the line and gave her nephew and others more assistance in voting than the law allows and signed an affidavit falsely stating the assistance was needed. She denies this. Because of the impending trial, Pearson can’t talk about the specifics. But she says she only showed her nephew—and over the years, dozens of other voters—how to use the voting machines, but never touched them herself, nor told anyone who they should cast their votes for while assisting them.

Joel Anderson reports (https://www.buzzfeed.com/joelanderson/how-georgias-voter-fraud-fight-could-make-this-grandmother-a?utm_term=.fxvwNekKm#.yeMl3jZPA) on how this former parole officer, civil rights activist, and grandmother could become a felon serving a five-year term if convicted:


Her prosecution is one skirmish in the intense and increasingly bitter nationwide struggle between Democrats’ efforts to mobilize voters — especially people of color — and Republicans’ attempts to crack down on what they say is voter fraud in an election that Trump has repeatedly claimed is “rigged.”

Her case comes amid the pitched electoral battle for the state of Georgia, long a rock-solid Republican bastion where polls show Donald Trump holds only a slim lead over Hillary Clinton. Republican officials in Georgia have encouraged ordinary citizens to lodge voter-fraud complaints through, for example, a dedicated website. Prosecutions remain rare but, critics charge, can send a message so chilling it suppresses voter turnout.

That, they say, is what is happening here in Douglas, the charming but economically ailing seat of Coffee County. The black vote has surged here over the last two decades. Less than half the county’s black registered voters actually cast ballots in the 1996 election between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. In 2012, almost three quarters did, helping a Democratic candidate for sheriff topple the incumbent Republican, a lightning bolt in this deep-red county in a Deep South state.


Pearson’s organizing for that successful black candidate for sheriff—Doyle Wooten—may well be the key reason she’s been targeted for prosecution.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/11/1/1589586/-Something-stinks-in-Coffee-County-GA-as-activist-grandmother-is-prosecuted-for-voter-fraud?detail=email&link_id=11&can_id=4217e8eb109c68bd0c2e4143dd2d8c15&source=email-krugman-nails-it-with-a-tweetstorm&email_referrer=krugman-nails-it-with-a-tweetstorm&email_subject=krugman-nails-it-with-a-tweetstorm

[boutons_deux]

Judge: North Carolina’s voter purge process is “insane,” calls back to Jim Crow era


“This sounds like something that was put together in 1901.”

A federal judge on Wednesday described (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-carolina-voter-challenge-process-seems-insane-judge/) North Carolina’s process for purging voters off the rolls “insane.” She argued it “sounds like something that was put together in 1901” — a time when black voters were deliberately suppressed on a massive scale — due to how few safeguards were in place to stop almost anyone from essentially stripping another person’s ability to vote.

The process is shockingly simple:

Any voter can challenge another county resident’s registration,

which then leads to a formal hearing in which the challenger presents evidence that the registration is invalid.

If local officials conclude there’s enough for probable cause, a challenged voter can be called to a hearing.

But if challenged voters don’t turn up, they’re automatically stripped from the rolls.

Obviously, this can have a disproportionate impact on poor, minority voters who just don’t have the time or the means to get to a hearing.

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/3/13511264/north-carolina-voter-purge

America is fucked and unfuckable, and it's the Repugs pushing America down the drain.

[boutons_deux]

There Are 868 Fewer Places to Vote in 2016 Because the Supreme Court Gutted the Voting Rights Act

Nearly half of counties that previously approved voting changes with the federal government have cut polling places this election.

The Leadership Conference for Civil Rights (http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/2016/poll-closure-report-web.pdf) surveyed 381 of the 800 counties previously covered by Section 5 where polling place information was available in 2012 or 2014 and found there are 868 fewer places to cast a ballot in 2016 in these areas.

“Out of the 381 counties in our study, 165 of them—43 percent—have reduced voting locations,” says the important new report (http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/2016/poll-closure-report-web.pdf).

https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/GreatPollClosureMap.jpg

https://www.thenation.com/article/there-are-868-fewer-places-to-vote-in-2016-because-the-supreme-court-gutted-the-voting-rights-act/

Slave/red states love knitters and wetbacks.

Other states that have fucked over citizens' right to vote are Ohio and Indiana.

[DarrinS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBxZGWCdgs

[boutons_deux]

Court Blocks Kobach's Scheme For Proof-Of-Citizenship In Kansas Electionshttp://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/court-knocks-kobach-in-case-linked-to-ks-proof-of-citizenship-voter-requirement?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

[spurraider21]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBxZGWCdgscrofl anectodal evidence by cherry picking by only talking to folks in a metropolitan area

its not a question of "lol black people are poor"... it's that the data shows there is a disparate impact, or that minorities are disproportionately effected even though the law at face value isn't discriminatory

[angrydude]

crofl anectodal evidence by cherry picking by only talking to folks in a metropolitan area

its not a question of "lol black people are poor"... it's that the data shows there is a disparate impact, or that minorities are disproportionately effected even though the law at face value isn't discriminatory

So blacks are too stupid to vote so we need to help them? Because that's what you're saying.

[spurraider21]

So blacks are too stupid to vote so we need to help them? Because that's what you're saying.yes. because in the post you quoted, i was calling blacks stupid

[boutons_deux]

just like in 2000, slave state news

VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT IN FLORIDA COULD SKEW SWING STATE’S OUTCOME

The Sunshine State, which once again might decide the winner of a presidential election, is home to nearly 1.7 million current and former felons — the vast majority of whom will have no say in who will lead the country in the next four years.

47 other states allow people to vote after they’ve served their time.

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/11/05/voter-disenfranchisement-florida-skew-swing-states-outcome/

[boutons_deux]

Arizona may enforce ballot collection law: Supreme Court order

The U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday ordered an Arizona state law that restricts the collection of ballots by third parties back in place for Tuesday's election, a victory for Republicans in an intensifying state-by-state legal battle over access to voting.

The Supreme Court granted a stay of a U.S. appeals court ruling that on Friday had temporarily blocked Arizona from enforcing the law that prohibits advocacy groups from collecting completed early ballots from voters and delivering them to election offices as part of get-out-the-vote efforts.

The stay will remain in effect pending a final disposition of the appeal by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court order said. The appeals court has scheduled oral arguments in the case for January.

Polls have shown Republican Donald Trump with a small lead in Arizona over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential race.
Democrats have accused Republicans of enacting state laws intended to make it harder for minorities and others who tend to back Democratic candidates to cast ballots. Republicans have called these laws necessary to guard against voting fraud.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-arizona-idUSKBN1300MK?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

AZ, just another nasty, Constitution-loving, democracy-loving Repug state.

[boutons_deux]

‘We are not ready’: Arizona voters warn Election Day could be worse than primary fiasco

Phoenix heads into Election Day with last-minute law changes, misinformation, long lines, and threats of intimidation.

On Arizona’s primary day this April, voters in Maricopa County waited five hours (https://thinkprogress.org/county-supervisor-unanswered-questions-in-why-arizona-s-election-went-so-wrong-7e2c0cb6290d#.838fkkx22) in the hot sun to cast a ballot, because the county slashed the number of polling places from 200 to 60. Some people gave up and left without voting; some fainted (http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/03/22/live-arizona-primary-coverage-presidential-preference-election/82096726/) in the desert heat. Polling places ran out of ballots (http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/03/22/live-arizona-primary-coverage-presidential-preference-election/82096726/).

After the dust settled, angry voters, candidates, and political parties filed a slew of lawsuits (https://thinkprogress.org/arizona-hit-with-lawsuit-over-its-disastrous-primary-day-df543ea60188) against the state, leading to court settlements and a promise (https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2016/10/20/voting-groups-welcome-maricopa-county-plan-to-cut-polling-wait-times/)that no voter will have to wait longer than half an hour this fall.

“The primary fiasco was a huge wakeup call,” said Samantha Pstross with the Arizona Advocacy Network.

But elected officials and voting rights advocates fear the situation could be just as bad or worse on Tuesday.

“We are not ready for what I presume will be one of the largest turnouts in Arizona history,” Maricopa County supervisor Steve Gallardo told ThinkProgress. “Everyone is banking on a large number of vote-by-mail ballots. But this is not an ordinary election.

We have a record number of new Latino voters. We see lots of excitement out there. We need to be prepared to handle this, but we’re already seeing problems.”

Gallardo cited troubles that have already plagued the county during early voting, when turnout is usually much lighter than on Election Day itself.

On Friday, the final day of in-person early voting, voters in Tempe waited more than three hours (http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/04/maricopa-county-early-voting-last-day-long-lines/93312242/) to cast a ballot. Among them was Bob Davis, who arrived around 1:15 p.m. with his four-year-old daughter. Though he was told it would be a two-hour wait, he didn’t cast a ballot until nearly 5 p.m.

“I watched like 20 people leave the line who couldn’t wait,” he told ThinkProgress. “I knew the chance of them coming back and trying again was negligible. I felt really upset.”

Davis noted that there is a ballot measure (http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/09/07/poll-most-arizona-voters-support-12-dollar-minimum-wage/89926648/) before Arizona voters this year that would raise the minimum wage from just over 8 dollars an hour to 12 by the year 2020. He said he worries those the measure would impact most will not be able to have a say in its passage.

“If you make only 8.05 an hour, your ability to stand in line for four hours is minimal,” he said. “This is actual voter suppression.”

https://thinkprogress.org/we-are-not-ready-arizona-voters-warn-election-day-could-be-worse-than-primary-fiasco-f65a9ff39b94#.uqj7pcvcz[/COLOR]

[boutons_deux]

Kockistan news

Wisconsin breaks early voting records, GOP wants to interfere.

Over 685,000 early votes have been cast in Wisconsin (http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/04/wisconsin-sets-early-voting-record/93286934/)! This is 20,000 more than the 2012 election, and 38,000 more than in 2008.

Robin Voss, Republican head of the state assembly, is not pleased (http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/04/gop-leader-wants-early-voting-limits/93255376/). His beef seems to be that the rules are not uniform across the state, and therefore early voting must be restricted (apparently especially in Milwaukee) to make sure everybody has the same chance to vote.

This would be fine, if it meant that everyone would have expanded early voting, but it is unlikely that is the case.

In July,

an earlier attempt to make voting access ‘more uniform’ was struck down by Judge James Peterson, who stated that the changes were specifically aimed at preventing African Americans from voting (http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/federal-judge-throws-out-limits-on-absentee-voting-other-voting/article_4411da2e-dfb3-5bfb-b524-9a390c45bb2f.html).

He also ordered a follow-up investigation on whether local DMVs were following the correct procedures in issuing the ID that voters required. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/09/30/federal-judge-orders-investigation-into-wisconsins-voter-id-system/)

Of course, Robin “Poutypants” Vos can’t let this go without looking into whether the state can challenge Peterson’s ruling.

"It shouldn't be up to an unelected judge to have the final say." :lol

(sure, he means like the Repug-packed, VRWC-hired SCOTWI, which killed an investigation of the governor.


Senator Jon Erpenbach (D) agrees that it is just another attempt to suppress voting.


"Republicans don't want early voting because they suck at early voting," Erpenbach said.

"It's not an advantage (for Democrats); it's the law.

And when things don't go the way Republicans want, they change the law."


http://m.dailykos.com/story/2016/11/5/1591820/-Wisconsin-breaks-early-voting-records-GOP-wants-to-interfere?detail=email&link_id=2&can_id=4217e8eb109c68bd0c2e4143dd2d8c15&source=email-really-trump-is-getting-yet-another-pass-from-the-media&email_referrer=really-trump-is-getting-yet-another-pass-from-the-media&email_subject=really-trump-is-getting-yet-another-pass-from-the-media

[boutons_deux]

Fuck the Repugs to hell

There are 4,000 people in a half-mile voting line in Cincinnati today.

http://www.vox.com/presidential-election/2016/11/6/13542680/there-are-4000-people-in-a-half-mile-voting-line-in-cincinnati-today-this-isn-t-ok

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/771369239550816257/9dmrjkw8_bigger.jpgSaahil Desai @Saahil_Desai (https://twitter.com/Saahil_Desai)

This is what happens when there's only one place to early vote in a county of 800,000+



Fuck the Repug bastards to hell

[Winehole23]

Shame on the GOP for making it harder to vote. Very shortsighted -- voters have long memories.

[Winehole23]

rigged!

https://theintercept.com/2016/11/06/nine-ways-the-u-s-voting-system-is-rigged-but-not-against-donald-trump/

[DarrinS]

rigged!

https://theintercept.com/2016/11/06/nine-ways-the-u-s-voting-system-is-rigged-but-not-against-donald-trump/


^hey boutons -- here's another good source for your copy/paste pieces

[Winehole23]

you've copied and pasted from the Intercept when they slam HRC

[boutons_deux]

^hey boutons -- here's another good source for your copy/paste pieces

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0bMfS-_pjM

Systematic fuckups don't excuse nor hide Repugs' targeted suppression of blacks, browns.

America is incapable of change, renewal, fixing problems.

Pennies? no $1 or $5 coins? G M A F B

workday voting? G M A F B

etc, etc.

Do you really want the Fed members to be elected? G M A F B We already have elected judges, compromised from day one on the bench.

[boutons_deux]

Over Half of Voter Intimidation Complaints Today Are Coming From Pennsylvania

According to NBC News (http://www.nbcnews.com/card/voters-wrongly-asked-id-polls-pennsylvania-n679791), many voters in the Philadelphia area are being asked for ID in spite of the fact that it is not needed to vote in the state.

A voter told NBC that their poll worker must not have been trained very well, but others see this as a sign of voter intimidation.

Politics USA pointed out that “Pennsylvania state law does require identification for new voters or voters voting in a new location, but a driver’s license or photo ID is not required.”

http://www.mediaite.com/online/report-over-half-of-voter-intimidation-complaints-today-are-coming-from-pennsylvania/

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LePage Says He'll Investigate Maine College Students' Votes For Fraud


Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) said Monday he plans to investigate college students voting in his state to ensure they follow the law.

“Casting ballots in two different states is voter fraud, which is why Maine law requires anyone voting here to establish residency here,”

The fliers said students would need a Maine driver’s license to vote. In fact, enrolled students can vote without a state ID, according to Maine’s Democratic Secretary of State Matt Dunlap.

Maine state law simply requires proof of residence, which can be satisfied for first-time voters registered in the state with documents including paychecks or utility bills.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/paul-lepage-investigate-student-voter-fraud?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29

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Michigan man singled out Muslim women in hijabs for voter intimidation


http://2d0yaz2jiom3c6vy7e7e5svk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/hijab-800x430.jpg

A Michigan man attempted to block two women wearing hijabs from entering their polling place Tuesday morning, prompting Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum to call the interaction an act of voter intimidation.

In an email to Mother Jones (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/muslim-voters-targeted-intimidation-michigan-polling-station), voter Ron Fox—who witnessed the scene—said a man outside of the polling place pulled two women out of line to examine their voter registration cards and appeared to be directing them to another poling location.

, there were two polling officials that were asking him to leave,” Fox wrote. “He was refusing. He then entered the polling place, presumably to attempt to obtain permission to remain.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/michigan-man-singled-out-muslim-women-in-hijabs-for-voter-intimidation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

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in Florida,

under state law, virtually any other voter in your county can challenge your right to vote.

In Florida, if someone believes a fellow resident is ineligible to vote, he or she can force that person to cast a provisional ballot.

All one has to do is issue a challenge in writing and sign an oath.

The challenger doesn’t even have to provide evidence for the challenge.

The burden then is on the challenged voter to prove his or her eligibility by providing written documentation within 48 hours after the election to ensure the vote is counted.

http://www.nationalmemo.com/fellow-citizens-threaten-vote/