Another piece on the ‘necessity’ to stem the rampant voter fraud (that is sarcasm, in case you missed it)…….and excellent piece by Mr. Bouie….
Please let me know what you think…..
Republican voter suppression rationales: Why “voter integrity” is nonsense..
I understand voter fraud…..what I cannot understand is how limiting voting hours or early voting or registration or…..will stop voter fraud……
I ran across this piece the other day and thought it made some good points……whatcha think?
It is president’s day and I thought I would look at the idea of voting…..most of us know that voting has been a point of contention since the very beginning…..first only free white guys could vote and then it was only white guys and 3/5s for the Afro-Americans…..women were still left out of the process and then slowly the light came on and women were eventually granted the right to vote in 1920……that left one group that were left out of the process, the Native Americans and after much to do they were granted the right in 1924…now the stage was set for a fair and equitable vote, right? Not so much the Afro-Americans and Native Americans were still bound by state law that could prevent them from voting a various assorted ways……and then came the Civil Rights Act and finally it was a more equitable process. (A very simplistic history of the voting rights……if further data is wanted then put your Google finger to work)…….
Everything progressed rather smoothly until there was allegations of rampant voter fraud (a made up issue, btw) and this gave rise to many state laws that could be used to limit the vote…all in the name of stamping out voter fraud……to this day I still do not have a good reason that limited polling stations or hours or early registration will control voter fraud (I guess I will just have to accept their doings….not really)……
Then of course there was the SCOTUS ruling that gave billionaires unlimited access to the election process, Citizens United……in essence they could buy candidates and elections (not something the Founders would have wanted)…….while I was doing a little research on this matter I ran across a piece written by Jason Easley in Politicususa……
These are the thoughts of venture capitalist Tom Perkins…….
Perkins is terrified that rich may have to pay more taxes, “The fear is wealth tax, higher taxes, higher death taxes — just more taxes until there is no more 1%. And that that will creep down to the 5% and then the 10%.”
The idea that millionaires should get one million votes is already something that is being put into practice by wealthy conservatives. Citizens United has given wealthy billionaires the opportunity to buy votes through anonymous super PACs, but the plan has met with mixed results. Super PACs have been very effective at the state, and in some cases, local level. They have also been effective in congressional districts. However, they have had poor results in Senate races, and were an absolute failure during the 2012 presidential election.
Perkins’ comments echo the mentality that the American people are up against. Super rich Republican supporters think that they are entitled to more democracy than the rest of us. They believe that democracy is a commodity that they can buy. The right wing billionaires really do believe the job creator stuff.
They think their money makes them better people than the rest of us. Their hatred of President Obama, and the “unwashed masses” who have elected him twice is real. The Koch brothers, Perkins, and others consider themselves to be at war for the country.
Tom Perkins laid it all on the table. The super rich right thinks that government should be theirs, and they are doing everything in their power to steal democracy away from we the people.
I do not understand all the concern for the loss of democracy (imagined or actual) and then in the same breath look for ways to keep people from voting (for whatever imaged reason)……
If you want a strong republic should not the answer be a stronger move to get more people involved in the voting process?
Any retort?
There has been a wealth of opinions on whether our right to vote is under assault from dark forces….it seems that some areas are being hit with all kinds of limitations…..I understand the concern about voter fraud….although I cannot say that I can find a report that states that it is a nationwide problem but that is that….my problem is where does limiting voting spots or times or some such help prevent voter fraud? And why is it seem to be a problem only in states with GOP control?
Anyway there has been a report about the voting across the US………
Voting is one of the critical ways for citizens to voice their opinions and desires to leaders and express their will for the direction of the country. But while voting is the crucial bedrock of a healthy democracy, citizens’ access to voting varies considerably within the states where elections are the most hotly contested.
With election administration delegated to officials and boards in more than 3,000 counties and localities in the United States, the ease with which one exercises his or her right to vote can depend on where he or she lives. Not only do state voting laws differ across the nation, even within a state, county-based election administration varies widely.
This report evaluates the election performance of counties in the 17 states that had the smallest margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in 2012. This analysis allows us to better understand how well the election process is working within a state, and will hopefully encourage state and local officials to consider how they can improve the voting experience for their citizens.
IMO, there should be a push to get MORE people to vote than ones that seem to limit who can vote…..but thenb there is always an agenda when dealing with politicians…..right?
I know that many organizations are trying to push back on what they see as infringements on the rights of the voter….and today there was a piece of good news for them and their agenda……
A nearly 2-year-old requirement that almost all of Pennsylvania’s 8.2 million voters must show photo identification before casting a ballot was struck down today by a state judge, setting the stage for a courtroom showdown before the state’s highest court. Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard L. McGinley, a Democrat, said the law would unreasonably burden the fundamental right to vote, and the state had been unable to convincingly explain why it was necessary. “Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal,” McGinley wrote in his 103-page ruling. The law, one of the strictest in the nation, was signed by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in March 2012 over the protests of every single Democratic lawmaker in Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature. Enforcement of the law has been blocked by court orders pending resolution of the constitutional challenge. Both sides had vowed to appeal a negative decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. At a 12-day trial, the plaintiffs including the NAACP, the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, and Philadelphia’s Homeless Advocacy Project emphasized problems in processing and distributing a new voting-only ID card available for free to voters who lack other acceptable IDs. They said dozens of registered voters who applied for those cards before the 2012 election did not receive them before ballots were cast.
This will be the precedence cited with any further attempts to block what they see as an infringement on the rights of Americans, all Americans, to vote……
And the situation goes on……….
A new year…..new laws……
We all bitch about the amount of laws that are passed every year…..laws that we are obligated to obey as part of our contract with the state……a social contract if you will……but 2014 will be an incredible year especially with the new laws that we must…….
Let me list a few that should be interesting to watch…….
Most of the 40,000 new state, federal, and local laws that took effect at midnight on 1 January, are pretty dull but there are some doozies in there—including the legalization of recreational pot in Colorado, where over-21s will be able to walk into stores and buy weed for recreational toking. Other highlights, as per the Atlantic and Time:
Just a few…..and the more interesting of the lot……there are more…..lots more……but space does not permit me to elaborate……and besides….I just don’t wanna to go on……
College of Political Knowledge
Subject: Voting
Today’s focus is on politics in general in the US. One of our fundamental rights is the right to vote and it appears to be under attack. These days there is a lot of debate about voting and voting rights. Even if you deny the attack on voter rights you have to be aware of the game played to insure a certain outcome to an election…..that game/tactic is the one we call gerrymandering.
For those not sure what the term actually means…….
…….a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan advantaged districts. The resulting district is known as a gerrymander.
In addition to its use achieving desired electoral results for a particular party, gerrymandering may be used to help or hinder a particular demographic, such as a political, ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious, or class group, such as in U.S. federal voting district boundaries that produce a majority of constituents representative of African-American or other racial minorities, known as “majority-minority districts”.
There are two techniques for the act of gerrymandering……these are packing….this is when a minority is in a few districts so that they can elect only a small number of representatives…..and then there is stacking…..minorities are spread thin across many districts so that they can elect NO one……
If you understand the definition then you can understand what is being done…..it is an attempt to create a foolproof win for a particular party. Do not get me wrong…..I am not blaming one party over another…..this is a process that is done after each census…..about every ten years or so. And both parties are guilty.
But when did this process begin……was it an original part of the government from the beginning?
To answer the question simply……
The word gerrymander (originally written Gerry-mander) was used for the first time in the Boston Gazette on 26 March 1812. The word was created in reaction to a redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under the then-governor Elbridge Gerry. In 1812, Governor Gerry signed a bill that redistricted Massachusetts to benefit his Democratic-Republican Party.
It was said the the re-drawn districts had the shape of a salamander….ergo Gerry after the gov and mander from the salamander and it has ever since been known as Gerry-Mander.
This is nothing, serves NO purpose other than making a loss proof district for politicians…..and in today’s country used to make it harder for some voters to elect a desired representative……it has NO socially redeeming qualities….it has out lived its usefulness, at least in my mind…..but then I am not a bottom feeding politician……time for it to GO! As a matter of fact it is time for the whole electoral college con to go (that is a post for another day)……..
Let me close with one simple statement……..Remember when the voter pick its candidates….well gerrymandering has made it possible for the candidate to pick his/her voter!
With the upcoming 2014 elections, the mid-terms, you can bet that this subject will get lots of air time….all the debate, the lies, the truths, that head scratching……
I am not a big fan of Politifact….I think their grading system kinda sucks…..something is either true or false….a lie is a lie….no matter how you try to spin it….a lie is a lie!
But this will give my readers an idea of where the debate on voter suppression is at……..at least for now.
Oh My God! You have got to watch this vid…..this guy tells all! Try dodging the question now.
There seems to be more going on than this BS issue of voter fraud……most of the laws are being used to limit the people that vote….we need to keep this in the news as much as possible….
Everyone in this country should know that if you are an American citizen and are at least 18 years of age then you have the right to vote………….even after the Conserv court tried to gut the Voter Rights Act….we still have the right to vote….the problem is some states are trying to make it all but impossible for some residents to exercise the right to vote……..North Carolina comes to mind and their attempt to suppress voters………
Here is their (North Carolina) attempt to basically decide who can vote……..
- Implementing a strict voter ID requirement that bars citizens who don’t have a proper photo ID from casting a ballot.
- Eliminating same-day voter registration, which allowed residents to register at the polls.
- Cutting early voting by a full week.
- Increasing the influence of money in elections by raising the maximum campaign contribution to $5,000 and increasing the limit every two years.
- Making it easier for voter suppression groups like True The Vote to challenge any voter who they think may be ineligible by requiring that challengers simply be registered in the same county, rather than precinct, of those they challenge.
- Vastly increasing the number of “poll observers” and increasing what they’re permitted to do. In 2012, ThinkProgress caught the Romney campaign training such poll observers using highly misleading information.
- Only permitting citizens to vote in their specific precinct, rather than casting a ballot in any nearby ward or election district. This can lead to widespread confusion, particularly in urban areas where many precincts can often be housed in the same building.
- Barring young adults from pre-registering as 16- and 17-year-olds, which is permitted by current law, and repealing a state directive that high schools conduct voter registration drives in order to boost turnout among young voters.
- Prohibiting some types of paid voter registration drives, which tend to register poor and minority citizens.
- Dismantling three state public financing programs, including the landmark program that funded judicial elections.
- Weakening disclosure requirements for outside spending groups.
- Preventing counties from extending polling hours in the event of long lines or other extraordinary circumstances and making it more difficult for them to accommodate elderly or disabled voters with satellite polling sites at nursing homes, for instance.
Take a close look at these changes proposed to the voting in North Carolina…….if it is successful then we will see a form of this bill in every Red state…….this is an attempt to decide who can vote….there will be many on the Right that will hit on the theme of voter fraud……I will agree with voter ID as long as every voter is issued the same ID…….the rest are nothing short of voter suppression….well an attempt and we will have to see how it plays out……
I have heard all the preserving the integrity of the institution of voting argument…….but if ONE qualified voter is kept from voting…then integrity is gone and it is a failed argument……..and conservs would be screaming the loudest if this was being attempted in a Blue state……….