Is Voter Suppression A Problem?

haymarket said:

I have already stated my complete support for authorities getting rid of dead people on election rolls. Why was this not done?

Was there a crime declared by the authorities in charge of elections?

Was there a prosecution?

Was there a conviction?

Do you have both a numerator and a denominator?

How do you know this was not merely an error?

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I know it's hard for liberals to understand but when people can vote without identifying themselves, how do you find them to prosecute? Do dead people vote in error often? How do dead people mail in absentee ballots? Why do liberals want all voting to be done by mail-in ballots?

In the 2000 election, the media announced Al Gore's win before all the polls had closed. When voters in line heard it was a done deal they left. Ooops. Darn. But, that was voter suppression that worked. I've wondered if having elections on a weekday, when some people work, might be intended as voter suppression. When I was working, I was required to vote where I lived. The polls would open at seven so I would try to vote before I went to work. In the evening, there were always long lines. The sad part was that the room next to my office was a polling station but I couldn't vote there.

If I wanted to increase voter turnout I'd have the election on a Sunday. Of course, voter turnout is not as much of an interest as is anonymous voting, keeping dead people and foreign nationals registered to vote, and cheering Melowese Richardson for her very, very early release from prison.

Patrickt said:

I know it's hard for liberals to understand but when people can vote without identifying themselves, how do you find them to prosecute? Do dead people vote in error often? How do dead people mail in absentee ballots? Why do liberals want all voting to be done by mail-in ballots?

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Why do Republicans want to purge people from the rolls based, in Ohio for example, on whether or not they voted in the last 6 years rather than criteria - that establish a person as verifiably dead- such as death certificates, knowing full well that they're erasing thousands and thousands of living people? The problem isn't that Democrats oppose efforts to remove dead people from the rolls. We don't. We just know through repeated experience that Republicans cannot resist the temptation to use dead people voting as a smokescreen for voter suppression.

Patrickt said:

I know it's hard for liberals to understand but when people can vote without identifying themselves, how do you find them to prosecute? Do dead people vote in error often? How do dead people mail in absentee ballots? Why do liberals want all voting to be done by mail-in ballots?

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Can you answer your own questions since they are your concerns?

Painter said:

The people voting "no" really offend me.
The reason why is because you can not possibly think it isn't a problem. You just say it is not a problem because you like the fact that it helps your side.

Well... being OK with it because it benefits you... is not the same thing as it not being a problem.
You people are dishonest and intellectually dishonest.
And I am ashamed to have to share air with you, not to mention a Country.

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Guess what. I couldn't care less if you're offended by my vote. The whining like it's so hard to get a government issued photo id is a bunch of BS.

Harshaw said:

Not voter FRAUD, but voter SUPPRESSION.

Yes, or no?

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I'm going to assume you mean voter suppression as Wikipedia describes it:

wikipedia said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression

Voter suppression is alleged to be a strategy to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing people from exercising the right to vote. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting behavior by changing the opinions of potential voters through persuasion and organization. Voter suppression, instead, attempts to reduce the number of voters who might vote against a candidate or proposition advocated by the suppressors.

The tactics of voter suppression can range from minor dirty tricks that make voting inconvenient, to illegal activities that physically intimidate prospective voters to prevent them from casting ballots. Voter suppression could be effective if a significant amount of voters are intimidated or disenfranchised.[1]

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If so, then I will respond with the following:

I think voter suppression is a problem. Preventing it from occurring is extremely important, which means wee should constantly be watching for instances of it.

That said, I do not know whether it is a current problem, although I have heard of some potential issues in North Carolina recently.

jamesrage said:

That just sounds like it is begging for voter fraud to happen. Hows does the election board know if it is you who actually marked the ballot and sent it in? Do you sign your name on the ballots and the election takes your signature to hand writting experts to verify if the signature is authentic? Does the postman check your ID and watch you mark the ballot? No wonder why Commie-fornia is the land of fruits and nuts.

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Well, if you can find serious instances of voter fraud in California, then by all means lets hear it. But don't worry, the most important state in the Union and the 6th largest economy on the planet doesn't need your brand of willfully and gleefully ignorant brand of conservatism here. See, California has nation-state sized issues. It's a global power all by itself. And it ain't because of retarded Kansas style trickle down crap.

But paranoia plays well with yokels. You know, like you.

Mathematician said:

Guess what. I couldn't care less if you're offended by my vote. The whining like it's so hard to get a government issued photo id is a bunch of BS.

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I will be polite and just call this your lack of knowledge. But this has little to do with voter ID's.

Try voting in a Red area of Florida. Your wait is between 1 second and 30 minutes.
Go to a blue section of Florida and your wait could be over 7 hours. I think it will be much much worse this year. Our Governor is a crook.

I keep seeing people say that they don't oppose removing verifiable dead people from the voter roles, and I believe they are sincere in that, as far as that goes. But, how will this be done? Realistically.

How will the registrar's office know that a person has died? They won't just automatically know. Is someone expected to tell them? Ok, who? The family? Will a death certificate be automatically sent to the registrar? Will the registrar's office then crosscheck records? What happens if the person dies in another jurisdiction? Some other method? Will extra staff be required? Who's going to pay for this?

I'm open to ideas. Maybe there is a reasonable and rational and EFFECTIVE method and I am just not aware of it. But, until then, I see auto-purging after x-number of years of non-participation as the best and most efficient method. I would propose 5 or 6 years, but no more than 10 years.

Opopanax said:

Well, if you can find serious instances of voter fraud in California, then by all means lets hear it. But don't worry, the most important state in the Union and the 6th largest economy on the planet doesn't need your brand of willfully and gleefully ignorant brand of conservatism here. See, California has nation-state sized issues. It's a global power all by itself. And it ain't because of retarded Kansas style trickle down crap.

But paranoia plays well with yokels. You know, like you.

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Seeing how ballots are anonymous you can't prove or disprove voter fraud.

Harshaw said:

Not voter FRAUD, but voter SUPPRESSION.

Yes, or no?

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There should almost, not always but almost always be an other option.
My answer would still be yes though because we have seen evidence of this having an at least known and visible impact.

But why there needs to be an other even suppressing ONE vote in the whole country IS a problem, its just not a large problem. Its like asking if bank robberies are a problem. Not really but of course every single one is.

Here in Texas there are always 4 volunteers, 2 from each party, at each polling place. They run a tight ship.

Was collecting signatures on an anti voter suppression initiative at a rally yesterday (this one: https://ballotpedia.org/Nevada_Automatic_Voter_Registration_Initiative_(2018) ). We got Bill Clinton to talk about voter suppression for a bit. Was pretty cool.



But yeah, I think voter suppression is a real problem.

The voter suppression that exists is put on only by the "suppressed" voters themselves. There is absolutely no way to stop any legal citizen from voting. It only takes a little bit of effort on the voters' part.

Some have mentioned here that there are certain districts (either red or blue) in which waiting lines are so long that voters decide to not vote. While I agree that too long of a wait will turn voters away it is not suppressing any voters. It is a result of irresponsibility of those in charge of voting in those districts. I think waiting more than an hour to vote is unacceptable and the voters need to speak up.

Anyone complaining that they themselves have been suppressed from voting need to grow up and accept some personal responsibility.