| WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ | |
 http://csua.com/feed/ | |
| ||||||
| 12/24 |
| 2004/9/22 [Politics/Domestic/California] UID:33691 Activity:high |
9/22 Millions of voters disenfranchised:
http://csua.org/u/95p (Reuters, by way of Yahoo News)
"In elections in Baltimore in 2002 and in Georgia last year, black
voters were sent fliers saying anyone who hadn't paid utility bills
or had outstanding parking tickets or were behind on their rent
would be arrested at polling stations." and
"In a mayoral election in Philadelphia last year, people pretending
to be plainclothes police officers stood outside some polling
stations asking people to identify themselves. There have also been
reports of mysterious people videotaping people waiting in line to
vote in black neighborhoods."
WTF? If you want to win an election, do it on the basis of a strong
candidate, not these asinine gestapo tactics.
\_ Fliers? Post one. Let's see it. Pretending to be police? This
is hearsay. Got video? Mysterious people? With cameras? Maybe
they were tourists from one of your favorite socialist countries
who came here to learn how to run an election. If you want to win
an election, do it on the basis of a strong candidate, not by
putting forged documents on the air as news.
\_ It's ok, man, it's Reuters. Reuters is not a serious news
source.
\_ YOU ARE SO RIGHT. I ONLY TRUST RUSH LIMBAUGH AND FOX NEWS!!1!
\_ Wow. You went completely off the subject and started ranting
about socialism and the CBS memos within a couple of sentences.
Your troll fu is extremely weak.
\_ Photo ID isn't required to vote? So what's to stop me from
showing up at different polling stations all day claiming to be
other people? ...Oh, right. That's why the Dems are against
photo ID...
\_ Troll. The republicans have just as much opportunity to cast
frauduant votes. Requiring photo ID disenfranchises transients
and makes it a whole lot easier to intimidate voters.
Can you honestly say you don't think it will be used to
intimidate minority voters in the south?
\_ Troll. Let's not bother with voter registration, since we're
not interested in verifying anything anyway. Just let
everybody vote, including non-citizens and illegal aliens, as
many times as they wish.
\_ This bugs me every time I go to vote. I agree it's a small thing
to ask for, and it's a fine preventative. -op
\_ There's a difference between a friendly request for ID by
a polling station operator, and a police officer intimidating
people at the door, and you guys know it.
\_ Huh? I didn't say anything about officers at the
door. I'm not sure I even believe that. It just
mentions in the article that photo ID is not required
to vote, which I have issue with.
\_ But if it is required, you'll have some places where a
cop is standing at the door and an off-duty cop is
manning the polling station and ID'ing people.
\_ We probably have that now. Just with out the
guy ID'ing people. Really man, you're against
IDing people before they vote?
\_ If ID'ing could be done with no bad consequences,
I have no problem, but I'm fairly certain it will
disenfranchise minorities and the poor.
\_ I have a hard time believing there are
that many people who don't have ID. And
I think leaving the door blatantly open
to voter fraud is a little stupid.
\_ Not that many people don't have ID, but
quite a few people don't trust the gov't
enough to show ID to a cop before voting.
\_ Cops are not part of the voting process,
with the exception of those who are off-
duty and volunteering to work the polls.
There's no reason for a cop to check your
ID before you vote. There's plenty of
reason for a poll worker to check your ID
against the list of registered voters.
\_ What could a cop do with your photo
ID that he couldn't do with your
name and address on the sheet in
front of him? That's bordering on
paranoia. I don't think it's
unreasonable to think that if you're
that nuts, I'm not too worried about
you getting your vote.
\_ And no ID'ing allows felons to vote. Well shit.
\_ Well, that's a whole 'nother subject. I
personally think it's unfair to take away
felon's right to vote, but I won't debate
that here. Make another thread if you want.
\_ Ilya, I moved your reply into a seperate
thread. Don't go all hissy-fit on us now
\_ Why are leftists so concerned about felon's right to vote but not
to own a gun?
\_ Because a dangerous person can't kill more people by voting. |
| 12/24 |
|
| csua.org/u/95p -> story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=584&e=1&u=/nm/20040922/pl_nm/campaign_vote_dc All Election Coverage The largest category of those legally disenfranchised consists of almost 5 million former felons who have served prison sentences and been deprived of the right to vote under laws that have roots in the post-Civil War 19th century and were aimed at preventing black Americans from voting. But millions of other votes in the 2000 presidential election were lost due to clerical and administrative errors while civil rights organizations have cataloged numerous tactics aimed at suppressing black voter turnout. Polls consistently find that black Americans overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. "There are individuals and officials who are actively trying to stop people from voting who they think will vote against their party and that nearly always means stopping black people from voting Democratic," said Mary Frances Berry, head of the US Commission on Human Rights. Vicky Beasley, a field officer for People for the American Way, listed some of the ways voters have been "discouraged" from voting. "In elections in Baltimore in 2002 and in Georgia last year, black voters were sent fliers saying anyone who hadn't paid utility bills or had outstanding parking tickets or were behind on their rent would be arrested at polling stations. In a mayoral election in Philadelphia last year, people pretending to be plainclothes police officers stood outside some polling stations asking people to identify themselves. There have also been reports of mysterious people videotaping people waiting in line to vote in black neighborhoods. Minority voters may be deterred from voting simply by election officials demanding to see drivers' licenses before handing them a ballot, according to Spencer Overton, who teaches law at George Washington University. The federal government does not require people to produce a photo identification unless they are first-time voters who registered by mail. "African Americans are four to five times less likely than whites to have a photo ID," Overton said at a recent briefing on minority disenfranchisement. Courtenay Strickland of the Americans Civil Liberties Union testified to the US Commission on Civil Rights last week that at a primary election in Florida last month, many people were wrongly turned away when they could not produce identification. web sites) won a bitterly disputed election in 2000 by 537 votes, black voters had been 10 times more likely than non-black voters to have their ballots rejected and were often prevented from voting because their names were erroneously purged from registration lists. Additionally, Florida is one of 14 states that prohibit ex-felons from voting. Seven percent of the electorate but 16 percent of black voters in that state are disenfranchised. In other swing states, 46 percent of voters in Iowa, but 25 percent of blacks, were disenfranchised in 2000 as ex-felons. In Nevada, it was 48 percent of all voters but 17 percent of blacks; in New Mexico, 62 percent of all voters but 25 percent of blacks. In total, 13 percent of all black men are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, according to the Commission on Civil Rights. "This has a huge effect on elections but also on black communities which see their political clout diluted. No one has yet explained to me how letting ex-felons who have served their sentences into polling booths hurts anyone," said Jessie Allen of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Penda Hair, co-director of the Advancement Project, which seeks to ensure fair multiracial elections, recently reported that registrars across the country often claimed not to have received voter registration forms or rejected them for technical reasons that could have been corrected easily before voting day if the applicant had known there was a problem. Beasley said that many voters who had registered recently in swing states were likely to find their names would not be on the rolls when they showed up on Election Day. "There is very widespread delay in the swing states because there have been massive registration drives among minorities and those applications are not being processed quickly enough," she said. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. |