turning away voters

[bignick]

grandfather clause? literacy tests? things of the past...of course...

doesn't mean people still don't try..the more i read the more disenfranchised i become with this government..

I found this story about tactics used to turn away or intimidate people into not voting.

 

[shesulsa]

As I said in the thread on biting...

...grrrrrr.....CHOMP!!!!!......p-tooey....

 

[Makalakumu]

grandfather clause? literacy tests? things of the past...of course...

doesn't mean people still don't try..the more i read the more disenfranchised i become with this government..

I found this story about tactics used to turn away or intimidate people into not voting.

Some have compared HAVA to the Jim Crowe laws. I'm not sure if its that extreme, but I can see many instances where it could disenfranchise voting groups. Most of the groups in question tend to vote Democrat...

 

[bignick]

it's disturbing to read of these types of activities this when we are supposedly past all this...

 

[shesulsa]

Alas, why many people don't vote - because of stories like this. And perhaps these are counted among the people who don't.

This is awful.

 

[Taimishu]

Its the grand old political game known as "rigging the vote".
The states is not the only country to do this and not even the worst.
In the UK the favorite way is to send out postal ballots so that you dont have time to fill them in and get them back in time, or to ban parking within a mile of the polling station.
In some Eastern countries (so Im told) you could be met with a gun to help you make up your mind.

David

 

[Xequat]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Ok, the idea that a felon can't vote is kind of backwards because they have served their sentences in jail already. Disallowing a person to vote is kind of a life sentence. On the other hand, this article read like an editorial. I think that maybe we should change the law, but the fact that the laws were followed to keep former felons out of the polls is not really illegal or shady. Also, be careful of the term "minority" becuase it usually doesn't apply to all minorities, just blacks and Hispanics. The term tends to leave out Japanese, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, etc. Make sure that it says "all minorites."


The article reads as though black voters were targeted, and they probably were. But in reality, the fact that "BLACKS' BALLOTS REJECTED" is the title of one section of the article leads people to believe that that was the problem, when in reality, it was the result of a different problem which is somewhat unfortunately legal.

On the other hand (OK I have three hands), it was not a secret that felons can't vote. Ignorance is not an excuse, as they say, so the felons should have known better. If they wanted to vote, then they shouldn't have committed felonies. Kind of a hard-line, unsympathetic viewpoint, but practical. Although, the ID thing and camping out voting polls to target peole who haven't paid their bills is some serious nonsense. Heh, at least let them vote first befoire you take them away. I mean, it makes sense to go to a place where you think that someone you're seeking might be, but you know where they'll be. I don't know how practical that is, but I don't think that not paying a bill is a felony, so they should be able to vote before being hauled away. What do you think?

 

[bignick]

they give these people these notices about being arrested at the polls to keep them away...not paying your lighting bill is not a felony...it's a scare tactic used to reduce the number of a demographic that usually votes against those that are currently in power...