Voter suppresion/"stealing the election" megathread

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1306380359647612928

I hope this man rots in prison

[ChrisMcDanielWasRobbed]

Voter Suppression is a dem myth. Big city election fraud is the reality.

[Ferguson97]

Voter Suppression is a dem myth. Big city election fraud is the reality.

Imagine unironically citing PragerU.

[Virginiá]

Voter Suppression is a dem myth. Big city election fraud is the reality.

[...]

Unsurprisingly, the first video you posted tried to frame the entire debate on Republican voter suppression as voter ID, which has always been a policy that sounds sensible but can easily be harmful if crafted in a way to minimize participation.

This is the thing, ya'll make videos like this either because you have no idea about the other laws Republicans pass, or you do, but don't care, because you're trying to win an argument by redefining it around an issue you feel you can win on.

Here's what voter suppression actually looks like:

Absentee ballots that contain any errors whatsoever are thrown out, despite having the capability to fix and verify corrections

Massive voter purges, sometimes close to elections, and sometimes purging tens of thousands of valid, still living voters

Inter-state Crosscheck Program to identify voters registered in two different localities gets it wrong over 99% of the time (by design, by only matching very limited and common data), and Republican legislatures continued to support it nonetheless, because it removed lower income and non-white voters from rolls more disproportionately.

Corrupt Republicans (Kemp) abuse their executive authority and arrest politicians who dare to win elections

TN laws criminalize minor mistakes in voter registration drives in effort to depress the ability of activists to register voters.

Florida bans early voting centers on heavily Democratic university campuses, despite some campuses being larger than towns and cities that have their own early voting. Note that after a judge overturned this ban, the GOP once again tried to short-circuit early voting on campuses by mandating a certain level of parking spaces required that they knew universities would not have.

Onerous rules on voter registration in states like Texas make it very difficult to hold registration drives, such as by requiring training classes (that are held only once a month, county-specific), and by requiring canvassers to be deputized.

States propose fines for voter registration groups that submit incomplete forms to state, but often require all forms to be submitted as-is, penalizing workers for something they have no control over.

Kansas requires proof of citizenship (birth cert, passport, etc) to register to vote, leading to huge drop in voter registrations because many people, especially students, do not have those documents on hand

NC GOP requests data on voting by minorities, then passes bill to cut services and restrict IDs used disproportionately by minorities.

Where to even start with this one?

In particular, the court found that North Carolina lawmakers requested data on racial differences in voting behaviors in the state. "This data showed that African Americans disproportionately lacked the most common kind of photo ID, those issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)," the judges wrote.

So the legislators made it so that the only acceptable forms of voter identification were the ones disproportionately used by white people. "With race data in hand, the legislature amended the bill to exclude many of the alternative photo IDs used by African Americans," the judges wrote. "The bill retained only the kinds of IDs that white North Carolinians were more likely to possess."

North Carolina Republicans also tried cut same-day voter registration and early voting.

Funny, Republicans were so strict on voter ID, but didn't mandate any ID for absentee ballots, which at the time were disproportionately used by older, more Republican-leaning white voters. Hmm!

Republicans take over Wisconsin and immediately go to work ending early voting on weekends and limiting to one voting center per municipality, even if they have many more people. Gee, I wonder what counties that was targeted at?

Ohio Republicans vote to end "golden week" where voters could register to vote and early vote at same time for a week. Surprise, surprise. It's almost like they wanted to depress turnout or something.

Southern U.S. states have closed 1,200 polling places in recent years: rights group

Alabama mandates voter ID, but then tries to close DMVs in majority black counties. If you're going to mandate voter ID, you can't make it difficult to get IDs at the same time and still claim to care about election integrity.

Florida cuts early voting days/hours prior to 2012 election, causes hours-long waits

Underfunded election services leads to long lines in minority-majority precincts

Republicans undermine Prop 3 approved by voters, weaken same-day registration by only allowing at one location per county, often not staffed nearly well enough to credibly offer service.

Prosecutions of voters for honest mistakes What a great way to inspire confidence in the system. IF a voter is not eligible to vote, the burden should be on the state to not let them register and/or not let them cast a ballot.


----


I honestly don't have the time even to list all the instances of voter suppression over the past 10 years, let alone 5. It's so, sooo much more than voter ID. Modern day voter suppression is all about changing the rules, no matter how seemingly insignificant, to gain any little advantage you can. Voter ID is just a drop in the bucket, and it's hardly even the most important issue.

And further, to address that video, even if minorities vote at higher rates DESPITE increasing levels of restrictions and attempts to depress turnout, that does not bolster the conservative line. All that means is that people are pushing back against voting restrictions and organizing their people to vote in spite of it.

[Badger]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1306380359647612928

I hope this man rots in prison

New Jersey?!? LOL! He's not even a competent cheater! What does he think this is going to accomplish? Possibly re-elect Jeff Van Drew?

[Non Swing Voter]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/17/pennsylvania-mail-ballot-deadline-extended-417044

Pennsylvania Supreme Court extends state's mail ballot deadline

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/FiveThirtyEight/status/1306669120684003331

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/chrisjohnson82/status/1307041540796297217

[It’s so Joever]

https://twitter.com/chrisjohnson82/status/1307041540796297217

...Wait was this said right before RBG died?

[Bootes Void]

https://twitter.com/chrisjohnson82/status/1307041540796297217

...Wait was this said right before RBG died?

Im not sure if this was before but Trump probably knew for a couple days that RBG was going to die.

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/hollyotterbein/status/1308076165614231552

[GeorgiaModerate]

Georgians who have completed their felony sentences but still owe money for restitution, fees and court costs are eligible to vote, according to a notice recently posted on the secretary of state’s website.

Felons still must pay off fines that are part of their court-ordered sentences before they can re-register to vote.

The clarification of voting rights for former criminals comes before Georgia’s Oct. 5 voter registration deadline, enabling them to participate in the presidential election.

https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-election-officials-say-ex-felons-can-vote-while-paying-debts/3YHUKB5MHFGP7POBNZFDXIWBTE/

This is a lighter restriction than Florida's, which requires ex-felons to have paid off all fines, fees and restitution.

[Splash]

https://twitter.com/srl/status/1308146573247905792

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/TheNVIndy/status/1308087124902785024

Trump sure is losing a lot of election-rated court battles for someone who talks about the courts stepping in to declare him the winner on Nov. 3.

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/redistrict/status/1308434599832322049

[Badger]

https://twitter.com/redistrict/status/1308434599832322049

This Beyond sucks

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

More (very incoherent) commentary from Donald Trump on judges, ballots and the election. (The summary makes it sound more coherent than it is.)

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1308533347245871105

[The Other Castro]

https://twitter.com/MaryCaitlinByrd/status/1308890968461107203

[Buzz]

https://twitter.com/breaking911/status/1309190623707246595?s=21

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/TimAlberta/status/1309200651231076354

Wait for more information before jumping to conclusions.

[Gass3268]

DOJ pulled the release:

https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman/status/1309221721963204610?s=20

[Granite City]

DOJ pulled the release:

https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman/status/1309221721963204610?s=20

It's here now: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/revised-statement-us-attorney-freed-inquiry-reports-potential-issues-mail-ballots

[Crumpets]

Trump voters can't figure out how to properly send in a ballot. Sad!

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

Trump voters can't figure out how to properly send in a ballot. Sad!

Trump found out that they were from wounded soldiers, and didn't want their votes. Not good!

[Gass3268]

Yeah, looks like it was a training issue.

https://twitter.com/jamiedupree/status/1309277949389164549?s=20

https://twitter.com/TimAlberta/status/1309290030347808770?s=20