Discussion for article #242805
Please tell me Alabama agreed to pay a fine too. I mean, these boys tried to fuck with The Franchise. There should be fines.
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Washington bureaucrats yet again impose their communist philosophy on the good people of Alabama. I ask you: What has the State of Alabama done to deserve this treatment? When has the State of Alabama ever done anything but protect the civil rights of each and everyone of its citizens without regard to race or creed?
OK. OK. Don’t answer that question.
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Secretary of State John Merrill acknowledged last month the state was not in compliance with the law, which was passed in 1993.
And then there’s this:
“We commend the state of Alabama for working quickly and cooperatively with the department to ensure that eligible Alabama citizens can register to vote and update their registration information through motor vehicle agencies, with the convenience they deserve and the ease of access the law requires.”
As watchers of Sesame Street know all too well…one of these things is not like the other…
1993 is Alabammy’s way of working quickly so citizens can register to vote??? Un-fucking-believable.
And it won’t have near the impact as DoJ’s Civil Rights Division would like if those 31 SoS offices in predominantly black communities remain closed either…They need to protect those citizens as well and allow them to register close to home instead of being forced to travel long distances to get their licenses and registration on the record.
The DoJ will probably give in to excuse after excuse imo at the pace of transition. I didn’t see any time limit on full compliance, so what’s to stop Alabama from slow-walking this order?
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This seems like pretty weak sauce to me. The voter ID laws stands, and the DMVs in largely black counties stay closed. Basically the got Alabama to agree to actually process those few black that register to vote, in a timely manner. But the fact that its still a HUGE barrier to get somewhere to actually register is still in place.
EDIT: Ok, I see this is not about that particular issue, and is instead another lawsuit concerning the fact that they weren’t complying with the NVRA. So we are still awaiting word on what the DoJ is going to do concerning the DMV problem.
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Old times there are not forgotten
and really, really rotten
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Getting Alabama to agree to electronic driver/voter registration is truly a big deal. Let’s hope that DOJ insists on rapid compliance. Let’s also hope that state and national Democratic officials begin an active GOTV campaign to get the unregistered to a computer keyboard - even the reluctant ones!
This was not worth the effort. Fail.
I’m confused. Do they vote only on the motor, or the whole car?
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Fine them one million dollars a day for each and every day they have not been in compliance since the law was passed in 1993. Is that too much to ask, really? I mean it’s only been 22 years they have been ignoring the law. How in hell did the Feds let 'em get away with this for so long?
A “Memorandum of Understanding”… give me a break. That’s almost as forceful as a strongly worded letter. Alabama should be required to mount a massive public information campaign, television, radio, billboards, etc. Set up voter registration offices in every town with entertainment, hot dogs and balloons for the kiddies. Subtract $1000 off the fine for every citizen registered before November of next year.
/r
LD
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“If it’s legitimate compliance, the legislative body has ways to shut that whole thing down.”
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The state of Alabama agreed to integrate drivers license and voter registration forms after 20 years because they will now only have to do it in white counties, the only ones with DMV offices 
Its a small step. But what good does GOTV do if the requirements in Alabama is to have a valid driver’s license or State ID issued from a SoS’s office, and the mainly Democratic voters in the state are African-American voters that have to travel ungodly distances, some without vehicles to acquire those ID’s as a prerequisite in order to register?
I wouldn’t be surprised if those IDs had to be acquired in person and not allowed or enabled via computer request. The computer stuff is usually for people who already have a State ID or license and are just trying to renew what they already have.
Fucking conservative assholes trying to keep those people from voting…
We read this article differently. I assume that the ID’s will be mailed to the applicant as they are elsewhere; I also assume that the DOJ will monitor to make it so. And don’t forget that voter registration/ID are available thru every county’s registrar; I’m confident that the public buses that are heavily used by those without cars travel to every county’s seat. GOTV education/assistance is still the key to increasing the Democratic vote in Alabama and elsewhere.
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I hope you are right.
Me too.
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