Discussion for article #245777
the results thus far seems to confirm what the laws’ critics have often said.
Great, like the GOP needed any more encouragement.
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They already know it. That’s why they push for these laws.
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Voter ID laws adversely affected the turnout of minorities, and particularly that of Latinos.
“Surprise, surprise, surprise.”
— Gomer Pyle, 1964
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UC-San Diego + lead author’s last name is “Hajnal” = MSM totally ignores this or helps discredit it.
Guaranteed: “Yeah, of course it reduced the Latino turnout…because it stopped all the illegals from voting!!!”
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That’s exactly what I was thinking. I had hoped the article would give some indication of why these laws adversely affect minority voters.
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Yeah, unfortunately all this does is confirm what us big wild eyed crazy liberals already knew: that Republicans use big government to kick real democracy to the curb when they can’t win on their own merits. But the folks doing the real harm here (Republicans) will just wrap their own faux reality around it, play mental gymnastics to continue justifying it, or just ignore it entirely.
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national elections should have a single national standard. it is ridiculous to allow certain states to suppress a citizen’s right to vote in a national election!
if these “we just want the white folk” states what to adopt a different standard for state and local elections, let them hold those elections on a different day, at their own expense. (which I am certainly not advocating, BTW…)
come on, it’s f’'ing 2016 - what the f*ck is happening in this country?
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Mission accomplished.
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There are different reasons. Cost to obtain ID, transportation to offices issuing ID and a general lack in resources in order obtain said ID all play a factor.
Here’s one example where Alabama passed a voter ID law. Then, Alabama began closing DMV offices in certain areas. Guess which areas the DMVs began closing in.
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These laws also affect college students, the elderly and women who are often forced to cast provisional ballots that may or may not be counted in tallying vote totals (they often are not.)
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Of course stealing elections is the reason the GOP is behind these laws. But it is a really stupid tactic in the medium term that will eventually destroy the party.
Even with the blatant gerrymandering, the GOP is only just getting elected. And each election they have the same strategy - double down on the most reactionary, most racist parts of their base and suppress the Democratic vote. Every year their support base dwindles. It is a matter of when, not if they lose.
So what happens when they lose the House and Senate and a new civil rights act gets passed? There isn’t a Senate filibuster any more. Or at least whoever wins the trifecta next will abolish it. Harry Reid showed that could be done at any time. And once the gerrymander and the vote suppression are ended, the GOP ends up with a fifteen point penalty rather than a fifteen point advantage.
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And isn’t that the point?
Some guy in NH was on MSNBC was on air a bit ago protesting a new law there that requires people to get their picture taken at the polling places. His quote “these laws are dreamed up in conservative think tanks and are designed to stop students from voting.” You could tell he wanted to say, “assholes” but restrained himself.
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Remember, whenever you hear Republicans complaining about “voter fraud,” substitute the words “Negros voting” for “voter fraud.” That’s almost what they really mean.
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Certain states don’t believe in free and fair elections. They’ve arguably never believed in free and fair elections.
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Cartwheels and high fives all around at every GOP headquarters and for 5 partisan Republicans on the Supreme Court. How Clarence Thomas lives with himself, I will never know. I keep waiting for his black skin cells to rebel and attack his limited brain cells, but I guess they haven’t figured out how to yet.
On the plus side, a study like this should provide the perfect argument for courts to overturn these laws. Now we just need a Supreme Court majority that thinks targeted supression is a bad thing.
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I’m not sure why you think they need mental gymnastics to justify the law; for them, the study justifies the law.
And Republicans weighed in on the study, concluding that areas without strict photo ID laws experienced a 10% increase in illegal votes, thus buttressing the need for said laws to continue.
Without the most obvious solution-- a National Federally-issued ID card-- being allowed as a solution.
See some Republican policies do work!