Originally published at: Republicans Persist In Newest Voter Suppression Fad Despite Evidence That It Hurts Their Constituents Too
Then-candidate Donald Trump and his Republican congressional allies fixated on the great “threat” of noncitizen voting in the 2024 campaigns. Despite copious research showing that this type of voter fraud is extremely rare, it was the election conspiracy theory du jour — out with bamboo fibers, magical voting machines and ballots in dumpsters, in with…
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For DJT, the vow to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God” is quaint. I say that to ignore such a vow is an impeachable offense.
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Australia makes voting mandatory. It changes the discussion. The Trumpier opposition has tried to raise this issue with alarming statements over recent years, but most people are worried more about being fined for not voting. About 80 million adults in the US do not vote. That’s a third of the potential voter pool. Of course, you should have a right not to vote on principle, and in Australia, you can even get an official waiver or just submit a blank ballot. But it is an important feature of civil democracy, and everybody needs to be aware of that.
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“I don’t think the Republican Party of 15 years ago would have pursued the SAVE Act in its current form because it would have recognized that it prevents a lot of people who would vote Republican regularly from voting.
That one sentence says all you need to know about this righteous effort. They have no concern about improving and securing the process, their only objective is to tilt the playing field.
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While standing back and gazing, aghast, at the dismantling of democracy in the US, I’ve done some homework… things I always sort of knew but never thought about… on how Canada has built its democratic institutions. Consider citizenship. We built our robust system almost by accident.
Canada has birthright citizenship.
Every Canadian citizen and legal resident has a unique government ID (Social Insurance Number, or SIN, equivalent to a Social Security number) that continuously tracks interactions with government over a lifetime – income tax records and reporting for employment income, investment income, tax-sheltered retirement savings plans and activity, pension contributions and payments, employment insurance. The system was introduced in 1964, and I applied for mine two years later at sixteen when I got my first summer job. The number sequence identifies the province where you were born. New Canadians – immigrants, refugees, legal permanent residents, naturalized citizens – have a different sequence of numbers. Citizenship is established at birth, and follows a person everywhere. Records are secure and confidential. All that’s required to change a woman’s name is a marriage certificate, the identity and citizenship are continuous.
Voting rights disaster (we don’t have one) averted. Whew.
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Once you’re admitted as the 51st state you’ll be treated to all the joys you’ve been missing.
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This entire theory is frankly insulting. The premise that someone can hop on to the voter registration rolls in the first place without establishing their citizenship is ridiculous. But then again, it’s the GQP/ALEC/the remaining Koch brother et al. who want an authoritarian in charge of this country. Nah gunna happen.
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Facts, logic, and common sense are anathema to MAGA / GQP. Fear mongering elicits an emotional response that overrides any reasoned argument.
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But it’s ‘unlikely’ he’ll use military force to annex us, so we can just say no, right? Right?
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It seems to me that with the Australian mandatory voting law even if you don’t vote and get fined, or show up and cast a blank ballot you’re still participating.
The only question I have is how does this system deal with older folks, and people with cognitive disabilities? I’m sure they have some system to opt out without getting fined.
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So my second question is this, is the SAVE act something a voter has to deal with every time they vote? Or is just at changing one’s registration? Either way is Act ends up costing a voter time and money to make sure that they are incompliance.
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It’s telling that when asked if he’d uphold the Constitution, he said he had some real good lawyers.
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Sure. Here in the U S of A, we would get lots of folks who would vote for joke candidates, out of pure cussedness. Elderly, disabled, nonsighted, mentally-challenged folks might have some difficulties. People without a mailing address could be in trouble (take that, state of Washington).
There would immediately be lawsuits, comparing the non-voting fine to a poll tax, long ago called illegal and unconstitutional.
Forcing people to make choices for candidates and issues they know and care nothing about, particularly if they’re compelled to show up at some inconvenient place and time to do it, is a nonstarter.
Much less the maganuts’ fervently held belief that all one needs to do is get off a Mexican bus at a polling station, walk in, and vote. Over and over and over and over. No checking of any “voter registration roll” or anything.
Truly, it’s as if these people have never voted themselves. Never seen a ballot, which is keyed to their particular precinct ONLY. Never served as a poll worker, where each table must be staffed by members of both major parties as a check.
One would think every member of Congress would know better. And I am sure that they actually do.
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Or, for that matter, that someone who’s in this country without legal status would choose to go anywhere near a polling station or any other government entity if they could avoid it. “Keep a low profile, stay out of trouble” is the lifestyle there.
Santa Cruz county has a north/south split. Northern side is more Anglo upper middle class, southern side is agricultural work. You can tell by the behavior on the roads. North county drivers are usually 5-10 MPH above the posted speed limit, south county drivers are 5-10 MPH below it.
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Though the Koch brother seems to be having a severe case of buyer’s remorse with this authoritarian that he enabled.
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This is right out of the GOP 101 training class that they must be giving to all aspiring officials in their party: manufacture a faux outrage, scream about it loudly, and use the resulting distraction to implement the genuine outrage that you want to disguise. If you can blame Democrats, that’s a cherry on top.
This hasn’t changed since Nixon. Rove perfected the tactic. The press still acts as if they are seeing it the first time.
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I’ve been a mandatory voting fan for years. The EJ Dionne book 100% democracy that came out a fee years ago makes the case for it to improve and save our democracy. Yes Americans can be stubborn cranky about doing things but with a nudge getting to say 76% is possible maybe with a none of the above option.
Imagine getting turnout to the point where we don’t have to watch and rely on a Kornacki obsess on his vaulted map, while the fate of democracy hinges on say the 5th district in Pennsylvania.
I’m also big on automatic registration, you turn 18 and you’re naturalized it’s done.
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It often seems as though many congresscritters, especially on the R side of the aisle, never took a high school civics class and couldn’t pass the citizenship test required of new citizens.