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Not so much trying to be FRIST here, but to express my concern/disappointment in proposed opportunity for improvement for my compatriot Democrats around the nation–esp. those in control of various State Houses, Senates, and/or Governorships regarding this issue of voter suppression (esp. of BIPOC, (among) our strongest supporters).
As soon as the MAGAts express their outraged claims of (nearly) nonexistent voter fraud, I propose to point out that manufactured poutrage explicitly and THEN offer [snicker], “just to be fair ('n balanced?!)”, since we KNOW 
that historical racism couldn’t possibly have anything to do with your–again, non-existent concerns–here’s what we’ll do.
To ensure that ONLY LEGAL VOTERS can vote, we can–together and in a Broderella-approved, bipartisan way(!)–pass a law to give every eligible and legal voter who doesn’t already have one (Drivers License, Passport, NRA membership card, etc…) in “Our Great State (or Commonwealth)” a FREE GOVERNMENT-ISSUED VOTER ID to make sure no one’s disenfranchised–because, of course, THAT’S NOT your intention, right?–by responding to your, again, non-existent concern(s).
Now, I know you’ll complain about how expensive it’ll be–maybe even as much as one-tenth (hundredth?) of one percent of an increase in the state income tax rate for millionaires and billionaires–but how can you put a price on ensuring that ONLY LEGAL VOTERS can vote, huh?
You can even decide if you’re willing to save (millionaire and billionaire) taxpayer money by forgoing photo IDs, 'cause you KNOW that costs extra! But, hey, it’s YOUR call MAGAts–do you want to ensure ONLY LEGAL VOTERS can vote, or NOT?!? 
All this while the Chief Justice whines about court legitimacy. Makes me want to scream.
Illiteracy seems kind of bad.
The GOP wants to allow anyone to vote who meets these qualifications:
White
Male
Christian
Property owning
All others need not apply.
And the GQP is just fine with that. They are the ones trying to ban books, not “Antifa.” But you know that…the thought that an entire political party is devoted to destroying the right to vote in this country is sickening. Excuse me, they only have a problem with those of us who vote for Democrats.
The fight against a different Tribe…favoring–of course–obscenely rich fucks.
You forgot:
must only caste your ballot for Republicans.
Illiteracy is more than “kind of bad”.
The question that elections should resolve is what is America going to do about illiteracy, allowing states to use federal money provided for education for tax cuts for billionaires or actually providing ways to reduce illiteracy?
By preventing the least of us from voting, you keep them the least of us, which is exactly the reason Republicans are trying to keep people from voting.
Only some Christians, the “patriot” ones.
Literacy, voting rights, and the ability of poor people to get a leg up–all part of the same problem. America would be a better place if the petty tyrants would allow the rest of us to help each other. If teachers could do their work without interference; if families could get enough assistance that children could complete school; if the white supremacists would lay off so that people could just vote.
I wonder what other countries do in regards to helping poor people, or people that struggle to read do cast their votes.
I know that in Australia voting is mandatory, you must show up and be counted, but you don’t actually have to cast a vote. But Australia is similar to the US in that they have migrants, whose first language isn’t Australian (yes I did this on purpose). They also have a sizable indigenous population that’s first tongue is not Australian.
We have exceptionally long, complicated and individual-focused voting in the US, whereas in many countries, all that matters is which party you vote for.
For example, in Germany you have “two votes” (zwei Stimmen), meaning you can mark two Xs.
Here’s a copy of a ballot from the last national election (Sept 2021, in which Scholz ended up Chancellor as a result of a coalition of three partiess) which is from the city of Bielefeld.
You can place one X on the list on the left side to name a local (regional) individual to represent you in Parliament – this ballot was for residents of Bielefeld. The German system foresees that on the left side (erste Stimme), candidates who are not aligned with any political party (i.e., independent) may appear.
You can place one X on the right side to choose the party you want to be in charge (the person you choose to represent you – Abgeordnete/r – may not necessarily be from the party you vote for, as you may vote strategically at the party level…)
That’s it. Two Xs and you’re done.
When everything is tabulated, the chancellor is selected either by the party which wins a majority (50%+ – only ever happened once, with Adenauer), or whichever coalition of parties bands together to reach 50%.
With respect to literacy, all that is really needed is the ability to recognize the party abbreviations, which would be possible even for folks with extremely limited literacy.
So does this mean you don’t vote on amendments, propositions, or other things that require literacy? This things of course at the local levels of government.
Nope. There are statewide elections for state parliaments and local elections, but the balloting is basically the same.
The business of government is left to the government.
Now, the parliamentary system runs mostly on coalitions — there are LOTS of parties, but in order to be in parliament, a party has to get at least 5% of the popular vote, and since the vote is for a party and not a person, the party platforms play major roles. So when a larger party sees a smaller (sometimes single issue) party growing in strength, they often subsume whatever parts of the smaller party’s platform into their own, because they recognize that a particular stance or topic is becoming accepted or favored. So even the major parties regularly evolve and update their platforms.
If there were to be something of significant importance (like Brexit in the UK), there might be a special election like Brexit (that was not part of a regular government election, but rather an entirely separate process). I think all EU countries had separate votes about joining the EU. And just recently the people of Sweden and Finland voted to join NATO. (Special votes may take place at the state level here too, for state-level issues, but they are separate from the government elections.)
But these ran as separate voting processes. Everyone knows what the vote is about and they only have to vote yes or no. You don’t have to be able to read long, convoluted and often intentionally confusing text — “Should Sweden apply for membership in NATO?” or “Should the UK remain in the EU or leave?” with checkboxes “remain” or “leave” is about as complicated as it gets.
Ok this one pisses me off the most.
some have prevented voters who couldn’t read from bringing sample ballots to the polls
Prior to this primary we didn’t have to show a photo ID to vote. The county election board sent out a sample ballot, this had my name and address on it, plus a bar code that they scanned to check me in.
I liked getting these before the election so I could see the language that was used. I could check local sites to see the plain meaning of the text.
And like some on here that vote by mail have express their appreciation that they could sit at their kitchen table and go over their actual ballot at their leisure, my sample ballot was the same thing for me. Also very helpful when there’s long list of offices/positions that we’re voting for.
Florida expanded the radius around election locations in which volunteers are prohibited from asking people if they need help.
Republicans do NOT want to promote Christianity.
One thing I have had to spend a lot of time explaining to folks over here is the idea that you actually have to actively do something (register) to be able to vote.
Every German citizen above the age of 16 is required by law to have an identity card (Ausweis). Your ID card (which, btw, is not a drivers license — that’s a separate document) is connected to your place of residence and you are automatically registered to vote when you’ve reached the appropriate age (18 — although some states allow you to vote in local elections at 16). You do not need to do anything at all — the right to vote is automatic.
I have a German residency card and thus cannot vote. However, last year they had a special ballot for the election of representatives to a special authority to deal with immigration (the laws had changed to provide non-German residents such as myself with representation).
When my husband got his ballot for the national election, he got a second, separate ballot to elect candidates for this authority. (He always votes by mail, just needs to notify them to send his ballot to our home.)
As a permanent resident, I was sent the second ballot (my first time voting in Germany) automatically, without my having to do a thing. My residency card (my Ausweis) entitled me.
No muss, no fuss, and no hurdles to jump.
I’ve said this before I got registered to vote by a couple of League of Women Voter ladies back in the day. I was walking down the main hallway in my HS, and right outside the library they had their table set up. I remember them asking if I was 18 or would be 18 at the time of the next election. The answer was yes, and I signed a form. I do not remember if I had to show them my DL or not.
