3 ms·

I have no idea why this has become a right vs left, polarized issue.

• untog 8y ago
  This might be my political bubble speaking, but the vast, vast majority of voter suppression stories I've seen have been Republican legislatures trying to deprive the Democratic party of votes. But even if that's not the case, it stands to reason it'll end up being a left/right thing, because it's the right trying to deprive the left of a vote, or vice versa. The two party system guarantees it.
• jadedhacker 8y ago
  It's because the right benefits from low turnout. The left, representing the interests of the proletarian majority, benefits from large turnout. The Democratic party, a center left or center right party depending on who you talk to, has co-opted the left voter base and thereby depends on higher turnout during general elections. As a centrist party, they intentionally suppress turnout during primary elections (e.g. by not advertising the date in my community) to restrict ideological choices.
  • prolikewh0a 8y ago
    >The left, representing the interests of the proletarian majority. No party is currently doing this unless you include third parties. The American left works for business too.
    • jadedhacker 8y ago
      Agreed. These are all symptoms of capitalist dominance.
• prolikewh0a 8y ago
  There's so much tribalism happening now. Getting legal Americans to vote and vote easily should be an issue for everyone to care about, regardless of party affiliation.
• jasonwatkinspdx 8y ago
  It's been that way since the civil rights movement and the republican southern strategy. Minorities, with very good reason, tend to vote against the republicans. This means someone holding household level demographic data knows exactly which neighborhoods to target if they're willing to use suppression tactics. And that's exactly what we've seen happening.