4 ms·

Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote

64 points by cmurf 8y ago

lsniddy 8y ago
illegals can now vote in san francisco, lets stop pretending this is sacred
- fake-name 8y ago
  [Citation needed]
  - lsniddy 8y ago
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/san-francisco-allows-undocumented-immigrants-vote-school-elections-n893221 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/san-francisco-a...
    - crooked-v 8y ago
      That article is about local school board elections, not state or national elections.
      - ceejayoz 8y ago
        ... and to expand on that point a little, local elections can do pretty much whatever they want, including electing a dog as mayor: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/13/minnesota-dog-elected-mayor-is-the-very-best/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/13/mi...
      - greglindahl 8y ago
        Fun fact: In the EU, anyone who's an EU citizen can vote in local elections wherever they live, even if they aren't a citizen of the country they're in. Local elections are quite different from state/province and national elections.
    - ebikelaw 8y ago
      That article is so confused that I’d be careful taking any of it at face value. For one thing there certainly is not anyone named Adam Putnam running as the Republican candidate for Governor of California.
      - koenigdavidmj 8y ago
        That’s an editorial goof, not a fake person. He’s running as a Republican for the governor of Florida.
        ebikelaw 8y ago
        It’s not just a goof, it’s the entire hook of the article and it’s repeated twice. And although not pedantically wrong, the description of Putnam as the GOP candidate for governor is highly misleading. He’s running in the primary for the nomination and he’s not the favorite.
Proven 8y ago
Yeah it's unfair but let's be fair and state the obvious: democracy is the biggest threat to freedom. https://mises.org/library/capitalism-socialism-and-democracy https://mises.org/library/capitalism-socialism-and-democracy Also, when it comes to current issues why not discuss the ongoing drive to register illegal voters in California?
- gasull 8y ago
  You're criticizing democracy from the point of view of libertarianism and at the same time you rely on the State to declare someone "illegal". Isn't that a contradiction in terms?
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > Yeah it's unfair but let's be fair and state the obvious: democracy is the biggest threat to freedom. It's not; in fact, the absence of democracy is inherently the absence of freedom, because the most important freedom is freedom from government in which one is not a full participant. > Also, when it comes to current issues why not discuss the ongoing drive to register illegal voters in California? You are free to submit an article about that (which most critically should first establish that such a thing exists and is signficant.)
masonic 8y ago
Being erroneously deregistered does not mean you can't vote. It means that you cast a provisional ballot that has full effect once your eligibility is verified. It's more of a burden on the precinct workers than the voter.
- lph 8y ago
  Being erroneously deregistered makes it harder to vote. When something gets harder, some percentage of people don't do it. Purges are being applied in a way that disproportionately impacts demographics likely to vote for Democrats, by Republican state legislatures. There is absolutely no evidence to support the premise that voter fraud is anywhere near the order of magnitude needed to make a difference in elections. It is a non-problem. Draw your own conclusions.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > Being erroneously deregistered does not mean you can't vote. It does mean you won't get a voter guide, sample ballot, and information on your voting location sent to you; for elections that don't get a lot of media attention (off-year local primaries, for instance) you may not even be aware there is an election, much less who the candidates/ballot issues are. If you don't think all that affects your practical ability to vote (and to cast an informed vote), ask yourself what is the purpose for which that information is sent to registered voters?
  - masonic 8y ago
    affects your practical ability to vote It doesn't affect your ability to vote at all. There are far more severe impairments that go totally unaddressed. Mail theft is extremely common in my area, so much so that everything but junk mail goes to a PO Box. All voter guides and sample ballots (in all supported languages) are available at the polling place. Polling places rarely change for a given precinct (mine is unchanged in 24+ years), and you can't get into the neighborhood without passing signs for the polling place from 48 hours before the election. One would have to live a highly insulated life for the only (or even first) tipoff of an upcoming election to be the mailed information booklet. Slate mailers outnumber the official materials probably 40:1.
neilwilson 8y ago
In the UK we have an annual poll of the local population where you have to register to vote - and have had since 1832. So the entire list is purged every year and built anew in each local area. As it's an annual ritual, you get into the habit of registering to vote where you live this year - if indeed you want to be registered for a vote. The form turns up about October time so the register can be built for the elections the following May.
- greglindahl 8y ago
  In the US, we have a long history of suppressing minority votes by purging voters from the voting list. Do you have that sort of history in the UK?
- DanBC 8y ago
  > if indeed you want to be registered for a vote. In theory registering is compulsory, and there are penalties for not registering.
qbaqbaqba 8y ago
In Poland to be removed from voting list you have to be officially dead. You may deregister in order to vote somewhere else but you have to do it by yourself. You don't have birth/death registers?

64 points by cmurf 8y ago

lsniddy 8y ago

illegals can now vote in san francisco, lets stop pretending this is sacred

fake-name 8y ago
[Citation needed]
- lsniddy 8y ago
  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/san-francisco-allows-undocumented-immigrants-vote-school-elections-n893221 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/san-francisco-a...
  - crooked-v 8y ago
    That article is about local school board elections, not state or national elections.
    - ceejayoz 8y ago
      ... and to expand on that point a little, local elections can do pretty much whatever they want, including electing a dog as mayor: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/13/minnesota-dog-elected-mayor-is-the-very-best/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/08/13/mi...
    - greglindahl 8y ago
      Fun fact: In the EU, anyone who's an EU citizen can vote in local elections wherever they live, even if they aren't a citizen of the country they're in. Local elections are quite different from state/province and national elections.
  - ebikelaw 8y ago
    That article is so confused that I’d be careful taking any of it at face value. For one thing there certainly is not anyone named Adam Putnam running as the Republican candidate for Governor of California.
    - koenigdavidmj 8y ago
      That’s an editorial goof, not a fake person. He’s running as a Republican for the governor of Florida.
      - ebikelaw 8y ago
        It’s not just a goof, it’s the entire hook of the article and it’s repeated twice. And although not pedantically wrong, the description of Putnam as the GOP candidate for governor is highly misleading. He’s running in the primary for the nomination and he’s not the favorite.

Proven 8y ago

Yeah it's unfair but let's be fair and state the obvious: democracy is the biggest threat to freedom. https://mises.org/library/capitalism-socialism-and-democracy https://mises.org/library/capitalism-socialism-and-democracy Also, when it comes to current issues why not discuss the ongoing drive to register illegal voters in California?

gasull 8y ago
You're criticizing democracy from the point of view of libertarianism and at the same time you rely on the State to declare someone "illegal". Isn't that a contradiction in terms?
dragonwriter 8y ago
> Yeah it's unfair but let's be fair and state the obvious: democracy is the biggest threat to freedom. It's not; in fact, the absence of democracy is inherently the absence of freedom, because the most important freedom is freedom from government in which one is not a full participant. > Also, when it comes to current issues why not discuss the ongoing drive to register illegal voters in California? You are free to submit an article about that (which most critically should first establish that such a thing exists and is signficant.)

masonic 8y ago

Being erroneously deregistered does not mean you can't vote. It means that you cast a provisional ballot that has full effect once your eligibility is verified. It's more of a burden on the precinct workers than the voter.

lph 8y ago
Being erroneously deregistered makes it harder to vote. When something gets harder, some percentage of people don't do it. Purges are being applied in a way that disproportionately impacts demographics likely to vote for Democrats, by Republican state legislatures. There is absolutely no evidence to support the premise that voter fraud is anywhere near the order of magnitude needed to make a difference in elections. It is a non-problem. Draw your own conclusions.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> Being erroneously deregistered does not mean you can't vote. It does mean you won't get a voter guide, sample ballot, and information on your voting location sent to you; for elections that don't get a lot of media attention (off-year local primaries, for instance) you may not even be aware there is an election, much less who the candidates/ballot issues are. If you don't think all that affects your practical ability to vote (and to cast an informed vote), ask yourself what is the purpose for which that information is sent to registered voters?
- masonic 8y ago
  affects your practical ability to vote It doesn't affect your ability to vote at all. There are far more severe impairments that go totally unaddressed. Mail theft is extremely common in my area, so much so that everything but junk mail goes to a PO Box. All voter guides and sample ballots (in all supported languages) are available at the polling place. Polling places rarely change for a given precinct (mine is unchanged in 24+ years), and you can't get into the neighborhood without passing signs for the polling place from 48 hours before the election. One would have to live a highly insulated life for the only (or even first) tipoff of an upcoming election to be the mailed information booklet. Slate mailers outnumber the official materials probably 40:1.

neilwilson 8y ago

In the UK we have an annual poll of the local population where you have to register to vote - and have had since 1832. So the entire list is purged every year and built anew in each local area. As it's an annual ritual, you get into the habit of registering to vote where you live this year - if indeed you want to be registered for a vote. The form turns up about October time so the register can be built for the elections the following May.

greglindahl 8y ago
In the US, we have a long history of suppressing minority votes by purging voters from the voting list. Do you have that sort of history in the UK?
DanBC 8y ago
> if indeed you want to be registered for a vote. In theory registering is compulsory, and there are penalties for not registering.

qbaqbaqba 8y ago

In Poland to be removed from voting list you have to be officially dead. You may deregister in order to vote somewhere else but you have to do it by yourself. You don't have birth/death registers?