5 ms·

I'm not saying this is universally true, but in my area, a large portion of the people standing in these long lines are intentionally doing so to make a politic

by bpt3 6y ago

I'm not saying this is universally true, but in my area, a large portion of the people standing in these long lines are intentionally doing so to make a political statement (or more skeptically, are virtue signaling). There has been one voting station open in the entire county which adequately supported early voting based on historical trends, while dozens more are opening soon and will reduce (if not entirely eliminate) the long lines. Personally, I'm waiting until then to vote.

hexadec 6y ago
What political statement are they making aside from saying 'I would like to vote'? Even the densest election board recognizes this year is not based on historical trends and that early voting (which has been touted on national news) is one way to solve the issue.
- bpt3 6y ago
  > What political statement are they making aside from saying 'I would like to vote'? The comments I've heard are to the effect of: "I want Trump out of office so badly, I waited in line for 2 hours to vote against him!" > Even the densest election board recognizes this year is not based on historical trends and that early voting (which has been touted on national news) is one way to solve the issue. Agreed. In their defense, we are currently in the "early early voting" stage in most areas (meaning very few polling stations are open), with the "early voting" stage starting up in the near future (with more polling stations opening up), followed by orders of magnitude more on election day.
justin66 6y ago
Are the officials administering the queue part of the conspiracy to create a long line to make a political statement (or more skeptically, are virtue signaling) as well?
- bpt3 6y ago
  In general, no. They assumed people would just wait until more polling stations opened up closer to election day (or on election day itself) to avoid waiting in these lines.
  - justin66 6y ago
    Of course they did. It's all just an honest misunderstanding on the part of election officials, and voters hacking the election procedures and inconveniencing themselves deliberately for... reasons. None of that sounds completely crazy.
    - bpt3 6y ago
      Standing in line for hours to vote weeks before election day when all evidence indicates that lines will be significantly shorter in the weeks ahead does sound crazy to me. I provided the most rational explanation I've received in my original comment above. I live in a high income area with a relatively high functioning local government run almost exclusively by liberal democrats, so I strongly question any claims that attempted voter suppression is the reason for the long lines in my area that have existed every day since early voting started.
542354234235 6y ago
Isn’t the issue that it isn’t every county, but that it is specific counties that are targeted to suppress specific voter demographics? For a clear cut example, look at Texas. “Abbott in July acted to lengthen the early voting period and allow voters to deliver completed absentee ballots in person for longer than the normal period. But after large Democratic counties including Harris and Travis established several sites where voters could deliver their ballots, Abbott ordered Oct. 1 that they would be limited to one… Harris County — home to 2.4 million registered voters and spanning a greater distance than the state of Rhode Island — had designated a dozen before Abbott’s order forced them to close most sites.” [0] [0] https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/13/texas-election-ballot-drop-off/ https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/13/texas-election-ballo...
- bpt3 6y ago
  That's unacceptable in my opinion, but it's not the norm at all, even in traditionally democratic-voting areas.
  - 542354234235 6y ago
    This is the norm and has been happening for the last 8 years. > Across the country, more than 2,000 polling places closed between the 2012 and 2016 general elections… for every 10 polling places that closed in the rest of the country, 13 closed within the jurisdictions once under oversight [of the Voting Rights Act]. Policies that introduce barriers to voting — like Texas’ strict voter ID requirements and North Carolina’s elimination of same-day registration and limits on early voting — have been widely criticized for discouraging minority voters, who disproportionately vote Democratic. The vast majority of the jurisdictions once under federal supervision are in states with GOP leadership. > About a third of all counties that used to be subject to the Voting Rights Act reduced their per capita number of polling places from 2012 to 2016, compared to only a fifth of the rest of the jurisdictions… Some of the most egregious examples of counties closing a significant percentage of their polls are in Arizona. Phoenix-area Maricopa County initially slashed its polling places by 70 percent before the state’s 2016 primary election, spurring a DOJ investigation. [1] [1] https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/kz58qx/how-the-gutting-of-the-voting-rights-act-led-to-closed-polls https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/kz58qx/how-the-gutting-o...

by bpt3 6y ago

hexadec 6y ago

What political statement are they making aside from saying 'I would like to vote'? Even the densest election board recognizes this year is not based on historical trends and that early voting (which has been touted on national news) is one way to solve the issue.

bpt3 6y ago
> What political statement are they making aside from saying 'I would like to vote'? The comments I've heard are to the effect of: "I want Trump out of office so badly, I waited in line for 2 hours to vote against him!" > Even the densest election board recognizes this year is not based on historical trends and that early voting (which has been touted on national news) is one way to solve the issue. Agreed. In their defense, we are currently in the "early early voting" stage in most areas (meaning very few polling stations are open), with the "early voting" stage starting up in the near future (with more polling stations opening up), followed by orders of magnitude more on election day.

justin66 6y ago

Are the officials administering the queue part of the conspiracy to create a long line to make a political statement (or more skeptically, are virtue signaling) as well?

bpt3 6y ago
In general, no. They assumed people would just wait until more polling stations opened up closer to election day (or on election day itself) to avoid waiting in these lines.
- justin66 6y ago
  Of course they did. It's all just an honest misunderstanding on the part of election officials, and voters hacking the election procedures and inconveniencing themselves deliberately for... reasons. None of that sounds completely crazy.
  - bpt3 6y ago
    Standing in line for hours to vote weeks before election day when all evidence indicates that lines will be significantly shorter in the weeks ahead does sound crazy to me. I provided the most rational explanation I've received in my original comment above. I live in a high income area with a relatively high functioning local government run almost exclusively by liberal democrats, so I strongly question any claims that attempted voter suppression is the reason for the long lines in my area that have existed every day since early voting started.

542354234235 6y ago

Isn’t the issue that it isn’t every county, but that it is specific counties that are targeted to suppress specific voter demographics? For a clear cut example, look at Texas. “Abbott in July acted to lengthen the early voting period and allow voters to deliver completed absentee ballots in person for longer than the normal period. But after large Democratic counties including Harris and Travis established several sites where voters could deliver their ballots, Abbott ordered Oct. 1 that they would be limited to one… Harris County — home to 2.4 million registered voters and spanning a greater distance than the state of Rhode Island — had designated a dozen before Abbott’s order forced them to close most sites.” [0] [0] https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/13/texas-election-ballot-drop-off/ https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/13/texas-election-ballo...

bpt3 6y ago
That's unacceptable in my opinion, but it's not the norm at all, even in traditionally democratic-voting areas.
- 542354234235 6y ago
  This is the norm and has been happening for the last 8 years. > Across the country, more than 2,000 polling places closed between the 2012 and 2016 general elections… for every 10 polling places that closed in the rest of the country, 13 closed within the jurisdictions once under oversight [of the Voting Rights Act]. Policies that introduce barriers to voting — like Texas’ strict voter ID requirements and North Carolina’s elimination of same-day registration and limits on early voting — have been widely criticized for discouraging minority voters, who disproportionately vote Democratic. The vast majority of the jurisdictions once under federal supervision are in states with GOP leadership. > About a third of all counties that used to be subject to the Voting Rights Act reduced their per capita number of polling places from 2012 to 2016, compared to only a fifth of the rest of the jurisdictions… Some of the most egregious examples of counties closing a significant percentage of their polls are in Arizona. Phoenix-area Maricopa County initially slashed its polling places by 70 percent before the state’s 2016 primary election, spurring a DOJ investigation. [1] [1] https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/kz58qx/how-the-gutting-of-the-voting-rights-act-led-to-closed-polls https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/kz58qx/how-the-gutting-o...