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I get the impression that this is an opportunity to paint a political story that makes your side look better (other side is suppressing the vote, therefore my c

I get the impression that this is an opportunity to paint a political story that makes your side look better (other side is suppressing the vote, therefore my candidate lost!), or perhaps in this specific case, to poke fun at America as it is a favorite international past time. The data I see shows another possibility: voter turn out has increased by a large amount and the government is struggling to meet the demand. Over 20 years, the number of voters in a presidential election has increased by more than 30 million. That's more than the entire population of the state of New York.

akiselev 6y ago
According to [1] and plenty of other studies of their kind, closure of voting locations have been a major problem since the Shelby decision gutted the voting rights acts. Summary: > We found 1,688 polling place closures in places once covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Of the 757 counties in our study, 298 (39 percent) reduced the number of polling places between 2012 and 2018. Because presidential elections tend to have higher turnout rates than midterms, we analyzed the data to determine whether the number of polling places varied to meet the different demands of each type of election. They did not. Most (69 percent) closures (–1,173) occurred after the 2014 midterm election. > The Shelby decision paved the way for systematic statewide efforts to reduce the number of polling places in Texas (–750), Arizona (–320), and Georgia (–214). Quieter efforts to reduce the number of polling places without clear notice or justification spread throughout Louisiana (–126), Mississippi (–96), Alabama (–72), North Carolina (–29), and Alaska (–6). Can't argue population growth in good faith when polling places are actively being shutdown in states with growing populations like Texas. [1] http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/Democracy-Diverted.pdf http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/Democracy-Diverted.p...
- 542354234235 6y ago
  Texas is really going out of its way to suppress voting. “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...
- aluminussoma 6y ago
  Thanks for the link. I'm not familiar with that case so there is some further reading for me to do!

akiselev 6y ago

According to [1] and plenty of other studies of their kind, closure of voting locations have been a major problem since the Shelby decision gutted the voting rights acts. Summary: > We found 1,688 polling place closures in places once covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Of the 757 counties in our study, 298 (39 percent) reduced the number of polling places between 2012 and 2018. Because presidential elections tend to have higher turnout rates than midterms, we analyzed the data to determine whether the number of polling places varied to meet the different demands of each type of election. They did not. Most (69 percent) closures (–1,173) occurred after the 2014 midterm election. > The Shelby decision paved the way for systematic statewide efforts to reduce the number of polling places in Texas (–750), Arizona (–320), and Georgia (–214). Quieter efforts to reduce the number of polling places without clear notice or justification spread throughout Louisiana (–126), Mississippi (–96), Alabama (–72), North Carolina (–29), and Alaska (–6). Can't argue population growth in good faith when polling places are actively being shutdown in states with growing populations like Texas. [1] http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/Democracy-Diverted.pdf http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/reports/Democracy-Diverted.p...

542354234235 6y ago
Texas is really going out of its way to suppress voting. “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...
aluminussoma 6y ago
Thanks for the link. I'm not familiar with that case so there is some further reading for me to do!