3 ms·

It's amazing that in every democratic country other than the US this stuff is uncontroversial, yet has to be explained here on HN. You can't have partisan activ

It's amazing that in every democratic country other than the US this stuff is uncontroversial, yet has to be explained here on HN. You can't have partisan activists hanging around outside voting booths all day and "helping" people no more than you can have votes being cast by having voters step up to a loudspeaker and announcing their preference to the crowd. I live outside the US and was honestly quite surprised to learn just now that such practices are tolerated outside of Georgia?! Voting is meant to be a private activity free of all external influence. The solution to long queues is to set up more voting booths so the queues are smaller. The solution to getting thirsty standing in line is the same as for any other queue - bring a bottle of water with you. The solution to people not having ID they can use to prove citizenship is to get them that ID, not eliminate citizenship requirements for voting. This is, like, Intro To Civics level stuff.

shadowgovt 5y ago
I'm not sure what the scare quotes around "helping" mean here. The volunteers in question are literally providing snacks and water to everyone in the line outside the polling places who asks. Can you clarify your meaning? > The solution to long queues is to set up more voting booths so the queues are smaller. Yes. Laws are also being passed to intentionally decrease the number of polling places available, especially in counties dominated by the party that is not in power. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/17/924527679/why-do-nonwhite-georgia-voters-have-to-wait-in-line-for-hours-too-few-polling-pl https://www.npr.org/2020/10/17/924527679/why-do-nonwhite-geo... > This is, like, Intro To Civics level stuff I agree, but only because Intro to Civics probably skips over the more advanced topics like America's fraught history of use of land ownership, poll taxes, and literacy tests to deprive people of their citizen-guaranteed right to vote. As an American citizen, I'm not actually required to carry ID; therefore, imposing an ID requirement on my right to vote can be interpreted as a stealth literacy test ("Oh, you didn't know you needed an ID? No vote for you."). It is a reasonable position to treat any new such requirement as suspect (and a reasonable position to disagree).
- fortuna86 5y ago
  > America's fraught history of use of land ownership, poll taxes, and literacy tests to deprive people of their citizen-guaranteed right to vote. I think most are aware of this history, voter ID is just the argument they can make in public. Because denying your political enemies the vote (largely along racial lines) isn't something you can advocate for without some kind of spin.

shadowgovt 5y ago

I'm not sure what the scare quotes around "helping" mean here. The volunteers in question are literally providing snacks and water to everyone in the line outside the polling places who asks. Can you clarify your meaning? > The solution to long queues is to set up more voting booths so the queues are smaller. Yes. Laws are also being passed to intentionally decrease the number of polling places available, especially in counties dominated by the party that is not in power. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/17/924527679/why-do-nonwhite-georgia-voters-have-to-wait-in-line-for-hours-too-few-polling-pl https://www.npr.org/2020/10/17/924527679/why-do-nonwhite-geo... > This is, like, Intro To Civics level stuff I agree, but only because Intro to Civics probably skips over the more advanced topics like America's fraught history of use of land ownership, poll taxes, and literacy tests to deprive people of their citizen-guaranteed right to vote. As an American citizen, I'm not actually required to carry ID; therefore, imposing an ID requirement on my right to vote can be interpreted as a stealth literacy test ("Oh, you didn't know you needed an ID? No vote for you."). It is a reasonable position to treat any new such requirement as suspect (and a reasonable position to disagree).

fortuna86 5y ago
> America's fraught history of use of land ownership, poll taxes, and literacy tests to deprive people of their citizen-guaranteed right to vote. I think most are aware of this history, voter ID is just the argument they can make in public. Because denying your political enemies the vote (largely along racial lines) isn't something you can advocate for without some kind of spin.