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There's two Americas happening when it comes to voting it seems. In one you have this sort of thing going on. In the other America, voting couldn't be more triv
by asdff 4y ago
There's two Americas happening when it comes to voting it seems. In one you have this sort of thing going on. In the other America, voting couldn't be more trivial. I have a 10 day window to show up at the polls if I really want the in person experience, and my ballot is mailed to me no matter what in the first place weeks before its due. I can drop it off in any ballot box or even a mailbox will do.
The big question is, would the outcomes even change with more access? Districts are highly manipulated to guarantee political outcomes no matter who votes, even in blue states this is true, at all levels of representative government. My extremely blue city council even gerrymanders their council districts to entrench political dynasties. Plus you have Prop 22 which has proved that an informed vote is not easy to come by among the public, and money buys policy.
- ceejayoz 4y ago> The big question is, would the outcomes even change with more access? I'd suggest the efforts to reduce access - limiting early voting, dropboxes, etc. - imply the Republicans believe this to be the case.
- asdff 4y agoOne theory could be that they had to do that initially to capture a state and have a power majority when redistricting comes up. Once its gerrymandered sufficiently, there is no way that they'd ever let it be uncaptured. You can let everyone vote but their vote is useless, if you've slivered the population into chunks that stymie voting power of blue votes against a swath of red voters. Ohio is already like this in many ways, blue cities held hostage by a state captured by the GOP. You have, e.g. the 9th district that takes a sliver of Cleveland and extends over 100 miles down a strip of rural coastline (1). This is the district that Dennis Kucinich (D) used to handily win until maps were remade by republicans and it extended out from Cleveland like the tentacle of a giant squid. https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/why-ohios-congressional-map-unconstitutional https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/why-ohios-congressio...
- themitigating 4y agoWhat’s the interest of the Arizona RNC in keeping, say, the out-of-precinct ballot disqualification rules on the books?" Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked, referencing legal standing. “Because it puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats,” said Michael Carvin, the lawyer defending the state's restrictions" In Supreme Court, GOP attorney defends voting restrictions by saying they help Republicans win https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/supreme-court-gop-attorney-defends-voting-restrictions-saying-they-help-n1259305 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/supreme-court-gop...
- NoGravitas 4y agoEasier access leads to higher turnout, which tends to help team blue, which is why team red works so hard to make it harder to vote. However, you're absolutely right that in many places, districts are so gerrymandered that turnout doesn't really make a difference. In some places, state governments are preparing to ignore the results of popular votes entirely, but that only applies to the presidential election.