On April 8, 2021, The Cape Cod Times that no longer offers the caliber of reporting that it previously had offered the misguided and uninformed article at the bottom.
Others have labelled the new law JIM CROW and one must wonder why Ms. Stead didn't travel beyond her superficial assessment.
In simple terms, she seems to pretend the outrage is solely about VOTE ID and the BUFFER ZONE at polling places and drawing a simplistic parallel between beach permits and voting rights.
Beach Permits on the Cape are problematic because many 'residents' are affluent and own second homes on the Cape. That is not the issue of low income voters in GEORGIA.
Brian Kemp might be called the KING OF VOTER PURGES for the numbers of voters he has disenfranchised. And isn't it interesting that those voters are largely BLACK VOTERS?
198,000 GEORGIA VOTERS were purged from the VOTING LIST in 2020.
That's VOTER SUPPRESSION.
When Brian Kemp ran for Governor of Georgia, he remained Secretary of State, the office that oversees elections.
Regarding VOTER ID: In Massachusetts, it is unconstitutional in federal elections.
The MASS GOP has attempted to pass local statutes requiring IDs for local elections, with false accusations of fraud and has failed. To date, there has been no evidence of voter fraud. And don't most voters know their Poll Workers?
In GEORGIA: Acquiring a VOTER ID frequently requires TRAVEL, frequently problematic for low wage workers, sometimes forcing them to take time off from work.
The new law limits BALLOT DROP BOXES to ONE per county. So if you lack a car and have to travel, you are limited.
Guaranteed — but also limited — drop boxes
The new law requires each Georgia county to have a minimum of one drop box for absentee ballots. In 2020, when drop boxes were used for the first time in Georgia, the boxes were authorized by special pandemic-related rules rather than by long-term legislation.
However, the new law also limits how many drop boxes each county can have, how many hours and days the boxes can be open, and where they can be located.
The law says that each county can’t have more than one drop box per early voting site or per 100,000 active registered voters, whichever number is smaller. This provision will dramatically reduce the number of drop boxes available in some large counties. Fulton County, for example, says it would go from 38 drop boxes in the November election to eight in the future.
Early voting was curtailed.
Another early voting day in primaries and general elections
There was extensive media coverage of initial Republican proposals to eliminate or sharply reduce early voting on Sundays, when some Black churchgoers participate in “souls to the polls” voting drives. However, these proposals did not make it into the final bill Kemp signed — which actually ends up expanding early voting in many counties for primaries and general elections. Runoffs are a different story, which we’ll get to in a moment.
GEORGIA closed polling places, forcing voters to stand in line for hours, BY DESIGN.
Volunteers brought FOOD & WATER. Republicans seek to destroy those volunteer efforts to further restrict the vote.
How many WHITE VOTERS in Massachusetts would stand in line for 6 hours to vote?
A food and drink restriction
Another section of the law, which has generated criticism from Biden and others, limits how voters can be provided food and drink in the vicinity of a voting location.
The law makes it a misdemeanor for “any person” to give or offer “any money or gifts,” including “food and drink,” to any voter within a polling place, within 150 feet of the building housing a polling place, or “within 25 feet of any voter standing in line to vote at any polling place.”
This provision is located in the same paragraph as a provision banning campaign activity in these locations, but the provision doesn’t prohibit only people who are campaigning from giving out food and drink. It says “any person,” not just campaigners.
There is, however, one exception: poll officers are allowed to make available “self-service water from an unattended receptacle to an elector waiting in line to vote.” And it’s perhaps worth noting that there is not a prohibition on voters in line buying food and drink for themselves; the provision is about other people providing “money or gifts” including food and drink.
This is slip-shod reporting and you need to report FACTS based on the legislation and not whim.
|
|
Kemp Loses Vote Purge Suit Brought by Reporter Palast
|
|
What's the problem with requiring voter ID?
An event with a major financial impact was moved from a city with a 51% black population to one with a 9% black population in the name of racial equity. That’ll teach ‘em.
Major League Baseball moved the annual All Star Game from Atlanta to Denver in order to protest the Georgia reforms in the state voting process. A particular source of anger was that the law required presentation of an ID to vote. Of course, Colorado law already requires a photo ID to vote.
But Colorado is a blue state.
Another controversial clause was the creation of a 150 foot buffer zone to allow voters a respite from electioneering as they wait in line. The law also forbids giving water or food to those waiting inside the 150 perimeter. People having to wait in line would be deprived of sustenance as they wait to cast their ballots. Massachusetts has had the same 150 foot buffer zone law for decades. Our law does not explicitly ban water, but Secretary of State William Galvin’s directive on enforcing the zone is very clear – the only permitted activity inside the zone is exit polling. All other approaches to voters waiting are strictly forbidden.
But Massachusetts is a blue state.
Equity activists are continuing to seize their moment to make additional demands, even though their candidate actually did win the election. In the wake of the Georgia law, they have also called for boycotts of businesses there like Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola. They also expect companies to fund their legal appeals to overturn the law, which might actually violate campaign finance law given the Citizens United court decision, which allows businesses to make political donations. Businesses are terrified that they will become the next target of the Two Minutes Hate and want to comply, but the demands seem to suggest that you have a nice little business here, and it’d be a shame if something happened to it, rather than a request for help in a just cause.
There were without question problems in the 2020 Georgia election. Georgia was one of nine states entirely covered by Sec. 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act because of its long history of racial voter suppression, giving Federal authorities oversight of election procedures and "preclearance" to any changes. This was ended by the Shelby County Supreme Court decision in 2013. There is litigation regarding the siting of polling places, the consolidation of polling places and the timing of their relocation. The lines were abominable. But the trajectory of full voting rights is improving. Election officials and advocates both agree that the 2020 election was an improvement. In 2020, 1.2 million Black voters cast ballots, an increase of 500,000 over 2016, according to statistics cited by the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.
The requirement to present an ID is a progressive flash point, but most average voters do not see why this is a problem. The attitude seems to be that verification and confirmation of those attempting to vote protects the franchise of those who are legally registered voters, regardless of their color. Nationwide, there are more than 200 bills regarding voting procedures in the wake of the 2020 election, almost uniformly referred to as "limiting access to voting." The Georgia bill provides free voter ID, and allows a voter who forgot to bring ID with them to cast a provisional ballot which can be verified later. But these provisions are described as an attempt to prevent voters of color to cast a ballot. Nikki Haley put it well when she said that she found it racist to assume that people of color cannot get an ID even though they are able to produce one every time they get on a plane or buy Sudafed.
Right now, town halls across the Cape are struggling to determine the qualifications of applicants to get resident beach stickers, especially in my town of Dennis. The residential qualification, the methods of identification proving residence, the right to have a sticker and what constitutes a resident are endlessly debated. It would be nice to see this kind of engagement and enforcement surrounding voting, which I think is at least as important as being able to park your car at the beach.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.