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Voter Suppression


Pancho

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1 minute ago, GSU&UT said:

Amazing what shining a light on voter suppression can do, very happy at least this story shows how fucked up our state's (and most of the other southern states) voting priorities are.

 

 

Alabama did that very same thing with grotesque accuracy. Pass voter ID laws then immediately shut down DPS and DMV officers in majority black areas.

Our grotesquerie is nothing if not accurate, sir.

But nobody made those people be black. Some choices have consequences.

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1 hour ago, DanRydell said:

Texas wants to make it more difficult for people to obtain photo IDs by closing 83 DPS offices, 78 of which are the only DPS offices in their counties.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2018/08/23/four-d-fw-drivers-license-offices-could-close-along-83-others-texas-dps-list

Can’t have Republicans losing in Texas.  Beto scaring too many folks.  

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12 minutes ago, Nivek said:

would not the closing of 78 counties include many rural areas which are prone to supporting the tRaitors? 

Doesn't matter to me.  Everyone should have access to vote.  If Texas GOP is going to make it a requirement, EVERYONE should be able to get one.  For free, preferably, if you don't have a driver's license and just need a photo ID.

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9 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Doesn't matter to me.  Everyone should have access to vote.  If Texas GOP is going to make it a requirement, EVERYONE should be able to get one.  For free, preferably, if you don't have a driver's license and just need a photo ID.

The cost of the ID itself actually isn't the problem.  It's the half-day+ you need to take off from work to obtain it.  And that's IF you have all of the documents ready.  If you're missing some items, you have to drag to someone else with you to verify you are who you say you are.

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Nobody really wanted to hear it back when it was going on, but the State of Alabama actually did go to some lengths to provide photo ID to anybody who asked.

Now I understand that Alabama Is De Debbil, and comes across like a convicted shoplifter who complains that everybody in the store keeps watching him.

Thing is, most of the rural counties (and some were majority white) had peaked in population in the 1880s, and most of their inhabitants moved to the nearest city or Chicago or California generations ago. They do timber and cattle now, or grow crops that no longer need lots of people. They aren't as small now as the smallest Texas counties, but if you were figuring out where to draw county lines based on what's there now, they'd probably be absorbed into their neighbors.

I used to ride around some of them when I was a kid with my social worker mom. The towns were dying then. Many of them are just wide spots in the woods now.

Me, I'd send around a truck with a voting machine on the back and a deputy guarding it. If somebody doesn't have ID, let the idealistic college interns take their photo on the spot, then they vote.

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PS: The Frat-Rats running the State of Alabama certainly went to that extra trouble of offering IDs as a tactical smoke-screen to cover intended suppression. Appeal to fearful base, avoid getting sued batblind.

The folklore is that the Black Belt counties (now in Sewell's 7th district) are some sort of closed world where required numbers of Blackety-Black VooDoo Votes rise mystically as if from Egyptian Tombs, exactly as many as needed for any given election. I don't know if this happens now, but I know why people would think it-- it's because it's exactly what my white great-great-uncle and That Politician They Said Was My Cousin did more than 100 years ago when they were running things there.

Suppress the black vote? Oh no! They encouraged it. And the black people didn't even have to go to the polls. Might not have even known they voted, but they did. And then the vote count from places like Selma would be higher than the opposition up in the hillbilly counties, and so it went.

tldr: We ain't GOT no radio...

Edited by RDCanecutter
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20 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Me, I'd send around a truck with a voting machine on the back and a deputy guarding it. If somebody doesn't have ID, let the idealistic college interns take their photo on the spot, then they vote.

Part of the plan is adding more Mobile DPS units, but obviously the devil would be in the details.  I think the real focus should be on getting more counties able to issue state IDs.

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3 hours ago, Js1 said:

"A sTaTe IsSuEd IdEnTiFiCaTiOn Is NoT hArD tO gEt."

-Republicans who support voter ID like StupidSlorch

Fuck you.

 

and no, it is not difficult to get.

 

Sorry I dn’t support open borders or variable voters.

 

Go Beta!!!

Edited by slorch
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Fuck you.
 
and no, it is not difficult to get.
 
Sorry I dn’t support open borders or variable voters.
 
Go Beta!!!


Is it still not difficult to get if the state refused to issue you a birth certificate because they don’t like your race?

How about if the state closed the only ID office in your entire county?
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5 minutes ago, DanRydell said:

 


Is it still not difficult to get if the state refused to issue you a birth certificate because they don’t like your race?

How about if the state closed the only ID office in your entire county?

 

people get IDs to buy their smokes, beer, and even guns.  people get IDs to drive and travel, even out of the country.  Some people get IDs to receive gov't aid and to receive SS benefits.

But producing an ID to vote is way outside reality?

 

WTF ever.  As much as racism is blamed for pro- Voter ID, the same folks are equally disingenuous as to why it is such a fucking hardship.

Edited by slorch
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1 hour ago, JBJ said:

Part of the plan is adding more Mobile DPS units, but obviously the devil would be in the details.  I think the real focus should be on getting more counties able to issue state IDs.

But I realize that in my plan to send out a voter truck, people would say the deputy was there to scare people, or that the college kids were doing something weird with the photos.

Not most people, but there'd be some old Nut-back-in-the-woods, Serpent-people-of-Lemuria type. And it'd get internet play. At least, I hope it would. I need to be constantly entertained by the bizarre.

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21 minutes ago, slorch said:

People walked here from Peru...but the DMV is just too damned far.

We've run through this 100 times before.

You're a disabled veteran living in a shitty trailer outside of Sonora.  You don't have a car (doesn't matter anyway, your eyes are shot and you can't drive).  A kindly neighbor takes you into town with her every now and then to the Lowe's Market to get a few groceries, and to pick up your prescriptions.  So, that's nice.  Oh, and he doesn't need a photo ID for any of that stuff, and hasn't for years.  Everything's been set up for some time now.

But the nearest DPS office is now going to be 90 miles away.

How are you going to get there, spend several hours dealing with their bullshit, and then get back?

Multiply this by hundreds of thousands of Texans who 1) live in the sticks, and 2) don't have regular means of transportation.

And, as I've said 100 times before, make it so every one of those folks can easily get a photo ID, and I'm fine with it.  If the reason for this law WASN'T to disenfranchise poor folks, that's exactly what we'd be doing.  Yet, we're doing the opposite.  Real head-scratcher there as to why.

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5 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

We've run through this 100 times before.

You're a disabled veteran living in a shitty trailer outside of Sonora.  You don't have a car (doesn't matter anyway, your eyes are shot and you can't drive).  A kindly neighbor takes you into town with her every now and then to the Lowe's Market to get a few groceries, and to pick up your prescriptions.  So, that's nice.  Oh, and he doesn't need a photo ID for any of that stuff, and hasn't for years.  Everything's been set up for some time now.

But the nearest DPS office is now going to be 90 miles away.

How are you going to get there, spend several hours dealing with their bullshit, and then get back?

Multiply this by hundreds of thousands of Texans who 1) live in the sticks, and 2) don't have regular means of transportation.

And, as I've said 100 times before, make it so every one of those folks can easily get a photo ID, and I'm fine with it.  If the reason for this law WASN'T to disenfranchise poor folks, that's exactly what we'd be doing.  Yet, we're doing the opposite.  Real head-scratcher there as to why.

I bet I can get to the VA.

 

I can get a fucking ID.

 

Stop it with the bullshit.  Seriously. By not verifying identification, I am the one being disenfranchised.

 

But that A-O-fucking-K.

Edited by slorch
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3 minutes ago, slorch said:

I bet I can get to the VA.

 

I can get a fucking ID.

 

Stop it with the bullshit.  Seriously. By not verifying identification, I am the one being disenfranchised.

 

But that A-O-fucking-K.

THEN MAKE IT SO HE CAN GET AN ID.  That's it.  That's the standard.  The State should not be putting up impediments to eligible voters being able to vote.  Want to put in a safeguard?  Fine.  Make it one that they can practically comply with.

And fuck you, I know people like that.  I've had people like that in my family.  It was a bitch even getting them into San Antonio to the VA.  Shit, I know people like that in this CITY -- folks who would have a difficult time getting to the DPS right here in town and dealing with it for a few hours.  They are homebound.  They're old.  They're sick.  But they're fucking Americans.  More American than you, I think.

You're on board with fuckery, and you like it.  Own what and who you are.

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Please. I WISH you were being disenfranchised because you're a disingenuous idiot. 

Stop with the bullshit. Seriously.  By denying people the opportunity to get identification by closing DPS offices, you're the one disenfranchising.

But that A-O-fucking-K.

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You're right.

 

My vote doesn't count.  Doesn't matter how many fakos get to vote...( never been proven to be fakes, because we don't check...LOLz)

 

put a DMV on every corner.  Fuck it.  Send offers for IDs like credit card offers in the mail.

 

So fucking hard to prove you are who you say you are...UNLESS you don't want to.

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

THEN MAKE IT SO HE CAN GET AN ID.  That's it.  That's the standard.  The State should not be putting up impediments to eligible voters being able to vote.  Want to put in a safeguard?  Fine.  Make it one that they can practically comply with.

And fuck you, I know people like that.  I've had people like that in my family.  It was a bitch even getting them into San Antonio to the VA.  Shit, I know people like that in this CITY -- folks who would have a difficult time getting to the DPS right here in town and dealing with it for a few hours.  They are homebound.  They're old.  They're sick.  But they're fucking Americans.  More American than you, I think.

You're on board with fuckery, and you like it.  Own what and who you are.

I am on board with votes being legit.  That's the beginning and end of it.

 

Don't preach to me about West Texas hardships...LOFL.  Ho,ly fuckanopolis.

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31 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

We've run through this 100 times before.

You're a disabled veteran living in a shitty trailer outside of Sonora.  You don't have a car (doesn't matter anyway, your eyes are shot and you can't drive).  A kindly neighbor takes you into town with her every now and then to the Lowe's Market to get a few groceries, and to pick up your prescriptions.  So, that's nice.  Oh, and he doesn't need a photo ID for any of that stuff, and hasn't for years.  Everything's been set up for some time now.

But the nearest DPS office is now going to be 90 miles away.

How are you going to get there, spend several hours dealing with their bullshit, and then get back?

Why doesn't he just apply by mail?

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12 minutes ago, JBJ said:

Why doesn't he just apply by mail?

Well, now, that's a damned good idea.

But....

Quote

How to apply for a Texas Identification Card

The Department issues identification cards that are valid for up to six years to Texas residents. To apply for an ID card, you will need to provide proof of the following:

  1. U.S. Citizenship or, if you are not a U.S. Citizen, evidence of lawful presence
  2. Texas Residency
  3. Identity, and
  4. Social Security Number

You may download this brochure for information and this checklist to assist you in determining which documents you may have that will meet these requirements. 

Once you have gathered the necessary documents, you will need to do the following:

  1. Complete the identification card application before arriving at your local office. (This form is also available at all driver license offices.)
  2. Visit your local driver license office. Depending on the office closest to you, you may be able to get in-line before arriving.  Locate the office nearest you.
  3. Provide the following documentation to the customer service representative:
    1. Application for the issuance of an identification card.
    2. U.S. Citizenship or, if you are not a U.S. Citizen, evidence of lawful presence
    3. Texas Residency
    4. Identity, and
    5. Social Security Number
  4. Provide your thumbprint.
  5. Have your picture taken.
  6. Pay the application fee.

Once your identification card has been issued, you will receive a temporary receipt. Before leaving the driver license office, review the printed information on your temporary receipt for accuracy.  If any of the information is not correct, notify the customer service representative. Your new card will arrive in the mail in approximately 4 – 6 weeks. To check the mailing status of your card, visit our mailing status web page.

Well, damn.  There's that whole "visit your local driver license office" -- bolded by me for convenient reading.

I truly don't care if we want to put in mechanisms to verify folks' identity before they vote.  I really don't.  I mean, I think it's a waste, trying to prevent something that isn't an actual material problem, but whatever, if it makes you feel better, okay.  Just make it so eligible voters can actually obtain the mechanism of verification.  That's literally my ONLY counter-requirement.

Yet it makes the strident "we gotta have voter ID!" crowd defensive as shit.

I wonder why that is?

Yeah, wait...no I don't.  I don't wonder at all:

Quote

In Florida, both the state’s former Republican Party chairman, Jim Greer, and its former Republican governor, Charlie Crist, told The Palm Beach Post in 2012 that the state’s voter ID law was devised to suppress Democratic votes. 

.....

In April of this year, Representative Glenn Grothman, Republican of Wisconsin, predicted in a television interview that the state’s photo ID law would weaken the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the state in November’s election.

......

Also in Wisconsin, Todd Allbaugh, 46, a staff aide to a Republican state legislator, attributed his decision to quit his job in 2015 and leave the party to what he witnessed at a Republican caucus meeting. He wrote on Facebook:

I was in the closed Senate Republican Caucus when the final round of multiple Voter ID bills were being discussed. A handful of the GOP Senators were giddy about the ramifications and literally singled out the prospects of suppressing minority and college voters. Think about that for a minute. Elected officials planning and happy to help deny a fellow American’s constitutional right to vote in order to increase their own chances to hang onto power.

.....

Don Yelton, a North Carolina Republican Party county precinct chairman, told an interviewer for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” in 2013 that the state’s voter ID law would “kick the Democrats in the butt.”

And those are just the bits plucked from one piece. We could of course go on and on.  Everyone with a lick of sense knows exactly WHY these laws have been enacted.  It has zero to do with in-person voter fraud, which is almost non-existent.  It has EVERYTHING to do with suppression of vulnerable voters.  Who would generally be more likely to vote Dem.

Ignoring the this disingenuous truth makes you look like an ass.

Failing to acknowledge the simple correction that would cure the problem created -- make valid ID easily accessible for all -- makes you look like a fool.

Slorch has managed to wrap up both in a perfect Slorchy package.

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Well, now, that's a damned good idea.

But....

Well, damn.  There's that whole "visit your local driver license office" -- bolded by me for convenient reading..

Are you trying to imply that you can't do it by mail?  Hell, last time I just did it online.

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2 minutes ago, JBJ said:

Are you trying to imply that you can't do it by mail?  Hell, last time I just did it online.

In Texas, you can renew your license online...for a certain period of time.  But at some point, you MUST go in and do it at the office (last time I had to renew my TDL, I had no option -- I had to go to an office.  I had renewed the time before that online).  And to get a Texas ID card (that is, just a photo ID)....to GET it, you HAVE to go into the office.

Once you have a photo ID, you can renew it for a limited period online, by mail, etc.  But 1) to get it initially, or 2) to renew after a certain period, you have to go into the DPS office.

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2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

You're a disabled veteran living in a shitty trailer outside of Sonora. 

OK, if, when this is me, forget about voting. Just have a really slutty neighbor bring me around a 12-pack every day, and cook me up a eggs n bacon sammitch afterwards, before she leaves.

Edited by RDCanecutter
gimme my dam sammitch
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Just now, Brisketexan said:

In Texas, you can renew your license online...for a certain period of time.  But at some point, you MUST go in and do it at the office (last time I had to renew my TDL, I had no option -- I had to go to an office.  I had renewed the time before that online).  And to get a Texas ID card (that is, just a photo ID)....to GET it, you HAVE to go into the office.

Once you have a photo ID, you can renew it for a limited period online, by mail, etc.  But 1) to get it initially, or 2) to renew after a certain period, you have to go into the DPS office.

Well that doesn't sound too terrible.  A trip to the DPS once every 2 decades?

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3 minutes ago, JBJ said:

Well that doesn't sound too terrible.  A trip to the DPS once every 2 decades?

No, it's not that big a gap.  I can't recall what it is.  I think it's every 8 years.  But the point is, once you're long enough past your TDL lapsing, or you need to get a TX ID (not a TDL), you have to go into the office.

My solution would be to have county tax assessor's offices (or some similar office found in every county) set up to issue TX ID cards.  And, for VOTING purposes, once you are over a certain age (say, 50), it does not expire (I suggest that age because your looks change a lot more from when you are younger to then).  It's not perfect, but it's much easier and more accessible.

 

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Texas allows this but they don't require it.  That's how Johnson County is set up. It's either the Tax Assessor or the County Court that can issue state licenses.  I agree that is the best way to handle it in rural areas.  More counties should make it a priority.

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4 hours ago, slorch said:

people get IDs to buy their smokes, beer, and even guns.  people get IDs to drive and travel, even out of the country.  Some people get IDs to receive gov't aid and to receive SS benefits.

But producing an ID to vote is way outside reality?

 

WTF ever.  As much as racism is blamed for pro- Voter ID, the same folks are equally disingenuous as to why it is such a fucking hardship.

You didn't answer either of my questions.

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Fuck you.
 
and no, it is not difficult to get.
 
Sorry I dn’t support open borders or variable voters.
 
Go Beta!!!

The biggest form of voter fraud is the eliminating/challenging of votes and removing access from people whom you may disagree. This is part of why half the voters are democrats and yet, the representatives are dominated by another party.

You were a Marine if I recall correctly, but you don’t seem to recall that oath and you continue to violate it with your support for a party which clearly gives aid and comfort, and enables our enemies at all cost. There was only once choice in 2016, but I can see how some were manipulated. There is one choice again but the issue is very clear. Racists, nazis, Russians, pedophiles, and morons are your company on the Right. Fiscal responsibility, family values, defense, freedom, responsibility claims have been replaced with covering Trumps family of grifters. This isn’t Gore vs Bush. This isn’t Carter vs Ronnie. This isn’t Bush v Clinton. This is Putin vs Patriots.
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11 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

THEN MAKE IT SO HE CAN GET AN ID.  That's it.  That's the standard.  The State should not be putting up impediments to eligible voters being able to vote.  Want to put in a safeguard?  Fine.  Make it one that they can practically comply with.

And fuck you, I know people like that.  I've had people like that in my family.  It was a bitch even getting them into San Antonio to the VA.  Shit, I know people like that in this CITY -- folks who would have a difficult time getting to the DPS right here in town and dealing with it for a few hours.  They are homebound.  They're old.  They're sick.  But they're fucking Americans.  More American than you, I think.

You're on board with fuckery, and you like it.  Own what and who you are.

If they make it so they can get an ID, then that would defeat the law's purpose.

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Make no mistake, today’s victory was the result of collective resistance and the courage of African American voters in Randolph County, Georgia who refused to stand silent in the face of this discriminatory, voter suppression scheme. 
The hearing room was packed! 
DlXknx_X0AAdTRc?format=jpg&name=medium


Proud of Georgians on this. This is how it’s done. Disappointed in GOP leaders who tried to pull this crap.
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This article was updated to pay brief lip service to a South Carolina county where this (reportedly started before Trump was elected) was actually instrumental in helping restore ADA voting access in a South Carolina county.

https://thinkprogress.org/ada-voter-suppression-cd7031080bfd/

Of course that didn’t help the one-sided narrative so there isn’t much detail there. I’m curious about that detail. Are there whole counties or vast swaths with no ADA access to vote? That’s problematic too.

The ACLU is all over this so I’m sure they’re keeping an eye on both issues.

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My voter registration in Texas has been suspended, which is fair in my case since I sold my house in December 2016 and started travelling the world. I do wonder if everyone who sells a house and moves within the state gets their registration suspended?

As an expat I do feel that it is unfair that I am taxed and subjected to US laws but am unable to vote for federal representatives.

I have considered moving back in October and staying a few months to catch up with old friends and vote. In my mind Austin is still my home and I hope to spend more time there some years.

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1 hour ago, RayDog said:

My voter registration in Texas has been suspended, which is fair in my case since I sold my house in December 2016 and started travelling the world. I do wonder if everyone who sells a house and moves within the state gets their registration suspended?

As an expat I do feel that it is unfair that I am taxed and subjected to US laws but am unable to vote for federal representatives.

I have considered moving back in October and staying a few months to catch up with old friends and vote. In my mind Austin is still my home and I hope to spend more time there some years.

pretty sure you can vote if you live abroad.  They covered that in the VDR class and I can't remember the particulars of how exactly you need to register, but this should get you started.  Please do.

https://www.fvap.gov/overseas

 

clicking through because I'm curious, and I think the example in the class was someone living abroad but maybe still had a home (but that wasn't the point of why they were able to still vote).  I think the question is what is the voting address you can use.

https://www.headcount.org/faq/can-i-register-if-i-have-us-citizenship-but-am-living-abroad-and-dont-have-my-own-permanent-address-in-the-usa/

Edited by Celery Man
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This seems to indicate that you use the last address that you lived at in the US, and don't need to have any current ties to that address

https://vhd.overseasvotefoundation.org/index.php?/ovf/Knowledgebase/Article/View/1030/1/which-state-do-i-vote-in-if-i-no-longer-maintain-us-residence

here's an official website to check their work and get the official procedure if the fvap site above doesn't have the info

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/while-abroad/voting.html

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side note (or, returning from the side note) - if you think that there is a lot of rampant fraud and voter ID protects against that problem that in your estimation is very real, I disagree with your policework there, lou.  If you don't think that that is a real problem but you want to promote the disenfranchisement of voters you think are less than you, then you are an unAmerican piece of shit.

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23 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

pretty sure you can vote if you live abroad.  They covered that in the VDR class and I can't remember the particulars of how exactly you need to register, but this should get you started.  Please do.

https://www.fvap.gov/overseas

 

clicking through because I'm curious, and I think the example in the class was someone living abroad but maybe still had a home (but that wasn't the point of why they were able to still vote).  I think the question is what is the voting address you can use.

https://www.headcount.org/faq/can-i-register-if-i-have-us-citizenship-but-am-living-abroad-and-dont-have-my-own-permanent-address-in-the-usa/

I have already been through the fvap stuff and can find no way the Texas requirement for a address.

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This seems to indicate that you use the last address that you lived at in the US, and don't need to have any current ties to that address
https://vhd.overseasvotefoundation.org/index.php?/ovf/Knowledgebase/Article/View/1030/1/which-state-do-i-vote-in-if-i-no-longer-maintain-us-residence
here's an official website to check their work and get the official procedure if the fvap site above doesn't have the info
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/while-abroad/voting.html

My parents were expats in Argentina for 6 years. They legally voted in every American election while they were gone.
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