Suppress the votes and how you help

[suprcali]

One of the reasons why we are in this situation now and will be ongoing is suppression of votes. It will be done with or without your help. Clinton only lost by a small margin in key states. This week Maddow touched on the DNC hacking and the data analytics that were stolen. trump's side boldly proclaimed their voter suppression tactics right after that happened.

Trump team has "three major voter suppression operations under way," targeted at three distinct groups that Clinton needs for a big electoral victory. Those constituencies, as Businessweek describes, are " idealistic white liberals, young women, and African Americans."

Those are the same constituencies today. This idealism or what you can call purity tests has been planted. It will be sowed and is being done now in autopilot. The amount of infighting of who is and is not "progressive" enough is evident. I don't think you realize how much you are NOT helping your cause. Who will sit out again and not vote because the candidate just wasn't good enough?


Every vote is needed to overcome this red hill.

[Hoyt]

1. I really question anyone who thought trump would be better than Clinton.

Swiftboating and lies are not voter suppression.

While there might well have been some suppression, like if people or their local political organizations failed to get proper IDs or register, I don’t believe that played much of a part in GOPers winning.

When we vote, we win as some of the special elections in 2017 showed.

Vote, vote early if your state allows it, help make sure elderly and others are registered and have proper IDs, take advantage of voting by mail and early, etc.

Let’s not have to make excuses on November 7th.

[kimbutgar]

2. I would seriously question their poor judgement

And not trust them.

[suprcali]

3. Not the conventional meaning

The link I provided above explains this. They essentially gave up on winning votes and instead decided to target Clinton constituents so they wouldn't vote. It was successful enough in key states and we know russia is not done. Those special elections are not big enough to disrupt trump's agenda. But the midterms will be when control of the house and senate are in play. russia will be back and so will their enablers. Didn't the house gop vote against protecting the elections just this week?

As for actual voter suppression, they just won big this year when the supreme Court sided with Ohio voter purge. The ACLU said this targets minorities and low income people who tend to have low turnout. They're chipping away little by little. But now we have foreign interference whose leader just got invited to American soil. It also doesn't help that the republican majority are not affected by this. A normal congress would already have investigations to protect the vote. So the electorate is up against foreign interference and a spineless, self-serving gop.

Idealism or purity tests do not help the matter.

[Hoyt]

5. The vast majority of people being purge have moved to another district or haven't voted in years and

responded to at least one notice that they will be purged.

The rest of the people who haven't voted have to be encouraged to check their registration, or organizations need to do it for them. It can be done on-line in most states. I really don't think 95+% of Democratic leaning people are so helpless or challenged that they can't do this for themselves or ask someone for help.

Again, these are excuses that are easily overcome.

Finally, if we aren't ready to respond to swiftboating, lies, targeting of Democrats, hacking, etc., we'll keep losing. That's just the reality. Fact is, Comey's announcement 11 days before the election was a big blow, but we weren't ready to respond. It should be easier to encourage voters to get out and vote even if it appears a sure thing after Clinton lost in a sure thing.

[suprcali]

6. talking points

I read the argument for it, too. And it sounded reasonable. But did you read the arguments against it from Breyer? You miss one federal election and don't vote in the next two midterms and you're purged. That happened to the Navy veteran who sued the state. About 144,000 voters were purged from Democratic leaning areas of Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus.

I don't think you realize you just repeated republican talking points for the purge. "Democrats are just making excuses". You really believe Republicans pursued this in the name of what's right? Yes, yes they did. What's right for them to stay in power. They'll have that, russian interference, and a republican majority who have taken no action in protecting the election. They are chipping away at chances for Democratic constituents to vote. The SCOTUS decision is just one of them but here's more reported recently:

Voter purge frenzy after federal protections lifted, new report says

Nine states with a history of racial discrimination are aggressively removing voters from the rolls, the Brennan Center for Justice says.

by Jane C. Timm / Jul.20.2018

[Hoyt]

7. Apparently, you don't see how grousing about stuff that really isn't a problem makes us look.

I bet you can't find one verifiable story of people being turned away from the polls who have voted in last 4 years, went to the right polls, etc. Where I live, on November 2016, a few people complained about having to cast a provisional ballot because they weren't on the voter list. Turns out when investigated, they went to the wrong place.

That's not "talking points," that's the truth. And even if one gets purged, it takes one minute at home, at a library, or at a Democratic local organization office to check your registration. If you've somehow been purged -- probably because you moved or haven't voted for six years -- you can re-register easily unless you wait until a few weeks before election.

We are 3.5 months away from the November election. Check your registration, and encourage others to do so or help them check theirs. It's really that easy. Making excuses makes us sound . . . . . .

[suprcali]

8. Alternate universe

Sorry, I thought I provided links to actual data that showed these purges targeted Democraic areas and referenced facts that are actually happening now. Like the fact that republicans just voted to eliminate funding for states to protect their election systems. Those 4 supreme court justices led by Breyer were dissenting for giggles. So please do not waste more of your time on me "grousing about stuff that really is not a problem."

And thanks for the lecture. I'm not a chair borne commentator. Do versus talk.

[Hoyt]

9. Your link told of two guys who hadn't voted in years being affected last November. The 144,000 are

people, who likely won't even know they've been purged because they've moved or just don't vote.

I support legalization of marijuana, but find it rather ironic that one of the two guys you submit as proof of some big conspiracy tired to vote for a marijuana initiative, but found out he hasn't voted in years and was purged from the registration list. Of course, he hadn't checked his status either.

No one who has voted in the district within 6 years or answers a mailed questionnaire gets purged, per Supreme Court. That seems adequate to me, especially when one can check their registration status and register on-line if after 6 years they decide to vote. The people purged are for the most part, gone/moved/expired. They will not ever vote in that area again. Hopefully, they registered in their new district.

I think you are making a much bigger deal of this than it is. The real tragedy is that Democratic outreach hasn't encourage these folks to check their registration and vote. In my deep red state, you don't have to leave your house to register or vote. People who don't have computer capability should be able to get help at outreach offices. In fact, there are some districts where the voter agency will come to your house to let you vote. It is extremely simple here and I believe in some 30+ states.

Absolutely no reason not to vote, check your registration or grouse about a few people removed from the registration rolls because they haven't voted in 6 years (that's three national elections, state elections, primaries, etc.) or responded to a questionnaire.

[Demovictory9]

4. kick