Being white on Election Day means you probably didn’t stand in a crazy line to vote

[applegrove]

Being white on Election Day means you probably didn’t stand in a crazy line to vote

by Jenée Desmond-Harris at Vox

http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/11/4/7154937/midterm-election-voting-black-latino

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Here are just a few examples of these voting inequalities, according to Mencimer:

•"White people who live in neighborhoods whose residents are less than 5 percent minority had the shortest of all wait times, just 7 minutes."

•"In areas of [Lee County, Florida] where African Americans and Latinos made up 40 to 50 percent of the population, precincts on average had a machine for every 2,150 voters, compared with 1,485 in areas with less than 10 percent minority populations."

• "After the 2004 election, University of Michigan political scientist Walter Mebane studied Franklin County [Ohio] for the Democratic National Committee, which wanted to figure out why so many likely Democratic voters had been unable to vote. He found that precincts with large minority populations had nearly 24 percent more registered voters per voting machine than in precincts whose population was less than one-quarter minority."

The full article lists several more specific instances in which white voters have had it easier at the polls than black and Hispanic voters. The reasons for the disparities aren't clear — Mencimer wrote that there's no evidence of an actual scheme to keep voters in predominantly black and Latino areas that tend to vote Democratic from the polls. But that doesn't make them any less troubling.





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[randys1]

1. Yep, and nothing is changing...In fact after tuesday many states will be making it much

harder to vote as well as killing many by denying medicaid

Many of those who will die or who will have family members who die will keep voting for the people who are purposely killing them

[shanti]

2. voted by mail

no lines here.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. As I noted on the day - in our pretty much white Republican neighbourhood?

40 to 50 voting machines for maybe 3-4 voters at a time.

I came in the door, was directed to the place where you show and verify ID, got my card, got a machine, voted, handed in my card, and was out the door with no one making me wait for anything.

[seveneyes]

4. What is the funding and appropriation source for the precincts?

Need more information before bringing racial integrity into the equation.

[applegrove]

5. Absolutely.

[Igel]

8. Actually, the reasons are pretty clear.

It's just that a lot of people don't like them so they try to see them through their eyelids.

BOEs and counties/jurisdictions typically pay for their own voting machines. States sometimes throw in money for large overhauls. Large urban areas have higher populations and tend to have other uses for their funds. They also tend to have higher minority populations. This is because most elections are local. Those that aren't local are still all state-level elections. We have no true national elections in the US.

Suburbs typically have lots of people with cars. People trickle in and out of polling places. In some communities, esp. urban ones, churches and other groups organize buses to bring in large groups. This produces lines, and then for a while a doldrums of sorts. You get the same kind of thing in some areas with a lot of retirees, not just large AA populations.

Then there are surges that you can't plan for because to do so is financially bad. Where I live now there aren't such surges. Some people get off work at 3, some at 4, some at 5. Where I used to live 10 years ago the quitting time was around 4. Go at 3, and the polls are empty, no line at all. Go at 4:30 and there'd be 100 people in line. Go at 6 and there'd be a few people in line. When I was a poll worker in Rochester, around 8 there'd be a rush, and around 5 there'd be a rush, with a baby rush around lunch.

In some elections--2008 comes to mind--the practice DOEs have of allocating voting machines according to historical trends also produces problems. If there's a sudden surge in one area because of a sudden surge in a single demographic, then the historical trend is just wrong. But that doesn't help because the machines are in place and it's hard to move them at the last minute.

In a given precinct for a given election it may not be clear why there are lines. But there are only a few reasons needed to handle the vast majority of instances.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. No Oregonian has to wait in line to vote, none have to vote on a machine

nt

[former9thward]

7. Who runs the election boards in cities with large urban minority populations?

[Recursion]

9. And you're more likely to have a job where you can just say

"Hey, Lundberg, I'm going to take a long lunch to go vote; I'll have those TPS reports for you tomorrow."

[applegrove]

11. Why voting day should be a national holiday.

[RebelOne]

10. I did early voting and there were no lines.

There are many Hispanics in my neighborhood and many of them are illegal. But of those that are legal I have no idea how many voted.

[SoCalNative]

12. All elections

from Federal to Municipal, need to be vote by mail ONLY and that would solve the problem.

[HockeyMom]

13. Only voted once at the polls in Florida

since moving here 7 years ago. White Democrat in very Red area. NEVER again. Absentee ballot since then.

[gollygee]

14. I didn't have to wait at all

white Republican district, more spots to vote than voters. Friends who live more in town had waits. Yup.

[AngryAmish]

15. Vote ahead of time. I voted 3 weeks early.

5 minutes to vote, 10 minutes since they refused to look at my id. Morons.

[Calista241]

16. i showed up at 11:23, and voted at 12:42.

North Atlanta. Actually in a city called Sandy Springs, which probably voted 60%+ for Deal / Perdue.

[awoke_in_2003]

17. No wait at all...

unless I wanted to wait for electronic voting (I don't do that). Of course, since I live in Texas, none of the people I voted for won.

[badtoworse]

18. I vote at 6:30 am. No wait at all.

[Nye Bevan]

19. Vote by mail for everyone.

Problem solved.