Anyone have an answer to this one? (Voting.)

[CC27]

Grins (6,332 posts)


Anyone have an answer to this one? (Voting.)
It came to me the other day, while I was reading about wheelchair-bound Gov. Greg Abbott vetoing a bill that would give people with disabilities new options to voting by mail. (NB: On the side, I collect news articles about voter fraud and voter suppression. I have dozens of them! And I know this is going to shock you, but all of them are about - Republicans!)
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The question:

Going back to Reagan, can you name any legislation proposed by Republicans that made it EASIER for citizens to vote?

I can find a whole bunch of state and federal legislation put forth and enforced by Republicans designed to suppress voting and voters, but I can't think of even one where they made it easier.
- Because they want to suppress the vote. The LEGAL vote
- Because they know HIGH voter turnout favors Democrats.
- Because they damn-well know their poisonous ideas and governing philosophies are rancid to the general public.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218033633

 Dems made it easier to cheat...

[SVPete]

Well, just off the top of my head, there's the 15th Amendment and the Civil Rights bills Rs proposed and Ds filibustered in the 50s.

So, what doe this Texas voting law actually do?

The hard-fought Texas voting bill is poised to become law. Here's what it does.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/30/texas-voting-restrictions-bill/

The bill outlaws drive-thru voting, which several counties used in 2020 to allow voters to cast ballots from their car.
...
SB 1 restricts early voting to a newly established window of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., which would outlaw the 24 hours of uninterrupted voting Harris County offered at a few polling places for one day during the 2020 election.
...
It will become a state jail felony for local election officials to send unsolicited applications to request a mail-in ballot. That same punishment applies to officials who approve the use of public funds “to facilitate” the unsolicited distribution of applications by third-parties, which would keep counties from providing applications to local groups helping get out the vote. ...
...
The legislation further tightens rules for voting by mail by setting new ID requirements. Under SB 1, voters must provide their driver’s license number or, if they don’t have one, the last four digits of their Social Security number on applications for those ballots. They must also provide those numbers on the envelope used to return their completed ballot.
...
Building on Democratic proposals, the bill creates a new process allowing voters to correct their mail-in ballots if they are at risk of being rejected for a technical error. Voters could make those corrections online through a new online ballot tracker that was previously approved by the Legislature. The legislation will also allow voters who make errors on the mail-in ballot application itself to make corrections.
...
The legislation includes language to strengthen the autonomy of partisan poll watchers at polling places by granting them “free movement” within a polling place, except for being present at a voting station when a voter is filling out their ballot. SB 1 would also make it a criminal offense to obstruct their view or distance the watcher “in a manner that would make observation not reasonably effective.”
...
SB 1 sets up new monthly reviews of the state’s voter rolls to identify noncitizens — harkening back to the state’s botched 2019 voter rolls review. The bill will require the Texas secretary of state’s office to compare the massive statewide voter registration list with data from the Department of Public Safety to pinpoint individuals who told the department they were not citizens while obtaining or renewing their driver’s license or ID card after registering to vote.
...
The bill would establish new requirements — and possible criminal penalties — for those who assist voters who need help filling out their ballots, including voters with disabilities. The person assisting must fill out new paperwork disclosing their relationship to the voter. Assistants must also recite an expanded oath, now under the penalty of perjury, stating they did not “pressure or coerce” the voter into choosing them for assistance.

I'm pretty sure that 6AM-10PM schedule for polling places being open is hours longer than what was common here in Santa Clara County pre-Covid. Most of the provisions have to do with making vote fraud more difficult, which is what actually chafes Grins and other Dems.

[ADsOutburst]

- Because they damn-well know their poisonous ideas and governing philosophies are rancid to the general public.

Ummm, no, immigration enforcement, school-related issues (curricula, school choice), the economy, crime, and... wait for it... voter ID are all issues on which Americans favor republicans. Democrats mainly hold an advantage when voters are asked questions like "We think there should be world peace, everyone had health care, and that gun violence is bad" Do you agree?", things that are easy to agre with on the surface.

[Old n Grumpy]

And in the fine print it bans saying gay