Voting in the U.S. will soon be (even) harder to do.

[Free]

Let's start with Georgia.

Bill seeks two copies of photo ID to vote absentee in Georgia

A bill introduced in the Georgia General Assembly on Wednesday would require voters to make two photocopies of their ID before being allowed to cast absentee ballots.

www.ajc.com

Georgia voters would be required to make copies of their photo ID and mail them to election officials twice before being allowed to cast an absentee ballot, according to a bill introduced Wednesday.

The legislation, Senate Bill 29, would create a photo ID requirement for voting outside of polling places in Georgia. Voters would need to submit ID both when applying for absentee ballots and when returning them.

Hey, why not 7 times? Why not once for each time the paperwork is out of your hands?

 

[Rose Karuna]

Let's start with Georgia.

Bill seeks two copies of photo ID to vote absentee in Georgia

A bill introduced in the Georgia General Assembly on Wednesday would require voters to make two photocopies of their ID before being allowed to cast absentee ballots.

www.ajc.com

Hey, why not 7 times? Why not once for each time the paperwork is out of your hands?

Wow - what a great opportunity for identity theft courtesy of the State of Georgia. If that happened to me because I had to "mail" copies of my ID with my request for ballot and then again with my ballot, I would sure as hell sue them.

 

[Sid]

Is there no way to stop this idiocy on a national level?
The underlying reasons for this bill are so obvious anti democratic.

 

[Free]

Is there no way to stop this idiocy on a national level?

Nope. Voting is administered and legislated at the state level. STATES RIGHTS!

Ironically, it's probably what protected us from Trump's nasty coup efforts.

 

[danielravennest]

Is there no way to stop this idiocy on a national level?
The underlying reasons for this bill are so obvious anti democratic.

Yes, reinstate the Voting Right Act at the federal level. Not everyone has a photo ID, nor a computer with a scanner/printer to produce a copy of it. This is in effect a poll tax, which is illegal. Voting is supposed to be a right, not a privilege based on meeting certain conditions.

If this bill passes, which is fairly likely given Republicans control the legislature and governor's office in GA, it will almost certainly go to court. It will also energize voters in Georgia even more than they already are.

 

[Free]

Not in alphabetical order: Arizona.

 

[Noodles]

"We are upset we lost when people had an easy way to express their voice on elections so we.are going to quadruple down on silencing their ability to speak."

-- The GOP.

I fucking hate these people.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

Is there no way to stop this idiocy on a national level?
The underlying reasons for this bill are so obvious anti democratic.

Yes - the only upside is that enough of their base is poor and rural, so less access to ways to send in two forms of id, to where it might shoot them in the foot. That whole assumption that blacks are all poor and white people are better off, except when trying to rile them up by saying how all their stuff is being stolen by -them-.

 

[Free]

Voting Laws Roundup: January 2021

After historic turnout and increased mail voting in 2020, state lawmakers across the country are pulling in opposite directions by introducing restrictive and expansive voting legislation.

www.brennancenter.org

The 2021 legislative sessions have begun in all but six states, and state lawmakers have already introduced hundreds of bills aimed at election procedures and voter access — vastly exceeding the number of voting bills introduced by this time last year.

In a backlash to historic voter turnout in the 2020 general election, and grounded in a rash of baseless and racist allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities, legislators have introduced three times the number of bills to restrict voting access as compared to this time last year. Twenty-eight states have introduced, prefiled, or carried over 106 restrictive bills this year (as compared to 35 such bills in fifteen states on February 3, 2020).

There's nothing better than attempts to restrict voting in a "free" society. </sarcasm>

 

[Free]

More from Georgia:

Ga. bills would end no-excuse absentee voting, automatic registration

Republican senators in Georgia introduced bills Monday to end no-excuse absentee voting, automatic voter registration and ballot drop boxes. Democratic lawmakers said the bills amount to voter suppression.

www.ajc.com

Republican state senators introduced a package of bills Monday to ban automatic voter registration, ballot drop boxes and no-excuse absentee voting in Georgia.

The proposals amount to an overhaul of Georgia’s election laws after record turnout resulted in wins for Democrats, including Joe Biden’s run for president and the bids by Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock for the U.S. Senate.

One measure would prevent voters from being automatically registered to vote when they get their driver’s licenses. Another would ban drop boxes, requiring absentee ballots to be returned through the mail or at county election offices.

In addition, a proposal would roll back a state law allowing registered voters to cast an absentee ballot for any reason. Absentee voting would be limited to those over 75 years old, voters with disabilities or anyone required to be absent from his or her precinct.

 

[Noodles]

This is so fucking stupid.

It's God damn 2021. There is zero reason people need to go stand in a fucking line for hours on a single certain day to vote

Zero.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

This is so fucking stupid.

It's God damn 2021. There is zero reason people need to go stand in a fucking line for hours on a single certain day to vote

Zero.

There is, though -- if they didn't have to do that, then a lot of people who current enjoy the benefits and rewards of being in power would lose them.

That might not seem a good reason to you or me, but neither of us are Georgia Republicans -- walk a mile in the other chap's shoes, and all that.

ETA: Or have his chauffeur take you for a spin in the official limo, as the case may be.

 

[Sid]

They saw their state turn blue.
That must have been a nightmare to them.

Is that enough empathy?

Good!
May the force be against them next elections as well.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Let's start with Georgia.

Bill seeks two copies of photo ID to vote absentee in Georgia

A bill introduced in the Georgia General Assembly on Wednesday would require voters to make two photocopies of their ID before being allowed to cast absentee ballots.

www.ajc.com

Hey, why not 7 times? Why not once for each time the paperwork is out of your hands?

I can understand why moderates were sold on needing photo ID to vote, but this is so obviously excessive it's mind boggling. They may as well also require your membership to a golf country club.

 

[Soen Eber]

This is so fucking stupid.

It's God damn 2021. There is zero reason people need to go stand in a fucking line for hours on a single certain day to vote

Zero.

I've never had to stand in line for more than 20 minutes and usually it's five minutes or less - but then again the driving zeitgeist in my state is radical eqalitarianism and Janteloven. Forcing people to stand in line for that long is instrumentally voter suppression.

 

[Noodles]

I've never had to stand in line for more than 20 minutes and usually it's five minutes or less - but then again the driving zeitgeist in my state is radical eqalitarianism and Jante law. Forcing people to stand in line for that long is instrumentally voter suppression.

I have not had to wait long either, but I also make a point of going at like 6:30 AM. Voting by mail last year was still infinitely better and easier and should be the standard going forward.

In addition to all the accessibility options, it also means you can research as you vote for every position if you want.

 

[Jolene Benoir]

I've never had to stand in line for more than 20 minutes and usually it's five minutes or less - but then again the driving zeitgeist in my state is radical eqalitarianism and Janteloven. Forcing people to stand in line for that long is instrumentally voter suppression.

Yep, the only time I've ever had to stand in a line for any extended amount of time was early voting this go round and 2016 primary. Generally speaking, it is in and out.

But then, we aren't a state that is trying to restrict access to voting.

 

[danielravennest]

I can understand why moderates were sold on needing photo ID to vote, but this is so obviously excessive it's mind boggling. They may as well also require your membership to a golf country club.

Outside the Atlanta area, most of Georgia is low-income, and that's where the Republicans dominate. Map is interactive.

 

[Free]

They may as well also require your membership to a golf country club.

Only if it's a photo ID.

 

[Rose Karuna]

I never had to wait in line to vote in Florida until Obama ran for President. At that time, they closed the elementary school that everyone in my [racially mixed and strongly democrat] neighborhood used to vote at and moved our polling place to a much larger facility farther away and technically out of our neighborhood.

Consequently, I waited in line 3 hours to vote for Obama. After that, my husband and I signed up for absentee ballot and we've voted that way ever since. Florida has played a lot of games with polling places, gerrymandering districts and purging voter roles. Bunch of assholes in Tallahassee.

The demographics are changing though. Yes, there are a lot of Cubans and Venezuelans in S Florida as well as red necks in N Florida that are predominately conservative and voted for Trump. However, there are also a lot of Puerto Rican's that relocated to Central Florida after Hurricane Maria (most of them hate Trump). From what I can see (in my area), they are more liberal. Not to mention all the people from Uruguay, Columbia, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico. This is why the Republicans are playing games with voting. They know that very soon, they won't be able to keep control of Florida either.