Texas
Related: About this forumVoter Harassment, Circa 2012
This is how voter intimidation worked in 1966: White teenagers in Americus, Ga., harassed black citizens in line to vote, and the police refused to intervene. Black plantation workers in Mississippi had to vote in plantation stores, overseen by their bosses. Black voters in Choctaw County, Ala., had to hand their ballots directly to white election officials for inspection.
This is how it works today: In an ostensible hunt for voter fraud, a Tea Party group, True the Vote, descends on a largely minority precinct and combs the registration records for the slightest misspelling or address error. It uses this information to challenge voters at the polls, and though almost every challenge is baseless, the arguments and delays frustrate those in line and reduce turnout.
The thing thats different from the days of overt discrimination is the phony pretext of combating voter fraud. Voter identity fraud is all but nonexistent, but the assertion that it might exist is used as an excuse to reduce the political rights of minorities, the poor, students, older Americans and other groups that tend to vote Democratic.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/opinion/voter-harassment-circa-2012.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120922
sonias
(18,063 posts)And unfortunately they were birthed in Texas of course. Because the right wing crazed fundies like Dick Armey can get money for this kind of shit.
Makes me sick.
TexasTowelie
(112,132 posts)Otherwise, the harassers at the polling station might ignore me since I'm a white middle-age male. If someone challenges me, then I guaranty a response that will make the day for many.
DhhD
(4,695 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 23, 2012, 11:04 AM - Edit history (1)
reaction to a member of the disrupter organization? One could hold a flashlight while standing in line and use it to-help-the curious or just in case the violators turn off the electricity.
TexasTowelie
(112,132 posts)since the bright flashes of light are a warning sign of a detached retina.
As for my oral response, I will emphasize the efforts of the GOP to disenfranchise the right to vote for all Americans of legal age and the people that join in the effort are the enemies of democracy. That should be enough to get their blood boiling.