2024 voter suppression

[Mendel]

Article:

As in Bush v. Gore in 2000, and in too many other miscarriages of Democracy, this election was determined by good old "vote suppression," the polite term we use for shafting people of color out of their ballot. We used to call it Jim Crow.

Here are key numbers:

4,776,706 voters were wrongly purged from voter rolls according to US Elections Assistance Commission data.By August of 2024, for the first time since 1946, self-proclaimed "vigilante" voter-fraud hunters challenged the rights of 317,886 voters. The NAACP of Georgia estimates that by Election Day, the challenges exceeded 200,000 in Georgia alone.No less than 2,121,000 mail-in ballots were disqualified for minor clerical errors (e.g. postage due).At least 585,000 ballots cast in-precinct were also disqualified.1,216,000 "provisional" ballots were rejected, not counted.3.24 million new registrations were rejected or not entered on the rolls in time to vote.

If the purges, challenges and ballot rejections were random, it wouldn't matter. It's anything but random. For example, an audit by the State of Washington found that a Black voter was 400% more likely than a white voter to have their mail-in ballot rejected. Rejection of Black in-person votes, according to a US Civil Rights Commission study in Florida, ran 14.3% or one in seven ballots cast.

Source: https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/

The bunk here is the idea that election outcomes reflect the will of the citizens.

 

[Charlesinsandiego]

In Georgia you have to go to a special website to register to vote or physically mail in a form. In California you are automatically asked to register to vote when you apply for a driver's license. In fact it is kind of hard to avoid it if you are already registered or want to decline. Small things like this can make a difference.

 

[captancourgette]

No less than 2,121,000 mail-in ballots were disqualified for minor clerical errors (e.g. postage due)

Uh what! - If I understand the meaning of postage due, it seems to vote with a mail in ballot you have to affix your own stamps!! Surely that can't be right, but then again this is USA where it seems nothing is free thus who knows.

 

[Charlesinsandiego]

Uh what! - If I understand the meaning of postage due, it seems to vote with a mail in ballot you have to affix your own stamps!! Surely that can't be right, but then again this is USA where it seems nothing is free thus who knows.

"postage due" implies that the vote reached the appropriate place and was ignored, not that it never got there. BTW, in my state mail-in ballots are prepaid. Making it easy to vote by mail is fiscally responsible as well. https://voteathome.org/cost-savings/

 

[yoshy]

The New York Times published nearly daily front-page stories about Clinton's emails or Biden's age, but apparently massive widespread voter suppression isn't a major topic for them

 

[deirdre]

Uh what! - If I understand the meaning of postage due, it seems to vote with a mail in ballot you have to affix your own stamps!! Surely that can't be right, but then again this is USA where it seems nothing is free thus who knows.

sometimes you have to affix two. this article was the last midterm elections..so 2022. What states are [allegedly] allowed to reject a ballot because of postage i have no idea.

edit add: usps means United States Postal Service.

Article:

The USPS also released an election mail guide in January 2022 that confirms that unpaid ballots or those with insufficient postage will not be returned to the voter and will not delay the ballot delivery.

"Postage is collected from the election office upon delivery or at a later date," the policy reads.

The amount of postage can vary by jurisdiction. In Ohio, for example, if a person returns an absentee ballot by mail it must be postmarked no later than the day before Election Day, and it is the voter's responsibility the ballot has enough postage, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's website.

The Lucas County, Ohio, Board of Elections said in a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday that not every ballot in Ohio needs more than one stamp, and requirements vary depending on how many pages each ballot is.

"In addition the post office will deliver it to the board of elections regardless of postage," the tweet added.

The elections administration office in Harris County, Texas -- which similarly requires two stamps per ballot -- has also been posting reminders on Twitter about postage.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-ballots-elections2022-stamp-postage-516178566915

*in fairness you needed stamps in the election Trump lost too. so..

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

 

[Ann K]

Uh what! - If I understand the meaning of postage due, it seems to vote with a mail in ballot you have to affix your own stamps!! Surely that can't be right, but then again this is USA where it seems nothing is free thus who knows.

Unmentioned is the work of Louis DeJoy, who, in his capacity of postmaster general, has disposed of millions of dollars worth of sorting machines, thus slowing the delivery of mail to the point that there has been a huge outcry from people who have been charged past due fees because their bills arrived after the due date. His slowing of the entire delivery process has long been suspected of being in the service of delaying mailed ballots until after the deadline.

 

[captancourgette]

"postage due" implies that the vote reached the appropriate place and was ignored, not that it never got there. BTW, in my state mail-in ballots are prepaid. Making it easy to vote by mail is fiscally responsible as well. https://voteathome.org/cost-savings/

Yes they got there but were then thrown in the rubbish cause they didn't have the right postage.
My point was (in case it wasn't clear) I would of assumed it would be free to mail your vote in (like it is in NZ and I assume most if not all other western countries excluding the USA)
2 million votes thrown out is over 1% of the people that voted. That 1% is a big difference in what was shaping up to be such a tight contest

 

[Landru]

https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-12-states-with-postage-paid-election-mail

Wisconsin	Wis. Stat. § 6.87	"If the ballot is mailed, and the ballot qualifies for mailing free of postage under federal free postage laws, the clerk shall affix the appropriate legend required by U.S. postal regulations. Otherwise, the clerk shall pay the postage required for return when the ballot is mailed from within the United States. If the ballot is not mailed by the absentee elector from within the United States, the absentee elector shall provide return postage."

 

[Mendel]

https://www.lgbtmap.org/democracy-maps/pre_paid_ballot_postage

 

[JMartJr]

I really hate to see the "the election was stolen" narrative taking hold in both parties now... it was dangerous enough when it was only the one that was promoting that. If the second party decides to go all-in on this, democracy is, I think, done.

 

[Ann K]

I really hate to see the "the election was stolen" narrative taking hold in both parties now... it was dangerous enough when it was only the one that was promoting that. If the second party decides to go all-in on this, democracy is, I think, done.

I agree ...unless one party asserts it baselessly, and the other has the receipts.

 

[Mendel]

I really hate to see the "the election was stolen" narrative taking hold in both parties now... it was dangerous enough when it was only the one that was promoting that. If the second party decides to go all-in on this, democracy is, I think, done.

The 2020 MAGA narrative was one of widespread fraud, and there's no evidence for it. Some Republicans were disgruntled that some citizens were allowed to cast votes that should've had to jump through some extra hoops, legally.

The 2024 narrative from the OP is exactly along the same lines:
• there was no widespread fraud
• GOP legislators and governors try to keep people from exercising their right to vote.

This narrative is not new (cf. the reference to Jim Crow laws). And the facts it's based on are on record.
It's just that Republicans say it's legitimate while Democrats say it's not.

The voting system should not be designed to keep (some) people who have the right and the will to vote from having their vote counted.

 

[deirdre]

The voting system should not be designed to keep (some) people who have the right and the will to vote from having their vote counted.

i do agree if a ballot makes it to the station it should not be thrown out due to postage. The government has no problem sending us bills for a shit ton of other stuff. they should just bill the voter for the price of the stamp and processing fees. Its kinda strange they dont, the government loves their processing fees, late fees and other little taxes they tack on to a bill.

 

[JMartJr]

i do agree if a ballot makes it to the station it should not be thrown out due to postage. The government has no problem sending us bills for a shit ton of other stuff. they should just bill the voter for the price of the stamp and processing fees. Its kinda strange they dont, the government loves their processing fees, late fees and other little taxes they tack on to a bill.

I don't know this for a fact, but it may be the case that this would run afoul of laws against poll taxes.

 

[NoParty]

https://www.lgbtmap.org/democracy-maps/pre_paid_ballot_postage
View attachment 76585
View attachment 76586

Wow! What an amazing graphic! Though chilling.

Not much hides who wants Americans to vote, and who would rather we didn't.
I'm especially proud that my state (CA) has high voter turnout, despite the archaic
Electoral College system (+ politician campaign geography) telling us our votes
don't matter, since we aren't a "swing" state.