Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Human rights / Arkansas Elections Do Republicans really want more people to vote?
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 6:18 AM
- KUAR
- DOES HE REALLY WANT TO PROTECT THE VOTE? A suggestion for Sen. Bryan King, who proposes voter ID. Why not ease voter access?
Republicans have thrown up obstacles like this in other states, plus they've selectively made it very hard to vote in Democratic-rich regions, with inadequate election machinery producing long lines that discourage voting.
Democrats in Congress are fighting back. In the mill are measures to make it easier to register to vote and, importantly, ensuring that there are rich early voting opportunities.
Do Republicans really value the ballot. Or only ballots cast by Republicans? If the former, they'd push for easier registration, more early voting, measures to reduce lines. Ideally, on-line and postcard voting will become a national fact of life someday. What are the chances Bryan King, the great vote protector, favors universal access of this sort? He could demonstrate good intentions by companion legislation to his disenfranchisement measures. It's important.
Fourteen states are also considering whether to expand early voting, including the battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and Virginia, according to FairVote, a nonprofit group that advocates electoral change. Florida, New York, Texas and Washington are looking at whether to ease registration and establish preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds.Several recent polls and studies suggest that long waiting times in some places depressed turnout in 2012 and that lines were longest in cities, where Democrats outnumber Republicans. In a New York Times/CBS News poll taken shortly after Election Day, 18 percent of Democrats said they waited at least a half-hour to vote, compared with 11 percent of independents and 9 percent of Republicans.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology analysis determined that blacks and Hispanics waited nearly twice as long in line to vote on average than whites. Florida had the nation’s longest lines, at 45 minutes, followed by the District of Columbia, Maryland, South Carolina and Virginia, according to Charles Stewart III, the political science professor who conducted the analysis.
A separate analysis, by an Ohio State University professor and The Orlando Sentinel, concluded that more than 200,000 voters in Florida “gave up in frustration” without voting.
Speaking of...
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The terrible 10 of the 89th Arkansas General Assembly
May 9, 2013They're the worst of the worst. /more/
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UPDATE: Beebe vetoes partisan election oversight bills
April 23, 2013Gov. Mike Beebe cleared his desk of pending legislation today, signing all but thyree bills by Sen. Bryan King to put more power over election oversight in the office of secretary of state, now held by Republican Mark Martin. /more/
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Also overlooked: Partisan takeover of elections
April 19, 2013Speaking of overlooked legislative items. Here's another topic lost day to day in the welter of stuff being generated by a new Republican majority anxious to rewrite every element of Arkansas government more in its image. /more/
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Again with the double-dipping; thank a Republican
April 5, 2013I've been surprised that the new Republican majority didn't take aim at public employee retirement benefits first thing. /more/
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Republicans mount PR effort on Voter ID bill
April 4, 2013The Arkansas Republican Party, having passed a Voter ID bill developed nationally to depress turnout among traditional Democratic constituencies, mounted a PR effort this morning to show that they really do care about people voting. /more/
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Swine stampede
April 4, 2013Though needed, it came tragically too late. Legislation to curb feral hogs was approved by the House of Representatives last week, but not before Senate Republicans had already overridden Governor Beebe's veto of a bill prohibiting voting without photo identification. /more/
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House overrides Beebe veto of voter ID bill
April 1, 2013At 2:20 p.m., the House is hearing arguments from Rep. Stephen Meeks to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of the bill to require a photo ID to vote in Arkansas. /more/
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Speaker Carter gets touchy on senator's outburst
March 30, 2013The Arkansas legislature faces a six-day week next week because of the need for extended meetings to complete action on pending business before the currently scheduled end of the session April 19. /more/
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The Good God Friday Edition
March 29, 2013Prop 8 and DOMA and the Arkansas General Assembly and Sen. Mark Pryor shameful responses where, the fight over voter ID, media criticism of the Democrat-Gazette, the morality of Republican tax cuts, Big River Steel, new numbers on expansion and the latest on the potential merger between UAMS and St. Vincent — all covered on this week's edition. /more/
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Republicans don't want poor people to vote
March 29, 2013When they say it (voter ID, whatever) isn't about race or poor people .... Check this out. /more/
- More »
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