Incertonia
30-10-2004, 03:42
I've read a lot about politics the last few years--too much according to some people--and I'm as fiercely partisan as anyone out there. But when it comes to getting people to vote, I lose the partisanship. I honestly don't care who you vote for as long as you vote. I'd rather it be for my guy, of course, but the idea of suppressing the vote is alien to me. Worse--it pisses me off to no end.
Now there have been numerous voter suppression stories that have come out already this year. There were the allegations about organizations claiming to register people and then tossing the forms if they weren't signed up as Republicans, there was an attempt today in Ohio to get people tossed off the voter list because they had refused registered mail from the Republican party (that story got one person to plead the Fifth really quickly). And then there's this flier that's making its way around Milwaukee's black neighborhoods.
http://www.sierraclubvotes.org/images/milwaukee.gif
One thing I've noticed about these debates--Democrats are often accused of fraud, but rarely of suppression. Republicans are always accused of suppression. Why? Because history shows that when the turnout is high, they lose, especially if there's a significant minority population.
Now there have been numerous voter suppression stories that have come out already this year. There were the allegations about organizations claiming to register people and then tossing the forms if they weren't signed up as Republicans, there was an attempt today in Ohio to get people tossed off the voter list because they had refused registered mail from the Republican party (that story got one person to plead the Fifth really quickly). And then there's this flier that's making its way around Milwaukee's black neighborhoods.
http://www.sierraclubvotes.org/images/milwaukee.gif
One thing I've noticed about these debates--Democrats are often accused of fraud, but rarely of suppression. Republicans are always accused of suppression. Why? Because history shows that when the turnout is high, they lose, especially if there's a significant minority population.