Originally Posted by
MumblesBadly
Biden attacks Georgia's new voting limits as 'an atrocity,' civil rights groups sue state
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN2BI2BP
“Among other limits, the Republican-backed law enacted on Thursday imposes...”
(1) stricter identification requirements,
(2) limits drop boxes,
(3) gives lawmakers the power to take over local elections,
(4) shortens the early voting period for all runoff elections, and
(5) makes it a misdemeanor for people to offer food and water to voters in line there.
All this despite the Georgia Secretary of State having reported no significant amount of voter fraud in the most recently run elections there (the general election and the Senate runoff elections).
Well, Druff, self-identified expert on election mechanics and security, what’s the legitimate rationale for such new rules?
Oh great, another voter fraud thread.
The "no significant amount of voter fraud" thing is nonsense because voter fraud is usually difficult or impossible to detect, especially when committed on a small scale by a large number of individuals.
Besides, even if it's not "significant", that doesn't mean we should throw security out the window. What if it's a very close election? Then just tough luck on whichever side got screwed by the fraud? Shouldn't we have learned in 2000 that even Presidential elections can sometimes come down to a very small number of votes? Local elections are frequently decided by a small number of votes. In 1992, my vote was the difference between a candidate winning and tying (he won by 2, and I voted for him -- it would have been a tie if I voted for the other guy!)
Regarding the list of new rules passed, I'll quickly comment on them. I'm not interested enough in Georgia voting to look into this further.
(1) stricter identification requirements
GREAT. Identification is required for just about everything in life nowadays, and there are a TON of things you can't do without ID, which are much more life-impacting than not being able to vote. Republicans have offered time and time again to make it easier to get ID (and free for poor people) if the Dems would drop their opposition to voter ID, and Dems have refused.
(2) limits drop boxes,
I don't understand why this would be done. On the surface this would look like a form of intentional voter inconvenience, but perhaps there are legit logistical arguments for this.
(3) gives lawmakers the power to take over local elections,
Mixed feelings on this. This opens the door to more corruption/cheating, but on the flip side, it allows local governments to hold elections in the manner which they feel is most suitable for their locality. Again, I'd need examples of the pros and cons of this before deciding whether this is right.
(4) shortens the early voting period for all runoff elections, and
I don't see the problem with this. Why does an early voting period have to be long?
(5) makes it a misdemeanor for people to offer food and water to voters in line there.
On the surface, this seems cruel and suppressive. However, I actually support this. Say an undecided voter is in a long line in November 2024, and is very hungry and thirsty. All of a sudden, a really nice guy appears wearing a Kamala Harris shirt shows up with cold water and tasty snacks, and hands them out. That could easily influence some voters to go with the candidate supported by this wonderful, kind person handing out the free food and water.
Look, I don't support any kind of voter suppression, but I also don't support fake anti-suppression efforts, which in reality exist to simply give an edge to the other side.