{"id":5261,"date":"2022-01-21T09:10:47","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T14:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5261"},"modified":"2022-01-21T09:10:51","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T14:10:51","slug":"whats-at-stake-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/01\/21\/whats-at-stake-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s at Stake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lost Debate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cGreat Voting Rights\u201d debate in the United States Senate is over.  Despite having the narrowest of majority in the Senate, last week the Democrats failed to pass the \u201cFreedom to Vote Act\u201d and the \u201cJohn Lewis Voting Rights Act\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the 2020 election, a significant portion of the American citizenry mistakenly believe that the voting process was corrupted.  This has actually become the sole \u201creason for being\u201d of the Republican Party in multiple states:  pass laws to make sure that voting is harder, especially on those who live in urban areas and are economically disadvantaged.  The facts are that Republicans have targeted a particular group to \u201ccontrol\u201d when it comes to voting, people generally of color, and who tend NOT to vote for Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre-Certification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Up until 2013, changes in election law in states with demonstrated prior discrimination had to go through a \u201cpre-certification\u201d process.  The US Department of Justice had to agree to the changes, otherwise the state was required to go to Federal Court to prove those changes weren\u2019t discriminatory.  The \u201cburden of proof\u201d was on the state, placed there by the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed by Congress.  But in 2013, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority on the Supreme Court, declared that \u201cdiscrimination was over\u201d, and reversed the burden of proof, requiring the Justice Department to prove discrimination on laws already in effect.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big-Box Voting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This opened the door for electoral changes made to \u201csave money\u201d.  Polling locations were consolidated, so that they were \u201cmore efficient\u201d.  The old local school or church or firehouse was closed, and the locations went from \u201cretail\u201d to \u201cbig box\u201d.  In Georgia, a law was passed capping the total number of voters at a given polling place at a huge 2600.  But by 2020, in urban precincts that number was actually closer to 3600.  And since the Justice Department no longer was able to rule prior to the law\u2019s enactment, the consolidations went into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the June 2020 primaries (during the height of the pandemic), the Atlanta Journal Constitution<\/em> noted the following:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c On June 9, the last day of voting in Republican and Democratic primaries, the average wait time after 7 p.m. was six minutes \u2014 if you were at a polling place where at least 90% of voters were white. If you found yourself at a polling station where 90% of voters were Black, the wait time was 51 minutes.\u201d  (AJC<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some might make a racist trope from that statistic, suggesting some kind of \u201claziness\u201d or waiting to the last minute.  But the reason for the \u201ccrowds\u201d are in the numbers:  the \u201cbig box\u201d polling places were overloaded and understaffed, and the voters didn\u2019t have the option of voting during work hours.  They couldn\u2019t vote \u201cat lunch\u201d.  The location was too far away, and the wait was too long.   They had to come after work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s \u201cFixed\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many election officials reasonably found ways to make early voting easier during the pandemic.  But since 2020 in the State of Georgia, laws are in effect that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n