Why do Democrats think black people are too stupid to read a ballot?

[belleislerunner]

I thought it was odd that U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain in Detroit blocked a State of Michigan law that prohibited straight party voting because it would place a “disproportionate burden” on blacks in the November election. How is that not the most racist thing anyone has heard?

Do we really think black people can't read down a ballot to the same level as white people?

http://www.freep.com/story/news/poli...ting/88895656/

[Bham1982]

Thank God for a rational judge.

It would be nice if Republicans spent 10% as much time trying to woo voters as trying to disenfranchise voters. They are going hog-wild at the state level trying to make it as difficult as possible to vote.

[Honky Tonk]

Thank God for a rational judge.

It would be nice if Republicans spent 10% as much time trying to woo voters as trying to disenfranchise voters. They are going hog-wild at the state level trying to make it as difficult as possible to vote.

I totally agree with you. They should just allow people to put their "X" on a piece of paper.

[downtownguy]

Why do Republicans feel they need to interfere in the voting process of any American? This isn't black/white except to the extent that African Americans tend to vote Democratic. Many people of all races vote a straight ticket. I don't think I ever have, but it pisses me off that Republicans want to remove that option.

Just one more example of Republicans wanting to keep government out of our lives, unless that government interference can benefit them politically or economically. What hypocrites!

[dtowncitylover]

I don't see where you get that from. If an African American wants to vote Democratic for President but Republican for Congress, s/he can do that.

But when the facts are that 70% of African Americans in Detroit vote straight party, and you're trying to take that away so yeah I would say there's a burden and for no good reason. If they want to vote Republican, they are more than able to. We all know you just can't choose straight ballot or you spoil the ballot.

And then they try and tack on the fact the voters can't decide on it! Gotta love GOP tactics...

[bust]

Do we really think black people can't read down a ballot to the same level as white people?

http://www.freep.com/story/news/poli...ting/88895656/

Let's call your post what it is: race baiting. Or are you the one with the reading problem?

[belleislerunner]

I'm not a Democrat or Republican - but I can't think of a single reason how it has gotten harder to vote since I turned 18? Please provide your purported listing.

[belleislerunner]

You're missing the point - the point is that these are laws passed because we as a majority of citizens in Michigan have elected these people to represent us [[i.e. Lansing) and they pass a law that outlaws something - it applies to all people equally. That's common sense.

To then argue that a specific group of people it harms more because of reading skills - is what shocked me as demeaning. As a white person - that's the epitome of white privilege.

[bust]

To then argue that a specific group of people it harms more because of reading skills...

Re-read the article slowly. No-one said anything about reading skills. Except you. And I did, about yours.

[Scottathew]

Perhaps the angle is that black people are disproportionately educated, and that for a person of lesser education it's easier to check one box than going through and finding all of them?

I'm 33 and I've been voting in every election since 18. Never once have I taken the straight-party option.

[Bham1982]

I'm not a Democrat or Republican - but I can't think of a single reason how it has gotten harder to vote since I turned 18? Please provide your purported listing.

Then you're not following national news. Tons of states have passed voter ID laws, and most have been overturned as racially biased. In every case, it's Republicans looking at the coming demographic reality, and trying to disenfranchise nonwhites.

Just these past few weeks in Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin, though it's happening in basically every state with a Republican controlled legislature-

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/opinion/north-carolinas-voting-restrictions-struck-down-as-racist.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us...ights-act.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/us...to-id-law.html

[bust]

Even more to the point:

Long Lines at Minority Polling Places

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/op...ng-places.html

This ruling was about avoiding lines even longer than the ones that already disproportionately affect minority polling places. Duh.

[emu steve]

Why do Republicans feel they need to interfere in the voting process of any American? This isn't black/white except to the extent that African Americans tend to vote Democratic. Many people of all races vote a straight ticket. I don't think I ever have, but it pisses me off that Republicans want to remove that option.

Just one more example of Republicans wanting to keep government out of our lives, unless that government interference can benefit them politically or economically. What hypocrites!

Pls, God, do not permit those Republicans trying to ban straight party voting to call themselves 'libertarians'.

I could argue that straight party voting option, for those so inclined, speeds up voting and therefore leads to higher participation, possibly reduces the need for more poll workers, etc.

I'll give the state of Michigan my address to send me a $25 check for my suggestion to improve the voting process... To bad they didn't think of it...

[emu steve]

I thought it was odd that U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain in Detroit blocked a State of Michigan law that prohibited straight party voting because it would place a “disproportionate burden” on blacks in the November election. How is that not the most racist thing anyone has heard?

Do we really think black people can't read down a ballot to the same level as white people?

http://www.freep.com/story/news/poli...ting/88895656/

Maybe we should read about the rationale for the decision:

Detroit U.S. District Court Judge Gershwin Drain ruled last month that the law was likely to place an undue burden on African-American voters, increasing the time it will take them to vote in districts where lines may already be long.

“In the face of this burden, the state has offered only vague and largely unsupported justifications of fostering voter knowledge and engagement,” Judges Karen Moore, Ronald Lee Gilman and Jane Branstetter Stranch wrote in the ruling.

**************
It is no secret that voting patterns are very, very easy to ascertain. One could pick heavily Democratic or Republican precincts very easily.

So it behooves GOP officials to not make voting easier in heavily urban, Democratic areas.

Rural = Republican, short voting lines.

Urban = Democratic, longer voting lines.

Long voting lines are more likely to be a problem in areas which historically are African-American and heavily Democratic. Easy for folks to get discouraged and not vote.

How the GOP attempts to steal the election. Sorry, Trump, you got your facts wrong...

[BankruptcyGuy]

The question before the judge was whether the lack of straight-ticket voting is a violation of the 14th Amendment. Tough to make that case when 40 of 50 states don't have straight ticket voting. Guess we'll see what the 6th Circuit has to say.

[southen]

I'm not a Democrat or Republican - but I can't think of a single reason how it has gotten harder to vote since I turned 18? Please provide your purported listing.

You can keep saying that, but your posts say otherwise...

The fact is that voting in places like Detroit are made much more difficult than say Bloomfield Hills. Republicans have been targeting minority communities to make things difficult in the hopes that the voters will just stay home. Long lines, inferior equipment and now voter ID laws are all tactics to suppress the vote and they claim that it is to crack down on the non-existent problem of voter fraud. You've bought into it hook, line and sinker.

[southen]

A good listen for anyone who wants to really understand the issue.

http://www.npr.org/2016/07/22/487033...d-restrictions

[Wesley Mouch]

A good listen for anyone who wants to really understand the issue.

http://www.npr.org/2016/07/22/487033...d-restrictions

I'm gonna listen next, but first I wanted to put out my pre-research assumption on this.

Republicans aren't targeting blacks at all here. They're trying to limit damage from straight-party voting AGAINST Trump. They're petrified that Trump'll kill the 'down ballot' Repubicans.

So let's see what National Communist Radio has to say now...

[dtowncitylover]

So let's see what National Communist Radio as to say now...

Not sure if sarcastic or serious and unoriginal...

[southen]

I'm gonna listen next, but first I wanted to put out my pre-research assumption on this.

Republicans aren't targeting blacks at all here. They're trying to limit damage from straight-party voting AGAINST Trump. They're petrified that Trump'll kill the 'down ballot' Repubicans.

So let's see what National Communist Radio as to say now...

Well considering this stuff started before Trump I am going to go ahead and poo poo that right now. Maybe try to have an open mind and listen to an interview with someone who actually did research on the topic and wrote a book, even if it might not jive with whatever crazy view you might have of NPR.

[Wesley Mouch]

Well considering this stuff started before Trump I am going to go ahead and poo poo that right now. Maybe try to have an open mind and listen to an interview with someone who actually did research on the topic and wrote a book, even if it might not jive with whatever crazy view you might have of NPR.

I love NPR! I even have friends who are NPR!

The story was a replay of an old interview. Good background on a fine law that did its job. But 50 years later is old and tired. A timeless approval purgatory for certain states isn't needed to ensure good access to the polls. Pass a good national law if you want, but this historical anacronism is better gone away. But it was necessary and good in 1965 when I was in diapers the first time.

As to NPR vs NCR, they're pretty good. They do better than most media, frankly, in stepping back and balancing their coverage. But there's a kernel of truth to the NCR moniker, don't ya think?

[Honky Tonk]

I love NPR! I even have friends who are NPR!

The story was a replay of an old interview. Good background on a fine law that did its job. But 50 years later is old and tired. A timeless approval purgatory for certain states isn't needed to ensure good access to the polls. Pass a good national law if you want, but this historical anacronism is better gone away. But it was necessary and good in 1965 when I was in diapers the first time.

As to NPR vs NCR, they're pretty good. They do better than most media, frankly, in stepping back and balancing their coverage. But there's a kernel of truth to the NCR moniker, don't ya think?

+5 WM, funniest line of the week.

[emu steve]

The question before the judge was whether the lack of straight-ticket voting is a violation of the 14th Amendment. Tough to make that case when 40 of 50 states don't have straight ticket voting. Guess we'll see what the 6th Circuit has to say.

Indeed.

And the corollary is if a ruling from the 6th Circuit could be used elsewhere as cases could be brought in other circuits.

Does this issue end up at SCOTUS before we get to the 2020 elections????

Arguably, like SSM, etc. this is an issue where straight ticket voting should be permissible in all states or none [[if contested in all states).

From what I've read, voting lines have been very, very long in Ohio, Arizona, Florida, etc.

Should be another good test of the issue: are state and local elections truly local matters or are there federal interests [[e.g., equal protection issues).

[southen]

I love NPR! I even have friends who are NPR!

The story was a replay of an old interview. Good background on a fine law that did its job. But 50 years later is old and tired. A timeless approval purgatory for certain states isn't needed to ensure good access to the polls. Pass a good national law if you want, but this historical anacronism is better gone away. But it was necessary and good in 1965 when I was in diapers the first time.

As to NPR vs NCR, they're pretty good. They do better than most media, frankly, in stepping back and balancing their coverage. But there's a kernel of truth to the NCR moniker, don't ya think?

Did you listen to the whole thing or just the part about the voting rights act? It goes much deeper and is current to todays voter suppression laws with a little history of how the idea came to be in the first place.

NPR is left leaning but that is by no means "communist" as you put it. I happen to think that they do a good job of reporting the facts as they are, not balancing things out to make everyone happy.

[BankruptcyGuy]

Indeed.

And the corollary is if a ruling from the 6th Circuit could be used elsewhere as cases could be brought in other circuits.

Does this issue end up at SCOTUS before we get to the 2020 elections????

Arguably, like SSM, etc. this is an issue where straight ticket voting should be permissible in all states or none [[if contested in all states).

From what I've read, voting lines have been very, very long in Ohio, Arizona, Florida, etc.

Should be another good test of the issue: are state and local elections truly local matters or are there federal interests [[e.g., equal protection issues).

I don't see any way that some of these cases don't come back before the Supreme Court. The last similar case was Crawford v. Marion Board, which was 6-3 upholding Voter ID. That was a different court, but Stevens [[generally considered a liberal) and Kennedy [[swing) both upheld the law. Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer dissented.

Who knows what would happen now.

Length of voting lines is a reason to hold the polls open, but having short voting lines is not a constitutional right. JMHO