Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Long road to the polls

Here we go again...

Some people, namely the poor, minorities, students and elderly may find difficulties voting this election. The Nation wrote a good article about this and included a pretty neat cartoon to go along with it. It is outrageous and sad that voting, an issue we fought long and hard for in this country and that sets us apart from many others, is being skewed and tainted. We saw this in the 2000 and 2004 elections, especially in Florida. Many voters get turned away because the lines are too long, some don't have a license and other laws make it harder for lower class people to vote.

"Voter ID laws passed by GOP-majority legislatures in Georgia, Indiana and elsewhere serve as thinly veiled mechanisms for suppressing opposition voters, because those without driver's licenses or other forms of government-issued identity cards are more likely to be Democrats."

Even worse is that some of these people will simply walk away defeated, not even willing to fight for their right to vote!

"Some Republican-run states, most notably Florida, have introduced absurdly strict standards for the admission of new voters to the rolls, making it likely that thousands, if not tens of thousands, of them will have to go to extraordinary lengths on election day to prove that they have the right to cast a ballot. History suggests many of these new voters will either give up when challenged or fail to show up at all. "

I sincerely hope that we don't see any of this voter fraud again this year, and if for some reason we do, I hope the American people stand up and gather together to demand their rights.


1 comment:

Harry said...

Florida just announced early voting hours, which should help - see the article at www.miamiherald.com/1374/story/744742.html