An assault on American voters is underway

[China]

Oklahoma bucks red-state trend, extends early voting

 

On Election Day last year, state Rep. Jon Echols was mortified to see a 3 1/2-hour line to vote in his district, which stretches from the edge of Oklahoma City’s urban core into suburban neighborhoods that give way to wide stretches of rural land.

 

A nation like the U.S. — with “real, free and fair elections,” Echols said — shouldn’t make people wait so long to participate in democracy.

 

“We should all be humiliated that we had that,” Echols said.

 

He may sound like a voting rights advocate or a Democratic politician set on expanding access to the ballot, but Echols is a Republican and the majority floor leader of the GOP-controlled Oklahoma House. What he did after that Election Day revelation stands in sharp contrast to what the GOP has done in many other states — Echols helped make it slightly easier to vote in deep-red Oklahoma.

 

Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, signed legislation this week that adds a day to in-person early voting in the state and an extra hour to Saturday early voting, and it also makes changes to ensure mail-in ballots are received in time to be counted. The move comes as voting has become a top issue among Republicans — but in the other direction. GOP-controlled states from Arkansas to Florida have passed laws making it harder to vote, ranging from adding scrutiny to signatures on mail ballots to limiting the time frame drop boxes can be used, and all inspired by former President Donald Trump’s false insistence that he lost his reelection bid because of fraud.

 

In Oklahoma, where Republicans feel little threat from Democrats, the party is acknowledging that easing access to the ballot may increase turnout.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

 

[Captain Wiggles]

Ermahgerd it’s habbening! 🤪

[LD0506]

[China]

 

[China]

 

[visionary]

 

[mistertim]

From the Department Of Things That Should Surprise Nobody With A Functioning Frontal Lobe

 

Leaked video shows dark money group bragging about restricting voter access

Edited May 18, 2021 by mistertim

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[China]

An update: All the lawsuits challenging Georgia’s new voting law

 

The fight over Georgia’s sweeping 98-page voting law has moved from the legislature to the courts, as a number of civil rights and voting rights groups have filed lawsuits challenging various parts of the omnibus as unconstitutional and in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

 

SB 202, also known as the “Election Integrity Act of 2021,” alters virtually every aspect of Georgia’s election administration, from narrowing the absentee ballot request window to requiring ballots to be counted nonstop once the polls close and everything in between. After Democrats flipped the state’s electoral votes in November and both U.S. Senate seats in January, Republican officials at every level of government have pushed false claims about the security and accuracy of Georgia’s election system, including former President Trump’s attempts to overturn his electoral defeat.

 

Supporters of SB 202 in the legislature say it was necessary to make changes to help restore confidence in elections, after many Republicans stayed home for the runoff. 

Republican Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement that his office has observed a “significant amount of misinformation” about the new law and it is his duty to defend the laws of the state.

 

“Our office will properly evaluate this law and defend the state and its citizens,” he said. “We have and will continue to protect access to and the integrity of voting in Georgia.”

 

In a motion to dismiss in one of the cases, lawyers for the state argue that the complaints “challenge a handful of – at best – minimally burdensome changes.” That motion was declared moot after attorneys filed an updated lawsuit. The state has also filed a motion to dismiss in AME Church v. Kemp.

 

There are now seven lawsuits that claim parts of Georgia’s new law are discriminatory and unconstitutional.

 

The 35-page New Georgia Project v. Raffensperger was filed shortly after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill Thursday (later amended to 66 pages), followed shortly thereafter by the 56-page Georgia NAACP v. Raffensperger and the 91-page AME Church v. Kemp. On Thursday, April 1, the 29-page Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Atlanta v. Kemp was filed as well. On April 7 VoteAmerica v. Raffensperger was filed, and April 27 saw Concerned Black Clergy v. Raffensperger on the docket. Not to be outdone, Coalition for Good Governance v. Raffensperger was entered May 17 with 157 pages of complaints.

 

All the cases are assigned to Trump-appointed Judge J.P. Boulee, and almost all of them argue that many of the sweeping changes made to Georgia’s election administration disproportionately negatively affect nonwhite voters.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Texas Republicans' plan would slash polling places in areas with higher shares of voters of color: analysis

 

A proposal by Texas Republicans to change how Election Day polling places are distributed would reduce the number of polling places in areas with higher percentages of voters of color, according to an analysis conducted by The Texas Tribune.

 

The bill would create a new formula for how polling places are set and would mostly affect Democratic counties with populations over 1 million, the Tribune reported. The bill would require counties to distribute polling places based on the number of registered voters within a county's state House district.

 

Under the proposed changes, the five largest counties in Texas would be affected: Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Travis. Collin County may also be affected depending on census figures that are released this year, the Tribune noted.

 

According to the Tribune's analysis, the bill would reduce the number of polling places only in districts represented by Democrats. It would remove 73 polling places across 13 Democratic-represented House districts and redistribute them across seven Republican-represented districts and two Democratic-represented districts.

 

According to the Tribune, the districts that would lose polling places are all represented by people of color and have significantly higher shares of voters of color when compared with the districts that would gain polling places.

 

House District 141, where approximately 86 percent of citizens who are of voting age are either Black or Hispanic, would lose the most seats at 11. The district is represented by Democrat Senfronia Thompson.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Liz Cheney Sides With Trump, GOP In Stunning Comments On Voter Suppression

 

You can take the Republican out of her House leadership post, but you can’t take the politician out of the Republican.

 

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) ― whose condemnation of Donald Trump’s election lies made her an enemy in her own party ― showed she still has an allegiance to the GOP. (Watch the video below.)

 

Cheney, who was purged from House leadership this month because of her Trump criticism, suggested to Axios in an interview broadcast on HBO Sunday that she did not see a cause-and-effect between the GOP’s false cries of cheating in swing states and Republican-led voter suppression measures.

 

“You don’t see any linkage between Donald Trump saying the election was stolen to Republicans and all these state legislatures rushing to put in place restrictive voter laws?” journalist Jonathan Swan asked.

 

Cheney dodged a direct response, but Swan pressed, noting it was not a coincidence that Republicans intensified their drive against voting after critical election losses. Then Cheney went full mealy-mouth:

 

“Everybody should want a situation and system where people who ought to be able to vote and have the right to vote can vote, and people who don’t, shouldn’t,” she said. 

 

Click on the link for the full article and video

[NoCalMike]

3 hours ago, China said:

Liz Cheney Sides With Trump, GOP In Stunning Comments On Voter Suppression

 

You can take the Republican out of her House leadership post, but you can’t take the politician out of the Republican.

 

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) ― whose condemnation of Donald Trump’s election lies made her an enemy in her own party ― showed she still has an allegiance to the GOP. (Watch the video below.)

 

Cheney, who was purged from House leadership this month because of her Trump criticism, suggested to Axios in an interview broadcast on HBO Sunday that she did not see a cause-and-effect between the GOP’s false cries of cheating in swing states and Republican-led voter suppression measures.

 

“You don’t see any linkage between Donald Trump saying the election was stolen to Republicans and all these state legislatures rushing to put in place restrictive voter laws?” journalist Jonathan Swan asked.

 

Cheney dodged a direct response, but Swan pressed, noting it was not a coincidence that Republicans intensified their drive against voting after critical election losses. Then Cheney went full mealy-mouth:

 

“Everybody should want a situation and system where people who ought to be able to vote and have the right to vote can vote, and people who don’t, shouldn’t,” she said. 

 

Click on the link for the full article and video

 

I want to say this interview was referenced in another thread, so I'll just paraphrase what I said in response there:

 

Liz Cheney had multiple opportunities and was pushed back on at least 3-4 times during the interview to name something, anything, ONE FRICKIN' THING she could point to or list specifically (other than The Big Lie) that was a good reason for these new voter suppression laws.  She refused and/or couldn't.  She gave the same generic answer every time which was   basically "well, every state is doing it for their own reason so...."   It just goes to show that the establishment wing of the GOP is still who we all knew they are, they just happen to not like Donald Trump as well, but for very different reasons.  

 

Can't trust 'em.  They are just as happy to see Democracy destroyed but via different means.

[Larry]

Yeah, not a lot of patience for the "see how much I hate the dishonesty and fraud of the Republican Party?  But I absolutely support intentional voter disenfranchisement. Because election fraud." "reasoning". 

[China]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

 

[NoCalMike]

Work arounds may be there in some cases....for now....but it is pretty naïve of the Biden administration and/or Democrats overall to act like the GOP is going to stop here & now with their efforts to make voting harder and more restrictive for anyone who isn't assumed a GOP voter.  Hell, Fox News is even starting to mainstream the good ol' "replacement theory" stuff on their prime time programming because nothing drives conservatives to the polls, it would seem, as much as the fear of a darker shade of skin have any kind of say in how the country is run.

[Cooked Crack]

 

[LD0506]

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[visionary]

 

 

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

On 5/18/2021 at 5:51 AM, mistertim said:

From the Department Of Things That Should Surprise Nobody With A Functioning Frontal Lobe

 

Leaked video shows dark money group bragging about restricting voter access

 

I'm thankful there are (were) at least some ethics investigations taking place in all of that.

[Cooked Crack]

 

Defunding your majority to own the libs.

[Califan007 The Constipated]