As a non-American, I don’t know exactly how your polling works, but why am I seeing “plan your voting day” or “set a voting strategy” like they’ve done on the Cards Against Humanity voting campaign?
Where I live, it’s just show up on voting day and cast your ballot, or ask for a mail in ballot, or go to a special voting station if you need (or want) to vote early. Is it the same in the US, and this is just getting people to gather those last pieces of information early and put a reminder in the calendar? Or is there more to it than that?
Thanks!
Wait, you can’t give people food or water if they’re standing in the line? Why the hell not?
And hours in line?? What? Why!
As many have mentioned the real reason is to suppress votes by making the experience miserable.
The cover story for the rules is to prevent campaigns or other groups from “buying votes” by giving people in line food/water in exchange for a promise to vote for their candidate.
…which is so dumb because I can tell everyone I’m voting for <candidate> then go in there and vote for <other candidate> instead. 😒
Sure, but they’re not asking you before they do it. If one candidate has gone on record saying a certain demographic should have their rights stripped, and there’s a district that is populated by mainly that demographic, they don’t need to poll the area to guess who’s going to lose that district.
To discourage people from voting. As was pointed out elsewhere, the Republicans only really flourish when a small number of people vote. So they make it as inconvenient as possible for people who are lower income, usually people of colour.
Wait what? And that sort of things is legal? Are you serious? You know, there are countries where voting is obligatory, and others where it is made as easy as possible.
Wait til you learn about Gerrymandering. I’ll not get into it in depth, but essentially the local/state government in the US will set up voting regions to guarantee that one party has a massive advantage.
Wait what? And that sort of things is legal?
Technically no, if it can be proven that the goal is racial discrimination specifically. Every so often there’s a lawsuit claiming just that. Problem is, it tends to get resolved by the Supreme Court which is two-thirds chosen by the “let’s make it harder to vote” party.
Because certain people with power find it advantageous to make it difficult for the people in certain areas to vote. If you know that district isn’t going to vote for you, and morality is a thing that happens to other people, you could make the polling place too small with too few workers.
“We hate that poors get to vote in our country. Don’t they know that this was a country founded with the ideals that only landowning white men could vote? Apparently they changed that law at some point, so we just make new ones to make the poors not want to vote. Like depriving them of things they need to live if they choose to do so. It’s what they get for being poors. Johohoho!”
- American lawmakers in poor, conservative states
In all honesty, it’s fucked. It’s so fucked.
It’s voter suppression. By limiting the number of voting locations and understanding them you make long lines where people will wait for hours to vote. By not allowing food or water to be handed out they hope people will get discouraged and leave the line. The official reason is that it could be construed as a bribe to vote a certain way.
Because the people making those rules don’t want those people to vote. They figure, if it’s that much of a hassle, they won’t turn out. Meanwhile, in Republican-strong areas, they have multiple voting locations and very short lines.
In Nebraska, I get my ballot by mail way in advance. I fill it out at my leisure, doing research on candidates as needed. I can then either mail the ballot back or drop it off at one of several locations around town (including any of the public libraries). I haven’t voted in person in years. This method is so much better.
I’m guessing you might be from Canada (Hello up there friend)!
Because certain groups in power are total pieces of @#$_&-+/!
Which States Ban Giving Food and Water to Voters at Polling Places?
Elections in the US didn’t used to be so controversial, but in the last 10 years certain groups/parties have been crying foul (baselessly I might add) about illegal voting.
You are supposed to be able to go to the polling place on election day and vote. There are limited voting hours (generally about 12 hours), it is not a national holiday (should be), your employer does not have to give you time to vote (paid or not). You might be able to vote via postal mail (but it varies by state what “valid reasons are” to do that).
The US really needs election reform nation wide.
A holiday could help but it’s not a real solution. Think of how emergency services will have to stay operational as an essential entity. Now think of the shitty retail companies that will call themselves essential businesses. You may get some compliance from some retail, but not all. Probably not most. Look at every other solemn non-denominational holidays like memorial day or labor day. Not only do stores stay open, but they have sales for those. People work the hardest on labor day! And that is the group least likely to vote and most likely to swing.
12 hours is usually long enough for people to not be at work at some point, but I’d much rather see a 20-24 hour window. Cover those stuck on double shifts. Cover super commuter workaholics. Cover the person who needed to catch a movie first.
Or do literally anything else to improve our archaic system. It’s intentionally kept obtuse and atrocious to keep out the people struggling the most while the other end mails a vote from Aruba.
Recent changes in Michigan extended it from 1 day to over a week, joining several other states offering early voting options.
“The early voting period begins the second Saturday prior to Election Day and ends the Sunday before an election. However, communities may decide to provide additional days of early voting. Under state law, communities can offer up to 29 days of early voting.”
https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/voting/early-in-person-voting
Or Cancun (heard that from someone named Ted).
I agree (and realize) that a simple holiday wouldn’t fix the many ills of our “election system”. Just thought it would help. I’ve heard that England has at least a week to vote [hope that’s true]. Anything that would make it easier and more convenient to vote would be a great help (not suggesting making the process less secure).
Murica.
This was literally the overarching plot for the last season of curb
