More baloney dr,---------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Russell <ericprussell@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Fri, Jul 16, 2021 7:08 pm
Subject: [uupretirees] Re: Voting rights
#yiv5318165861 P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}It is a state law that violates
the US Constitution because it interferes with the right of citizens to have
equal access to means of voting. Equality, Bob. Eric
From: uupretirees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on
behalf of hils. <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2021 3:08 PM
To: uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [uupretirees] Re: Voting rights The law in question is a state
issue.=================================
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Russell <ericprussell@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Fri, Jul 16, 2021 2:57 pm
Subject: [uupretirees] Re: Voting rights
And the Republicans seem to lack integrity, general or voter. They were voted
in to serve the interests of all of their constituents, whether or not they
voted for them. Eric
From: uupretirees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on
behalf of hils. <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2021 12:42 PM
To: uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [uupretirees] Re: Voting rights The issue is called voter
integrity.
Bob Kasprak=======================
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Russell <ericprussell@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Uupretirees Yahoogroups <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Fri, Jul 16, 2021 7:05 am
Subject: [uupretirees] Voting rights
Despite the NYPest's attempts to mock the issue, voting rights are a real
issue. Eric
|
The fight over the franchise
|
| With President Biden set to give a speech on voting rights in Philadelphia
today and the Texas Legislature engulfed in chaos over a Republican effort to
change election rules, we want to update you on the latest developments on the
issue. |
| We’ll break down the major themes in the new state laws that Republicans are
passing, as well as the responses from Democrats. The short version: Democratic
leaders have no evident way to stop the Republican-backed laws — but the effect
of those laws remains somewhat uncertain. |
|
First, the news
|
| In his Philadelphia speech, Biden will call efforts to limit ballot access
“authoritarian and anti-American,” the White House said. |
| Some Democrats hope that presidential attention will persuade Congress to
pass a voting-rights bill that outlaws the new Republican voting rules. But
that’s unlikely. Congressional Republicans are almost uniformly opposed to
ambitious voting-rights bills. And some Senate Democrats, including Joe
Manchin, seem unwilling to change the filibuster, which would almost certainly
be necessary to pass a bill. |
| So why is Biden giving a speech? In part, it helps him avoid criticism from
progressive Democrats that he is ignoring the subject, as Michael Shear, a
White House correspondent for The Times, told us. |
| But Biden also appears to be genuinely concerned about the issue, and the use
of the presidential bully pulpit is one of the few options available to him.
Over the long term, high-profile attention may increase the chances of federal
legislation, Michael said. |
| In Texas, Democratic legislators fled the state yesterday to deny the
Republican-controlled Legislature the quorum it needs to pass a restrictive
voting bill. The move is likely only to delay the bill, not stop it from
becoming law. |
|
| |
| President Biden at the White House yesterday.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York
Times |
|
|
The G.O.P. laws
|
| In 17 states, Republican lawmakers have recently enacted laws limiting ballot
access, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Texas could become the
18th. |
| Republican officials have justified these new laws by saying that they want
to crack down on voter fraud. But voter fraud is not a widespread problem,
studies have found. Some of the very few cases have involved Republicans trying
to vote more than once. |
| The substance of the laws makes their true intent clear: They are generally
meant to help Republicans win more elections. |
|
Increase partisan control
|
| So far, at least 14 states have enacted laws that give partisan officials
more control over election oversight — potentially allowing those politicians
to overturn an election result, as Donald Trump urged state-level Republicans
to do last year. |
| In Georgia, a Republican-controlled commission now has the power to remove
local election officials, and has already removed some. Arkansas has empowered
a state board to “take over and conduct elections” in a county if the
G.O.P.-dominated legislature deems it is necessary. Arizona Republicans took
away the Democratic secretary of state’s authority over election lawsuits and
gave it to the Republican attorney general. |
| It’s not hard to imagine how Republican legislators could use some of these
new rules to disqualify enough ballots to flip the result of a very close
election — like, say, last year’s presidential election in Arizona or Georgia.
The election-administration provisions, The Times’s Nate Cohn has written, are
“the most insidious and serious threat to democracy” in the new bills. |
|
Making voting harder
|
| Many Republican politicians believe that they are less likely to win
elections when voter turnout is high and have passed laws that generally make
voting more difficult. |
| Some of the new laws restrict early voting: Iowa, for example, has shortened
the early-voting period to 20 days from 29 and reduced poll hours on Election
Day. Other states have made it harder to vote by mail: Florida has reduced the
hours for ballot drop-off boxes and will also require voters to request a new
mail ballot for each election. |
| Notably, some of the provisions are targeted at areas and groups that lean
Democratic — like Black, Latino and younger voters. Georgia has lowered the
number of drop boxes allowed for the metropolitan Atlanta area to an estimated
23 from 94 — while increasing drop boxes in some other parts of the state.
Texas Republicans hope to ban drive-through voting and other measures that
Harris County, a Democratic stronghold, adopted last year. Montana has ruled
that student IDs are no longer a sufficient form of voter identification. |
|
And the impact?
|
| That’s not so easy to figure out. The laws certainly have the potential to
accomplish their goal of reducing Democratic turnout more than Republican
turnout. In closely divided states like Arizona, Florida or Georgia — or in a
swing congressional district — even a small effect could determine an election.
|
| But recent Republican efforts to hold down Democratic turnout stretch back to
the Obama presidency, and so far they seem to have failed. “The Republican
intent behind restrictive election laws may be nefarious, but the impact to
date has been negligible,” Bill Scher wrote yesterday in RealClearPolitics. The
restrictions evidently have not been big enough to keep people from voting,
thanks in part to Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts. |
| The Republicans’ latest restrictions — and the ones that may follow, as in
Texas — are more significant, however, and that creates uncertainty about their
effect. |
| “Our democracy works best when we believe that everybody should have free,
fair and accessible elections,” Myrna Pérez, a longtime elections expert, told
us (before Biden nominated her to a federal judgeship). “And while it may turn
out that their self-interested anti-voter efforts may backfire, make no
mistake: Our democracy is worse just because they tried.” |
| The Supreme Court has taken a different view. Its Republican-appointed
majority has repeatedly ruled that states have the right to restrict voting
access. |