Current Events > What do black people have to lose when they vote Republican?

(+) Yeah! (+)

How about the ability to vote?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/randolph-county-polling-places_us_5b77115ce4b0a5b1febb04fc

Election officials in a rural southwest Georgia county are defending a plan to suddenly close seven of the countys nine polling places against allegations of racial discrimination, saying the ones it wants to close are not sufficiently accessible to people with disabilities.

Randolph County, the site of the proposed changes, is more than 60 percent black, with a little over 30 percent of residents in poverty more than double the national level. The Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the election board earlier this week warning of a lawsuit because the proposed closures discriminated against black voters. Those voters, the group said, were less likely to own a car and would be required to walk over three hours to one of the two remaining polling locations because there is no public transportation to get them there. The ACLU also noted the voter makeup of one of the polling places officials wanted to close was 96.7 percent black.

During a public meeting to discuss the changes Thursday evening, Mike Malone, a consultant hired by the county, said the seven polling places did not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Officials said they dont have time to fix them, so they would close them instead, WALB reported.

Sean Young, the ACLU of Georgias legal director, attended the meeting Thursday night and dismissed the suggestion that a lack of ADA compliance meant the polling places had to close. Randolph County residents who attended were also skeptical of the excuse, according to local reports.

If a government building is not ADA compliant, the solution is to make them ADA compliant. If you cut your hand, you dont chop off your arm, you heal the wound, he said. They have had decades to fix these issues and have had elections in these polling places. The better question is why havent these issues been fixed? And why, instead of fixing them, are you shutting them down?

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Todd Black, the countys director of elections and registration, did not return requests for comment. A second public meeting is scheduled for Friday night. A vote is expected Aug. 24.

In the letter to the county board, the ACLU said there was evidence of discriminatory intent in the proposal. They pointed to the fact that Stacey Abrams, the first female black nominee for governor from a major party, will be on the ballot this fall.

This is a Black Belt county that has twice the rate of African-American population as the rest of the state. With the ugly history of voting discrimination that Georgias a part of, you need to think twice before you eliminate 75 percent of the polling places in a majority black county, Young said.

We have expected high turnout this fall. You have to ask, why were these polling places enough for the primary and runoff earlier this year, but not good enough for this Novembers election? he added. The timing is very suspicious.

Abrams is facing off against Brian Kemp, the Republican Secretary of State of Georgia. In a statement, Kemp said he was opposed to closing the polling locations.

As soon as we learned about this proposal, we immediately contacted Randolph County to gather more information. Although state law gives localities broad authority in setting precinct boundaries and polling locations, we strongly urged local officials to abandon this effort and focus on preparing for a secure, accessible, and fair election for voters this November, he said.

In a statement Friday, Abrams said she supports keeping the polling places open.

Randolph County tends to lean Democratic. Barack Obama carried it in both 2008 and 2012 and Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump there by just over 11 percentage points in 2016.

Georgia was one of nine states that had to seek approval from the federal government before making changes to its election practices under the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court nullified that requirement, ruling the formula used to determine which states had to get approval was unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the majority opinion, pointed to progress in getting rid of racial discrimination to justify why the formula should be struck down. In a dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously wrote that Roberts reasoning was akin to throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.

Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, said the proposed changes in Randolph County showed the significance of the Supreme Courts decision to get rid of the preclearance formula.

Had the Supreme Court not killed the Voting Rights Act, then the county would not have been able to make these changes without demonstrating to the Justice Department or a three-judge court that the changes would not make minority voters worse off, he wrote in an email. The Chief Justice assured us that things have changed in the South, but apparently they havent changed enough.

Why do people say this party is full of racists?
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Lol huff post

No thanks
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It's the Nuevo Poll Tax
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His name is Todd Black though
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I'm black
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November elections
It's mid August

They can easily get a ramp installed if they wanted to. If.
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Vote Republican once, shame on me. Vote Republican twice, I won't get to vote again.
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"Dems only want to use black people for their votes. We just want to stop black people from voting altogether. That's why Reps are better!"
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Patty_Fleur posted...

I'm black

No you're not.
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Being excessively against the GOP is just common sense at this point.

gunplagirl posted...

November elections
It's mid August

They can easily get a ramp installed if they wanted to. If.

That would require time and funds. I assume that neither is available if they're looking to close the locations. You can't have voters getting hurt simply by going to vote...
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A_Good_Boy posted...

Why do people say this party is full of racists?

Apparently black people only exist in this narrow section of Georgia.

Democrats pandering/fear-mongering to get their votes
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SageHarpuia posted...

Democrats pandering/fear-mongering to get their votes

But they're still allowing them to vote, right?
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They have as much to lose as any other non-rich person who votes Republican.
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Southernfatman posted...

They have as much to lose as any other non-rich person who votes Republican.

Where do you see polling places being shuttered in majority poor white areas? If anything, they have it even easier than poor blacks because those areas are exempt from the new work requirements to receive public assistance.
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WhinyZach posted...

yes, the dems have a lot for the black people in places like detroit, chicago, st louis, philly, baltimore, oakland, newark, etc.

Yes, the Repubs have a lot for the low income poor white people in (See: Entire rural south, northern and midwest states)
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WhinyZach posted...

yes, the dems have a lot for the black people in places like detroit, chicago, st louis, philly, baltimore, oakland, newark, etc.

What rights are Dems restricting from black people in those places?
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A_Good_Boy posted...

Where do you see polling places being shuttered in majority poor white areas? If anything, they have it even easier than poor blacks because those areas are exempt from the new work requirements to receive public assistance.

Oh, I wasn't meaning my post like that. I'm just saying if you're not some super rich person, voting Republican is going to hurt you. Of course black people are going to be hurt worse, but it won't do anyone non-rich any good.
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A_Good_Boy posted...

Where do you see polling places being shuttered in majority poor white areas? I

It happens here in Georgia. My county shut down several polling places a couple years ago, it just didn't make news because it didn't fit the narrative. Similar reasoning as the people in the OP too. Older buildings that didn't have proper handicap access. They then just moved people to other polling places that they kept open.
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Not like this is the first time recently that the GOP has tried to restrict and disenfranchise black voters. Theyre fucking scum.
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QassTank posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

Where do you see polling places being shuttered in majority poor white areas? I

It happens here in Georgia. My county shut down several polling places a couple years ago, it just didn't make news because it didn't fit the narrative. Similar reasoning as the people in the OP too. Older buildings that didn't have proper handicap access. They then just moved people to other polling places that they kept open.

Post some proof then.
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A_Good_Boy posted...

QassTank posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

Where do you see polling places being shuttered in majority poor white areas? I

It happens here in Georgia. My county shut down several polling places a couple years ago, it just didn't make news because it didn't fit the narrative. Similar reasoning as the people in the OP too. Older buildings that didn't have proper handicap access. They then just moved people to other polling places that they kept open.

Post some proof then.

You're not going to get an honest conversation from a Republican.

Different article, more evidence of egregious attempts (and successes) at voter suppression:
https://tinyurl.com/y9xlqc8v - Slate - Brian Kemps Bid for Governor Depends on Erasing the Black Vote in Georgia

To understand the brazen attack on black suffrage now occurring in Randolph County, its important to remember that Georgia is in the midst of a seismic demographic shift. As whites cease to be the majority in more and more counties, Republicans have clung to power by disenfranchising minority voters. Kemps opposition to the Randolph County plan marks the first time that he has adopted an affirmatively pro-suffrage stance. During his nearly eight years as secretary of state, Kemp engaged in mass voter purges, removing hundreds of thousands of voters from the rolls. State officials appear to have singled out black voters in targeted purges.

Kemp also canceled or suspended 35,000 voter registrations using Exact Match, a version of Kris Kobachs notorious Crosscheck program that compares registrants information with motor vehicle and Social Security databases. If a single letter, space, or hyphen did not match the database information, the voter application was rejected. Black voters were eight times more likely than whites to have their registrations halted due to Exact Match.

Kemp doesnt need to continue shuttering polling places to disenfranchise minority voters in November.
Perhaps most egregiously, Kemp launched an investigation into Abrams efforts to register more minority voters despite no evidence of fraud. He used the probe to harass and intimidate voting rights advocates. Later, he refused to register 40,000 would-be voters who had signed up through the drive. Speaking to Republicans behind closed doors, Kemp explained the stakes: Registering all these minority voters that are out there if they can do that, they can win these elections. During Kemps tenure, Georgias population has increased substantiallyyet the number of registered voters has actually gone down.

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A_Good_Boy posted...

QassTank posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

Where do you see polling places being shuttered in majority poor white areas? I

It happens here in Georgia. My county shut down several polling places a couple years ago, it just didn't make news because it didn't fit the narrative. Similar reasoning as the people in the OP too. Older buildings that didn't have proper handicap access. They then just moved people to other polling places that they kept open.

Post some proof then.

https://www.rockdalenewtoncitizen.com/news/local/rockdale-changing-some-voting-precinct-locations/article_037a8b97-df6a-5bde-ae1f-ea988621d52e.html
That is happening this year, but I'm trying to find the article from where they closed all the polling places in pre-civil war buildings...

But I am at work, so my search ability is limited. :(

@Alphamon posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

QassTank posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

Where do you see polling places being shuttered in majority poor white areas? I

It happens here in Georgia. My county shut down several polling places a couple years ago, it just didn't make news because it didn't fit the narrative. Similar reasoning as the people in the OP too. Older buildings that didn't have proper handicap access. They then just moved people to other polling places that they kept open.

Post some proof then.

You're not going to get an honest conversation from a Republican.

See above. <_< Maybe don't generalize based on political opinions...
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That article says they're shutting down 2 and moving 10. They're not permenantly closed and herding the entire district into only 2 polling places while providing no public transportation where the majority demographic doesn't own a car. Not at all the same thing.

I think that dude was right about Republicans and honest conversation.
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In its ruling, the appeals court said the law was intentionally designed to discriminate against black people. North Carolina legislators had requested data on voting patterns by race and, with that data in hand, drafted a law that would "target African-Americans with almost surgical precision," the court said
Republicans want America to look like Apartheid South Africa.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/15/528457693/supreme-court-declines-republican-bid-to-revive-north-carolina-voter-id-law

Oh yeah, just remembered this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuOT1bRYdK8" data-time="
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A_Good_Boy posted...

That article says they're shutting down 2 and moving 10. They're not permenantly closed and herding the entire district into only 2 polling places while providing no public transportation where the majority demographic doesn't own a car. Not at all the same thing.

I think that dude was right about Republicans and honest conversation.

They're moving the two polling places in the poorest part of Rockdale to an area approximately 5 miles away. From an area where most of the people actually don't have cars. They're also moving all but 4 of the polling locations, which of course is going to cause problems for people... They also severely restrict early voting to one location at very inconvenient times for most working people...

It should also be noted the number of people using each polling station pre-closures in Rockdale is higher than the total population of Randolph County. So in terms of absolute numbers, the Rockdale stuff will be affecting far more people.
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QassTank posted...

https://www.rockdalenewtoncitizen.com/news/local/rockdale-changing-some-voting-precinct-locations/article_037a8b97-df6a-5bde-ae1f-ea988621d52e.html
That is happening this year, but I'm trying to find the article from where they closed all the polling places in pre-civil war buildings...

But I am at work, so my search ability is limited. :(

Not even close to being the same thing and you fucking know it
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50 years after the Civil Rights Act, and shit like this is still happening. I guess certain people just can't let go of that era where they had all of the power.
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QassTank posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

That article says they're shutting down 2 and moving 10. They're not permenantly closed and herding the entire district into only 2 polling places while providing no public transportation where the majority demographic doesn't own a car. Not at all the same thing.

I think that dude was right about Republicans and honest conversation.

They're moving the two polling places in the poorest part of Rockdale to an area approximately 5 miles away. From an area where most of the people actually don't have cars. They're also moving all but 4 of the polling locations, which of course is going to cause problems for people... They also severely restrict early voting to one location at very inconvenient times for most working people...

It should also be noted the number of people using each polling station pre-closures in Rockdale is higher than the total population of Randolph County. So in terms of absolute numbers, the Rockdale stuff will be affecting far more people.

Thats also really shitty. Are they doing it to deliberately disenfranchise poor voters?
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jfc they are shameless republicans are absolutely shameless
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