U.S. Presidential race - Democrat Discussion

[belfpala]

So how scarce are these polling places?

I live in a relatively dense urban area.... and the polling place is a couple miles away. I'm required to give people time off work to go vote, but a lot of people are afraid to ask.

[Felya]

Then which is it? First you guys say this:

I'm not 'you guys', might be where the miscommunication begins.

So which is it? Logically, Democrats can't simultaneously have high and low turnout...

I am talking about the white house, where if popular vote was more important than the electoral, even the 1 win would not have happened. Because Gore would have been the incumbent.

Congress is different, because the democrat vote is concentrated in high population states.

[Deleted]

I live in a relatively dense urban area.... and the polling place is a couple miles away. I'm required to give people time off work to go vote, but a lot of people are afraid to ask.

So they can't vote before or after work?

[Kalyyn]

So they can't vote before or after work?

Nope. Polls close in the early evening, I believe.

[Felya]

So they can't vote before or after work?

Depends on the state. This is what all the voter suppression hollering was about in Ohio.

[Pilobolus]

So they can't vote before or after work?

Depends on how long the building is open where said voting takes place. Last round, the booths were only available until 7 PM in my town and opened at some really strange time (I can't think of it off the top of my head right now). I think there is a law in place that requires a business to give people time to vote but does it say they have to still be paid for that time? If people are really poor they might not vote if they are going to be missing out on earning some cash, even if it is only for half an hour or so.

[belfpala]

So they can't vote before or after work?

Possibly.

I looked it up and it's actually only about a half mile. But not everyone who works for me lives in this district...

(When I first googled it, it showed me a map for somewhere in Austria. wtf.)

[Deleted]

To me it just sounds like another ridiculous excuse of what the poor can't do.

[belfpala]

but does it say they have to still be paid for that time?

In my state I just have to give them time off, not paid.

---------- Post added 2012-10-12 at 10:35 AM ----------

To me it just sounds like another ridiculous excuse of what the poor can't do.

Yeah, you think that. Try living week to week. A couple hours on a paycheck counts for a lot.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Why not hold the election on a Sunday, when not so many need to take time off work to vote?

[Kalyyn]

I looked it up and it's actually only about a half mile. But not everyone who works for me lives in this district...

My nearest polling station is about a 40 minute drive from where I work. Still not going to stop me from voting. Unless you're immobilized or physically trapped somewhere, there's not a lot of excuses not to vote.

[ptwonline]

So how scarce are these polling places?

Governments at the state level have been accused of--and with apparent evidence to back it up--having polling places in urban areas are insufficient to meet the voter demand. One particularly glaring example was in Ohio where long lines of voters in urban areas were turned away or left in frustration. Because of that the state governments worked to increase accessibility, including expanding early voting. The 2008 elections went MUCH smoother as a result.

But since the Republicans have turned voter suppression into a more widespread and deliberate strategy, they have been trying to undo many of those changes put in place that made voting more accessible. Several have been smacked down by the courts or by the Justice Dept, but many are still in place.

[belfpala]

Why not hold the election on a Sunday, when not so many need to take time off work to vote?

Wouldn't help with my employees.

Obama sued (and won) in Ohio over that, though. (Ruling: If early voting is allowed for anyone, it's allowed for everyone).

[ptwonline]

Why not hold the election on a Sunday, when not so many need to take time off work to vote?

IMO elections should be held on a Friday-to-Sunday period. This could be done in conjunction with a national voter ID implementation to reduce the chances of fraudulent voting since people would have greater opportunity to come back and vote more than once.

[belfpala]

My nearest polling station is about a 40 minute drive from where I work. Still not going to stop me from voting. Unless you're immobilized or physically trapped somewhere, there's not a lot of excuses not to vote.

Paycheck. That's not 10 chars. Now it is.

[Kalyyn]

Paycheck. That's not 10 chars. Now it is.

If you're saying that this discourages them from voting, then I'll agree with you. But they are still making a choice not to vote. It's not physically preventing them from doing so.

[ptwonline]

If you're saying that this discourages them from voting, then I'll agree with you. But they are still making a choice not to vote. It's not physically preventing them from doing so.

Any speedbump--no matter how trivial it may seem on its own--will be final straws that keep people away. Perhaps each one will only be small numbers, but those add up, and sometimes you only need small numbers to make a big difference.

[belfpala]

If you're saying that this discourages them from voting, then I'll agree with you. But they are still making a choice not to vote. It's not physically preventing them from doing so.

I don't know if you or Diurdi understand what it means to live paycheck to paycheck. Assume you work full time. Let's call it 40 hours per week, just for fun. Assume you need all of that money to pay rent and buy the absolute necessities. Assume it only takes you two hours to leave work, vote, and get back. That's a 5% "tax" for that week.

That's not a choice. I'm about $5000 out of my own pocket right now helping a few employees pay rent. I don't regret that decision. But don't ever tell me two hours unpaid isn't a severe burden to some hard working people.

[Grizzly Willy]

And hey, if you're that dependent on each paycheck, could you imagine if missing work meant the difference between making that month's rent or not?

[belfpala]

And hey, if you're that dependent on each paycheck, could you imagine if missing work meant the difference between making that month's rent or not?

I screwed up a couple times and didn't get paychecks processed for people. One girl pretty much died (figuratively) in front of me when I told her. She was 17, trying to support two brothers because her parents were... bad words. I ended up fronting her what she was supposed to be paid, then she signed the actual paycheck back to me. But yeah... if you haven't seen that. mmm.