Yahoo Movies The Republican Assault on Voting Rights Now Includes Knuckling Poll Workers
Virtually everyone I know who votes, which is everyone, because I’m old and, you know, civics, also knows at least one person who volunteers at the polls every election day. It’s part of the charm, an essential part of the most basic fundamentals of democracy, and it also leads to delicious snacks from the elementary school bake sale. Naturally, then, as part of their general national ratfcking strategy, the Republicans have now turned to knuckling these good people, because the Republicans don’t miss a trick. From the New York Times:
Those regulations are likely to grow stricter: Republican lawmakers in Texas, following in the footsteps of their counterparts across the country, are pressing forward with a voting bill that could impose harsh penalties on election officials or poll workers who are thought to have committed errors or violations. And the nationwide effort may be pushing people like Ms. Phillips to reconsider serving their communities.
“It’s just so taxing,” Ms. Phillips said. “And if me — I’m in my 40s, and I’m having this much stress — imagine every election worker and election judge that is 65 and over with severe health issues. This is supposed to be a way for them to give back. And it’s supposed to be something that makes them feel good about what they’re doing, but now they’re starting to feel like, ‘Are we going to be safe?’”
I would rather have one Ms. Phillips than some of our state legislatures. And, frankly, I’d rather have one Ms. Phillips than 101 Joe Manchins. The voting-rights measures currently before the Senate are more than a chance to claw back democracy from the ratfckers. They may very well be the last chance. If the campaign to pervert the franchise reaches down to the precinct volunteer level, then the poison already has gone down to bone level.
The infractions that could draw more severe punishment run the gamut from seemingly minor lapses in attention or innocent mistakes to more clearly willful actions in defiance of regulations. In Texas, taking any action that “would make observation not reasonably effective” for a poll watcher would carry new penalties. In Florida, failing to have an election worker continuously supervise a drop box would result in major fines. Willfully flouting new laws, like ones in states including Iowa and Texas that ban sending absentee ballots to voters who have not requested them, would also lead to tougher penalties…
…With the threat of felonies, jail time and fines as large as $25,000 hanging over their heads, election officials, as well as voting rights groups, are growing increasingly worried that the new penalties will not only limit the work of election administrators but also have a chilling effect on their willingness to do the job.
You think?
Meanwhile, late last week, relentless election-law gumshoe Ari Berman pried loose a video in which a ratfcker from Heritage Action explains to an audience of donors how the organization has helped craft voter-suppression laws all over the country, most notably the infamous one in Georgia. From Mother Jones:
Those included policies severely restricting mail ballot drop boxes, preventing election officials from sending absentee ballot request forms to voters, making it easier for partisan workers to monitor the polls, preventing the collection of mail ballots, and restricting the ability of counties to accept donations from nonprofit groups seeking to aid in election administration. All of these recommendations came straight from Heritage’s list of “best practices” drafted in February. With Heritage’s help, Anderson said, Georgia became “the example for the rest of the country.”
In a thread on Thursday, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse turned on the high-beams on how the ratfcking ties in financially with climate denial, and with the long campaign to stack the federal judiciary with larval Scalias. The campaign to cement minoritarian rule is succeeding all the way from the Supreme Court down to the nice lady in the grade-school gym. Their eyes—to say nothing of their crosshairs—are on the sparrow.
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