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Rigging the Election
Author: BobR
Date: 10/26/2016 13:09:35
tRump knows he is going to lose this election. He's seen the polls, he knows he blew the debates... He is a consummate used-car salesman, however, and has too much invested in his own ego to admit it. So - he's been lying to his supporters, telling them he's ahead in the polls (he isn't), and claiming that the only way Hillary Clinton could win is by "rigging the election". He never really explains how that would be done, and he doesn't have to. His supporters aren't big on details - they only want to know that they will have their choice stolen from them by an evil group that will be lording over them with access to healthcare, treating non-whites fairly, and having - *gasp* - a GURL in charge. tRump is salting the earth on his way out of town as a last sour-grapes "fuck you" to the electoral system that he couldn't wheel and deal to his advantage.
The claim is laughable, because it's always been the Republicans trying to rig the vote - primarily by denying the ability to vote to those who are likely to vote Democratic. Here at FourFreedomsBlog, we've written about that here, here, here, and here (and those are just the ones I was able to find quickly). VoterID laws, purging large swaths of people from the voter rolls, making voter registration painful, and reducing the number of voting machines in Democractic-voting precincts are all tactics they've used in the past. A lot of those tactics have been challenged in court and deemed unconstitutional, but they still try.
What's amazing is when they are so blatant about it. Green Bay Wisconsin - the state's largest city - has refused to open an early-voting location close to the university, ostensibly because of the cost. Privately, though, a city clerk had another reason:
Her claim is that they can't do anything that favors one party over the other. I would counter that her job is to do what is necessary to allow as many people to vote (regardless of party affiliation) with as little trouble as practically possible. That means more access and/or options in areas with greater concentrations of people who are trying to vote.
Down in Florida, it's a different story. The governor tried to toss out tens of thousands of mailed-in ballots for the flimsiest of reasons:
Elderly people in Florida? Shocking, I know.
Still - these two stories perfectly encapsulate two tactics used by Republicans to rig elections: Prevent people from voting, and create reasons not to count the votes of those who do. There's nothing the Clinton campaign or the Democrats can do that comes anywhere close to this kind of massive voter fraud. But like I said - tRump supporters aren't interested in details. They just want someone to hate, and blame for their lot in life.
BONUS CLICK: Four ways tRump supporters may harass you at the polls, and what you can do about it
The claim is laughable, because it's always been the Republicans trying to rig the vote - primarily by denying the ability to vote to those who are likely to vote Democratic. Here at FourFreedomsBlog, we've written about that here, here, here, and here (and those are just the ones I was able to find quickly). VoterID laws, purging large swaths of people from the voter rolls, making voter registration painful, and reducing the number of voting machines in Democractic-voting precincts are all tactics they've used in the past. A lot of those tactics have been challenged in court and deemed unconstitutional, but they still try.
What's amazing is when they are so blatant about it. Green Bay Wisconsin - the state's largest city - has refused to open an early-voting location close to the university, ostensibly because of the cost. Privately, though, a city clerk had another reason:
But privately Teske gave a different reason for opposing an early-voting site at UW–Green Bay, writing that student voting would benefit the Democratic Party. “UWGB is a polling location for students and residents on Election Day but I feel by asking for this to be the site for early voting is encouraging the students to vote more than benefiting the city as a whole,†she wrote on August 26 in an e-mail to David Buerger, counsel at the Wisconsin Ethics Commission. “I have heard it said that students lean more toward the democrats…. I have spoken with our Chief of Staff and others at City Hall and they agree that budget wise this isn’t going to happen. Do I have an argument about it being more of a benefit to the democrats?â€
Her claim is that they can't do anything that favors one party over the other. I would counter that her job is to do what is necessary to allow as many people to vote (regardless of party affiliation) with as little trouble as practically possible. That means more access and/or options in areas with greater concentrations of people who are trying to vote.
Down in Florida, it's a different story. The governor tried to toss out tens of thousands of mailed-in ballots for the flimsiest of reasons:
Florida’s Democratic Party filed a lawsuit asserting that thousands of vote-by-mail ballots were rejected each election, because the voter’s ballot envelope and the registration file signatures do not match. Without a signature, Florida law says that a vote-by-mail ballot cannot be counted.
The lawsuit says that Florida county canvassing boards in the 2012 presidential election rejected over 23,000 votes. Anyone who forgets to sign their ballot can sign it. But when those signatures do not match, the lawsuit says they should have that same right to make sure their signatures match.
[...]
Those who use mail-in ballots tend to be elderly with health issues that affect their signature, making it hard to sign the ballots perfectly. The standard for the dual signatures is so high, that it looks like an excuse to toss legitimate ballots.
Elderly people in Florida? Shocking, I know.
Still - these two stories perfectly encapsulate two tactics used by Republicans to rig elections: Prevent people from voting, and create reasons not to count the votes of those who do. There's nothing the Clinton campaign or the Democrats can do that comes anywhere close to this kind of massive voter fraud. But like I said - tRump supporters aren't interested in details. They just want someone to hate, and blame for their lot in life.
BONUS CLICK: Four ways tRump supporters may harass you at the polls, and what you can do about it
