No, not a dirty swimming pool – I couldn’t care less about that. It’s dirty tricks.
It’s been known for many years that the Republicans don’t like high voter turnouts. Little old ladies in Sun City, high paid executives who can take time off whenever they want and crazy religious fanatics make up a sizable portion of their core voting block. These are people who are either strongly motivated by self-interest or just have nothing better to do.
Typically, poorer people vote less often. Further, poorer people tend to vote against the Republicans. Ergo, the fewer voters deciding our future, the better – or so their logic goes.
Now, I may be opinionated and downright arrogant at times, but I try not to be a hypocrite, so in the interest of disclosure, I’m going to say that I’m not 100% onboard with the whole notion of 100% voting. We need an informed voting population more than we need a large voting population. Let’s face it – many people (dare I say, most?) are not informed. They don’t have time or inclination to be informed. If they do, few have the the critical thinking skills to divorce dogma from reality. (Nor do they have the desire to do so.) Our system elects unqualified morons to do a job that, at its core, should be one requiring the highest levels of critical thinking and fair-minded judgement not the skill of being a populist.
I believe that electoral reform is the single greatest issue that needs to be addressed by this country. It is at least 50 years overdue.
That’s for another post… someday.
That’s not the system we’ve got. Right now, the voters in this country are a self-selected population. That population is not, in any way, tied to the notion of being better informed. So, given the system we’ve got, I’d rather see a larger voter turnout than a self-selected smaller turnout of people motivated to vote conservative. (I intentionally avoided the word “Republican” at that point.) The only way to break that self-selecting bias is to get everyone possible to vote.
The Democrats (of which I am not one – neither am I a Republican) often make great efforts to get voters registered and motivated to vote – the Republicans fight them.
I remember years ago when Arizona adopted a motor-voter law – that is, you could get registered to vote at the same time you got your drivers’ license. The Republicans fought it tooth and nail. At the time I naively didn’t understand. Didn’t they want to get a mandate from as large a population as possible? (Short answer: No) The Republicans also tend to dislike absentee ballot (except from the military), early voting, extended voting and registering and voting on the same day. All of which make it just a bit more convenient for someone with a job they need to keep to get out and vote.
This election has seen record numbers of voter registrations, absentee ballots and early voting. Several states now have had to extend early voting hours to accommodate the people wishing to vote. The Democrats are rejoicing, the Republicans are bring out the dirty tricks.
This video, put out by the Obama campaign, outlines some of the dirty tricks being pulled, and how to avoid them. If you’re a borderline voter, don’t be fooled. If you’re an adult citizen of the US and you haven’t had your rights lawfully taken away (such as by felony conviction) you’re entitled to register and to vote. (Although in many states, including Arizona, it is too late to register for this election.) You cannot be deprived of government benefits, student aide, or hauled off to jail for late traffic fines. (Although, if you haven’t paid your traffic fines, they can haul you off to jail, but not because you are voting. Either way, pay them or fight them in court, you deadbeat.)