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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA financial twist on the 'war on voting'
Posted with permission.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/26/11412027-a-financial-twist-on-the-war-on-voting?lite
A financial twist on the 'war on voting'
By Steve Benen
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Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:38 PM EDT
When we talk about the "war on voting," we tend to think of restrictions Republican policymakers are placing between voters and the ballot box in advance of the 2012 elections. Measures like voter-ID laws may prevent millions of Americans from participating this November.
But Reuters reports today on a different kind of voting problem: communities that are so short on funds, they're "struggling to come up with the millions of dollars they will need to hold the November 6 elections" (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).
Local governments across the nation are planning to shift costs -- putting off road repairs for a few days while transit crews work on elections, or borrowing workers from other departments to help count votes.
But they also are laying off staff who would have helped with voter questions, and cutting back the hours that polls are open.
Nothing says "21st century superpower" like watching American cities curtail road repair in order to afford an election.
Regardless, the practical effects are hard to ignore: fewer election workers and fewer precincts means longer lines and lower turnout.
What's more, as Ed Kilgore explained this morning, we're seeing the confluence of Republican interests:
Scuba
(53,475 posts)RC
(25,592 posts)When are "We the people..." going to get mad enough to break out the pitch forks, fagots, tar and feathers, etc. and take our country back?
The wrong people are in prison. Just because a law is passed does not necessarily make something legal or illegal. There are, or at least were protections in place to prevent what is happening in states around the country.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Downwinder
(12,869 posts)a kennedy
(29,655 posts)emulatorloo
(44,120 posts)Remember the long lines and lack of functioning equipment in democratic-leaning districts? Hours of waiting, many giving up because they had to get back to work?
Thanks for posting.