Since Voting Right Act ruling, large reduction in voting sites in preclearance States

[Tsukasa Buddha]

New Report Documents 868 Polling Place Closures in Former VRA Preclearance States

WASHINGTON – Today, The Leadership Conference Education Fund released its report, The Great Poll Closure, which documents how states and counties with records of voting discrimination—both current and historic—have closed hundreds of polling places since the Supreme Court in 2013 gutted the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and eliminated federal oversight of their voting changes.

The report is based on a study of 381 of the approximately 800 counties that were covered by Section 5 of the VRA before the Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder. According to an analysis of the study, voters in these counties will have at least 868 fewer places to cast ballots in the 2016 presidential elections than they did in past elections, a 16 percent reduction.

Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference Education Fund, said, “While there are legitimate reasons to reduce polling places and processes that election officials can engage in to ensure that consolidations are implemented equitably, without the full powers of the VRA, we have no transparency and no idea why polling places are being closed or changed, nor do we have any idea how those moves effect minority voters. After Shelby, the vast majority of closures have gone unnoticed, unreported, and unchallenged.”

Linky.

So we know it is happening, but we don't have analysed reasons why or comparisons or anything like that to show it was done maliciously in any particular case.

 

[BobTheCoward]

Wow! The voting rights act created severe overinflated polling stations.

 

[Donal]

Well, if there is one thing you don't want in a representative democracy or a republic, its an abundance of ways people can vote. Especially poor and minorities.

 

[catsmate]

Well, if there is one thing you don't want in a representative democracy or a republic, its an abundance of ways people can vote. Especially poor and minorities.

Exactly. We don't want the wrong sort voting, now do we?

 

[C_Felix]

And that is why Democrats have the dead voting and vote twice.

 

[Donal]

Does it matter how many times you vote if you get purged from the roles anyway?

 

[Stacko]

Here's a video outside of an NC voting station.

 

[a_unique_person]

Here's a video outside of an NC voting station.

Is this an example of a waste of money?

 

[Stacko]

Is this an example of a waste of money?

Hell no. It's an example that shows that premise is ludicrous. That should never happen.

 

[thaiboxerken]

And that is why Democrats have the dead voting and vote twice.

I can only hope you're joking and do not sincerely believe such garbage.

 

[Stacko]

Hell no. It's an example that shows that premise is ludicrous. That should never happen.

Here's the line in Cincinnati today.

 

[Metullus]

Here's the line in Cincinnati today.

According to Hamilton County, Ohio Board of Elections there are 356 polling places in the county. There are 569,862 registered voters in 556 precincts. The average number of voters per polling station is about 1600. The average per precinct is 1025. The smallest precinct has 2 voters, the largest 2467. This does not seem unreasonable to me.

 

[Stacko]

According to Hamilton County, Ohio Board of Elections there are 356 polling places in the county. There are 569,862 registered voters in 556 precincts. The average number of voters per polling station is about 1600. The average per precinct is 1025. The smallest precinct has 2 voters, the largest 2467. This does not seem unreasonable to me.

You can easily obscure outliers by citing averages. That is one polling place attempting to serve over 4,000 today alone. Something is not being administered properly for that to happen.

ETA: Republicans cut Ohio's Sunday voting options to just 10 hours (4 hours last Sunday, 6 hours today.) This is the result.

 

[Tony Stark]

Republicans are trash.

 

[Metullus]

You can easily obscure outliers by citing averages. That is one polling place attempting to serve over 4,000 today alone. Something is not being administered properly for that to happen.

Which outlier am I obscuring? I noted the smallest precinct (2 voters) and the largest precinct (2476). What fact is being obscured?

The single largest precinct in the county is 2467 voters. If there are 4000 people in line that is 62% more than the largest precinct in the county. That the BoE might have underestimated how many people would want to vote early does not a conspiracy make.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Which outlier am I obscuring? I noted the smallest precinct (2 voters) and the largest precinct (2476). What fact is being obscured?

The single largest precinct in the county is 2467 voters. If there are 4000 people in line that is 62% more than the largest precinct in the county. That the BoE might have underestimated how many people would want to vote early does not a conspiracy make.

If the reports from the ground are accurate, all the other polling stations in the county don't matter. They only have one open.

>>>> Can anyone verify this? <<<<<<
Is this requirement that they MUST provide an advance voting station in each county and they went with the minimum? Or is this hyperbole from the Dem opposition. Ohio has famously done everything possible to suppress the Dem vote in the cities; it required a court order to prevent them from taking a b.s. purge list from one of the right wing groups (identifying John L. Smith as not eligible because a John L. Smith with the same birthdate was also registered in Kentucky) and cleaning out a half-million voters.

 

[NoahFence]

You can easily obscure outliers by citing averages. That is one polling place attempting to serve over 4,000 today alone. Something is not being administered properly for that to happen.

ETA: Republicans cut Ohio's Sunday voting options to just 10 hours (4 hours last Sunday, 6 hours today.) This is the result.

Jesus.
Are they really that scared of hillary? Because she's a woman?

 

[Stacko]

Jesus.
Are they really that scared of hillary? Because she's a woman?

Any Democrat. There's a reason why these lines overwhelming occur in precincts that traditionally vote Democrat. The will of the people is a pesky obstruction to Republicans winning elections.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Any Democrat. There's a reason why these lines overwhelming occur in precincts that traditionally vote Democrat. The will of the people is a pesky obstruction to Republicans winning elections.

This is why I'm moving OH over to the Dem column. The last hurdle the Dems had in the GOTV was black disinterest. Nothing to motivate a black voter more than The Man trying to keep 'em down! The turnout in the suppressed districts in Ohio and North Carolina has had the opposite effect as they intended. It motivated people.

 

[Stacko]

This is why I'm moving OH over to the Dem column. The last hurdle the Dems had in the GOTV was black disinterest. Nothing to motivate a black voter more than The Man trying to keep 'em down! The turnout in the suppressed districts in Ohio and North Carolina has had the opposite effect as they intended. It motivated people.

The suppression has actually worked in North Carolina. Black turnout is "down" ~9% in early voting according to election project.