Oh I agree fully, Maddow is biased... but that was not my point.
So far we agree.
Even if she is correct/factual in just one of her accusation, then it is voter suppression. And considering the tactics of the GOP across the US, then it is not exactly beyond belief that someone in the GOP would actually do this.
Like I said, its possible for someone in some precinct somewhere to break the law, even this law.
Lets take her on her word that this area votes considerably democratic. It is a matter of public record, so trying to fiddle with that would be stupid.
Don't doubt that. There are many precincts that are heavily Democratic in this state.
Now that leaves us with the other facts in her story.
I would have said "points" rather than "facts", but that's just me.
It Was about 8000+ people who can vote in the area. They have gone from 3 places to 1 place where they can vote. That alone is nuts if true.
The new law doesn't reduce polling stations. The local election board sets the numbers and locations of polling stations in NC.
Trying to get 8000 people through the voting booths in a normal day is... impossible, unless the voting area has tons of voting booths and is pretty huge. Considering that voting hours have been reduced,
Voting hours have not been reduced by the NC law. They have been made all the same for equal access. And if you're in line, you get to vote. No matter how long it takes.
then getting 8000 people through in lets say 8 hours, would mean you would need about 67 voting booths (provided every voter takes 15 minutes to vote). Yea right... do you expect that to be provided or even anything close?
Refer to what I said above. If your in line, you vote.
That brings us to the place that is shown. If it is the correct place, then one can only say wtf? It looks very small for 8000 people to go through. And the parking? 30 places.. I mean come on.. this is a rural area. People drive to places..
This is NC where polling stations can be in a volunteer fire department where there isn't any parking. I vote at one of those, and we have to park along the side of the road. Been that way for decades. We're not gonna build huge parking lots to be used one day every two years.
Then there is the bus route... smallest buses if true, with no bus stop outside this convention centre.. if true.. wtf?
Last I saw, the Democrats like to bus their folks in on their own anyway. Free soda's and voting guides supplied on the way (although true, that was an attempt at humor). I go back to my precinct which is mostly poor farmers and farm workers. No buses. No bus routes. No public transportation.
No, the real question is, why did they remove the ability to vote at the university.
That one I don't like.
As a rule of thumb, voting places are to be placed in areas where people can go or/and live/work. A university is a perfect place for this. Why move it from there?
Because the kids aren't registered in that precinct and some were voting in local elections that took the power of the vote away from the locals that do live their permanently and pay local taxes. Some out of state students were also voting for state officials which they should not so due to not being a resident of the state. I still don't like that part of the law though.
If they want to consolidate the 3 voting places to 1... fine, but put it in a place where people are and can easily get access too.. like a freaking University!
That I can agree with. That's two we agree on. Three if you count the students voting at their university. Again, it wasn't the state law that changed the number of polling places. That's done by the local election board.
You make good arguments. And I appreciate the way you pose them.
Sorry for any typo's. I've been up all night working and jumping on here every now and then for a distraction.