AOC Waited 90 Minutes To Vote, And Came Out Swinging

[UCmeNdc]

Long lines to vote are a form of voter suppression. Congresswoman Cortez waited in the Bronx for over 90 minutes on Sunday to cast her ballot, and then held a sidewalk press conference:

AOC: There is no place in the United States of America where two, three, four-hour waits to vote is acceptable.
And just because it's happening in a blue state doesn't mean that it's not voter suppression. You know, if we are waiting three hours, four hours, five hours -- if this was happening in a swing state, there would be national coverage. So I don't want us to think that just because this is a blue state that this isn't a problem. It's very clearly a problem.

There's a lot of work that needs to be done but that being said, at the same time, I am thrilled to see how many people who are overcoming this injustice, waiting in the lines anyway, bringing community supplies, snacks, lawn chairs, you know. We are going to overcome this hurdle so that we can elect the folks that will make sure that this will not be a problem in the future.

https://crooksandliars.com/2020/10/aoc-waited-90-minutes-vote-and-came-out

[LisaM]

1. It's a problem in cities.

The long lines can be caused by fewer voting sites, broken machines, and a variety of other reasons. This doesn't happen in wealthy suburbs or small towns for.the most part. And this, as much as anything, flipped the election in 2016 because these problems happened on Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.

This happened in 2004 in Cincinnati, too. And I am sure there are multiple other examples.

[jaxexpat]

2. If it were addressed it would be because there had been a sustainable Democratic majority in the....

halls of state legislatures, governors residences and supreme courts. This hasn't happened because republicans have suppressed the vote for decades. Ever since I can remember actually.
Probably first noticed in 1964, except back then and in the subsequent decade it was accomplished by mysterious reports of "voter apathy" because there's nothing like a self-fulfilling prophecy to justify one's crimes or to launch an election strategy (which had actually been launched years earlier in cynical secrecy by a mythical silent majority). By 1980 it was up to the republicans on an all too familiar self-proclaimed mission (from god) to, wait for it,......Make America Great Again.

[North Shore Chicago]

3. Republicans

know that if numerous people are voting, they would lose nearly EVERY time! They will and always be on the wrong side of history for any legislative achievements that help citizens.

They need to be crushed so we can save the soul of this country.

[calimary]

4. Yep. THIS.

[Sherman A1]

6. Precisely

Another form of cheating by the republicans.

[James48]

5. Who decides how many machines to set up, or to buy?

Is there a national standard that says you need one tabulating machine for every 1,000 voters?

That’s part of the problem here.

I’ll already wager that Detroit precincts will have multiple reports of machines not working, but it will be the same machines that didn’t work 4 years ago, and never got fixed, or it will be poll workers who don’t know how to turn them on, or it will be missing power cords, etc. it always is.

We need standards.

[Sherman A1]

7. Agreed

Some basic standards are required.

[Trumpocalypse]

9. FYI

[SaintLouisBlues]

10. Is this some inside joke? Why do you keep posting this off-topic response to ShermanA1?

[Klaralven]

8. Early in-person voting at a limited number of polls is a really bad idea

It means you need to set up, staff, and fund a lot of polling sites for a couple of weeks to serve an unpredictable number of early voters.

The efficient, convenient way is for everyone to vote by mail, or drop the ballot in a collection box, or vote on election day.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. Voting should be easy, fast, and convenient

We can make it so by having enough polling places, enough days and hours for voting, and eliminate the hurdles to registration.

It should not be difficult to find enough volunteers to staff enough polling places on enough days and at hours convenient to every citizen, to handle every eligible voter.

Likewise, the counting of paper ballots can be broken down into enough batches to be handled in public view in a single day.

The problems are artificially created in most cases.

[central scrutinizer]

12. It may not be nefarious

By all reports, turnout is way above average. Mix in a pandemic and I can understand why some places were caught unprepared and there are long waits. That said, there is also evidence and reports that some nefarious shit is going on to suppress the vote.