Stunning exchange: Justice Kagan: A state with 2 weeks of early voting gets rid of Sunday voting. B

[soothsayer]

Link to tweet

?s=21


Ari Berman
@AriBerman
Stunning exchange:

Justice Kagan: A state with 2 weeks of early voting gets rid of Sunday voting. Black voters vote on Sundays 10x as often as white voters. Is that lawful?

GOP lawyer Michael Carvin: Yes, that's lawful

note: Georgia House just passed bill cutting Sunday voting

[katmondoo]

1. The Republicans can look forward to becoming the most hated political party in America.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. You can send them email at their official accounts, because they'll be in office. NT

[OldBaldy1701E]

14. By the general public sure

By the socioeconomic elite? Probably not. The elephants are working for those rich peanuts. They don't care about such things as 'constituents'... unless there is a check with their name sitting in the rethug politician's bank account. Then, they care. A little anyway.

[TxGuitar]

43. That's funny.

If it hasn't happened yet, it ain't gonna.

[MyOwnPeace]

2. Says it all, doesn't it?

And shouldn't you be able to tell something about somebody when looking at those who stand up in support of that policy?

[Grins]

5. Not even trying to hide it anymore... nm

[Baked Potato]

3. I hope this motivates Democratic voters in Georgia to vote in more overwhelming numbers.

There’s time now to adjust to GOP petty and shit’s-weak change in voting opportunities. Don’t let them succeed!

[SheltieLover]

4. Yup!

[uponit7771]

7. It doesn't and dissuades people from voting when they know its going to be harder. I really

... think dems are taking the wrong route here against the Brute Force Attack of voter suppression laws that the right is throwing at democracy.

[lagomorph777]

8. What's the correct route?

[uponit7771]

9. HR1, we pass that or the kGOP does everything they can do tear the union apart relative

... to what they've already done.

There's no reason for Americans to trust the kGOP when it comes to elections.

Before HR1 brute force the kGOP back in court, bog them down with suites and countersuites so none of the voter suppression laws go into force

[CrispyQ]

10. You should start a thread on this bill.

Encourage people to tell their peeps about it & to call their reps.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr1

https://sarbanes.house.gov/issues/hr-1-the-for-the-people-act

https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1/text

[uponit7771]

12. Yep, I've been looking for the wording to raise how important HR1 is but can't find ...

... how important this legislation is to be.

There is no tomorrow, we pass HR1 or kiss the union goodbye

hmmmm, might have found my wording

[SunSeeker]

42. That's it in a nutshell.

[lagomorph777]

13. So...HR1 is what the Dems are doing. I am confused by your statement that we are not...?

[uponit7771]

17. Dems are not brute forcing back with suites and countersuits RIGHT NOW against the ...

... voter suppression onslaught.

HR1 is a higher level protection but right now we have to bog the state of GA down into suites against the state level VSM measures.

This would be a fight fire with fire cause Brute Force Attack is exactly what the kGOP is doing right now.

[lagomorph777]

18. I see. Dual-track a major court push, AND do HR1.

[uponit7771]

22. +1, and someone mentioned down thread the "go around" which we need to start funding

... now.

I don't think there's going to be a tomorrow if the kGOP gains back control of congress in 2022.

They've spoken loud and clear as an organization they're not interested in this whole democracy thing

[Pobeka]

26. Yes, yes, yes. This is it. *Violently agree* with everything you said, except on nit.

You mentioned a post or two up the union is at risk. True, but truer still is the entire planet is at risk. The GOP will take out the human species if that's the tactic that let's them stay in power a few decades.

[uponit7771]

28. So true, look at what Abbot is doing in Tx lifting mask mandates etc like an idiot.

HR1 is so important

[Mr.Bill]

15. What do you want to bet Manchin

will have "problems" with it?

[Galraedia]

34. F**k Manchin.

He can either vote with democrats or we can primary his a**.

[uponit7771]

47. +1, HR1 will let us know what side Manchin is on

[Mr.Bill]

48. HR1 wont even come to the Senate floor for a vote

unless we get rid of the filibuster.

[WarGamer]

45. It won't pass the Senate.

And if it did... Barf, Goodhair, Handmaiden, Sleepy, Scalito and Roberts would just find it unconstitutional.

[uponit7771]

50. I feel similar and Manchin et al will just sit on the sideline and allow filibuster, this is the

... time when we figure out where they really standing.

As for the SC HR1 literally takes out of the constitution that congress can impose on the states voting procedures for congressional elections. Presidential elections? nope ... congressional? yes...

So if Roberts courts rips this one apart we don't have a union.

All is not lost, we'll have to go through the work around (explained below) but I feel we start now with the brute force counter attack and work around or we'll be behind the curve come 2022

[radius777]

55. SCOTUS won't toss it IMO. Roberts only objection to the orig VRA

was that it needed to be updated with new data. Well here's the update.

The issue is getting it passed in the Senate... some have suggested the filibuster could removed just for this type of bill, that is so important for democracy. Manchin and Sinema would have to agree, obviously.

[qazplm135]

11. go around

Look, the end result is clear, the Voting Rights Act is no more, and it's not going to help us anytime soon.

The SC is not going to help us which means the court system isn't going to help us.

So, we go around:

1. Voter ID? Raise funds and transportation for every single voter to get a free voter ID with free travel to get it. Render this path of attack moot by going around it. If they charge more, raise more money. Ultimately, make it so that getting a voter ID is free, and easy and make sure every voter knows it.

2. Decreased hours? Long lines? Do everything you can to make it easier to vote during those hours. Provide portable heaters or hand warmers, snack packs and water. If they say you can't do it while in line, then move away from the line and hand out before they get in line. Provide books and magazines to pass the time. Portable phone chargers to help keep cell phones working. Offer babysitting services. Anything you can think of to make it easier and provide fewer barriers to the decreased voting hours.

3. No more Souls to the polls on the Sunday? Then make it Saturday. Or spread it out to first thing each weekday morning. First to the polls. Line up at 3am. Make admittance to a Sunday celebration following the election based on an "I voted" sticker. I'm sure there are other, better ideas, but work around it.

4. Information, information, information. Provide up to the minute information on voting locations that are open, the hours, any last minute closures, and most importantly, the rules in the local/state on where, how, when to vote and what to bring. Make every last voter highly educated on the voting process.

The way to beat this is to make our voters so smart, so prepared, so fortified, that these barriers cease to be of any use.

[Baked Potato]

16. Thanks for this - Good points!

[qazplm135]

19. I get wanting to use the legislature and courts

but at this point, for the most part and certainly temporarily, both paths are rather impotent.

Going around simply renders their tactics, mostly, moot.

[uponit7771]

20. +1, that go around has to happen RIGHT NOW !! We need to raise the money RIGHT NOW

... to do so and to Brute Force Attack back at the current voter suppression surge.

I don't see a tomorrow if we lose 2022, the kGOP will make sure there's no more open voting

[Blue_true]

54. Exactly.

Make them stand in the door of polls turning away Black people, maybe then Roberts will figure out what the GOP intends (he was once part of it, but appears to have moderated somewhat, he prevented complete cancellation of all the voting rights act).

[Tripper11]

21. Let's reverse this...

If Sunday voting showed white voters voted 10X more often than black, where would we be?

Exactly!

[c-rational]

23. This is so utterly disturbing. I agree with uponit7771 that our best course is to pass HR1

as soon as thee COVID bill is passed.

[jimfields33]

24. Needs 60 votes in the senate

I don’t see 10 repugs voting for it.

[c-rational]

27. Then get COVID passed and go nuclear - get rid of or modify the filibuster. The reThugs will never

act ina a bipartisan manner, and we should no longer act out of fear. While we have some power use it!

[jimfields33]

32. We just need to get 50 Democratic Senators on board

[Mr.Bill]

49. Manchin won't vote to get rid of the filibuster. n/t

[movingviolation]

25. It's like they have a meeting and go, Hmm, how can we further motivate the Democrats to vote?

I humbly suggest our 2022 campaigns center on restoration of voting rights in general. They really don't see past their nose, which they cut off to spite their own face. No real foresight at all. How do they not see this as something that just might create more sincerely motivated and angry voting Democrats?
FTA

[Marthe48]

29. Find out why Black voters vote in higher numbers on Sunday

Is it because black workers have that day off more often? Easier finding some people to go with, as in safety in numbers? Other reasons?

Whatever the reasons that Black voters vote 10 times more frequently on Sunday, find out why and make sure other days to early vote become as easy and safe.

[grantcart]

30. We know why

Black Churches organize "Souls to the polls" events that include Pot Luck and child care with buses after Church services. Major social and community event.

The more they try and suppress it the more people vote.

[Marthe48]

44. thank you

I didn't know. I live in a mostly white area. Like 95% white. I want to learn and help.

[grantcart]

46. No problem

[uponit7771]

51. The last statement isn't true, the more they suppress the more it works. It didn't work

... in GA this time because there were few effective attempts at suppression by the SoS.

The ground work in GA was gob smacking effective and it worked.

It didn't work it TX because literally taking drop boxes away for 10s of millions of people ... WORKED

The ground work in TX was decent but again, can't vote with one ballot box per county.

Voter suppression works, that's why the kGOP keeps going back to it.

[grantcart]

52. Thank you for making my point for me.

Your analysis of Georgia couldn't be farther from the truth. The reason that we did so well is clearly because two years ago the Republicans engineered one of the most aggressive election roll scrubbing efforts in 2016. Voter suppression leads to counter forces that have long term strategic and tactical results. Because of what happened two years ago S Abrams dedicated herself to building one of the most effective statewide voter registration and turn out efforts in American history. We turned two Senate seats blue in a deep red state, that would not have happened if there wasn't better discipline, organization and money that poured into Georgia after 2016.

There have been dozens of similar local and statewide examples where efforts to suppress voting has led to voters staying line for hours in bad weather and actually achieving higher turnout.

Your comments about Texas are just laughable.

Did you even read what you write before you hit post?

It didn't work it TX because literally taking drop boxes away for 10s of millions of people ... WORKED

1) To begin with the obvious the total vote in Texas is only 10 million so the idea that 10s of millions of people didn't get their ballots is nonsensical.

2) Efforts to make voting more inconvenient didn't work in Texas. Again efforts to make it more difficult to vote only resolved to increase Democratic turnout.

In 2016 Ms. Clinton received 3.8 million votes while in 2020 Mr. Biden received 5.2 million votes, which is a 36 percent increase, again you make my point. Efforts to make voting more difficult usually results in a higher resolve to get the votes in.


When the drop off boxes (which were never a major part of getting the vote out but a COVID 19 mitigation tool) were restricted Democrats in Texas didn't simply say "oh well the game is over", they organized to get folks who didn't mail in their votes already to vote in person or drop off their ballot at the neighborhood polling place on election day. The result was that 1.4 million MORE Democrats voted for the Presidential election in 2020 than 2016 and Trump's lead fell by a third from 9% to 6%.

Of course we should make a maximum effort to have the easiest registration and access to voting but the actual history shows that even where short term suppression efforts have had some success (like Georgia in 2016) the reality is that in most elections it actually motivates people to vote and in some cases (like Georgia in 2020) to organize at a much higher level and wipe out any advantage that the short term suppression might have had.

[uponit7771]

53. Disagree, you're making MY point cause the voter scrubbing did ... NOT ... work seeing

... it was fought against and democrats prevailed last year.

Your scrubbing example at the beginning of your post was from 2016, the 2019 and 2020 VSM efforts did not prevail like 2016 in GA.

Voter suppression works, the kGOP goes to it (brute force attack now) because they've seen it work and IMHE is the one empirical reason the polling in America is so horridly wrong.

The last time the polling was nats ass in the US was the GA runoff, very little voter suppression efforts and the polling was spot on.

There's little back lash against voter suppression outside of people who got As in civics class seeing its not done out in the open and then televised for an hour a day for 23 weeks for everyone to see.

[grantcart]

56. Lol yes Texas Democrats lost TENS OF MILLIONS OF VOTES

Even though they actually increased voter turnout by over 30%.

You completely misunderstand the fundamental point (which you again confirm) is that what ever short term gains the GOP thinks they get is overwhelmingly off set by the reaction it ignites and Georgia is a classic case, we now have 2 Democratic Senators. Obviously if Georgia GOP voter suppression was effective then that would not be the case.

Like physics every political action has a reaction and Democratic organization reaction to GOP voter suppression has dwarfed the initial efforts. If GOP voter suppression was effective then instead of losing the House, Senate and Presidency. Beyond this obvious statistical increase (sorry Dems gained millions in Texas and did not lose TENS OF MILLIONS) is that voter suppression efforts are a contributing factor in the GOP losing support in the suburbs.

[uponit7771]

57. You didn't get backlash in 2016 the year you claim there was heavy VSM !!! That came later

... not that year the VSM was heavily brought by the kGOP !!!

My claim is the year the VSM is imposed it mostly works

I agree there is backlash... AFTERWARDS ...but it also also came after much litigation to remove some of the VSM and that's not usually done in the same year the VSM is imposed.

VSM works for that election cycle especially if it's brute forced, the kGOP wouldn't keep going to it if it did not

[grantcart]

58. Can we go back and get and explanation of how Texas in the same year

that the number of drop boxes was restricted Democrats lost TENS of millions of votes actually increased turnout by millions.

At no point did I saw that there are no short term losses (although in many cases, like Texas) the reaction is both significant and immediate. The facts are over the last decade GOP efforts to suppress vote has only made vulnerable groups, especially minorities, more dedicated and disciplined in getting the vote out. It isn't simply an immoral strategy, it is ineffective.

[uponit7771]

59. No, we can focus on the point that the backlash is retroactive and not in the year the

... VSM is employed.

That's the thing the kGOP has is they only need that bullshit year to screw things up IE their Brute Force Attacks on voter rights now

[electric_blue68]

31. A lot of Black churches have a Voting day on Sunday where they all ...

go to the polls together - if I'm remembering right. 👍

[jimfields33]

33. It always irks me when republicans complain about souls to the polls.

They can do it too. Some megachurches have 50,000 members. Get everyone to bring a dish, and go to vote. I don’t see it as difficult at all. The repugs act like it’s banned for them to do it. Weird!

[electric_blue68]

37. It's a racist retort. And don't give them any ideas! 😉

Disgusting attempts in so many States now. 😠

[jimfields33]

38. Good points!

[electric_blue68]

39. 👍

[electric_blue68]

36. I think I'll be donating to the NAACP Legal Defence Fund...

It's separate from the NAACP now (not sure when) but what was very cool -
it was founded by Thurgood Marshal.
A top Civil Rights law firm.

[ClusterFreak]

40. Today's Republican (Trump) party wants an autocracy.

By any means necessary.

Legislated voter suppression is but one tool towards that end.

[kacekwl]

41. I get the "States have the right to set their voting rules." But something

Has to be done about suppressing voting by republicans . Voting by mail should be allowed, encouraged and made into federal law. All this other shit they are trying to pull should be challenged by great legal and constitutional scholars to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court won't rule on making it easier for American citizens to vote then what good are they ? Isn't that the point of the Constitution ?

[LAS14]

60. The first time I read this I read "awful" instead of "lawful." I had to...

.. read it again to make sure the GOP guy agreed that it was awful... Of course he didn't. Too bad. Freudian wishful thinking on my part.