I feel like someone punched me in the stomach

[pat_k]

42. The kicker is "freely voted"

Perhaps we would have lost anyway, but an election in which people -- based on where they live (usually populous areas) are subjected to long wait times in excess of and hour or two to vote, the election is not free or fair. 5 to 10% leave or don't join the line. Numbers are higher for longer lines. And when a person does wait in a long line the are less likely to vote in the next.

There are those among us who cheer long lines as a sign of high turnout when the opposite is true. When there are lines in an area turnout is suppressed. Lines are the result of poor administration and a failure to prioritize our most sacred right, the right to vote, the cornerstone of our constitutional democratic republic.


Add that to the fact that populous areas with lines are overwhelmingly in Democratic leaning, or Democratic strongholds, so lines disproportionately suppress the vote of one party.

And, when you through in ballots being rejected for meaningless technicalities, ID requirements, purging voters from rolls, allowing challenges from random citizens, our elections have been neither free or fair for decades.

Don't give up. Reconnect to your ideals and find ways to lobby for truly free and fair elections for every American.

(BTW, i, a 65 yo white lady, cannot produce a birth certificate that matches my social security card, license, or anything else because my mom put the name of my step-father, who had not legally adopted us, when she got my sister and I SS cards. Yes, I need a legal name change but that costs and depending on the state, takes serious time.)