Lynn Voted! So Where Are We?

Lynn noted in a blog post she voted by mail, and today got notice her vote was counted. That is great news.  Congrats Lynnie!

In "not great" news, let's see what else is happening around the Country as Republicans step up efforts to stop votes from counting.

North Carolina

A Federal Judge overruled a state judge (even though, yes, state's determine voting systems) to disallow absentee ballots from being "fixed" if there is a problem. Given that the state officials discover problems they can put them aside to be fixed. But they do not have to tell voters to fix them. You might think this is a common problem will all voters, but no. Black voters submit 16% of absentee votes in North Carolina, but 40% of the problem ballots are from black voters (CNN). So, a voting official can sit on them, without telling the person they have a problem (1,000 were found SO FAR in 1 voting district). (The problems can range from mismatched signatures, to wrong addresses, to "illegible witness signatures" - so an official can say "I can't read the witness signature on Shaniqua's Absentee" and toss the ballot.)

In case you think this isn't discrimination, in 2013 North Carolina Republicans made election changes that a judge found illegal and said:

“Before enacting that law, the legislature requested data on the use, by race, of a number of voting practices. Upon receipt of the race data, the General Assembly enacted legislation that restricted voting and registration in five different ways, all of which disproportionately affected African Americans,” Motz wrote. “Although the new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision, they constitute inapt remedies for the problems assertedly justifying them and, in fact, impose cures for problems that did not exist.”

Alabama

The US Supreme Court overruled a local court which allowed for Covid positive patients to do curbside voting. the US Supreme Court ruling was 5-3. Now they have to stand in line and get everyone sick - which yes, is designed to making voting more threatening for people afraid of getting Covid and impossible for those with mild covid to stand for hours to vote (link).

Pennsylvania

This was a very worrying decision and I'll explain - even though voters won this in the short term.  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that, because of Post Office delays and Covid problems this year, absentee ballots would be counted if they were received up to 3 days AFTER election day, provided they were postmarked by election day. This decision was based on the Pennsylvanian Constitution. The Republicans in the state legislature challenged the ruling to the US Supreme Court, saying that Federal Law - which lets the legislature define the process to select electors (you read that right, technically the states are not required to even have elections). They said the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the state Constitution overstepped.

Now the decision to allow these state votes to count was 4-4 (no Amy Barrett yet). That means the the 4 most conservative judges (yes, these were opinions were attributed) agreed with Republicans that the State Constitution doesn't matter and the State Legislature can choose any electors they want. And the state legislature is controlled by Republicans. So, in a close race, the Legislature might choose the Trump slate, saying it is too close to call. When Amy Barrett joins the court - after the election, but before the state electors are chosen - there will be a 5-4 group that agrees the state's voters don't have the rights the sate constitution gives them. This election CANNOT come down to a close Pennsylvania race or it will make Bush / Gore look like a playground game.

Texas

You may notice the Texas map here is different, that is because I wanted you to see the counties. A Republican judge "modified" a new Covid rule saying that voters can drop off early ballots at ballot drops. The judge says this is okay, but a county can only have 1 drop box per county.

In rural counties, i.e. white Republican areas, this is no problem. For example: Jim Wells County TX has 41,000 people and even fewer voting age residents.

In an urban county, i.e. diverse race Democratic areas, this is laughable. For example, this means in Harris County (home of Houston) a very Democratic area there is 1 drop box for 4,2000,000 people (more people than the country of Croatia, very near Ireland's population). Equality never looked so un-equal. Even parking, walking to the box and waiting in a long line to deposit your ballot - and you hope it isn't too stuffed to take your ballot - constitutes a very different dynamic now for white and black populations.

General Voter Intimidation

The Republican Party has been under a court order to NOT have poll watchers, given that they last time they did they directly intimidated minority and Democratic voters. That court order expired last year and they are back at it. (You can search any of these)

• Trump Fans / "Poll Watchers" blocked access to early voting in Arlington Virginia. After they had to let those voters pass, they have been back daily, making sure the line to vote has to thread through their rally.
• A Tennessee Republican Election official turned away voters who wore "Black Lives Matter" T-Shirts, even after being instructed DIRECTLY that BLM shirts are legal.
• A Miami Police officer working the election location wore his TRUMP 2020 face mask, even though campaign paraphernalia is not allowed at voting locations (yeah, you tell the policeman to take that off!)
• At a California ballot drop off location (rural CA), a Trump Support Rally, complete with flags, long guns and over 300 people blocked access to the Nevada City ballot box for drop offs.
• California Republicans refused to comply with a court order requiring them to remove unauthorized drop boxes - which they labelled as "official". This will just cause confusion and facilitate legal action after the election.
• Finally... this

And away we go!