NEW AND IMPROVED

This blog is now sugar FREE, fat FREE, gluten FREE, all ORGANIC and all NATURAL!!

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Voting

 

Voting



A Cranky Opinion for Cranky Opinion Friday

The following is the opinion of a cranky old man with little expertise on the topic opined.  Opposing opinions are wrong but welcome.  As always, no name calling, and that means you, you big stupid-head!

Well, they passed a new voting law in Georgia.  This has caused a shit-storm in the political world.

One side says it restricts voting availability for those that have difficulty getting to the poles.  The intent of the law is clearly racist.

The other side says the law is to make voting easy while also making fraud more difficult. 

I don’t know either way.  There must be some truth to both sides. 

I know I need an ID and proof of residence to take out a book from the library.  Perhaps stealing a book is worse than stealing an election.

I do have one dog in this fight, and one observation/question.

My dog in the fight is there has been an outcry to boycott/move the Master’s Golf tournament unless the law is changed.  When my favorite golf tournament is threatened is when I have had enough of the “Cancel Culture.”  

My observation/ question is this:

Observation - Every year at election time the news shows long lines of people, mostly in inner cities, waiting to vote.  They wait apparently sometimes for hours.  People want easier election protocols as a means to make voting easier and to eliminate these long lines that discourage voting, especially in heavy Democratic neighborhoods.

In 50+ years, I have never had to wait more than 5 minutes to vote in any election.  If I had to wait in line for hours to cast a vote that given the politics of my state would not even nudge the result needle an iota, I would not vote. 

Long lines discourage voting. 

Voting should be easy.

Question: Since these long voting lines seem to be in the same places every year, and those districts are mostly controlled by people who want easier voting, then why do they allow such long lines?  Does it take a rocket scientist to determine that areas that historically have long lines need more places to vote? 


This ridiculous...FIX IT!

Open up more schools, churches or arenas to handle voting and keep the lines reasonable.   Have a voting place on every block.  Hell, for one stinking day allow voting at the local McDonalds or the corner grocery store.  I’m pretty sure smart people could figure it out.

Supply and demand.  More places to vote, no lines!

Another way to fix this is to allow voting for several days/weeks.  More voting could be by mail.  Easier voting over many weeks-time and by mail in ballots would probably not significantly increase voter fraud, but it would certainly give credibility to any claims of voter cheating.

Credible claims of cheating is almost as damaging to the process as proven cheating.

Same day voting at established voting places with valid voter ID is the most conducive to voter legitimacy and the least conducive to claims of fraud.  Same day in person voting should be the norm along with secure validated absentee ballots.

Getting valid voter ID should be easy.  Long lines at the polls are unconscionable and should be easily resolved.

Do it!  Everyone vote! 

Both sides, fraud/suppression…Shut up!

And leave my golf tournament alone!

The preceding was the opinion of a cranky old man, and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.  

7 comments:

  1. Leave the golf tournament alone, I agree, I see cancel culture as bully culture. There, I said it. Your idea of more polling places makes sense to me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think one of the main issues is cleaning up the voter registration rolls. How do they make sure dead people or ex-residents are removed from the rolls. Also, every time I vote, I am required to show ID. What’s the big deal. In the society we live in, an ID is required for something at some point in time. I am not aware anybody is denied an official ID when they present the proper legal documentation. If course, “legal” is the operative word.

    Also, I heard someone on TV this morning say that the easiest and most convenient polling place is your mailbox. I, personally, don’t see why voting should be drug out over many days. After all, voting is not a surprise event. A couple of options for voting should accommodate everyone as efficiently as many days.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree. There are a lot of ways to fix this. I’ve heard the argument that some people don’t have driver’s licenses. Well, give them free state ID cards. There are simple solutions, but trying to get politicians to agree on anything is the real problem.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This was the first year I used mail in ballot and it was wonderful. I had to enclose a copy of my drivers license which was no problem and dropped it off at a box strictly for ballots by the court house. No lines, no covid cooties. Voting should not be so hard that people don't do it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yep, golf and voting go together like peas and lima beans. I'm over the cancel culture.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You are right.

    As to the arguments about how requiring an ID is wrong, in our state you can get a state ID card free at the same place you get a driver's license. If you don't need a license, and don't have the money, you can get a free ID card, how does that make it more difficult to vote?

    We sometimes have lines here, but they aren't that long. The longest i've ever waited was 10-15 minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Our county opened up a voting annex a few weeks before the election. Open 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., I think. Walk in, have your Driver's License or State ID scanned, then sit at a table and vote. Feed the ballot through a scanner, and done. It saved me a perilous "trip" down a set of basement stair at my regular country-church polling place. The county commissioner was on the radio a couple times a week, letting people know they could vote early, and explaining where the ballots went until election day and official counting.

    ReplyDelete