Suppressing the vote has been the goal of GOP leaders for decades. Their efforts are working:
Polling locations are supposed to be accessible to all voters -but ~1 in 5 polling locations is a church, -religious entities are exempt from the Disabilities Act. The prevalence of inaccessible polling places -alarming for disabled & aging ppl in states that have moved to quash mail-in voting—incl. OK & AK -churches make up >50% of voting locations.
All registered voters get a voters' pamphlet and ballot in the mail automatically, then have 2-3 (?) weeks to complete ballot and return it, either by mail or in a drop box.
"Here’s a Clever Way to Uncover America’s Voting Deserts:
Mathematicians are using topological abstractions to find places poorly served by polling stations."
Sure, this is clever. But you know what's even more clever? Eliminating polling places entirely and switching to 100% vote-by-mail like in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Vermont, and Hawaii.
(With some in-person polling places as needed for accessibilty reasons)
GOP bills in the #Oregon Legislature:
SB1536 - impose a 15 week abortion ban.
HB4037 - make gender-affirming care for youth illegal.
HB4054 - allow discrimination against trans athletes.
SB1589 - attack our vote-by-mail system and make it harder for people to vote.
Contact your state representatives and make it clear a majority of Oregonians oppose these bills.
Good news a from NC. Republicans passed a law that required a postcard be sent to the address of any person who took advantage of same-day registration, if the card was undeliverable by the post office the vote would be thrown out.
(The voter would not even be notified this happened.)
Like many voter suppression laws, it almost sounds sensible: if you don't think about it much.
On closer inspection, it is designed to target poor, minority and/or young voters. 1/
If you live somewhere that offers no-questions-asked mail-in voting, and your election commission gives you the option to automatically get mail ballots with each election, I would highly recommend doing this.
Earlier in the year a ballot just showed up in the mail. It was for the very local elections like school board, parks commissioner, stuff like that.
I almost certainly wouldn't have realized the election was even happening, but having the ballot in-hand made sure I voted in it.
Yes! I love vote by mail. Oregon was one of the first states to have automatic vote by mail, aka, vote at home. It happens automatically for all registered voters, no need to request a ballot sent by mail.
But there are now 8 states in the USA, plus Washington, DC, that have this kind of system.
Here's a good resource that shows which states in the US are more or less "vote-at-home friendly" -
Governor Greg Abbott just vetoed a bill that would allow disabled Texans to vote by mail
I’m guessing Abbott vetoed this from his wheelchair?
Same as Clarence Thomas looking to repeal interracial marriage, Lindsey Graham attacking same-sex marriage, and Dubya attacking education. Hate and self owns.
@flexghost Eight states plus Washington, DC, have "all mail voting" (vote by mail, vote at home). It's pretty hard to keep up the facade that there's a problem with allowing everyone to vote by mail, not just disabled folks.
And by the way, vote by mail is not accessible to all disabled folks. Voters with certain disabilities need other accessible methods. One size does not fit all.