Avoid Waiting At the Polls by Early Voting, My Butt!

[Zkribbler]

My understanding is that these lines consists mostly of new voters registered by Obama.

Repugs are rich and can afford stamps. So they vote by mail.

[Swissy]

Originally posted by Comrade Snuggles

Originally posted by MarkG
i dont get this early voting thing. if there are long lines on election day, just setup more voting stations next time
it's been 200 years, you should know by now how many people are more or less voting each time around...

A few weeks ago, I attended a town council meeting in the city of Coconut Creek, FL. The town council wanted to rezone some wetlands in order to build a couple of big box stores, a Kohl's and Lowes, both of which can be found withing ten minutes drive of the proposed location. The entire community is opposed to this rezoning. The town council not only voted unanimously in favor of rezoning (and they'd all received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the developer, hmmmm) they council actually lectured the protesters, most of whom were middle class, suburban parent types.

The point I'm trying to make here is that our government hates when the public gets involved. Why then, would they want smooth, transparent elections? It's not that we can't get our elections right after 200 years. It's that are elections are right for the people who hold them. They just aren't right for the citizens.

If the resdential tax base makes up to much of the town's budget, they will really be mad when their taxes go up because the town doesn't have a significant commercial tax base, like two big-box stores.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Swissy


If the resdential tax base makes up to much of the town's budget, they will really be mad when their taxes go up because the town doesn't have a significant commercial tax base, like two big-box stores.

Be careful of big box stores. They often demand property tax waivers in exchange for them setting up the stores. Then, because of the waivers, they can sell for less and thus drive tax-paying businesses into bankruptcy.

[Dinner]

Yeah, the big boxes can hurt. On one hand they bring in sales taxes (if the state has one) but on the other hand they can often get waivers for so much they're a net wash for small towns and can even be bad if they put to many local retail companies out of business. Regarding churches, personally I'd make them pay property taxes but let them keep their federal income tax exemption. No reason churches should get a completely free ride.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Comrade Snuggles
Florida is pretty much nothing but architectural travesties. It is the ugliest place I've ever lived.

That bad? Don't the ocean views at least make up part of it?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Repugs are rich and can afford stamps. So they vote by mail.

Georgia doesn't allow voting by mail... unless you have a real absentee reason.

[SlowwHand]

Neither does Texas. HEY! We could pay a newly unemployed to stand in line!

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Oerdin
That bad? Don't the ocean views at least make up part of it?

Yes indeedy they do.

[chequita guevara]

The line was short when I stopped in to pick up some books at the library today, so I voted. I've got at least one vote.

[Japher]

I'm writing in Comrade Snuggles.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by MarkG
i dont get this early voting thing. if there are long lines on election day, just setup more voting stations next time
it's been 200 years, you should know by now how many people are more or less voting each time around...

Since local officials determine how many voting machines to put where, it can be used as a method of vote suppression. Don't want high turnout in a rival party's stronghold? Limit the voting machines available.

Having early voting is a way a state can wrest some of that local power away and reduce instances of suppression of this kind.

Personally, I would like to see all states adopt a mail-in system like we have here in Oregon. We always have very high voter participation relative to other states.