CNN interviewed a judge who oversees the drop sites. According to her, the sites were prepared specifically to manage the drop-off process during covid because they were drive through centers, similar to covid testing sites. Abbot's reasoning for eliminating the sites to all but one per county is to prevent the spread of covid. The man's a frigging liar and I'd expect him to mess with the mail-ins, too...Originally Posted by James Lacey
Hi Maurice,
As you know, I'm a Texan, and I'm no fan of Abbot, but let me explain a little bit about what is going on here.
First, you have to understand that Abbot, while a Republican, is not popular in the party's far-right wing. They are eternally mad at him about something, and it almost always has to do with they think he is not right-wing enough. For example, they are mad at him about our shut-down. They are mad at him about our mask mandate, and they are mad at him for starting early voting six days early on Oct. 13th instead of Oct. 19th. In fact, they are right now in the process of suing him over this, and it's unclear if early voting in Texas will start on Oct. 13th.
Second, unless you are over age 65, it's almost impossible to get a Texas mail-in ballot. So, if this were an attempt at voter suppression, it's not suppressing the vote Republicans would want to suppress; i.e., most older voters vote Republican.
Third, you can always mail your ballot, which most voters will do anyway. Like most systems, you can track your mail ballot too. A drop-off location is not strictly speaking necessary.
Lastly, most counties have only ever had one drop off location, the county clerk's office usually. The sites were expanded due to COVID by local officials, but for example, Tarrant county where I live has only ever had one location.
What is really going on here in my humble opinion is Abbot is trying to appease the far-right wing faction of the party for his political expediency and survival. In other words, he's tossing them a bone, so they will get off his back.
More republican voter suppression
Started by ozprof, 10/02/2020 04:42AM
Posted 10/03/2020 01:46AM
#10
Posted 10/03/2020 03:08AM
#12
Wouldn't more drive thru, drop-off sites during a pandemic be a good thing by taking pressure off polling sites where people have to wait in line?
Posted 10/03/2020 03:08AM
#13
Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman
CNN interviewed a judge who oversees the drop sites. According to her, the sites were prepared specifically to manage the drop-off process during covid because they were drive through centers, similar to covid testing sites. Abbot's reasoning for eliminating the sites to all but one per county is to prevent the spread of covid. The man's a frigging liar and I'd expect him to mess with the mail-ins, too...
I'm not saying Abbot's reasoning is sound. Even I think it's BS. My point is this more about internal in-fighting in the Texas Republican party than voter suppression. I personally detest our voting system. It's onerous and denies equal voting access in my humble opinion.
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