Wow. That's a stark contrast to where I live. I don't have to register or anything. And I've never waited in line for more than 15-20 minutes. And we germans keep all the supermarkets, shops and most businesses closed on sundays, so voting will take place on sundays and it won't collide with work either...
Comment on Why am I seeing "plan your voting day strategy" so often?
sunbrrnslapper@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Lines can be long, polls have limited hours (often conflicting with work hours), a person may need a ride to the polling location, etc. Some states have stupid rules like you can’t give people in line to vote food or water, which makes standing in line for hours more challenging.
hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 1 week ago
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 1 week ago
It is Tuesday for some outdated reason that no longer matters and it is kept as a tradition because it conflicts with working days where minorities and other lower income folks will find it harderr to vote.
The lines are long in places where Republicans want to suppress the vote, by not providing enough staffing, minimizing voting stations, and throwing in other hurdles. They also oppose early voting snd mail in voting to make it harder for everyone to vote, because their angry voters are more likely to stick it out through those barriers.
I live in a Republican state that hasn’t gone Dem for president since Nixon, and of course I have never waited more than 5 minutes in line and started voting early when that option was added. I don’t vote Republican, but most of the people do so they haven’t gone as malicious on voter suppression like in the states that have a chance of going Dem.
illi@lemm.ee 1 week ago
How is thay even legal, wtf?
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Because the same party doing it is good at repeatedly testing the barriers to discrimination and dismantling laws against it.
Texas and some other states were not allowed to change voting practices without approval for years due to this kind of thing under the Voting Rights Act. Then SCOTUS overturrned that law…
apnews.com/…/voting-rights-act-supreme-court-blac…
Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold.
The ruling continues to reverberate across the country a decade later, as Republican-led states pass voting restrictions that, in several cases, would have been subject to federal review had the conservative-leaning court left the provision intact. At the same time, the justices have continued to take other cases challenging elements of the landmark 1965 law that was born from the sometimes violent struggle for the right of Black Americans to cast ballots.
nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 week ago
I love seeing people realize the USA is only a Democray for a very specific group of people weather it’s concerning the Judges or the Election process. On top of that thanks to the electoral college if you dont live in a swing state you don’t really get a say. The election will boil down to a few hundred thousand people in a couple states just because of where they live.
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
Americans talk so much about democracy, and this is how they treat their voters… Reading this thread just makes me sad.
Bigfish@lemmynsfw.com 1 week ago
As an American: Me too 😮💨
Aceticon@lemmy.world 1 week ago
It’s a well known phenomenon that the more people self-compliment about some great quality they have, the less that is the case.
A similar thing seems to happen at a political level - the countries were politicians just harp on and on about how great their Democracy is (in the case of the US) or how old it is (in the case of the UK) have the most flawed Democracies (if they even count as Democracies given how far they stray from the “all votes are equal” criteria) whilst in the best Democracies out there (like The Netherlands where they have Proportional Vote) they never talk about how great a Democracy they are.
I believe it’s called Overcompensation.
ardorhb@discuss.tchncs.de 1 week ago
Wouldn‘t it be the best thing to make election day a nation wide holiday? Could keep the tradition while also actually allowing people to vote. I doubt that productivity is high on these days nevertheless.
Has this ever been discussed?
thesohoriots@lemmy.world 1 week ago
National holidays don’t apply to private companies, apparently.
nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 week ago
Poor people voting isn’t good for profits and it’s literally that simple. Neither party care, a few progressive dems do, at least until aipac tries to get rid of them while the most powerful dems stand behind aipac.
stinerman@midwest.social 1 week ago
It has, but there are some people who do not like the idea that everyone can vote.
Also it being a holiday doesn’t mean everyone gets off work. There is no federal law that says your business can’t be open 365 days per year, nor is there any law that mandates paid time off.
MagosInformaticus@sopuli.xyz 1 week ago
Federal election times are set by 2 U.S. Code § 7 as 1 day after the 1st Monday in November (of even numbered years). The law is from 1875 and from what I can tell is indeed nominally motivated by the voters’ need to first observe rest day on Sunday and then travel to their polling place. Keeping it and not having a federal holiday coinciding with it is largely aimed at keeping voter turnout low.
altima_neo@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
In contrast, in Oregon, we just vote by mail. Full out you ballot at your leisure, drop it off in the ballot box by the due date, and you’re set. Also the ballot boxes are all over the place. City Hall, the post office, the library, etc.
Trigger2_2000@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
The reasons I was given for first Tuesday in November are:
- After “pay day” at beginning of month (not everyone gets paid on the first of the month though).
- So you will be sobered up from your weekend drunk.
The idea behind #1 is that it should be harder to bribe you if you have recently been paid. The reason behind #2 is that you will be sober when you vote.
Also, in my state at least, alcohol sales are prohibited while the polls are open for voting.
GBU_28@lemm.ee 1 week ago
You generally register when you get your license with new address here but the Crux is this gets complicated if you move from state to state…there is no federal voting registry, you register to your state.
undercrust@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Wait, you can’t give people food or water if they’re standing in the line? Why the hell not?
And hours in line?? What? Why!
Soapbox1858@lemm.ee 1 week ago
As many have mentioned the real reason is to suppress votes by making the experience miserable.
The cover story for the rules is to prevent campaigns or other groups from “buying votes” by giving people in line food/water in exchange for a promise to vote for their candidate.
SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
To discourage people from voting. As was pointed out elsewhere, the Republicans only really flourish when a small number of people vote. So they make it as inconvenient as possible for people who are lower income, usually people of colour.
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
Wait what? And that sort of things is legal? Are you serious? You know, there are countries where voting is obligatory, and others where it is made as easy as possible.
SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
Wait til you learn about Gerrymandering. I’ll not get into it in depth, but essentially the local/state government in the US will set up voting regions to guarantee that one party has a massive advantage.
Countess425@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Must be nice.
rsuri@lemmy.world 1 week ago
FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 1 week ago
That’s cool but the post was clearly about the USA where we have made voting a miserable fucking experience.
Red_October@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Because certain people with power find it advantageous to make it difficult for the people in certain areas to vote. If you know that district isn’t going to vote for you, and morality is a thing that happens to other people, you could make the polling place too small with too few workers.
chuckleslord@lemmy.world 1 week ago
"We hate that poors get to vote in our country. Don’t they know that this was a country founded with the ideals that only landowning white men could vote? Apparently they changed that law at some point, so we just make new ones to make the poors not want to vote. Like depriving them of things they need to live if they choose to do so. It’s what they get for being poors. Johohoho!"
In all honesty, it’s fucked. It’s so fucked.
Illuminostro@lemmy.world 1 week ago
So they won’t wait long enough to vote. The excuse used to ban is that they’re being “bribed” with food and water. It’s just pure voter suppression, but who are you going to complain to? The mayor and the police who watch Fox every night?
DrBob@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
It’s voter suppression. By limiting the number of voting locations and understanding them you make long lines where people will wait for hours to vote. By not allowing food or water to be handed out they hope people will get discouraged and leave the line. The official reason is that it could be construed as a bribe to vote a certain way.
sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 1 week ago
The American political system will do everything it can to prevent poor people from voting
Trigger2_2000@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
I’m guessing you might be from Canada (Hello up there friend)!
Because certain groups in power are total pieces of @#$_&-+/!
Which States Ban Giving Food and Water to Voters at Polling Places?
Elections in the US didn’t used to be so controversial, but in the last 10 years certain groups/parties have been crying foul (baselessly I might add) about illegal voting.
You are supposed to be able to go to the polling place on election day and vote. There are limited voting hours (generally about 12 hours), it is not a national holiday (should be), your employer does not have to give you time to vote (paid or not). You might be able to vote via postal mail (but it varies by state what “valid reasons are” to do that).
The US really needs election reform nation wide.
XeroxCool@lemmy.world 1 week ago
A holiday could help but it’s not a real solution. Think of how emergency services will have to stay operational as an essential entity. Now think of the shitty retail companies that will call themselves essential businesses. You may get some compliance from some retail, but not all. Probably not most. Look at every other solemn non-denominational holidays like memorial day or labor day. Not only do stores stay open, but they have sales for those. People work the hardest on labor day! And that is the group least likely to vote and most likely to swing.
12 hours is usually long enough for people to not be at work at some point, but I’d much rather see a 20-24 hour window. Cover those stuck on double shifts. Cover super commuter workaholics. Cover the person who needed to catch a movie first.
Or do literally anything else to improve our archaic system. It’s intentionally kept obtuse and atrocious to keep out the people struggling the most while the other end mails a vote from Aruba.
Trigger2_2000@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Or Cancun (heard that from someone named Ted).
I agree (and realize) that a simple holiday wouldn’t fix the many ills of our “election system”. Just thought it would help. I’ve heard that England has at least a week to vote [hope that’s true]. Anything that would make it easier and more convenient to vote would be a great help (not suggesting making the process less secure).
whotookkarl@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Recent changes in Michigan extended it from 1 day to over a week, joining several other states offering early voting options.
“The early voting period begins the second Saturday prior to Election Day and ends the Sunday before an election. However, communities may decide to provide additional days of early voting. Under state law, communities can offer up to 29 days of early voting.”
www.michigan.gov/sos/…/early-in-person-voting
expr@programming.dev 1 week ago
In Nebraska, I get my ballot by mail way in advance. I fill it out at my leisure, doing research on candidates as needed. I can then either mail the ballot back or drop it off at one of several locations around town (including any of the public libraries). I haven’t voted in person in years. This method is so much better.
bjorney@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Murica.
This was literally the overarching plot for the last season of curb
youtu.be/dHIPXbLsY_Q?si=KG-IWg7GTeqQ8jiT
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Because it might be seen as bribery to get them to vote one way. This country has pulled every piece of bullshit in every direction when it comes to voting