Getting out the vote is stealing elections

Getting out the vote is stealing elections

by digby

Everyone understands that all Democratic close election wins are going to be attributed to vote fraud, right? They already think anyone for whom they don't vote cannot possibly be legitimate. Now they have a ready explanation as to why:

Speaker @ Waukesha GOP rally: "We've gotta get past the margin of fraud. They're dragging people to the polls offering them BBQ and smokes."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) October 25, 2014

I don't know why offering people bar-b-que and smokes should be considered voter fraud. Unless this person believes that only Democrats eat bar-b-que and smoke cigarettes. (Yes, we know who he was talking about...) Voting is voting and people vote for all kinds of reasons. It's not like they will be writing in "bar-b-que and smokes" for governor. They'll still be voting. And plenty of them could be white people who like bar-b-que and smokes --- and Ted Nugent, amirite?

State Sen. Paul Farrow tells Waukesha Co crowd that Ds are trying to "steal the election" by giving special parking to Milwaukee GOTV vans
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) October 25, 2014

I think you can see where we're going here. Any effort for Democrats to get out the vote is, by definition, stealing the election.

Here's what they want. They want to ban absentee ballots and early voting. They want to initiate onerous registration, (in person, at the registrars office with several forms of ID and a witness statement, notarized, attesting to your eligibility.) They want you to be forced to walk or drive only yourself to the polling place, present these various forms of ID to several different people and then submit your ballot to partisan poll watchers who will determine if your signature looks kosher to them. Only then will your ballot be counted.

None of this will be applicable to elderly white people who will be allowed to vote anywhere they choose as long as they can name the evening line-up of Fox News (or stipulate they love to watch that nice Irish boy who looks just like their grandson ...)

When I was a kid I remember that the small town I lived in for a while used to have a picnic on election day. You could bring in your proof of voting and get free hot dogs and potato salad for the whole family. I guess the whole town was stealing elections in those days. Silly small town Americans ... they thought they were encouraging civic involvement and being patriotic.

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