No One in America Should Have to Wait 7 Hours to Vote –
[Via Andrew Cohen – The Atlantic ]
No matter who wins the presidential race, no matter which party controls Congress, can we at least agree as reasonable adults that when it comes to voting itself the election of 2012 is a national disgrace? We ask our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives, to give their lives abroad for noble concepts like “freedom” and “democracy.” And yet we are content as a nation, and as a people, to tolerate another cycle of election rules that require our fellow citizens to sacrifice a measure of basic human dignity simply to exercise their right to vote.
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This is something more reminiscent of a banana republic. Why would we settle for any process that makes 7 hour lines a common occurrence?
I moved to absentee ballot years ago so I did not have to deal with lines. In Washington State, over 90% of the ballots are now absentee. We can track them and make sure they are counted.
Why can’t we have a voting option based on a mobile app, for instance? We bank by them now. Huge amounts of money are secure by this fashion. I’m sure there could be an easily ysable app for voting developed.
There is only one reason to create voting procedures that result in 7 hour waits – to prevent some people from voting. Most people cannot take the day off in order to vote. These processes are there almost assuredly to prevent Americans from voting.
It is simply un-American to try and deny the franchise to any American. Yet it happens year after year.
A Man With A Ph.D. 
On the other hand, why do the Democrats wait until the last day to vote? Why do the “liberal” states put so many props on the ballot that it takes 20 minutes to read them all? (Florida) Considering the fact that I am told most poor people are illiterate, why does it take them so long to vote anyway? Obviously, the answer is to have the UN monitor the polling places so Americans can’t vote.
If it really did take 20 minutes to read, then why aren’t enough voting booths provided? These voting problems are not usually seen in states under ‘liberal’ control. They are in ones with Republican governors – Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, for example. All are states that have also tried to restrict early voting, resulting in longer lines because not enough voting infrastructure is provided.No one should have to wait until 2 in the morning to vote.
How is that acceptable in the least? We are a country that is a technological marvel.
Everything I have read indicates that more Democrats than Republicans vote early when that is possible. This year there are many more Democrats again. So, if anything, it is conservatives who wait until the last day.
One of the factors in restricting the franchise is to make it harder to vote early, along with not providing the infrastructure for ballots to actually be cast. We spend piddling amounts to count the votes. Wyoming spends about $2.15 per voter while California spends $3.99 per voter. In contrast, Canada spends $9.51 per voter. Perhaps if we spent more on our voting infrastructure we would have a fairer vote.
So why don’t we? Who benefits when Americans are not allowed to vote? I expect it is because entrenched powers want it that way; they want some Americans not to vote.
I believe every eligible American should be permitted to vote. There are apparently others who feel that some should not be able to. That is simply un-American.