Voters Given “Benefit of the Doubt” When Registering; Vote Where They’re Not Eligible



In Richmond County, Georgia:

Even with poll workers checking IDs against voter registration lists and poll watchers watching the polls workers, some ineligible voters still slip through the system, casting votes in the wrong polling place – and even in the wrong county or state.  Greg Driggers, for example, lives in Augusta Commission District 8, but he votes in District 4.  He’s unapologetic about it…


 


Lynn Bailey, the executive director of the Richmond County Board of Elections, said that her office has several safeguards and checks that help eliminate ineligible voters from the rolls… They don’t, however, really have a way to check to see whether someone is registered at an address that isn’t actually a residence, such as a commercial property, she said.


 


“When it comes to voter registration, we really try to give the voter the benefit of the doubt,” she said.  Driggers isn’t the only business owner in Richmond County who isn’t registered at his home address, but at least he does live in the county. There are others who vote in Richmond County but live in other parts of the state.


 

“Texas elections show redistricting was destiny”

When the consultants loaded the court-drawn maps into their computers districts held a majority of Republicans, while 55 contained a majority of Democrats.
Once the dust from the election settled early Wednesday morning,
unsurprisingly, the results in the Texas House were 95 Republicans to 55
Democrats.

Democrats
hoped to do better than just seven new seats in the House, and
Republicans had hoped to limit Democratic gains to six. But both sides
recognize that more often than not, the demographics of the likely
voters in a district will determine the outcome.

Ohio voters reject proposal to change redistricting process

Ohio voters have rejected a proposal to change the process for redrawing state legislative and congressional maps.  Issue 2 lost after a fight that pitted voter advocacy groups and unions
against business interests and the Ohio Republican Party. Lawyers’
groups split on the issue.


The constitutional amendment would have created a 12-member citizen
commission to redraw Ohio’s political districts every decade. It was
prompted by discontent over the maps approved by the state Legislature
in 2011.

Link. 

“How redistricting gave losing Republicans a breath of life”

International Business Times:  After the second Republican defeat at the hands of President Barack
Obama, gloating Democrats and disappointed Republicans alike have pinned
the blame for Mitt Romney’s loss on one culprit alone: the GOP itself,
arguing that its pointed focus on social issues and indifferent, even
hostile, attitude toward minority voters have essentially made it a
political anachronism.

But you wouldn’t know that by looking at the nation’s state legislatures.

The
Republicans now have 30 gubernatorial seats, the highest number for
either party in 12 years, while the GOP also controls 26 state
legislatures. It retained control of the U.S. House of Representatives,
the legislative body designed to directly represent the interests and
opinions of the American people, despite sweeping wins for Democrats in
U.S. Senate races and a significant Electoral College victory for Obama.


The answer according to the article:  congressional redistricting.  It may have something to do with it.  It is also why there are fewer divided legislatures on both sides of the aisle.

“Election 2012: Why didn’t 94 million Americans vote”

The unofficial tally currently shows Obama with 61 million votes and
Romney with 58 million votes. After election officials finish processing
hundreds of thousands of absentee and provisional ballots, Obama’s
final tally could reach 64 million.

But no U.S. president in
the last century has come remotely close to winning as many votes as
there are people who refuse to participate in the democratic process.

“Democracy
is in trouble,” said Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study
of the American Electorate that tracks voter turnout rates.

Read more at the link.  The number of non-participants in the voting process is amazing.  Who knows what the impact is having on our democracy for better or worse.

Big Money Defeats MN Voter ID

A story how Big Money defeated Minnesota Voter ID.  I’m sure the usual free speech opponents in academia will be quick to complain, or not.  Pioneer Press.

“America Votes, “whose mission is to build a permanent progressive campaign infrastructure,” donated $100,000 to OVOF. Dollars flowed in from every conceivable activist group in the country, including AARP, SEIU, AFL-CIO, ACLU, Education Minnesota, Planned Parenthood, and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.


Of course, all the donors had one thing in common — they want something from the taxpayer. And that’s worth preserving — even if it means the most lax election laws in the nation. Yes, you need an ID to buy Sudafed, but to vote in Minnesota, a close “friend” can merely vouch for up to 15 people on election day.”