From an election study called Souls to the Polls, on Florida’s voter suppression efforts in 2012 (pdf)
* EIP = Early In Person (voting)
Given the history of broad consensus in support of convenience voting in Florida, as evidenced by the bipartisan coalitions in the Florida House and Senate that supported EIP efforts in the past, the decision in 2011 by the Florida legislature to curtail EIP voting transpired with what one might call ‘‘head-spinning speed.’’13 Moreover, the rhetoric supporting the recent reduction in EIP voting was particularly pointed. During the floor debate on HB 1355, for example, Republican State Senator Michael S. Bennett (representing Florida’s 21st District) asserted that voting was a privilege and that the state should not make voting too easy. Speaking in support of HB 1355, Bennett asked:
“Do you read the stories about the people in Africa? The people in the desert, who literally walk two and three hundred miles so they can have the opportunity to do what we do, and we want to make it more convenient? How much more convenient do you want to make it? Do we want to go to their house? Take the polling booth with us? This is a hard-fought privilege. This is something people die for. You want to make it convenient? The guy who died to give you that right, it was not convenient. Why would we make it any easier? I want ’em to fight for it. I want ’em to know what it’s like. I want them to go down there, and have to walk across town to go over and vote.”
They’ll really say anything, won’t they? Any random, zany thought that comes into their head has to be immediately expressed.
This is why the last weekend of the early voting window is so important and also why conservatives are always trying to slam it shut:
we see a notable view of racial and ethnic early voting trends. In particular, white
early voters tend to vote in the first half of the early voting period, not including Sundays. Across all early voting days, the two days that featured the lowest white participation rates, relatively speaking, were both Sundays. In contrast, on the first Sunday of early voting, the racial and ethnic group with the highest relative participation rate was African American voters. And on the last Sunday, the group with the highest relative participation rate was Hispanic voters, followed by African American voters. Finally, on the two Saturdays of early voting, the racial and ethnic group with the highest participation rate was Asian voters.
In particular, Figure 8 shows trends in the composition of the early voting electorate in this group of counties, and we see here a familiar drop in weekend white early voting. Similarly, Figure 9 displays early voting trends among voter types as broken down by racial and ethnic group. Notice here the same white voter pattern as was seen in Figure 7, i.e., white voters vote disproportionately less often on weekends and in particular on Sundays. In Figure 9 one sees as well that Asian early voters voted disproportionately on Saturdays, and that Sundays tended to feature disproportionate numbers of Hispanic and African American voters.
We conclude with the suggestion that changes to convenience voting laws, including but not limited to the truncation of EIP voting in Florida, may have considerable effects in future elections. As Richard Hasen notes, ‘‘These laws will have an effect on the margin on who votes. And in a state like Florida, a small difference matters. It could easily decide the outcome.’’ Whether or not one believes that the Florida legislature’s effort to restrict EIP voting in anticipation of the 2012 General Election parallels ‘‘methods pioneered by the white supremacists from another era that achieved the similar results,’’ as Risa Goluboff and Dahlia Lithwick contend, it very well could negatively impact turnout among Democratic, minority, younger, occasional, and first-time voters in the Sunshine State.
Probably matters in North Carolina, too.
? Martin
Excellent idea. Let’s put all of the voting booths in the most crime and drug infested areas, then. Oh, are we not supposed to let the white suburban voters fight for it? Oh, right, they’re entitled…
sparrow
I remember vaguely that a lot of churches in black (and maybe hispanic?) neighborhoods were organizing going to vote after church. If they try to cut Sunday voting, I’m pretty sure those church organizers are going to be smart enough to get people to go on Saturday. Not that it’s right, of course, to be cutting the times and places and hours and all that other BS. But I hope this just pisses people off and gets them to the polls. I hope.
Roger Moore
Yeah, it’s all about making it inconvenient for “them” to go vote, isn’t it.
Hunter Gathers
If only these minority voters knew their place and voted for their conservative betters, maybe Free Market Jeebus wouldn’t be directing his followers to suppress their votes.
Kay
@Roger Moore:
I’ve never heard EIP called “convenience” voting before. We should use that.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
The idea that it’s somehow TOO convenient to vote is just a staggering display of fucking willful ignorance and blindness in the light of every single fucking roadblock these assholes are constructing, and constant stories of lines backed up for hours.
And god help me, they’ll probably fucking win this battle and successfully disenfranchise enough folks to keep winning at this rate.
jskyler
I think the liberal fear of these voting restrictions is way exaggerated. These racist disgusting moves are going to explode minority participation across the country and more than make up for the lost votes because a) mass voter registration/information drives will be enacted and b) nothing, nothing turns out people more to vote more than having their personal rights stepped on for petty, vindictive reasons.
In the end, the coming shocking footage and stories of long lines, incompetent officials, and rightful votes denied will start a push for voting reform in at least some states and harm Republican officeholders’ images.
I *almost* welcome these immoral and idiotic Republican moves. Bring it on.
rikyrah
Thanks again Kay for bringing up the obviousness of their evil.
cannot be pointed out enough.
gene108
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:
In 2012 it seems to have energized people to vote.
I think at some point there’s going to be enough overreach on right-wingers part, with voting restrictions that people who matter – middle-class, upper middle-class and wealthy voters – will get impacted, because even that class of occasionally decide to move to a new house and can’t update all government agencies before an election and for the wimminz they get married and/or divorced and change a name or two in the process.
Also, too the olds have ID problems because some of them no longer drive.
sparrow
@? Martin: LOL.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@gene108:
But how many of the laws proposed actually got put into effect at that point, between successful referendums, stays of execution, and whatnot? With the Supremes ruling, it seems like there’s going to be a full bore ratfucking that can only be remedied after the fact now.
Mnemosyne
@? Martin:
Yep. Funny how the only voters who are supposed to have to fight in order to vote are in, er, Those Neighborhoods. People in, you know, better neighborhoods shouldn’t have to deal with the same inconveniences.
gene108
The guy who died defending a person’s right to vote did so either between 1776 to 1783 or 1861 to 1865. You might consider 1942-1945 as a candidate for actually defending America.
Otherwise our wars aren’t about defending the very survival of this country and our rights.
Roger Moore
@gene108:
It’s well to remember that most of the people from Florida who died between 1861 and 1865 did so in the name of denying others’ rights, and it’s a fair bet that the members of the Florida legislature who are so eager to do so know are fans.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@gene108:
And even if you take what that asshole says seriously…you know, people ‘fighting for your rights’ tend to be best honored by actually exercising said rights rather than shitting on them so you can make some subset of the population ‘work’ for them. It’s just…god, do these assholes even pretend to make sense of what they’re trying to sell? Or do I simply not have the right Wingnut Decoder Ring?
burnspbesq
That’s not your entire prima facie case for intentional discrimination, because it only shows effect, not intent.
Florida is distinguishable from North Carolina, where the Legislature had received a study from the relevant state agency indicating the probable discriminatory effect of the proposed restrictions before it voted for them.
I imagine, however, that there are plenty of contemporaneous public statements, and even more contemporaneous emails, showing that the Florida Legislature knew exactly what it was doing.
Bail ’em in. Bail ’em all in.
Patricia Kayden
Republican State Senator Michael S. Bennett sounds like a typical Rightwinger: racist as hell and stupid too. Interesting that he cites Africa in his polemic against voter rights in Florida.
If Floridians don’t vote out Skeletor and his minions when they get the opportunity to do so, I shudder to think of what steps Repubs will take to restrict the minority vote.
mclaren
You’re talking about the commenters on this site, right?
Anti-Liberal Black Lady calling Glenn Greenwald a “grifter”–
Martin telling us that Ed Snowden is a Chinese communist spy–
burnspbesq explaining to us why a joint resolution of congress (the AUMF) makes the constitution invalid–
Mnemosyne assuring us that a universal national ID card will end all our problems with illegal immigration–
And that wonderful font of wisdom General Crackpot Fake Name telling us that people who claim Obama has to follow the law have “butt rabies” and are “off their meds.”
Yes, they’ll really say anything…any random, zany thought that comes into their mind.
pat
could negatively impact turnout among Democratic, minority, younger, occasional, and first-time voters
Duh, I thought that was the whole idea.
pat
@pat:
I thought I closed that….. This site is doing funny things these days
Tone In DC
A Joss Whedon line: “Your mouth isn’t even connected to your brain, is it?”
Thankfully, Kay and others are catching these Lee Atwater wannabes, who insist on letting their freak flag fly. And it IS pissing people off. Turnout in Florida was significantly higher than usual last year.
Roy G.
We should follow the civilized example and make Election Day a national holiday. That would make wingnut heads explode like popcorn.
burnspbesq
@mclaren:
Fuck you. I never said that or anything remotely like it. That’s your misguided, ignorant interpretation. You suck at everything, including building strawmen.
Stop making shit up.
TooManyJens
@gene108:
Well, and in the 1950s and 1960s, in some parts of this country.