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THEY DID SO WELL ABUSING ABSENTEE SYSTEM TO VOTE EARLY, MIGHT AS WELL MAKE IT OFFICIAL
I have to hand it to Democrats in South Carolina. They did an incredible job of abusing the in-person absentee voting system and made it work to their advantage.
And apparently Democrats thought it worked so well that they are now pushing to implement an official early voting system.
Congressman James Clyburn Wednesday said he was working on a bill that would require early voting for all federal elections. And State Sen. Darrell Jackson said he will introduce legislation to enact early voting for South Carolina elections.
I’m fine with that because I have nothing at all against early voting. I just think we should all be playing by the same rules here because what happened this year was unfair and borderline criminal.
While Republicans focused their get out the vote efforts on Election Day, Democrats saw an opportunity to abuse the absentee system and worked to turn their voters out over the course of a few weeks. They reportedly loaded up vans, buses and taxis filled with straight-ticket Democrat voters (and even some free food and drinks) and drove them to vote absentee in the days and weeks leading up to the election.
Just prior to unloading their passengers at county voter registration offices, the Democrat handlers allegedly reminded their voters to use the “for reasons of employment I will not be able to vote on election day” excuse — the only one of the 13 absentee criteria set by state law that is difficult to disprove.
And as a result, Democrats enjoyed nearly a two-to-one advantage in early voting in a state that went 54-45 in favor of the Republican presidential candidate.
So either we can vote early or we can’t. But one party shouldn’t be allowed to flagrantly mock the system while the other party adheres to the intent of the law — which is to allow those who truly cannot make it to the polls on Election Day an opportunity to still cast their ballot.
The constitution saying it is solely the responsibility of congress to declare war didn’t affect the various wars we now find ourselves in.
Your selective rage at certain violations of the rule of law, while ignoring others, is obvious and hollow.
Besides the rule of law is a myth; there is more than enough precident built up on both sides of any issue that judgement is completely subjective.
I think the term “sour grapes” has never been more appropriate.
Not so much to post about these days, Fogle?
I have to say that something about early voting bothers me. It’s like being on a jury at a trial and being able to cast you vote “guilty” or “not guilty” before the trial is finished, before all the evidence is presented. I like the idea of the snapshot in time, the unifying factor of the entire country voicing its decision on a single day. And I say this in spite of the fact that I’m an avid Obama supporter, realizing he did benefit from the early voting (though there’s no inherent reason for him to have that advantage other than they worked harder at getting people to the early voting locations), and I did vote absentee in SC (though legitimately, as I was out of state on business on election day).
Unfortunately, once this genie has been let out of the bottle, I doubt it will be let back in.
For the record, voting early is nothing like voting “guilty” or “not guilty” in a trial before it is finished. That is ludicrous. This guy obviously has nothing worth blogging about given the recent political landscape. Obama was going to be elected no matter when people voted.
What’s your problem with early voting?
I agree that your post seems to be “sour grapes” and just another excuse for partisan sniping from the side that evidently wants a one party state.
For the record, I’d like to see the federal government set up a reliable voting system and subsidize states adoption. Also, election day should be federal and state holiday.
No doubt, SC would be one of the last to adopt any system that encourages more participation in a truly representative democratic process.
“For the record, I’d like to see the federal government set up a reliable voting system and subsidize states adoption. Also, election day should be federal and state holiday.”
Ever hear of the “Help America Vote Act?” (HAVA for short) It sort of tried to do that, in that states would get money from the feds to buy those crappy electronic voting machines that nobody should trust.
The federal holiday thing is good.
Yep, I’ve heard of HAVA. I was thinking of a much more comprehensive systemic revamping. An independent, non-partisan commission could develop the plan.
Certainly electronic voting machines aren’t the answer by themselves. I’ve always wondered why an easily rigged electronic machine with no objective way for the voter to verify his vote and no legitimate recount option would be even considered.
A cynic might even suspect that the people pushing the adoption of the electronic voting machines had an ulterior motive.