Black voter registration effort launched at ‘Black Panther’ screenings

[dixieagle]

People may believe their vote will not matter, or have had difficulty getting to a voter registration office.

This was the case here in Alabama. Driver’s licenses or other government-issued IDs are required to vote (or register) and the last administration closed a number of rural license bureaus, ostensibly to save money. However, that meant that many rural folks - often African-American and poor - found it virtually impossible to get to those remaining bureaus, as many lacked cars, and public transportation here is poor.

While we all want to see a well-informed electorate - and well-informed populace, generally - it is the right of every citizen who has reached 18 years of age to vote (excepting felons in certain states, etc.) There must be no roadblocks, and we should welcome voter registration efforts wherever they may take place.

I don’t believe that any real difficulty exists in registering to vote in America, but even if it did, that would be good. Requiring effort to register would also select for responsible voters.

The idea that registering to vote should be difficult is odious and indicates a mind-set that is elitist and un-American.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

Well he did say that Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows. But it sounds like the outreach centers would be the limits of their actions. Though I liked his sentiment that “In times of peace the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers.” I think it’s a lot better than the current strategy of burning bridges, building barriers, and stoking flames.

 

[niceatheist]

That’s the elephant in the room in my view. All these “common good” and “responsible voting” arguments really are just euphemisms for maintaining a level of discouragement for historical groups that have had low voter turnout.

 

[exnihilo]

I said "titles and bodies."Additionally there have been many rulings based on these laws that also disagree with your perspective. It sounds like you may be operating from a different premise than most of the other people in this thread.

My perspective is the legal tradition of the US. If people have another perspective it isn’t relevant. Where in the legal tradition or constitution is a right to vote? Recent laws don’t count obviously.

You are incorrect. Voting is a right. It is the most basic, and important right in any representative government. I will charitably assume you live under an authoritarian regime and don’t understand. I’m sorry about that, I can pm you some information on seeking asylum in a nation that has a representative government.

I live in the US where at its founding most people couldn’t vote because voting isn’t a right in my country. It was a representative government then and now.

 

[niceatheist]

ThinkingSapien:

I said "titles and bodies."Additionally there have been many rulings based on these laws that also disagree with your perspective. It sounds like you may be operating from a different premise than most of the other people in this thread.

My perspective is the legal tradition of the US. If people have another perspective it isn’t relevant. Where in the legal tradition or constitution is a right to vote? Recent laws don’t count obviously.

You are incorrect. Voting is a right. It is the most basic, and important right in any representative government. I will charitably assume you live under an authoritarian regime and don’t understand. I’m sorry about that, I can pm you some information on seeking asylum in a nation that has a representative government.

I live in the US where at its founding most people couldn’t vote because voting isn’t a right in my country. It was a representative government then and now.

I think we’ve long ago established you have a rather skewed and spotty notion of the Constitution and the liberties afforded to US citizens.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

Wait. Black people are going to this movie? My son wants to see this movie. Do I have to be scared? My son and I are white.

At least half of my coworkers are white and they enjoyed the movie and are going to see it again. No, there’s no reason to be scared. On that note there have been people on twitter that have tried to stir the pot by taking pictures from domestic violence cases and TV shows and posting them with stories claiming that these people were assaulted for trying to see the movie. A quick reverse image search showed the true sources of these images and overall the response has been to mock the stories.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

Could this thread be a little more racist?

No exaggeration, it probably could. I won’t name any one even though this person appears to nolonger be in the forums, but I remember a person that participated here that was against the mixing of the races because racial purity needed to be maintained.

Also here an article about what was going on with with the fake assault claims on twitter.

Twitter is brutally mocking the fake Black Panther assault stories - The Verge

 

[niceatheist]

No exaggeration, it probably could. I won’t name any one even though this person appears to nolonger be in the forums, but I remember a person that participated here that was against the mixing of the races because racial purity needed to be maintained.

That idea has been floated since I’ve been posting here.

 

[Arkansan]

Arkansan:

I don’t believe that any real difficulty exists in registering to vote in America, but even if it did, that would be good. Requiring effort to register would also select for responsible voters.

I disagree. I also think there’s no way to assure that there is an equal effort demand put on everyone. Being able to get to a voter registration location will put different demands on those with cars v those without, those with kids v those without, people with different work schedules, so on.

So? The good to be obtained from requiring effort is not dependent on it being required equally of everyone. That’s like saying we shouldn’t require effort to practice medicine, because going to medical school is easier for some than for others.

It sounds then like you really have more of a problem with participatory democracy

Yes

The idea that registering to vote should be difficult is odious and indicates a mind-set that is elitist and un-American.

Just insulting an idea doesn’t make it wrong.

 

[JulianN]

If you have a problem with participatory democracy – our republic – then perhaps this is not the right country for you. The reality is that we have elected representatives, that all of us are able to vote for those representatives, and that we live with the results of those elections.

There is no way to justly determine that one adult is allowed a vote and another is not – who would be the arbiter of a voter who is informed and responsible?

 

[ThinkingSapien]

So? The good to be obtained from requiring effort is not dependent on it being required equally of everyone. That’s like saying we shouldn’t require effort to practice medicine, because going to medical school is easier for some than for others.

To me it sounds like a way to wedge in putting up obstacles for certain demographics to lower their participation.

 

[niceatheist]

Arkansan:

So? The good to be obtained from requiring effort is not dependent on it being required equally of everyone. That’s like saying we shouldn’t require effort to practice medicine, because going to medical school is easier for some than for others.

To me it sounds like a way to wedge in putting up obstacles for certain demographics to lower their participation.

That’s because that’s exactly what he’s saying, though he’s being a little coy about notions like “common good” and “responsible voter”. It all looks like a justification for some degree of voter suppression, and looks exactly like the justifications for voter suppression in the past. “Oh, you know, THOSE people wouldn’t use their vote responsibly.”

 

[Arkansan]

If you have a problem with participatory democracy – our republic – then perhaps this is not the right country for you. The reality is that we have elected representatives, that all of us are able to vote for those representatives, and that we live with the results of those elections.

This is not an argument.

There is no way to justly determine that one adult is allowed a vote and another is not – who would be the arbiter of a voter who is informed and responsible?

There are many qualifications that could be imposed that would correlate with responsible voting.

 

[Stephen_C]

There are many qualifications that could be imposed that would correlate with responsible voting.

So which ones would you impose? and how would you define “responsible voting”

 

[JulianN]

There could – but who would determine them?

 

[niceatheist]

There are many qualifications that could be imposed that would correlate with responsible voting.

Oh do tell…

 

[MidwestGuy]

It would be interesting to see the results if party affiliation was removed from ballots.

 

[Arkansan]

Arkansan:

There are many qualifications that could be imposed that would correlate with responsible voting.

So which ones would you impose? and how would you define “responsible voting”

There are many that would be good. E.g. restricting it only to heads of household who own their home, raising the voting age, disqualifying those whose ancestors recently immigrated, requiring a test of political knowledge.

Mass democracy is like cancer. Ideally, it should be gotten rid of, but barring that it should be restricted as much as possible.

 

[lmachine]

They make one black superhero movie and people start talking about abolishing democracy lol

 

[JulianN]

You need to find a new place to live – this flies in the face of our constitutional principles.