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Title: Certain people should not vote, says the Supreme Court
Source: The Hill
URL Source: http://thehill.com/opinion/judiciar ... upreme-court?hl=1&noRedirect=1
Published: Jun 15, 2018
Author: Mark Plotkin
Post Date: 2018-06-16 20:22:41 by Dakmar
Keywords: None
Views: 523
Comments: 25

Larry Harmon is a software engineer and a Navy veteran who lives in Ohio. Harmon voted in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections but he choose not to vote in 2012 because he says he was unimpressed with the candidates.

In 2015 a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana was on the state ballot. Harmon discovered that his name had been struck from the Ohio state voting rolls, thus forbidding his vote on this issue.

In 2011 the state of Ohio sent a mailed note to him, asking him to confirm his eligibility to vote. Harmon did not respond to this notice. In 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Court in Cincinnati ruled in Harmon’s favor, stating that Ohio had violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

The heart of that lower court’s decision was that failing to vote should not be a trigger for sending a notice.

...

In Ohio’s case, the state has set up a punitive system that says if you fail to vote in a single federal election cycle and you get a notice and you do not respond, then your name is purged from the rolls.

The League of Women Voters said it best in a brief before the Supreme Court: “Ohio is the only state that commences such a process based on the failure to vote in a single federal election cycle. Literally every other state uses a different, and more voter protective, practice.”

Now. the villain in this particular case is Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. He defends his view by saying: “Ohio removes registration only if they have failed to vote and have failed to respond to a notice.” Alito seems to be saying that if you don’t respond to one notice, then punitively the government can throw you off the rolls and eliminate your right to vote.

That is patently wrong and unfair....

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#1. To: Dakmar (#0)

In Ohio’s case, the state has set up a punitive system that says if you fail to vote in a single federal election cycle and you get a notice and you do not respond, then your name is purged from the rolls.

If this were to happen in Chicago, how would all those ghost voters get the chance to cast a ballot? ;)

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke

BTP Holdings  posted on  2018-06-16   20:35:35 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Dakmar (#0)

The idea that the "right to vote" should mean that you can go vote without lifting a single finger to assist the gov in maintaining it's voting record database is flawed. But speaking as an ex-pat, I'll say it's certainly the American way of thinking. Americans have a relatively high propensity to be irresponsible compared to other earthlings.

What good is your right to vote if you're casting that vote within a system that is completely compromised in it's integrity, by permitting lots of fraudulent & illegal votes along with it? Doesn't a voting district with 20% improper registrants serve to dilute a rightful voter's vote by 20%? Isn't a proper voter entitled not only to cast a vote but to have have count vote count fully, and be as free of dilution via illegal votes as resonably possible?

He was sent a notice. Was it too much to ask that he merely return a postcard? If I'm not mistaken, he didn't even need to put a damn stamp on it.

Certainly the state of Ohio should not consider removing a name a "punitive" measure, as it's not about punishment. If it were, it would mean that the state was assuming the guy really did live at his stated address. And no, you can't be punished via deprivation of a right for doing something you have a right to do, such as not vote. But failing to return a postcard at zero cost should not be considered an onerous burden of responsibility.

Pinguinite  posted on  2018-06-16   20:40:47 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: BTP Holdings (#1)

If they could get away with it, the Dems would require voter recertification every six weeks.

You weren't on the bus, you can't vote here...

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” - William S Burroughs

Dakmar  posted on  2018-06-16   20:41:47 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Dakmar (#0)

What did the Supremes say? Can't exactly tell from this part of the article, but it may be the wine:

Look, this was not a legal decision. Let’s say what it was: The Republican majority on the court, by a vote of 5 to 4, decided to use a subtle but highly effective way of sanctioning voter suppression. They could spruce it up with legal niceties, but that’s what they did.

Federal laws specifically prohibit states from removing people from the voter rolls “by reason of the person’s failure to vote.” This most recent Supreme Court ruling clearly, emphatically repudiates and contradicts this most precious principle of democracy.

Quite simply, it’s a Republican strategy with the current Republican-controlled Supreme Court to present a legal case for widespread disenfranchisement of people they don’t want to be able to go to the polls.

If it's Repubs keeping ghettonians from voting, they've got my vote ;-}

_____________________________________________________________

USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2018-06-16   21:05:22 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Pinguinite (#2)

He was sent a notice. Was it too much to ask that he merely return a postcard? If I'm not mistaken, he didn't even need to put a damn stamp on it.

Not being removed from roll and showing ID at next election seems to be a simpler solution. Being snarky for the moment, I have to wonder who has the contract to print those postcards?

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” - William S Burroughs

Dakmar  posted on  2018-06-16   21:12:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: NeoconsNailed (#4)

Federal laws specifically prohibit states from removing people from the voter rolls “by reason of the person’s failure to vote.”

This seems to confirm Ohio is stupid and wrong.

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” - William S Burroughs

Dakmar  posted on  2018-06-16   21:16:31 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: NeoconsNailed (#4)

If it's Repubs keeping ghettonians from voting, they've got my vote

I worked for the Republican Committeeman in Chicago. I would go around and get signatures on Petitions to get Candidates on the ballot. He would tell me to make sure I witnessed them signing the Petition. On occasion, the people would be scared to open the door for me, even though I identified myself. One time I slid the paper under the door. When the old lady slipped it back under the door, both signatures looked alike. So I had to get the old man to sign it or reject one signature. It was not always easy to do.

But my reward came when I got the State Highway job in 1980. I walked into the yard and handed the Lead Lead Worker my papers. He read it and said, "We haven't had a Probation here in three years."

I worked long and hard hours in winter time. One time I was in the yard when they got a phone call that a UPS truck could not get up the hill on Willow Rd. at Lehigh.

I hopped in a 3 ton truck and went out there. I had to salt all around the tractor trailer. It took two passes to get it to the point he could get out of there.

I told the driver, "Back up until you get some traction so you get out of here." He said, "I can't back up." I said, "Yes you can. Just let your foot off the brake and coast backward until you get some traction."

There was a guy with yellow lights on his pickup. I stopped him and told him we needed to use his lights so we could get this truck out of here. We stopped all traffic and the driver did what I told him to do and we got the road opened.

I am lucky to recall any of this because of the meningitis. ;)

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke

BTP Holdings  posted on  2018-06-16   21:24:46 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: NeoconsNailed (#4)

Federal laws specifically prohibit states from removing people from the voter rolls “by reason of the person’s failure to vote.” This most recent Supreme Court ruling clearly, emphatically repudiates and contradicts this most precious principle of democracy.

Certainly, so long as not voting is a right, exercising it can't properly be cited as a reason to suspend the right TO vote. That's certainly proper and logical.

Failure to respond and exercise a small amount of civic duty to return a postcard is not reason to suspend a right. It's instead a reason to purge an unresponsive entry from the voter roles which is reasonable to preserve the integrity of everyone else's right to vote.

Where I am, appearance at a voting station on vote day is not voluntary, it's mandatory, and it requires presentation of ID. If you don't want to vote, you don't have to. You can leave the entire ballot blank if you wish. But you must show up, and your blank ballot will get added to the ballot box. Penalties are minimal (a few bucks and a trip to the office) but it is legally required. When you do the routine, you lose any sympathy for people who complain about having to mail a free postcard.

Pinguinite  posted on  2018-06-16   21:25:15 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: Pinguinite (#8)

It's instead a reason to purge an unresponsive entry from the voter roles which is reasonable to preserve the integrity of everyone else's right to vote.

Purging should not be pro-active, it invites mischief.

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” - William S Burroughs

Dakmar  posted on  2018-06-16   21:40:46 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: NeoconsNailed (#4)

I say bring back the literacy test.

Ada  posted on  2018-06-16   21:44:17 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: Pinguinite (#8)

Are you in Australia?

_____________________________________________________________

USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2018-06-16   21:45:12 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: Ada (#10)

Oh, yes yes yes! But it will never happen in this doggedly brutish age :-s

_____________________________________________________________

USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2018-06-16   21:46:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#13. To: Ada (#10)

If I were to have the keys to the kingdom, I would restrict voting to net tax payers and SS recipients 65 and older.

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” - William S Burroughs

Dakmar  posted on  2018-06-16   21:53:14 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#14. To: NeoconsNailed, Pinguinite (#11)

Are you in Australia?

Contrary to everything you may have heard, Australian Rules is actually a guarantee of privacy, not a compulsion to engage in public functions.

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” - William S Burroughs

Dakmar  posted on  2018-06-16   21:58:14 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#15. To: NeoconsNailed (#11)

Ecuador

Pinguinite  posted on  2018-06-16   21:59:14 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: Ada (#10)

That and the poll tax.

“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken

Lod  posted on  2018-06-16   22:14:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#17. To: Ada (#10)

I say bring back the literacy test.

When I work for the State of Illinois, we had a woman come in and give us a talk. When it was over we had to fill out some paperwork.

She said, "Write your first name, middle initial and last name."

There was this guy named Ted Myrzycky. He said, "You want full middle initial?"

He was Polish immigrant so who knows what was in his mind. ;)

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke

BTP Holdings  posted on  2018-06-16   22:31:19 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#18. To: Ada (#10)

I say bring back the literacy test.

What fun!

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” - William S Burroughs

Dakmar  posted on  2018-06-16   23:40:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#19. To: Pinguinite (#15)

Whoa, start talking! Or pointing us to where you've expounded it before ')

Looks like my EC friends have flown the coop

www.youtube.com/watch? v=EO6iYVAaBT4

_____________________________________________________________

USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2018-06-17   0:44:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#20. To: BTP Holdings (#7)

Well, look at all the good you've done -- often helping people reach a "I think I can I think I can" position they tho't impossible!

This world needs take-charge types, and not only at the PDT level by any means. People are looking for it everywhere ("Don't follow me, I'm lost too").

_____________________________________________________________

USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2018-06-17   1:04:08 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#21. To: Dakmar (#18) (Edited)

Folk classic they funked up in their usual fashion. Знаешь, они никогда не могли петь. В честь их страстного коммунизма я пишу это немного по-русски.

For whatever reasons, Dak, you've got 84 views here so far. I'm envious!!

_____________________________________________________________

USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2018-06-17   1:11:56 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#22. To: Dakmar (#0)

In 2011 the state of Ohio sent a mailed note to him, asking him to confirm his eligibility to vote. Harmon did not respond to this notice.

Read your mail and avoid problems on election day. Simple.....

“With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group."
-Alex Kurtagic

X-15  posted on  2018-06-17   1:34:03 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#23. To: X-15 (#22)

Read your mail and avoid problems on election day. Simple.....

No, I'm adamant about this. I am registered to vote. My right to vote is not granted by the f*****g post office being my buddy.

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.” - William S Burroughs

Dakmar  posted on  2018-06-17   2:48:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#24. To: Lod (#16)

That and the poll tax.

The gummint doesn't need any more power to tax. A literacy test showing a minimum knowledge of civics should be sufficient.

Ada  posted on  2018-06-17   7:10:14 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#25. To: Dakmar (#23)

In Texas I have to go to the county courthouse and sign an affidavit to get OFF the voter rolls, once you're on it you're on it Forever.

“With the exception of Whites, the rule among the peoples of the world, whether residing in their homelands or settled in Western democracies, is ethnocentrism and moral particularism: they stick together and good means what is good for their ethnic group."
-Alex Kurtagic

X-15  posted on  2018-06-17   12:29:00 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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