By Erich Vieth on November 03rd, 2008
Rachel Maddow on the abhorrent new “poll tax”
Rachel Maddow is so very very right about the new “poll tax.” There is now excuse why people should be standing in line for 2, 4 or 8 hours, waiting to exercise their fundamental right to vote. Time is money, and the de facto system in place in many parts of the country is requiring people to give up many hours of wages in order to vote. This system is inept and inexcusable. It must be remedied NOW. As Maddow indicates, the authorities must develop contingency plans for their contingency plans, so that no one gets discouraged and walks away from their right to vote.
Her statistics regarding the discouraged 2004 voters in Ohio show the stakes for the failure to reform the system.
It’s tricky. Ohio just implemented early voting this year, but during the early voting period, only one polling place was open. Since the early voters of every possible precinct funnel into a single location, early voting resulted in ridiculous lines. On Sunday,a friend of mine waited to vote for four hours, then was told to expect another two more. He couldn’t wait that long- he had places to go. So he left. When he voted today, there was no wait whatsoever.
Ohio’s early voting “solution” is paradoxical and still very iffy. I’m not sure if constant experimentation- from voting machines, to early voting, to other changes- will ever do any good. Instead, states that experience severe voting issues need to implement a coherent, lasting and sizable change in their way of doing things. These piecemeal solutions are doing no good.