Republicans don’t believe in democracy.
In Ohio where the acting president and former Vice President Joe Biden are tied in the polls:
A federal judge on Thursday blocked an order from Ohio’s secretary of state that would have required counties in the state to install ballot drop boxes just at the local election office, allowing additional drop boxes to be placed in areas that need them.
At issue was an order earlier this week from Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose that limited ballot drop boxes to one location per county: a county’s election office. LaRose had been interpreting an Ohio law that states the only two ways to return an absentee ballot are to mail it or “personally deliver it to the director” as meaning that if a voter chooses to use a drop box, it must be at the County Board of Elections office, because that is still considered to be delivering the ballot directly to the director.
But federal Judge Dan Polster said LaRose’s order puts a burden on more populous counties — like Cuyahoga, which includes Cleveland — and which he says has “a very serious looming problem” that could jeopardize the right to vote.
That’s not over. Stay tuned.
And in Texas, voting rights advocates are pushing back against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s box-blocking directive (Austin Statesman):
Lawyers for voters and voting rights groups asked a federal judge Thursday to block Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent order limiting counties to one location where voters can hand-deliver mail-in ballots.
Abbott waited too long to issue his order on Oct. 1, they argued, not only because it came the same day Travis County opened four drop-off locations after a monthlong public information campaign, but also because voting had already begun in the Nov. 3 general election.
“It is too late and too dangerously burdensome to change election rules midstream,” lawyer Chad Dunn told U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in a hearing that was held via Zoom as a pandemic precaution.
This whole democracy thing is just so annoying for royalists and autocrats, as these tweets from Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee illustrate. They were everywhere this week:
Rank democracy. And prospefity.
They don’t want you voting if they don’t think they can control the outcome. Do you really need reminding?
Okay, after all that, you may need a palate cleanser. It’s Wayne Knight, Seinfeld‘s obnoxious mailman, to the rescue.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
For The Win, 3rd Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide GOTV mechanics guide at ForTheWin.us. This is what winning looks like.