2006-09-05

Just Try Voting Here: 11 of America's Worst Places to Cast a Ballot (or Try)

A wonderfully shocking summary of the biggest things wrong with the USA's electoral system, which is right up there with Zimbabwe's. The problems are, briefly:

  1. Citizens can't vote without a special token issued by the state (normal ID is not enough)
  2. Electronic voting machines screw up all the time with huge effects on count results
  3. Citizens in poorer neighbourhoods wait hours in line to vote
  4. No training for poll workers means no voting until afternoon
  5. Good old dirty tricks are used to mislead voters and disrupt campaigning
  6. Gerrymandering is now a widespread craft
  7. Citizens convicted of felonies are not told if or when their voting rights are restored
  8. The careful selection of pessimal electoral schemes is used as a creative means of minimizing representation for minority groups.
  9. Citizens away at university are simply denied the right to vote
  10. Voter registration forms are selectively "lost"
  11. It has become acceptable for election supervisors to abuse their power to favour their party

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