October 6, 201511 yr Some will remember that in 2013 the SCOTUS ruled that Voting Rights Act , required that states get approval to changes that impact voting, was no longer valid. States could do their own thing. Alabama has decided to close DMVs, where one would go to get the required voter ID, in many "black" counties/areas. Alabama, Birthplace of the Voting Rights Act, Is Once Again Gutting Voting Rights | The Nation Did "politics" play a role? “Every single county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters will see their driver license office closed,” Look at the 15 counties that voted for President Barack Obama in the last presidential election. The state just decided to close driver license offices in 53 percent of them. Look at the five counties that voted most solidly Democratic? Macon, Greene, Sumter, Lowndes and Bullock counties all had their driver license offices closed. Look at the 10 that voted most solidly for Obama? Of those, eight—again all but Dallas and the state capital of Montgomery—had their offices closed.
October 6, 201511 yr Some will remember that in 2013 the SCOTUS ruled that Voting Rights Act , required that states get approval to changes that impact voting, was no longer valid. States could do their own thing. Alabama has decided to close DMVs, where one would go to get the required voter ID, in many "black" counties/areas. Alabama, Birthplace of the Voting Rights Act, Is Once Again Gutting Voting Rights | The Nation Did "politics" play a role? “Every single county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters will see their driver license office closed,” Look at the 15 counties that voted for President Barack Obama in the last presidential election. The state just decided to close driver license offices in 53 percent of them. Look at the five counties that voted most solidly Democratic? Macon, Greene, Sumter, Lowndes and Bullock counties all had their driver license offices closed. Look at the 10 that voted most solidly for Obama? Of those, eight—again all but Dallas and the state capital of Montgomery—had their offices closed. Since the article didn't provide the percentages of the non-Obama counties I was a little curious. There are 67 counties in Alabama and 31 counties had offices closed. Also 15 voted for Obama and 52 didn't. 8 of 15 counties who voted for Obama were closed - 53.3% 23 of 52 counties who didn't vote for Obama were closed - 44.2% All-in-all Alabama closed 46.3% of their offices. I wish the article would have included more comparisons like this.
October 6, 201511 yr Since the article didn't provide the percentages of the non-Obama counties I was a little curious. There are 67 counties in Alabama and 31 counties had offices closed. Also 15 voted for Obama and 52 didn't. 8 of 15 counties who voted for Obama were closed - 53.3% 23 of 52 counties who didn't vote for Obama were closed - 44.2% All-in-all Alabama closed 46.3% of their offices. I wish the article would have included more comparisons like this. So pretty much they closed nearly half the offices with very little regard to how they voted. Doesn't quite paint the picture that this thread intended IMO.
October 6, 201511 yr So pretty much they closed nearly half the offices with very little regard to how they voted. Doesn't quite paint the picture that this thread intended IMO. It still might paint the picture but I think more info is needed. I chose the statement that was the easiest to fact check. The article is incredibly one-sided and could use for some more comparisons.
October 6, 201511 yr Author Since the article didn't provide the percentages of the non-Obama counties I was a little curious. There are 67 counties in Alabama and 31 counties had offices closed. Also 15 voted for Obama and 52 didn't. 8 of 15 counties who voted for Obama were closed - 53.3% 23 of 52 counties who didn't vote for Obama were closed - 44.2% All-in-all Alabama closed 46.3% of their offices. I wish the article would have included more comparisons like this. Good info but it misses a key point. When this voting ID law was passed a study was done to see who would be impacted. Not surprisingly , the vast majority of people impacted i.e. need to get a voter ID were black.
October 6, 201511 yr Doing this will definitely create a hassle for many people just from the perspective of getting/renewing your license and probably make it to where many will have to take time off work and stand in line even longer just to do it. That sucks for everyone...black, white, brown, etc. With that said...the best I could hash out of the article is that 10 of the 31 counties where the offices are being closed are in highly populated black areas. Doesn't that mean then that 21 of them aren't in highly populated black areas? I think more info is needed before any sort of conclusion, good, bad or indifferent can be made.
October 6, 201511 yr Good info but it misses a key point. When this voting ID law was passed a study was done to see who would be impacted. Not surprisingly , the vast majority of people impacted i.e. need to get a voter ID were black. But wouldn't this also affect whites as well in the counties with offices that were closed with a lower black population? If the County Clerks office in Anderson County suddenly stoped issuing drivers licenses, it would be just as much hassle for me to go to Franklin County or Mercer County to get/renew my license as it would anyone else, regardless of color, correct?
October 6, 201511 yr Author Hold up. In doing some more googling I found that the folks who need an ID will still be able to go somewhere in their county to get it. So, I get that the optics may be troubling but the article did fail to mention that key point.
October 6, 201511 yr Author But wouldn't this also affect whites as well in the counties with offices that were closed in the counties with less blacks? Only if those whites didn't already possess an accepted ID. That's not the case for most in Alabama.
October 6, 201511 yr Hold up. In doing some more googling I found that the folks who need an ID will still be able to go somewhere in their county to get it. So, I get that the optics may be troubling but the article did fail to mention that key point. Good catch. And I bet this tid bit of info was left out of the article purposefully.
October 6, 201511 yr Is there any alternative being discussed for obtaining the ID? I have no problem with closing the DMV's if it's an efficiency thing but they have to have an alternative for getting the ID's to the people who need them. Are there other offices in those areas that could take on the role?
October 6, 201511 yr Good info but it misses a key point. When this voting ID law was passed a study was done to see who would be impacted. Not surprisingly , the vast majority of people impacted i.e. need to get a voter ID were black. That info wasn't explicitly in the article either was it?
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