Republicans in Georgia already moving to take over next election!

[southernhybrid]

As many, if not most of you know, the Republican led Georgia congress passed some laws earlier this year that appear to be attempts to suppress the vote in areas that are heavily populated by Democrats. But, worse than that, they included in these laws, the right for the party in power to take over the elections in areas that they think elections aren't being done correctly. Now, with the midterm election a little over a year away, they are working towards possibly taking over the election in Fulton County, Georgia's most populated and most Democratic leaning county. It includes the city of Atlanta for those not familiar with Georgia.

https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/georgia-republicans-take-first-step-to-fulton-elections-takeover/MQ7CABNYFZBINMLPRCAFJE7HAM/

Georgia Republicans have taken the first step on their freshly blazed path toward a possible takeover of Fulton County’s elections.


A letter obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows two dozen state senators support a performance review of Fulton elections chief Richard Barron. The letter was written Tuesday, the very same day a front-page AJC story examined the prospect of a takeover of elections in Fulton, home to a tenth of all Georgians.

“We’re asking them to simply correct a record they say is easily corrected. Is it or isn’t it? The people of Georgia deserve answers,” wrote Republican Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller, who signed the letter.

Are they pretending once again that the last election was stolen from the Republicans? Considering the high turnout in Fulton and considering that Fulton has always been heavily Democratic, that seems like either a lie or a delusion.

“I support and will be calling for a performance review of the Fulton County Elections Board Director because of repeated and systemic elections process failures,” House Speaker Pro-Tempore Jan Jones, a Milton Republican, wrote in an email. “This includes an investigation and evaluation of his technical competency and compliance with state law and regulation.”

From Rep. Chuck Martin, a Republican representing the Alpharetta area: “I want to see and will be requesting a full process review of the Fulton County Elections Operations because all the people of Fulton County and the State of Georgia deserve answers ... Let’s work together, get this review moving and get to the truth; the people deserve the truth.”

The areas that the two Reps come from tend to be affluent White dominated parts of the county. Who is this "we"? Shouldn't both parties be participating if there is a problem? I see no mention of that. It's only a group of Republicans that are eager to do this.

Fulton Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said a takeover is really a GOP attempt to wrest control of the U.S. Senate from Democrats and retain the governorship in 2022, with eyes toward 2024.

“It’s been rhetoric until this point. This letter is the first official step in the process,” he said.

Pitts said he intends to form a plan with his staff, including the county attorney, Thursday.

I have no doubt that this is the plan. I don't trust the Republicans in power in Georgia. They know they can't win unless they use tactics like voter suppression etc. to maintain their power. They also know that Fulton country voters gave several wins to the Democrats in the last election, so I feel that this is a devious plan.

Fulton County delivered key wins for the Democratic party during the 2020 election cycle, but they also were embarrassed by a disastrous June primary. Though this is nothing new for a county with a history of poor performance in elections, multiple recounts have reaffirmed the results despite unfounded conspiracy theories about Fulton’s elections management swirling online.

So, even if running the election had some bumps, several recounts proved that the election results were accurate. I can see having someone offer help and suggestions for having a smoother election, but a take over by the party in power doesn't seem to equate with a democratic process. Plus, we had new voting machines in the last election and there were problems related to learning and making sure the technical aspects were properly handled.

What is the chance that the courts will overturn this law that allows the party in power to take over a local election?

Should it be legal to do this? If so, why?

Even if there is evidence of a county not always having the best run election, does that mean that the outcome was wrong? There were a lot of technical problems in my country, but the Republicans won here. Why aren't they concerned about how my country ran its election?

Shouldn't any take over be done by a bipartisan group, if such a thing is really necessary?

Will such tactics be attempted in other parts of the country? Considering that currently, more states are governed by Republicans, if such tactics are permitted, how will such a take over be perceived by the majority of people?

I hope the courts will throw this out, but considering the most recent decision by SCOTUS, related to elections, I have my doubts.

And yet, I'm quite appalled at what appears to be another attempt to make our elections unfair as the state turns more Blue.

For those who are Americans living in other states, has your state considered anything like this?

And, if you are an honest conservative, do you support this or would you support this if the situation were reversed and the Democrats in power were taking over an election in a large Republican county?

Finally, for those of you who live in other Democratic, Westernized countries, who runs your elections? Are they done by each county or district? I'm ignorant about how other countries handle such things, so fill me in.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The proper response from the guy is this.

I welcome the Republican effort to review the election in Fulton County and help correct issues that have plagued our elections such as underfunding from the state to provide equal access to the ballot for 10% of the entire state's population. Based on the success of wider access to mail-in ballots and turnout for our county, I can only assume the Republicans will back track on that issue as well to ensure all people in Fulton County that have the right to vote, have the ability to vote as any other Georgian, including the right to not have to wait for hours in line.

 

[LoAmmo]

The proper response from the guy is this.

I welcome the Republican effort to review the election in Fulton County and help correct issues that have plagued our elections such as underfunding from the state to provide equal access to the ballot for 10% of the entire state's population. Based on the success of wider access to mail-in ballots and turnout for our county, I can only assume the Republicans will back track on that issue as well to ensure all people in Fulton County that have the right to vote, have the ability to vote as any other Georgian, including the right to not have to wait for hours in line.

...and the right to be handed a water bottle in that line, without looking over your shoulder for the po-po.

 

[Swammerdami]

The proper response from the guy is this.

I welcome the Republican effort to review the election in Fulton County and help correct issues that have plagued our elections such as underfunding from the state to provide equal access to the ballot for 10% of the entire state's population. Based on the success of wider access to mail-in ballots and turnout for our county, I can only assume the Republicans will back track on that issue as well to ensure all people in Fulton County that have the right to vote, have the ability to vote as any other Georgian, including the right to not have to wait for hours in line.

You assume that Republicans are capable of feeling shame?

If Manchin and Sinema continue to support the fascist agenda by refusing to pass H.R.1, then I think President Biden should declare that Georgia is in rebellion, and send federal troops and U.S. marshals to run all elections in that state.

 

[Elixir]

Are they pretending once again that the last election was stolen from the Republicans?

I don't think that charade ever stopped, did it?

 

[southernhybrid]

Are they pretending once again that the last election was stolen from the Republicans?

I don't think that charade ever stopped, did it?

It depends on which Republicans you ask. Our SOS never said the election was stolen, but he is concerned ( yeah right ) that we must make the election process have more integrity. ( Sure. Whatever you say bro. wink wink nod nod ) These things always remind me of old soul or jazz song lines. This time it's "There is no way that this can have a happy ending." ( No silly, not that type of happy ending. )

 

[untermensche]

Republicans have moved to trying to suppress voting as a way to win because their "ideas" won't do it.

They really have no ideas.

Just lies and fear mongering and appeals to wedge issues like abortion.

And trying to capture some of that Trump magic.

I hate to let them in on something but Trump beat Hillary, a very unpopular candidate, except by establishment Democrats, who was demonized for decades.

That is all he did. Beat a bad candidate.

He has no magic. His claims to having some are just lies, like he knows more about COVID than the doctors.

 

[Jarhyn]

Republicans have moved to trying to suppress voting as a way to win because their "ideas" won't do it.

They really have no ideas.

Just lies and fear mongering and appeals to wedge issues like abortion.

And trying to capture some of that Trump magic.

I hate to let them in on something but Trump beat Hillary, a very unpopular candidate, except by establishment Democrats, who was demonized for decades.

That is all he did. Beat a bad candidate.

He has no magic. His claims to having some are just lies, like he knows more about COVID than the doctors.

I find it interesting. The Jan6 insurrection was a double-fold weapon. By using the insurrection over election lies, they can harden themselves against insurrection for election truth. I can't say I wouldn't feel quite a bit like storming a statehouse myself in the evidence of clear election stealing and the failure of democracy.

And it's not like this is fake. It's quite clearly real.

 

[untermensche]

Republicans have moved to trying to suppress voting as a way to win because their "ideas" won't do it.

They really have no ideas.

Just lies and fear mongering and appeals to wedge issues like abortion.

And trying to capture some of that Trump magic.

I hate to let them in on something but Trump beat Hillary, a very unpopular candidate, except by establishment Democrats, who was demonized for decades.

That is all he did. Beat a bad candidate.

He has no magic. His claims to having some are just lies, like he knows more about COVID than the doctors.

I find it interesting. The Jan6 insurrection was a double-fold weapon. By using the insurrection over election lies, they can harden themselves against insurrection for election truth. I can't say I wouldn't feel quite a bit like storming a statehouse myself in the evidence of clear election stealing and the failure of democracy.

And it's not like this is fake. It's quite clearly real.

At this point Jan 6th will always be a question.

What might have happened had that crowd actually caught somebody?

Those with power in the US are not going to just let some black people voting take that power from them.

 

[Jarhyn]

Republicans have moved to trying to suppress voting as a way to win because their "ideas" won't do it.

They really have no ideas.

Just lies and fear mongering and appeals to wedge issues like abortion.

And trying to capture some of that Trump magic.

I hate to let them in on something but Trump beat Hillary, a very unpopular candidate, except by establishment Democrats, who was demonized for decades.

That is all he did. Beat a bad candidate.

He has no magic. His claims to having some are just lies, like he knows more about COVID than the doctors.

I find it interesting. The Jan6 insurrection was a double-fold weapon. By using the insurrection over election lies, they can harden themselves against insurrection for election truth. I can't say I wouldn't feel quite a bit like storming a statehouse myself in the evidence of clear election stealing and the failure of democracy.

And it's not like this is fake. It's quite clearly real.

At this point Jan 6th will always be a question.

What might have happened had that crowd actually caught somebody?

Those with power in the US are not going to just let some black people voting take that power from them.

True. It just felt like an innoculation not against a disease, but against a desired transplant so as to guarantee the disease kills the native organ and thus the host.

 

[Lumpenproletariat]

voter suppression: Georgia vs. Delaware

Almost every day Sean Hannity repeats his charge that the voter suppression laws in Delaware are worse than those in Georgia (the new law), and he goes down the list, citing early voting, voter ID, etc., showing how in each case the laws in Biden's home state are more restrictive.

Why doesn't Biden or any democrat answer this charge?

Is it OK for a smaller state to have more voter restriction than a larger state?

If Hannity is lying, why doesn't some Democrat go through the list of elections rules in the 2 states and refute this?

 

[Swammerdami]

Almost every day Sean Hannity repeats his charge that the voter suppression laws in Delaware are worse than those in Georgia (the new law), and he goes down the list, citing early voting, voter ID, etc., showing how in each case the laws in Biden's home state are more restrictive....

If Hannity is lying, why doesn't some Democrat go through the list of elections rules in the 2 states and refute this?

There are only so many hours in a day. Listening to the Hannity-Putin Bullshit Machine, let alone refuting their lies, is too onerous. And it's like playing Whack-a-Mole: Pound one lie into submission; five more appear in the meantime.

Anyway, where would the refutations be posted? Do you think Hannity will show them, in his effort to be "fair and balanced"? Chances are there are dozens of discussions/refutations of this bullshit on-line, but they don't make headlines: adults have better things to do.

And of course, it IS true that other states have restrictions on voting. The issue is whether the restrictions are honest efforts to improve the process, or deliberate ploys to help one Party. By now there can be no doubt that the GOP is actively trying to suppress the votes of Democrats specifically — they openly brag about it!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I am proud that 3 or 4 weeks ago I demolished a Professor's analysis at AEI.org. (The link is to a summary; review my earlier posts in the thread for full discussion.) I demonstrated that the stats used in that article were blatant cherry-picking of the worst sort. Professor Perry was quite aware he was cherry-picking: his ploy was buried into a single adjective — not a sentence or a phrase, but a single adjective — in the explanations in his "paper." This AEI bullshit didn't come from Hannity or Alex Jones — who are just "comedians" or "entertainers" as their lawyers argue in lawsuits about their lies — but from a Senior Fellow at the "think" tank AEI. (If "thinking" is what such Koch-paid academic whores do).

I don't know if anyone else realized what dastardly cherry-picking Perry had done; and I didn't know how to "publish" my result more broadly.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TL;DR — Fighting the right-wing Bullshit Machine is very time-consuming.


. . . . . . . A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — Winston S. Churchill

 

[Lumpenproletariat]

Almost every day Sean Hannity repeats his charge that the voter suppression laws in Delaware are worse than those in Georgia (the new law), and he goes down the list, citing early voting, voter ID, etc., showing how in each case the laws in Biden's home state are more restrictive....

If Hannity is lying, why doesn't some Democrat go through the list of elections rules in the 2 states and refute this?

There are only so many hours in a day.

That's an argument against ever checking the facts about anything.

Listening to the Hannity-Putin Bullshit Machine, let alone refuting their lies, is too onerous.

Again, never check the facts about anything -- it's too much trouble. Or --

Always check the facts, unless it's from Hannity. Hannity is one source you must always assume is lying. If Hannity says the earth is round, don't believe it -- it's flat.

And it's like playing Whack-a-Mole: Pound one lie into submission; five more appear in the meantime.

translation: As long as there is one lie somewhere, all other claims ever made by anyone are lies, because the lies multiply geometrically until eventually the lies comprise all claims everywhere.

Anyway, where would the refutations be posted? Do you think Hannity will show them, in his effort to be "fair and balanced"?

I came across some websites which partly refute Hannity on this, but also showing that he's partly right. It seems both sides are equally dishonest about it.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2021/05/06/voting-laws-georgia/4893052001/

https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/georgias-election-law-whats-true-false-or-exaggerated

https://www.newsherald.com/story/opinion/2021/07/31/letters-truth-voting-restrictions/7992963002/

The above lean more toward defending the new Georgia law, but are still reasonably critical, not completely partisan, and give some reasonable answer, and comparison of different states.


https://www.poynter.org/tfcn/2021/i...the-same-as-in-bidens-home-state-of-delaware/

This one denies Republicans' claim that Delaware's law also bans the food-and-water distribution to voters in line.

Except for this food-and-water argument, there isn't much claim that Delaware doesn't also have the same or even worse restrictions than Georgia. Like voter ID, early voting, mail voting, etc.

The strongest retort to Hannity and Republicans is that states like Georgia and Texas are going in the wrong direction, toward more voter suppression, while Blue states like New York and Pennsylvania and New Jersey have been moving the other way, to make voting easier. And yet the truth is that right now there is little difference between these states in their voting restrictions, and Georgia does not stand significantly apart from the Blue states. Rather, it was more lax on the restrictions before, in comparison to many Blue states, but now has tightened its rules to make voting more restricted.

Chances are there are dozens of discussions/refutations of this bullshit on-line, but they don't make headlines: adults have better things to do.

Yes, including better than believing Biden and the Blue bullshit.

What adults should do is assume that both sides, Reds and Blues, are about equally dishonest, and neither side wants to stick to the facts but is mainly interested in just winning votes no matter what they have to say in order to manipulate the public toward their side.

And of course, it IS true that other states have restrictions on voting. The issue is whether the restrictions are honest efforts to improve the process, or deliberate ploys to help one Party.

Perhaps, but to judge this it's necessary to compare the new restrictions to the restrictions in other states which are similar. If they are essentially the same, then the intent of the law must be considered also to be about the same. You can't assume the same law is bad in one state because the lawmakers there are worse people, but it's OK in another state where the lawmakers are better people.

By now there can be no doubt that the GOP is actively trying to suppress the votes of Democrats specifically — they openly brag about it!

It's reasonable to believe that ALL the Red and Blue demagogues have bad motives, wanting to gain political power by any means, including any kind of suppression or manipulation or demagoguery or cheating they can get away with.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Almost every day Sean Hannity repeats his charge that the voter suppression laws in Delaware are worse than those in Georgia (the new law), and he goes down the list, citing early voting, voter ID, etc., showing how in each case the laws in Biden's home state are more restrictive.

Why doesn't Biden or any democrat answer this charge?

Is it OK for a smaller state to have more voter restriction than a larger state?

If Hannity is lying, why doesn't some Democrat go through the list of elections rules in the 2 states and refute this?

You are comparing apples to apples. But article 1, section 4 of the Constitution says that each state will choose the “manner” in which to hold elections. So state election laws have evolved independently since. So over this 200 some odd years of crafting their own election laws, it is fair to say these laws would diverge from one another somewhat. So we are not really comparing apples to apples after 200 years of individuality are we? So instead of comparing the existence of election laws between the states today, we most definitely should be looking at why those election laws were enacted individually in each state.

 

[southernhybrid]

My purpose for starting this thread was not about the stupid attempts to suppress the vote here in Georgia. It was about the recent attempt of the Republicans in Georgia to take over the election in the largest county in Georgia, which is heavily populated by the Democrats.

And, imo, it doesn't matter what the law is in other states. Despite all of the previous rules in Georgia that were supposed to make voting easy, we still had people standing in line for as long as 10 hours in heavily Democratic leaning counties. So, if some people had to wait for hours on end to vote, why did the Republicans think we needed to make it even harder to vote? They obviously want to make it even harder to vote in districts that are heavily populated by Democrats. Meanwhile, in the many smaller Republican leaning districts, voting was a breeze. Georgia has about 159 counties, most of them are small and lean Republican. The largest ones lean Democrat. Of course, one would expect it to be more difficult to manage an extremely large county, but I seriously doubt that having the Republicans in power take over the elections in such counties is going to make voting easier.

Imo, it's time to have more federal rules in place when it comes to voting. Nobody should have to wait in line for hours on end in a country that claims to be a democracy that values freedom for all. Republicans aren't interested in fair elections. That's quite obvious.

 

[Elixir]

My purpose for starting this thread was not about the stupid attempts to suppress the vote here in Georgia. It was about the recent attempt of the Republicans in Georgia to take over the election in the largest county in Georgia, which is heavily populated by the Democrats.

Yes it is obvious that the Trumpublicans' first choice - Plan A - is to win fair and square by suppressing the black (and any other Dem group that can be targeted) vote.
But that has proven a less than reliable crutch, so their Plan #A₁ is to simply steal the election outright by tossing Dem votes.

And there ain't shit anyone can do about it. Battling lies is, as Jimmy points out, just playing State-level wack-a-mole, while what is required (what would be required) is Federal prohibition against any State legislature taking action to overturn the popular vote. Scotus has already bent the knee to Trump on that issue, so the outlook is bleak, if not hopeless.

IMHO the only realistic hope is that turnout can be driven through the roof nation-wide by outrage generated by treasonous Trumpublican efforts to finish the job started on January 6th. Not "just" an 8+million vote popular victory, but a near clean sweep of every State, leaving them with only the ill-gotten victories attained by electoral theft (overturning electoral counts). Even that may not suffice unless there is a 2022 miracle, giving Dems an actual Senate majority (instead of relying on DINOS) and retaining the House.

With the suppression and State legislation currently in effect and underway, I think those chances are slim and none. My instincts have been very correct over the last 5 years, and I desperately hope they're wrong now. Not a political pundit by any stretch, but a fair enough judge of character to have accurately predicted Trump's behavior in rather explicit detail, ever since he waded into the political swamp determined to convert it to his personal cesspool. My hope is that since the view expressed above does not emerge from my perception of one individual, maybe it is greatly in error.

 

[Worldtraveller]

FWIW, AZ is basically doing the same thing. Several other states have passed, or at least drafted, similar legislation, but GA so far seems to be the most far reaching and outright illegal.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Georgia Republicans purge Black Democrats from county election boards

Jim Crow is alive and well in Georgia. It's a frightening and scary read unless you are a white racist republican who wants more Jim Crow because that is exactly what you have in Georgia today.

 

[Jarhyn]

The proper response from the guy is this.

I welcome the Republican effort to review the election in Fulton County and help correct issues that have plagued our elections such as underfunding from the state to provide equal access to the ballot for 10% of the entire state's population. Based on the success of wider access to mail-in ballots and turnout for our county, I can only assume the Republicans will back track on that issue as well to ensure all people in Fulton County that have the right to vote, have the ability to vote as any other Georgian, including the right to not have to wait for hours in line.

You assume that Republicans are capable of feeling shame?

If Manchin and Sinema continue to support the fascist agenda by refusing to pass H.R.1, then I think President Biden should declare that Georgia is in rebellion, and send federal troops and U.S. marshals to run all elections in that state.

This is... It's probably what it would take for true equal voting rights in ATL, but it's also something that would precipitate the next iteration of insurrection from those who feel that they are 'harmed' when their power-over is taken away following their harms to others, or just taken away because it never ought have been.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Georgia Republicans purge Black Democrats from county election boards

Jim Crow is alive and well in Georgia. It's a frightening and scary read unless you are a white racist republican who wants more Jim Crow because that is exactly what you have in Georgia today.

America has come a long way on race relations, these people aren't being disenfranchised because of the color of their skin but for the content of their vote.

The GOP is spiraling the US downward into a far-right authoritarian nightmare. It is incredible just how brazen their actions are now.