Is there any doubt Republicans want to steal elections?

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Michael

I’ve bounced back and forth on the issue of voter registration and fraud. On the one hand, it’s pretty clear what each side of the political aisle is thinking: Democrats believe that voter registration efforts primarily cull voters who will vote for their party whereas Republicans, well, I suppose they see the same facts (for once). Poorer people and minorities tend to vote for the party of actual liberty and they also benefit the most from registration efforts, so that’s no good for the GOP. As a result, kicking up bullshit about voter fraud (something which almost never happens) has been the excuse for Republican actions, but this is all just politics. But on the other hand, just as voter fraud is almost meaningless to any election, it can be argued that voter registration restrictions do very little either way. Most people who want to vote are still able to do so. However, as I said, I’ve jumped back and forth on the issue. One primary reason for this is that I have seen studies which show a tremendous number of potentially disenfranchised voters if certain laws are implemented. Another reason, however, is the overt efforts of dirtbag Republicans to prevent fair voting:

A U.S. judge on Thursday declared a Florida election law “harsh and impractical” for requiring groups conducting voter registration drives to turn in registration forms within 48 hours of collecting them, and blocked enforcement of the deadline….

The law imposed a $1,000-a-day fine on groups that fail to give election authorities voter registration forms filled out by Floridians within the 48-hour deadline…

The judge blocked a requirement that voter registration groups notify the state within 10 days if any volunteer or employee stops working for the organization.

[Judge Robert] Hinkle said the law and state regulations implementing it “impose burdensome record-keeping and reporting requirements that serve little if any purpose, thus rendering them unconstitutional.”

Under federal law, organizations have the right to collect and mail in voter registration forms, but the “harsh and impractical 48-hour deadline” effectively prohibited them from using the mail, the judge said in his ruling.

I have a hard time believing that any reasonable person can say – with a straight face – that the banned provisions of this law weren’t intended to make voter registration more difficult. At no point was there any intention here to curb voter fraud or to better secure the system. The goal was bald and overt: Disenfranchise voters who will likely benefit the Democrats more than the Republicans.

I think this is the point where I’ve stopped bouncing on the issue. I do think there is a good chance people will be disenfranchised without any positive impact on the miniscule voter fraud that occurs, but even if that wasn’t the case, I would still be against all these horseshit laws. The intention here is malicious and damnable. Rick Scott and his brethren can go fuck themselves.

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The state with the fewest Christian adherents

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Michael

A study was done in 2010 which quantified the number of Christian adherents in the US by state. It defined Christian “adherents” as including all those with an affiliation to a congregation (children, members, and attendees who are not members). In other words, this study, as best as I can tell, looked at the number of people who are affiliated with a church or other religious organization in some official capacity. That tells me this isn’t that useful if we want to know which state has the most believers in a particular, cultural god, but it would seem to indicate something about how devoted people in a given state are. And the good news is, Maine appears to have relatively few devoted citizens:

The researchers found Utah to be the most Christian* state with around 78 percent of population identifying as Christian adherents. The researchers found Maine to be the least Christian state with only about 27 percent identifying as Christian adherents.

*Christians include Mormons and Unitarians / Universalists who self-identify as Christians.

I’ve seen other studies where Vermont is listed as the least religious state in the Union whereas Maine is in the bottom tier but not usually topping the list. I tend to believe those, if not for the number of studies that have been done which, if I recall correctly, have given those results, then for the fact that Maine is speckled with the quaint New England churches that decorate so many calendars, not to mention its fairly conservative voting record in certain social areas; my observations as a resident of this state tells me that there are more Christians than the above study indicates.

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