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UpInArms

(51,284 posts) Sat Mar 21, 2020, 08:28 AM Mar 2020

Kentucky Republicans quietly tighten voter restrictions as US focuses on Covid-19

Source: The Guardian

As states around the country enacted emergency measures to deal with the outbreak of coronavirus, Kentucky lawmakers quietly tightened and approved a new photo identification requirement that would make it harder to vote.

Lawmakers eliminated a “catch-all” provision that allowed voters to give their own reason for being unable to obtain acceptable identification if they signed an affidavit swearing they were unable to obtain acceptable identification, according to Joshua Douglas, a law professor at the University of Kentucky, who said he had reviewed the changes. Now voters have to provide one of the specific and approved reasons for lacking ID to vote. The legislators also tweaked the law so that IDs from other states were not acceptable.

Kentucky’s secretary of state, Michael Adams, a Republican, praised the measure in a statement. He noted that the bill would allow anyone who did not have an ID to get one for nothing and allowed people to vote if a poll worker recognized them. “I ran for this office to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” he said.

The lawmakers made the changes in a committee days after Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear, a Democrat, closed the state capitol to the public over coronavirus concerns. DMV offices, one of the most common places people would obtain a photo ID throughout the state are also closed as Kentucky deals with 47 cases of Covid-19 thus far. The Kentucky primary is scheduled to take place on 23 June (the state postponed it from 19 May amid the coronavirus outbreak) and the deadline to register is 20 April.

Read more: https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/20/kentucky-voter-restrictions-photo-id-republicans

19 replies

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Highlight:

Kentucky Republicans quietly tighten voter restrictions as US focuses on Covid-19 (Original Post) UpInArms Mar 2020 OP

Dirty f**king rat-basturds! lastlib Mar 2020 #1

Beat me to it. Zoonart Mar 2020 #4

+ 1 nt. iluvtennis Mar 2020 #10

Russia must have complete control of voting in Kentucky. pwb Mar 2020 #2

+1 2naSalit Mar 2020 #5

Don't forget about the Koch Bros. and their ilk as well diva77 Mar 2020 #13

Sure to challenged in court and hopefully some sanity will prevail there and the court cstanleytech Mar 2020 #3

unless it goes before one of the "new" 2naSalit Mar 2020 #6

True. nt cstanleytech Mar 2020 #9

Moscow Mitch needs to lose anyway IronLionZion Mar 2020 #7

All for Moscow Mitch.. mountain grammy Mar 2020 #8

We KNOW they are going to use suppression, in all its forms. not_the_one Mar 2020 #11

I suppose if you start with the presumption it's a privilege and not a right ... mr_lebowski Mar 2020 #18

What fate for a monster with near record -KARMA? Brainfodder Mar 2020 #12

The party of Assholes does it again... kyburbonkid Mar 2020 #14

Interesting hearing about the saturation of rethug corruption all the way down ticket to diva77 Mar 2020 #15

Bless their little Klanish hearts to hell Evolve Dammit Mar 2020 #16

The only way Republicans can win is to cheat sakabatou Mar 2020 #17

Fucking crooks. nt Progressive Jones Mar 2020 #19

lastlib

(23,280 posts)

1. Dirty f**king rat-basturds!

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 08:31 AM

Mar 2020

In a perfect world, the GOPee would be outlawed as a criminal organization!

Zoonart

(11,878 posts)

4. Beat me to it.

Reply to lastlib (Reply #1)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 08:35 AM

Mar 2020

Because... they never stop Ratf***ing.

iluvtennis

(19,870 posts)

10. + 1 nt.

Reply to lastlib (Reply #1)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 11:38 AM

Mar 2020

pwb

(11,287 posts)

2. Russia must have complete control of voting in Kentucky.

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 08:33 AM

Mar 2020

MCconell and Rand Paul are both Putins stooges.

2naSalit

(86,775 posts)

5. +1

Reply to pwb (Reply #2)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 08:41 AM

Mar 2020

I think one of the best hopes we have of ousting McTurtle is to make sure he get the virus.

diva77

(7,652 posts)

13. Don't forget about the Koch Bros. and their ilk as well

Reply to pwb (Reply #2)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 01:01 PM

Mar 2020

https://www.salon.com/2018/03/20/gop-wants-to-remove-limits-on-dark-money-with-hidden-policy-riders/

GOP wants to flood politics with dark money using hidden "policy riders"
Campaign finance reform was once a bipartisan issue. With Koch money flooding into the GOP, those days are gone

Arn Pearson
March 20, 2018 8:58AM (UTC)

SNIP
Plutocrats like David and Charles Koch have assembled political operations that rival the traditional political parties, with the GOP as their chief beneficiary. The brothers budgeted to raise and spend $889 million on the 2016 elections, and plan to spend another $400 million on the 2018 midterms. And it’s no secret that Speaker Ryan was handsomely rewarded with a $500,000 contribution to his joint fundraising committee from Charles and Elizabeth Koch, less than two weeks after Congress passed the sweeping tax cuts heavily favored by the Koch machine.

“McConnell and other congressional Republicans see Citizens United and the dangerous advent of super PACs and secret money that followed as creating big financial advantages for the Republicans,” Wertheimer said.

It’s no wonder then that every campaign finance reform bill since McCain-Feingold has run into a brick wall of Republican opposition. McConnell and Bopp have orchestrated a string of court challenges, Republican nominees to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) have effectively blocked any meaningful enforcement, and Republican nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court have toed leadership’s radical First Amendment line.

“The problem is having to file a report at all. To be regulated at all. To be accountable to the government at all,” explained Bopp in a 2008 interview. And when the Supreme Court turned its back on a century of history with its 2010 Citizens United decision, holding that corporations had a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections, Bopp could barely contain his glee.
SNIP

K&R for exposure

cstanleytech

(26,319 posts)

3. Sure to challenged in court and hopefully some sanity will prevail there and the court

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 08:33 AM

Mar 2020

will at least put a hold on the law going into effect until next year due to the short time until the election.

2naSalit

(86,775 posts)

6. unless it goes before one of the "new"

Reply to cstanleytech (Reply #3)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 08:42 AM

Mar 2020

and totally compromised judges.

cstanleytech

(26,319 posts)

9. True. nt

Reply to 2naSalit (Reply #6)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 11:02 AM

Mar 2020

IronLionZion

(45,523 posts)

7. Moscow Mitch needs to lose anyway

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 10:03 AM

Mar 2020

prioritizing voter suppression over helping his constituents in crisis needs to be the theme of this campaign.

mountain grammy

(26,646 posts)

8. All for Moscow Mitch..

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 10:35 AM

Mar 2020

not_the_one

(2,227 posts)

11. We KNOW they are going to use suppression, in all its forms.

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 12:06 PM

Mar 2020

We should use all the energy we put towards kvetching and complaining, and make available acceptable forms of id for democrats.

We have had 3 years since the last election. ANYONE would have had time to get one. If the cost is the problem, the democratic party should cover the cost for registered democrats, or the new voters REGISTERING as democrats. The PARTY should have addressed this years ago.

Same day registration? Are you kidding me? If you don't decide you want to vote until the day of the election, and haven't been willing to do what it takes to register PRIOR to election day, maybe you aren't informed enough to actually vote. Give me a fucking break. Voting is NOT an afterthought. It is not an "oh, while I am here I think I'll vote" situation. We need to put on our big boy/girl panties and be adults, for once. It is a privilege, not a whim.

There are websites to help you find out IF you are registered, and IF your info is correct (not able to be challenged). If someone doesn't have access, HELP them.

This is NOT a big problem. We should just deal with it. They would no longer be able to trot out "voter fraud".

Remember, THEY have to meet the same id requirements.

mr_lebowski

(33,643 posts)

18. I suppose if you start with the presumption it's a privilege and not a right ...

Reply to not_the_one (Reply #11)

Sun Mar 22, 2020, 06:40 PM

Mar 2020

You would logically come to the conclusions you've come to.

Brainfodder

(6,423 posts)

12. What fate for a monster with near record -KARMA?

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 12:17 PM

Mar 2020

That's like feet first through a slow moving wood chipper level KARMA, right?

kyburbonkid

(251 posts)

14. The party of Assholes does it again...

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Sat Mar 21, 2020, 03:49 PM

Mar 2020

These corrupt POS just love to rig shit, and this is not just another attack on Liberty and Democracy, its an effort to solidfy minority rule forever in ST government. KY swung far-right out in the countryside (Lexington and Louisville anrre still very liberal in thinking and voting, and coal country is changing in many areas). But what matters is this group of Assholes and idiots of the repukelicans cult don't create laws that benefit anyone and in fact stand in the way of making this state better.

This isn't the only stunt they are trying.... They trying to change the Mayor of Louisville's office into a 'Non-Partisan' race, just like a Judge. Only Louisville mind you... because they funcking can't win in the Ville. Everyone hates there guts. Guttless spineless cheating turds... All of the Rs in this state.

Sorry for the language, these guys just piss me off.