Alabama to stop issuing driver’s licenses in counties w/75% black registered voters

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Hollywood Duo said:
The laws themselves may not be racist, but this is a clearly racist abuse of the system.
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More accurately the laws are racist, even if they weren't intended to be because they disproportionately affect black communities. There may not even be specific abuse but certainly negligence about the effects.

A person doesn't have to be bad for bad laws to happen is a good takeaway. Of course this is Alabama so certainly you can't discard the possibilities either but that's less important.
 
bionic77 said:
How can you be an elected official and go out of your way to fuck a part of your constituency?
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Because it is in their interests to fuck them over, to keep themselves in Office.

This is some blatant racism and a textbook example of the real intention of Voter ID laws.
 
META said:
Are we to assume, then, that there's a strong likelihood that this will cause a significant decrease in black voters because there will be a portion of the affected population who will just let their IDs expire considering the hassle?
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It says specifically that they're cutting the examination services (supposedly only 5% of statewide transactions) which should just affect those who don't already have licenses. I haven't seen anything that says renewals can't be done.
 
This is like a "2-for-1" in regards to voter disenfranchisement. It both makes it harder to get to the voting booth AND makes it harder to get ID needed to vote. What efficient monsters.
 
Reading up on this, it seems that the Republican Representatives in Alabama know this is a bad look for them but are doing little to stop it from happening.

The budget they passed doesn't specifically target Drivers License offices in these counties, but the ALEA has made the decision to cut these specific satellite locations.

So the legislature needs to step in and force the ALEA to do their damned jobs.
 
What the funk is wrong America! Arguably places in this great nation are more racist then anywhere else in earth.

And some of your citizens want to elect the biggest racist there is. Trump.

I face palm myself when I read threads like this.
 
bionic77 said:
How can you be an elected official and go out of your way to fuck a part of your constituency?
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"How can we appeal better the the black populace? I'm sure we can change one of our many branzenly racist policies."

"Fuck em, implement more racist bullshit."
 
HylianTom said:
I wouldn't be the least bit shocked if SCOTUS somehow justifies this, 5-4.

"Everyone within the county is treated equally, therefore, voilà, equal protection!"

But please, folks - continue telling us all about how there isn't a gnatshit's worth of difference between the parties. Proceed..
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They almost already have.

John Roberts:
“Our country has changed,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority. “While any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.”
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marrec said:
Reading up on this, it seems that the Republican Representatives in Alabama know this is a bad look for them but are doing little to stop it from happening.

The budget they passed doesn't specifically target Drivers License offices in these counties, but the ALEA has made the decision to cut these specific satellite locations.

So the legislature needs to step in and force the ALEA to do their damned jobs.
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Exclusive footage of the Republican legislature trying to stop this:

http://youtu.be/Z_vvex_mfik
 
Somnid said:
More accurately the laws are racist, even if they weren't intended to be because they disproportionately affect black communities. There may not even be specific abuse but certainly negligence about the effects.

A person doesn't have to be bad for bad laws to happen is a good takeaway. Of course this is Alabama so certainly you can't discard the possibilities either but that's less important.
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The Supreme Court has routinely denied this assertion for the last 25 years.

Remember, gotta show "racial discriminatory purpose".
 
Is it possible they're shuttering the offices that generate the least amount of revenue? Not playing devil's advocate. Not justifying this. But I think it's important to examine every aspect of something before forming a conclusion.
 
Here is the official statement from the ALEA:

http://www.alea.gov/Home/wfFlyerDetail.aspx?ID=2&PK=ea439937-97c5-4ab6-894a-e0e27c6e8d91

They're pointing the finger at the budget passed earlier this year but the choice was up to them ultimately on where and how to find extra room in their newly lowered budget.

As much as I'd love to blame this on the Republican Legislators in Alabama, we should be looking at Spencer Collier specifically as the guy who made this happen.
 
Oh don't worry guys it only effects 5% of issued IDs apparently. Its not like elections are routinely decided by 1-2% or something

Alabama issues an average of 1.2 million driver licenses each year. The Driver License Division is severely understaffed and has 103 vacant positions as a result of past budget cuts and attrition. Analyzing transactions performed in each location throughout the state revealed the combined efforts of the 31 part-time satellite locations accounted for less than five percent of all Alabama Driver License transactions performed by ALEA. The busiest of these 31 satellite locations performed less than 2,000 transactions during 2014.

Secretary Collier continued, “Throughout the 2015 Legislative Sessions, we communicated our concerns to the Legislature, the news media, and the public by addressing the ongoing shortage of Driver License Division personnel created by past budgets and our ability to meet the needs of citizens should additional cuts be imposed. Additionally, we took a proactive approach to solve a decade old funding issue with the Driver License Division’s operations by increasing the cost of the driver license to recoup a portion of the cost it takes to actually produce the license. The Legislature then reduced ALEA’s General Fund appropriation by the projected recoupment revenue thereby negating the proactive steps taken by the agency. We appreciate the support of those Legislators that have helped our agency and strive to provide the most efficient use of the taxpayer’s dollars. With the new budget cuts passed by the Alabama Legislature for Fiscal Year 2016, and with our limited personnel, travel has been eliminated to these part-time satellite locations. Driver License Examiners will be utilized to staff District Driver License Offices full-time and will no longer provide staffing to these 31 county owned, satellite locations.”
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Someone will come in to try and defend this based on the economics but screw that. There's no reason not to make this a priority, drivers licenses and ID in general are important.
 
Fenderputty said:
I would love for a GAF republican try and defend this.
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I am not a Republican but it would be pretty easy.

We have these bullshit statistics that we got from Breitbart's asshole that show that voter fraud is rampant in Alabama. The problem here is not the law it is the implementation!

Next time we will be a little more subtle in how we try to fuck over minorities or women.
 
Trojita said:
Jim Crow never left



These folks are just going to have to form a car out of bootstraps.
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Every Republican I've ever met that brought up politics ALWAYS said something stupid. I kid you not. I have not met ONE intelligent Republican in my life.

I mean, we're talking about someone who tried to debate me, and when I asked him if he knew the three branches of our government, he couldn't name ONE branch.

Sorry for sounding harsh, but shit like the OP really angers me.
 
hokahey said:
Is it possible they're shuttering the offices that generate the least amount of revenue? Not playing devil's advocate. Not justifying this. But I think it's important to examine every aspect of something before forming a conclusion.
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Well, yes, but that doesn't absolve them.

When republicans pushed through Voter ID laws they knew that for the most part it's a lot of largely black areas that don't have as many DMVs in the first place. They know the demographics and while maybe they didn't know eventually EVERY ONE of the DMVs in counties with 75% black population would be closed, they knew that by and large it was harder for black voters to get those IDs, statistically.

In my opinion if you really wan to pass voter ID laws and have them not be shitty and racist, you need to do everything in your fucking power to make sure everyone can get an ID in the easiest possible way. Throwing your hands up and leaving it to the wind just makes you a colossal dickhole.
 
The part that gets me is that the ALEA budget umbrella includes so much more than just driver's license services.

How about cutting back on some of those ballooning law enforcement budgets?
 
marrec said:
Here is the official statement from the ALEA:

http://www.alea.gov/Home/wfFlyerDetail.aspx?ID=2&PK=ea439937-97c5-4ab6-894a-e0e27c6e8d91

They're pointing the finger at the budget passed earlier this year but the choice was up to them ultimately on where and how to find extra room in their newly lowered budget.

As much as I'd love to blame this on the Republican Legislators in Alabama, we should be looking at Spencer Collier specifically as the guy who made this happen.
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I absolutely blame the Voter ID laws. You can't require something like that for a basic right like voting and then turn around and forget about it. You need to put in place protections and funding.
 
This is so disgustingly transparent I dunno how people can read this or even try to enact these sorts of policies without just wanting to vomit everywhere. I mean for fucksakes :/ This is like cross burning transparent.
 
Conservative government doing its work.
It's not as if the GOP would have many problems getting elected in AL but this is just stacking the deck to an insane degree. So insidiously evil I can't imagine how people can treat others with such contempt and hatred
 
The Technomancer said:
Oh don't worry guys it only effects 5% of issued IDs apparently. Its not like elections are routinely decided by 1-2% or something

"solve a decade old funding issue with the Driver License Division’s operations by increasing the cost of the driver license to recoup a portion of the cost it takes to actually produce the license."

Someone will come in to try and defend this based on the economics but screw that. There's no reason not to make this a priority, drivers licenses and ID in general are important.
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So, is this true as well? Does it now cost more to get a driver's license in Alabama as well? Was this rate increase done after the voter ID laws were enacted? If so, this whole thing just reeks of taking every step possible to exclude a certain portion of the populace from their right to vote.
 
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