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Indiana GOP expanded early voting in GOP-dominated areas & restricted it in Dem-areas

G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Link.

State and local Republicans have expanded early voting in GOP-dominated areas and restricted it in Democratic areas, an IndyStar investigation has found, prompting a significant change in Central Indiana voting patterns.

From 2008 to 2016, GOP officials expanded early voting stations in Republican dominated Hamilton County, IndyStar's analysis found, and decreased them in the state's biggest Democratic hotbed, Marion County.
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Most telling, Hamilton County saw a 63 percent increase in absentee voting from 2008 to 2016, while Marion County saw a 26 percent decline. Absentee ballots are used at early voting stations.

Population growth and other factors may have played a role, but Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Richardson, a Republican, told IndyStar the rise in absentee voting in Hamilton County was largely a result of the addition of two early voting stations, which brought the total to three.

...

Other Central Indiana Republican strongholds, including Boone, Johnson and Hendricks counties, also have added early voting sites — and enjoyed corresponding increases in absentee voter turnout.

But not Marion County, which tends to vote Democratic, and has a large African-American population.

During that same 2008-16 period, the number of early voting stations declined from three to one in Marion County, as Republican officials blocked expansion.

Some Republicans blame the dearth of early voting in Marion County on a lack of local funding. "I have never received any type of message that the individuals in charge of Marion County have any interest in spending the money (to expand satellite locations)," said Jim Merritt, chairman of the Marion County Republican Party.

But Indianapolis Mayor Joseph Hogsett, a Democrat, told IndyStar he is in favor of adding additional early voting stations to the county's 2018 budget. And four attempts to expand early voting in Marion County have been approved by Democrats, but blocked by the county's lone GOP representative on the elections board.
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In November 2008, Barack Obama was elected president and was the first Democrat to carry the state of Indiana since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 — heavily supported by Lake and Marion counties, which both have large, Democratic, African-American populations.

White, then head of the Marion County Election Board, said she believes Republicans feared a replication of Obama's 2008 win. “They started to change the rules,” she said, and 2008 would be the last year Marion County would have more than one early voting site.
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Again, in 2014 and 2016, Democrats attempted to expand early voting in Marion County, but were stopped by the Republican member of the election board. Most recently, Republican Maura Hoff, by proxy, cast a vote against expanded early voting sites. Hoff did not respond to emails, phone calls and written requests for comment.

Meanwhile, Hamilton County added two additional early voting stations in 2016, giving it one station for every 100,000 voters, as opposed to one for more than 700,000 voters in Marion County. The results were significant.

The number of in-person absentee ballots cast in Hamilton County rose from 32,729 in 2008 to 53,608 in 2016, representing a 63 percent increase. At the same time, there was a 26 percent decrease in Marion County, from 93,316 to 68,599. During that period, the percentage of absentee ballots rose from 25 percent to 34 percent in Hamilton County, and fell from 24 percent to 19 percent in Marion County.
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M

Master Yoshi

Member
cKmFJWf.gif
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
Seems fair to me.
Why even allow Democratic areas to vote at all?
Just firebomb their electoral halls or barricade them with cars or staff them with incompetents who "lose" the votes via an unavoidable whoopsie.

Also, Republican votes should count double.
 
E

Easton Dark

Member
But I'm in Marion. :( Can confirm not much republican sentiment to be found in my day to day life.

Fuck off and Die, Maura Hoff.
 
S

Shoeless

Member
If things keep going at this rate, America is going to be a spectacular historical example to the rest of the world about how democracy fails, unless it is rigorously reinforced with education. Once your voters become ignorant, democracy becomes a stupid idea.
 
P

platocplx

Member
They stay blaming Dems for shit they are doing. It's a pattern. They keep trying to say it's Dems doing shit to distract from their blatant voter suppression etc.
 
K

Kickz

Member
Is this the freedom why parade around snobbishly in 3rd world countries?

We are as corrupt as they are, literally no difference
 
L

LegendofLex

Member
Remember, the real problem is actually voter fraud and we should expand efforts to stamp out voter fraud among those cheating Dems.

GoldenEye 007 said:
What I'm expecting:

"Since all evidence points to this being based on a political parties, NAACP has no case because political parties are not a protected class."
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Hamilton County - 88.5% white, 3.5% black or African American

Marion County - 62.7% white, 26.7% black or African American
 
C

cdyhybrid

Member
I'm sure they'll revert those changes if the Dems nominate a true leftist socialist like the people of this country truly want.
 
B

bennywhatever

Member
I live in Indiana and early voting was awesome. We had it in Evansville, which is.... kinda republican, kinda democrat. 3rd biggest city in the state, lots of blue collar.

I was always under the assumption that early voting increased millennial turnout (who vote a lot more dem than rep), is that not the case?
 
D

dpunk3

Member
No wonder they're winning elections, they're just constantly rigging them to win. Between the gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, and voter tactics they're poising themselves to win even if they get minority votes.
 
A

Angelus Errare

Banned
bennywhatever said:
I live in Indiana and early voting was awesome. We had it in Evansville, which is.... kinda republican, kinda democrat. 3rd biggest city in the state, lots of blue collar.

I was always under the assumption that early voting increased millennial turnout (who vote a lot more dem than rep), is that not the case?
Click to expand...

Applied evenly, early voting will always favor Democrats. But if you only apply it in heavy red areas then it'll obviously favor Republicans
 
K

KingK

Member
Just moved to Marion county (Indianapolis) last week. I used to live in Elkhart county, a Republican hotbed, but worked in the adjacent St. Joseph county. St Joseph county has South Bend and mayor Pete, and is like the only true swing district here (one of like 3 counties to go for Hillary). Mayor Pete shows so much potential, I just don't see how he gets elected to a statewide office, especially with bullshit like this going on.
 
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