(01-22-2020 12:47 PM)mrbig Wrote: (01-22-2020 11:29 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: I have had a DL for 60 years now. I have had to go to the DMV many times to renew. Never had to wait hours, not even AN hour. More like 15 minutes, max. But tell us, how long did you wait the last time you went?
I lost my DL a couple years ago (of course, I subsequently found it somewhere stupid). But when I thought it was lost, I had to go to the DMV twice (it was my bad, I had something incorrect in the paperwork I brought during my 1st visit). Both waits were easily more than 60 minutes.
There are 2 DMV locations in New Orleans, but New Orleans doesn't have great public transportation and getting to them on a city bus from some parts of town would take a long time. Can make it tough for people with disabilities or people who don't drive.
(01-22-2020 11:29 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote: I think early voting periods pretty well take care of the weather thing. I just go on the first pretty day. I never wait for that November date.
That is nice, but early voting locations are not always convenient. There are only 4 early voting sites in New Orleans and none of them are particularly convenient for me, compared to my local precinct. That is fine for me as I could drive to them if I wanted to, but again, what about someone with disabilities or who doesn't drive?
If I have a handicap placard do I count as a person with disabilities? I have difficulty walking very far, but I can walk.
My sister doesn't drive. No problem. The political parties make sure all the people in the homes vote.
I think what you are really saying is, what about somebody with disabilities, no money, no friends, and who cannot get volunteers from community services and/or political parties to help them with every step of the process. What if they don't read, or live under a bridge, or ....whatever. What if they live in a cave?
Your solutions will not cover all the what-ifs. I think mine covers 99.9999999% of the people in the country.
I guess your New Orleans/Louisiana systems must be really inefficient. My guess is that the paperwork for a lost license is more at fault for the abnormally long waits. My visits have been for renewals. Walk in, get in line (if there is one), step up, take the eye test. I have not applied for a new license in 60 years. But I took three sons to get their first licenses, none of them took that long. Heck, the twins didn't take that long together.
Yes, voting locations are not always convenient. Maybe we need to have a voting location on every corner. Even then some would say they are too difficult to get to. Have walk a full block, and what if it is raining and the voter doesn't have an umbrella? What if, what if, what if.
For me, the early voting is convenient in both time and location. Early voting is done at one location in this county, at the county courthouse. About a 3 mile drive for me. Right in the middle of the post office, the tax office, the hospital, a day care, a bunch of banks, a bunch of other places lots of people go to often. Not a burden to drop in and vote. Usually takes about 15 minutes, including parking. But if I waited until election day, my polling location is about 12 miles out in the boondocks, down a winding two lane country road with no center stripe. Went there once, but that was because I let my time get away from me.
No bus service here, but we do have shuttles that take handicapped people to places they need to go. I presume a trip to the county courthouse or the DMV would not be out of line. What if the handicapped person was called as a defendant in a case? Case dismissed, too inconvenient?
I am well acquainted with rural areas, including West Texas. Used to have an office in Presidio. I live in one now. Your excuses for not registering to vote or not voting would be just as valid for not ever buying groceries or not ever seeing a dentist or never getting a haircut. Oh, those poor people - it is not convenient for them to go to town. They have to live their whole lives on the ranch.
I have known people who were shut in, people who are handicapped, people who don't drive. They want to do something, they find a way to get it done. If they don't care, it doesn't matter how easy you make it for them.
And where in the constitution does it say voting must be "convenient"? I bet it was very inconvenient in 1840. Walk to town, abandoning the farm in the middle of a workday - not convenient. But the people who cared about voting found a way.
The whole thing boils down to this: people who want to vote find a way. People who don't care, will just sit home and find excuses. It seems fishy to me the excuses the Democrats make up to make it easy for a person with no ID to vote. I am not swayed by your anecdotal evidence. I am swayed by personal experience and common sense. I have given reasonable solutions to the problems you find.