Ethics

Rachel Maddow on Long Voting Lines

By Ed Brayton

Rachel Maddow had an excellent riff on her show this weekend about long lines to vote and the fact that this is, in essence, a poll tax. She mentions the fact that a study in Ohio in 2004 found that as many as 129,000 people ended up not voting because they couldn't wait as long as it took to vote. Some people simply can't give up several hours to stand in line, while others can't do so physically. That's enough to potentially swing an election.

Something needs to be done about this. Doing what many other countries do and making election day a national holiday would be a good start. But for now, if the lines are long at your polling place tomorrow, please do whatever it takes to stay and cast a vote.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on November 04, 2008 (boomark / email).