# Democracy is dead in Georgia **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 9, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697 "2018-10-09T15:19:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/121 "2018-10-10T17:29:40Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > \*\*Shodan \*\*is being a lying shithead? Must be a day ending in Y. You left off “tedious” and “pompous” but this is otherwise a solid observation. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/122 "2018-10-10T17:33:40Z")
Have any of you righties ever once considered advocating for your local governments to help register as many of our citizens as possible? It might wipe away some of the incredible resentment and distrust of your party if Mr. Poor Minority Voter felt that you were actually interested in helping him in this one little way. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/123 "2018-10-10T18:46:02Z")
> [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > I found an example of the type of [registration verification "postcard"](https://www.gregpalast.com/wp-content/uploads/postcard.jpg)that was sent out. > I wouldn’t say it looks like junk mail (at least, not what I’m used to in a totally different part of the world, so, I dunno). > > It does say “BOARD OF REGISTRARS” and “IMPORTANT INFORMATION” in big, bold letters, so there’s that, I guess. > It also \*doesn’t \*say “VOTER REGISTRATION VERIFICATION!” in big, bold letters, so there’s also that. > > I think people’s opinions on whether this constituted fair notification will depend on where their political interests lie. When the local telephone company was sold to a different company, the first bills they sent out had big, bold, lettering IMPORTANT NEW INFORMATION type crap. I got one of their mailings at work and threw it away with the other junk mail. They redesigned their envelopes and resent the monthly bills. They forgave late fees since 20% of their customers did as I did and tossed their first mailing away, unopened. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/124 "2018-10-10T18:47:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > What really happened is Do you believe the events reported in the article happened? If not, which ones are fabricated? Despite “wondering what happened” you seem unable/unwilling to clarify your doubt about the truth of the article in even the smallest way. > [@](#): > > You started a hysterical thread claiming the end of democracy in Georgia I don’t think I’m hysterical, just pissed off. And you know, if I was removed from my local rolls, I’d be pissed off. I’d hope you’d be pissed off if you showed up to vote and found you couldn’t because a politician decided to remove you from the rolls because you didn’t respond to a postcard. > [@](#): > > Since then, you have been thrashing around frantically trying to claim that you didn’t really mean it was illegal, just that he should go to jail for not breaking the law, except not really, because he is like Pol Pot, and besides the Left is the morally correct side, because they want to put people in jail for not doing things that are illegal, which is what the Right wants to do, which is wrong. Not that you are saying it’s wrong - just that it isn’t illegal, and they deserve it. Ah, yes, Pol Pot. I remember making that comparison exactly never. Your hysterics have been noted, however. I remember saying that “the Left” is morally correct exactly never. Who says this has to be partisan? Voters have been taken off the rolls. This isn’t a partisan question, it’s a question of Democracy. I don’t think “the Left is morally correct,” I think Kemp is morally wrong. And, if you or anyone reading honestly believes my meaning was “I know a crime has been committed” and not “this act should be criminal,” whatever. Your selective comprehension makes you clearly incapable of meaningful discussion of the topic at hand. If clarifying that my opinion about Kemp’s actions and the consequences I think he deserves are independent of whether or not he can be convicted of a crime looks like “thrashing” to you, then I don’t know what to tell you. If it makes you feel better to think that my whole point was that Kemp should be convicted for being a BAD MAN under current BAD MAN laws, then fine. That’s what I meant, and you sure showed me, I was wrong. The rest of my OP stands. Do you have any thoughts about the issue at hand whatsoever? Do you think it’s good or bad that someone can loose their registered voting status because the local government decided to remove them from the rolls based on lack of responding to a letter? Do you think it’s good or bad that the local government refuses to notify or release the names of the people who were removed from the rolls? Do you think that this has any impact on the perceived or actual legitimacy of people elected after such actions have taken place? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/125 "2018-10-10T19:34:22Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Do you think it’s good or bad that the local government refuses to notify or release the names of the people who were removed from the rolls? Keep in mind, a journalist had to _sue_ to get that list. They purged one in ten people from the voter rolls, and then they _tried to hide it as long as they possibly could_. There are ways you could do this and have it not blatantly be an exercise in bad faith. If the republican interest here really is voter integrity, there’s a few things you could do: - Send at least one follow-up letter - Offer an online resource where you can check if you’re still registered - Notify voters that they were deregistered in any way - Make it possible for voters who were removed from the rolls to register to vote at some point after the deadline - [Make sure the website for registering to vote works on the day of the deadline](https://politics.myajc.com/blog/politics/some-georgia-voters-report-registration-delays-ahead-deadline/77tSG5AmItPrW4XvGrRf4O/) - Not dump 10% of registered voters off the rolls, then hide that information for as long as possible, giving it up only when legally mandated to _a handful of days before the registration deadline_ None of this was done. It’s not just that this is a blatant, scummy, partisan ploy, it’s that they’re not even trying to hide it. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/126 "2018-10-10T19:40:16Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > What are these peaceful means in Georgia? Maybe people could start by returning a postcard. Or just kill everyone, those are about the same. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/127 "2018-10-10T19:43:31Z")
**Budget Player Cadet** , for sure (and that’s what the “or release” part of my sentence was meant to address). As far as your other points, I was just hoping to be able to engage in a baseline discussion about the fundamental ideas involved. I don’t see how it’s possible to debate about whether those points you listed are important (or how it would be valuable to try) if we can’t even engage about whether or not a government-initiated process that removes valid voters from the rolls if they don’t undertake certain actions in response is a good or bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/128 "2018-10-10T20:03:32Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > What scares them most is black people; black people voting, black people going to the store, black children playing. Black people existing terrifies them. Arm blacks and see how fast Fox News supports gun control. We’re well past democratic solutions in Georgia. I would be very surprised if they were afraid of “black” people. Georgia has a high percentage of so called “black” people. The south in general is less segregated than the small amounts of northern and western “blacks”. This website being, based on a weekly column out of Chicago, is over-represented by “white” dominated states, especially the upper Midwest, West, and Northeast. This is a home to people not familiar with how “blacks” and “whites” exist together in the South. This explains the cartoonish theories on race and race relations that pass around here that usually feature defenses of race-based political policy and wholesale denial of agency to so-called “non-whites”. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/129 "2018-10-10T20:33:32Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > I would be very surprised if they were afraid of “black” people. Georgia has a high percentage of so called “black” people. The south in general is less segregated than the small amounts of northern and western “blacks”. > > This website being, based on a weekly column out of Chicago, is over-represented by “white” dominated states, especially the upper Midwest, West, and Northeast. > > This is a home to people not familiar with how “blacks” and “whites” exist together in the South. This explains the cartoonish theories on race and race relations that pass around here that usually feature defenses of race-based political policy and wholesale denial of agency to so-called “non-whites”. Your fantasies of how liberals and progressives and Democrats think are always good for a laugh. Thanks again! ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/130 "2018-10-10T20:41:20Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Your fantasies of how liberals and progressives and Democrats think are always good for a laugh. Thanks again! Perhaps you are not familiar, but I think you really just have no defense of the bankrupt ideology. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/131 "2018-10-10T21:03:11Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > I would be very surprised if they were afraid of “black” people. Georgia has a high percentage of so called “black” people. The south in general is less segregated than the small amounts of northern and western “blacks”. > > This website being, based on a weekly column out of Chicago, is over-represented by “white” dominated states, especially the upper Midwest, West, and Northeast. > > This is a home to people not familiar with how “blacks” and “whites” exist together in the South. This explains the cartoonish theories on race and race relations that pass around here that usually feature defenses of race-based political policy and wholesale denial of agency to so-called “non-whites”. Yeah, like this lady: :smack: > **[Police called on black man babysitting white kids](https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/police-called-on-black-man-babysitting-white-kids/1512852362/)** > > A white woman who spotted a black man babysitting two white children called police and then followed them home in Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/132 "2018-10-10T21:15:50Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > This is a home to people not familiar with how “blacks” and “whites” exist together in the South. This explains the cartoonish theories on race and race relations that pass around here that usually feature defenses of race-based political policy and wholesale denial of agency to so-called “non-whites”. Are you telling us that since the end of Jim Crow the South has embraced its diversity and is a shining example of how to live in peace and harmony in a mixed race atmosphere? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/133 "2018-10-10T21:22:32Z")
Sure, see link above! ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/134 "2018-10-10T21:33:44Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > What are these peaceful means in Georgia? You have Kemp using his current position to suppress black votes and run out the clock until it’s too late so that he can win the election. After which he will then use his newly elected position to further block votes. Meanwhile, poor blacks in Georgia are being told just be patient, give us another couple of hundred years, we’ll get around to making this right. Even in Georgia, the governor isn’t a dictator. Most eligible voters have access to electronic means of registration. Absentee voting is also available in Georgia to anyone who wants to vote that way, so there are ways around things like poll closures and restricted early voting and underhanded purges. I can’t tell if you’re overselling your bait to the wingers, or if you’re truly asking about the means that are available toward peaceful civic participation. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/135 "2018-10-10T21:44:02Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > If the republican interest here really is voter integrity, there’s a few things you could do: > > - Send at least one follow-up letter > - Offer an online resource where you can check if you’re still registered > - Notify voters that they were deregistered in any way > - Make it possible for voters who were removed from the rolls to register to vote at some point after the deadline > - [Make sure the website for registering to vote works on the day of the deadline](https://politics.myajc.com/blog/politics/some-georgia-voters-report-registration-delays-ahead-deadline/77tSG5AmItPrW4XvGrRf4O/) > - Not dump 10% of registered voters off the rolls, then hide that information for as long as possible, giving it up only when legally mandated to _a handful of days before the registration deadline_ > > None of this was done. Quibble. There is and has been [an online resource](https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do) where Georgia voters can check their registration status. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/136 "2018-10-10T21:56:14Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I quoted your post. Which makes you continuing to say the opposite of what I actually said, even after I repeatedly clarified it, all the more baffling. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/137 "2018-10-10T22:03:10Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > There are no “problems” with the timing of it, the timing is exactly what was intended. When should it be done? The year after a Presidential election, with one year till mid-terms and 3 until the next Presidential one seems ideal to me. It seems a weird thing to fuss about, as where I live one must (as in, is legally required to) register to vote every year. I confess, I don’t really see how you can keep an accurate electoral roll without something like that, quite apart from all the other reasons the government needs to know how many people are living where. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/138 "2018-10-10T22:44:14Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > It seems a weird thing to fuss about, as where I live one must (as in, is legally required to) register to vote every year …cite? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/139 "2018-10-10T23:02:38Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …cite? IAN **Steophan** and am not sure what jurisdiction he’s talking about, but if his location “Nottingham” refers to the UK, [here’s what the UK says about it](https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/councilanddemocracy/localdemocracyandelections/faqsaboutvotingandregister.aspx#ques17): > [@](#): > > **Do I have to register to vote for every election?** > > In the United Kingdom, your registration lasts for a year. This means that as long as you return your annual voter registration form, which will be distributed to your household every autumn, or complete an individual application to register, you will be registered and you will be able to vote whenever an election is called. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697/140 "2018-10-10T23:13:17Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Perhaps you are not familiar, but I think you really just have no defense of the bankrupt ideology. The fantasy philosophies in your head may well be bankrupt – you’d certainly know that better than I would. But if you’d like to find out how real-world liberals and progressives and Democrats think, there are a bunch of us here who would probably be willing to answer your questions, even as hostile as you usually are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracy-is-dead-in-georgia/822697.md?page=8)