Thing is, voting back home means that you’re not going to vote at all. You’re not going to go home on a freaking Tuesday. It’s why I didn’t vote in 2004–I didn’t know where I should vote.
You can say that they should vote early? So first time voters are going to know about voting early? It’s already complicated as it is your first time, having to bring in a birth certificate and other documentation to get yourself registered to vote in the first place. Throw in knowing about early voting times and making sure you go home during those times? You really think that doesn’t discourage voting in general?
You want to keep college students separate from others? Fine. Put voting booths on campus for the students, who you’ll know are students. Have them show their college ID so you can match them up with where they are originally from for statistics. (But still let them vote in local college elections since, for the time they are in college, those elections are going to affect the students.)
I didn’t realize that NC had undergone the same sort of takeover that Wisconsin is currently suffering through, so reading the linked articles and y’all’s posts has been very educating; thanks to everyone who has been participating.
I read the article that SpazCat linked to, and although it was a bit difficult to keep all the names straight (since they are all new to me), I eventually was able to make sense of most of what I was reading. BUT, I still don’t exactly understand what the water-theft thing is all about.
I gather that it has something to do with consolidating the city parks system with the county’s park system, but beyond that I don’t have enough info.
Would someone like to recap the situation (what led to it, why it’s bad, etc.) for those of us who aren’t local?
The gist of it is:Where if you dare to elect a Democratic local government, the Republican General Assembly will punish you. Asheville is losing control of it’s utilities, Greensboro has had it’s school board Gerrymandered, as has Raleigh, and Charlotte is losing control of it’s airport.
How do you define a “permanent resident”? Should they have been resident for a number of years before they get to vote? Should they be homeowners instead of that scum of the Earth–renters? Should they sign affidavits that they intend to stay in the area until they die? If they move early, can all their previous votes be voided? Certainly the military should not be allowed to vote, since they may be transferred at any time.
No, you are in favor of disenfranchising students. From the kids living on their parents’ money through those working their way through school to grad students with families. Of course, many students–especially of the grad student variety–were born in another country. Even if they have become citizens, they obviously should not be trusted with the vote.
Most college towns have a significant population of former students, who have stayed on because they have no intention of returning to the redneck hellhole of their birth. Look at Austin. Most Texas *cities *vote Democratic, but some of those Longhorns have no desire to return to Lubbock, Midland or Odessa…
College students expect to remain where they are for at least four years. When you’re 18, that’s about as much of an expectation for the future as you can have. You’re young enough to remember that. It makes no sense for a student to vote in a town they may never return to, but plenty for them to vote in a town they reside in on a full- or near-full time basis.
If the students outnumber the “locals” in the community, why shouldn’t they be the dominant voting demographic? They are the majority of the residents. The fact that there will be a “fresh crop” of transients in four years only strengthens the argument; after all, that fresh crop may agree with the views of locals. If you don’t want your vote diluted by students you don’t have to live in a college town; those who do are generally there for the economic benefits the students bring. The students have also chosen to reside in that town; they don’t choose colleges in a vacuum.
I saw that in the paper this morning. It’s a very good thing that I’m six hours away from Raleigh and I had to work today or I would have been punching people. Hard. In the nads. Repeatedly.
It annoyed me, is what I’m trying to get across here.
What a bunch of fucking cowards…the Senate took some “Sharia law bill” and turned it into a piece of anti-abortion legislation at the last minute. Also, conveniently enough, the only groups present for the debate (having been notified ahead of time) were pro-choice groups.
Here’s a good article about the Moral Monday protests and how the General Assembly in Its Infinite Wisdom just doesn’t care. Is it an election year yet? Never in my life have I wanted it to be an election year so badly.
Interesting how even this commentator, sympathetic to Moral Monday, is careful to distinguish it from OWS. “Occupy cried wolf, and the hangover has been a deeper skepticism for any mass protests thereafter.” No, ma’am, the wolf is real, and crept a foot closer while you were writing this.
I went to school out of state once; never once thought I was entitled to vote there. I voted via an absentee ballot in the town I grew up in.
If a college dorm can be used to be considered a “resident” for voting purposes, then why isn’t it also considered the same for in-state tuition purposes?