Righties are still processing the move of the MLB All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver. One of the talking points making the rounds is that Colorado’s voting laws are similar to Georgia’s. I take it this is being pushed especially hard by Fox News and Gov. Brian Kemp..
In response, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp addressed the situation, comparing the two states’ procedures, saying he is baffled by the decision.
“Georgia has 17 days of in-person early voting including two optional Sundays, Colorado has 15,” the Republican governor said. “So what I’m being told, they also have a photo ID requirement. So it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”
Aaron Blake at WaPo takes this claim apart. “When it comes to picking a state that makes voting accessible — and provably so — it’s very difficult to do much better than Colorado,” he writes. Among other differences, most Coloradans vote by mail. ” All registered voters receive absentee ballots automatically, and as many as 99 percent of people who vote use that option,” Blake writes. So a couple fewer days of early voting isn’t that big a deal.
Under the new Georgia law, by contrast:
- Absentee ballots cannot be requested earlier than 78 days or less than 11 days ahead of a general election or the runoff for that election (instead of 180 days prior).
- Applications for an absentee ballot cannot be sent to voters unless one is requested.
- Voters will be required to provide a copy of a Georgia ID, and that could include providing your drivers license number.
Blake says, “Colorado sometimes requires ID to vote by mail, but only when someone casts a mail ballot for the first time, and again the list of acceptable IDs is significantly broader.” Blake continues,
Colorado has regularly been hailed as a beacon of voting laws. Not only does it routinely rank among the states with the highest turnout — it was nearly 87 percent of registered voters (and 75.5 percent of eligible voters) in 2020 — but it also has one of the safest systems in the country, if not the safest. Turnout depends on a lot of things, including voter interest, but it’s difficult to argue that a state that ranked No. 2 in turnout in 2020, even as many other states expanded their mail-in voting, is somehow comparable to a state with significantly lower turnout that is adding restrictions.
Watch Jen Psaki annialate Peter Doocy.
I think we were due for someone as truthful, prepared, and brilliant as Jen Psaki after the parade of Faux News tryouts from the last four years. I can't think of a greater contrast. I find myself tuning out politics for a needed break – still huge problems in this country, but at least the adults are in charge.
RepubliKKKLANs have forgotten that the way representative democracies work, is that the voters choose their politicians – their representatives.
That's not like the way RepubliKKKLANS wish it was: The politicians pick their voters.
So Colorado gets the all star game. All of America wins on that one. The venders served ice cold local craft beers my last outing there. Colorado brewers are some of the best if not the best in the nation. They have great water for brewing as you probably know. It would only be more perfect if Colorado peaches were in season in time for the game. It is a high altitude home run hitters ball park, great for an All Star Game. Oh yeah, and they do make voting easy there. It shows. Sometimes the grass is really greener on the other side of the country.
The right is on a talking points tour of the GA voter law, attempting to compare it favorably to blue state voting laws, to brand it as something positive when its only value is to prevent people from voting. And here's Doocy, proving that as a Fox "reporter" he's more interested in asking questions to promote right wing talking points, rather than get at the facts.
Democrats need to take a lesson from Jen Psaki. She was brilliant, taking less than a minute to expose and destroy a rightwing talking point on the GA voter disenfranchisement law in clear, straightforward language anyone can understand.
I haven't watched baseball in decades. When is this game? I will tune in.