Florida County Eliminates Minority-Heavy Polling Places

[Tx4obama]

Florida County Eliminates Minority-Heavy Polling Places

On a party-line vote, a Florida county’s Republican majority Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to eliminate almost one-third of Manatee County’s voting sites. The board accepted a proposal by Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett (R) by a 6-1 vote to trim the number of precincts, despite unanimous public testimony against the move — and complaints by the lone Democratic Commissioner that it would eliminate half of the polling places in his heavily minority District 2.

Bennett, in his first term as elections supervisor, proposed reducing the number of Manatee County precincts from 99 to 69. Citing decreased Election Day turnout, as more voters switch to in-person early voting and vote-by-mail options, he told the commissioners that the move would save money and allow the county to offer more early voting sites in the future.

In the public comment section of the meeting, all ten speeches strongly opposed the move. Representatives of the local NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Council warned that the cuts would decrease voter turnout because voters would have to travel further to a polling place, especially among the elderly and people without cars, and noted that the cuts disproportionately affected minority-heavy precincts. Bennett dismissed these concerns, noting that because District 2 had received “preferential treatment in the past,” even with the changes, his district will have the smallest number of voters per precinct. “It was overbalanced before, it’s overbalanced now.” Bennett also repeatedly noted that he had discussed the move with civil rights groups and both the Republican and “Democrat” Parties.

-snip-

Full article here: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/02/11/3278101/florida-county-reduces-minority-precincts/

[chillfactor]

1. guess republicans never learn....

minorities will stand in line for hours to vote

hope Crist is elected and these kinds of discrimination will end...

republicans most really fear the voters Crist can bring on his coattails...

[Historic NY]

2. Didn't the POTUS promise to fix this chicanery...

creating long lines.

[defacto7]

3. K & R

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

4. Bad Decision

The really bad decision is how that Board of Commission got into office the 1st place. The majority of American people still only think the Presidential GE is worth their time. Well, this is an example of that not being true. Elections matter.

[kairos12]

5. Given the shifting demographic trends moving against Rethugs this

move represents how Teabaggers expect to win elections. Suppress the vote by any means necessary.