We’re a Republic, not a Democracy… which Republicans translate as, ‘The less chance you commoners get to vote, the better!”
House Majority Leader Lee Qualm (R-21/Platte) files House Bill 1178, which would shorten the time we can cast absentee ballots from 46 days before the election to just 14. That would make South Dakota below average on yet another metric: according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “the average starting time for early voting is 22 days before the election.”
Every sponsor of this anti-voter bill, including my own Representative Carl Perry, is a Republican. Perry is signing on to a bill that smells like one of the sore-loser bills Wisconsin Governor (no more!) Scott Walker signed last month to restrict all early voting in Wisconsin to two weeks before the election.
Now I have some neighbors who see some sort of ill in early voting. But I also know people who pay attention early, make up their minds, and are thrilled to get at least some of the political telemarketers to stop calling them once their names show up on the “I Voted Early!” list.
But I doubt Representative Qualm and the Republican sponsors have any good, honest reason of policy or principle for reducing your access to the ballot. Like Republicans all over, Leader Qualm is proposing HB 1178 to make it harder for certain people to vote.
The correlation between lower voter turnout and more Republican wins is not rock solid. But if Republicans could just pass a bill to make it rain on Election Day….
Bonus Knuckleheadery (Update 19:12 CST): Representative Qualm’s curtailing of the absentee-voting period by two thirds might make some shred of sense if he were concomitantly extending the time for finalizing and printing ballots by four weeks. But no: pass HB 1178 as written, and SDCL 12-16-1 will still require the Secretary of State to print and deliver ballots to county auditors no later than 48 days before the election, meaning those ballots would sit there, doing nothing, for four weeks… much like many Republican legislators.
Wait until the civics requirement is used to disqualify Democratic voters
I am a registered voter in district one, spend most of the year there, but vote early because sometimes the weather is just too risky for me to stay up north. This would severely limit my options. Leave our early voting option alone!
South Dakota. Where the lawmakers at the local level are just as worthless as the lawmakers at the national level. Why do I live here again???
Is this as good as it gets?
Seriously South Dakota legislators?
Did the Noem/Sutton race get a little too close for comfort? Are they worried that as time goes on, they will start losing their “power” in this state and they are trying to get out in front of it? (of course)
I’m sure that Qualm has been fielding phone calls right and left by county auditors screaming, “oh my gosh, you really have to cut down early voting time period because it makes things so hard for us”. (sorry, couldn’t resist the sarcasm)
I still can’t get used to South Dakotans voting against their best interests. Every. Single. Election. Then they get mad when it is more of the same. Shaking my head.
Cory, just so you know, the Republicans also voted down same day voter registration last week. Not surprsising at all.
It was sponsored by a new Democratic legislator From Yankton. I forget what his name is.
Interesting and amusing to note was during the debate, one of the Republican legislators was worried about voter fraud on voting day.
Senate or House, Jenny? Senate would be Kennedy, House would be rookie Cwach.
This was House, it was Cwach. It’s good to see a fresh young face for SD Dems and he spoke very well on the Floor.
Is there some factual evidence supporting the idea that more Democrats than Republicans (or vice versa for that matter) vote early or would vote with same day registration? I often read arguments that one party (typically Republicans these days) proposes this type of legislation to suppress or limit voting by the other party, but how would restricting early voting or same day registration forward that goal? What is the factual basis for such a goal, especially here in SD?
In any event, it seems unlikely that a SD legislator would admit publicly that this was the reason for the proposed legislation (even if it is the unstated real reason). What other reasons do legislators supporting the proposal articulate to suggest that shortening the early voting period (or same day registration) somehow benefits the people of SD?
BCB… Republicans favor less voting days because Democrats have a harder time getting off work to go vote. Even if the law says the boss must let you go, a boss can make extra work on election day and guilt those “on the fence” workers to just stay and get the job done, to stay on the bosses good side. As a union rep, I saw it happen but to document it factually, I can’t do that.
Democrats have a harder time getting off work to go vote.
What evidence supports this claim Porter?
I won’t discuss anything with you, Jason. You have a poor history of comprehension and a long history of misdirection and deception. Everything I say is factually accurate. Prove me wrong with valid links.
Porter, I love your response to Jason and agree 100% with it.
I respect and fully accept your experiences as a union rep, but have a difficult time accepting any anecdotes as the sole factual basis for generalizations about other people or for formulating public policies.
Understood, BCB.
as an aside … I have a file called BearCreekBat On …. I’ve copied your explanations on many subjects. Today I added, BCB on child custody. Thanks, friend.
SDBlue, you live here for the awesome blogging and the brisk morning air that let’s you know you’re alive… but that the world is out to kill you if you don’t get moving! :-D
The partisan split is inconclusive, BCB. During my reading yesterday, I found the general gist of the research saying there may be a slight Dem advantage among early voters but not enough to wipe out other factors.
I can imagine an argument for HB 1178: All voters should walk into the polls with the same information. Every candidate should have the same opportunity to make his or her case.” Compare it to Legislative committees: members don’t get to listen to the proponents, then step out while the opponents speak, then return to vote aye. We expect legislators to listen to all of the testimony and evidence presented. We also don’t let legislators vote absentee; if they’re going to vacation in Texas for two days (I’m hearing maybe a third for Al!) and they’re going to miss votes on bills, they don’t get to cast their votes early.
But the analogy to the Legislature is imperfect. In that case, we’re talking about elected officials who have promised to dedicate ten weeks of their lives to writing, studying, debating, and voting on legislation. We pay them to do that serious voting, so they have no excuse for needing an early/absentee ballot.
Citizens are different. We are not bound by an oath to other voters. (Hmmm… there could be a separate essay on that idea: what civic duty do we owe to each other? Dang—there’s the framing question for my civics course!) We are not paid or guaranteed leave from work to vote (make Election Day a national holiday, required paid time off, and this argument changes!). We have to vote when we can, and for some people that means not on Election Day.
Voting early is a fine convenience, making it easier for more people to participate in democracy. Voting early makes life easier for traditionalists who vote on Election Day, since the polls won’t be as crowded. Voting early saves everyone time.
The only participatory argument I can think of for shortening the early voting window is to extend the time candidates have to file their petitions/nominations and get on the ballot, but clearly, HB 1187 does not envision that advantage. I thus have a hard time thinking of a non-esoteric argument for less time for early voting that would outweigh the practical disadvantages of making it easier for people to vote.
I wonder: did we learn anything new about Billie Sutton, Kristi Noem, or Kurt Evans from September 21 through November 5? Did anyone who voted on September 21 inevitably lack information that was crucial to deciding who would be the best Governor?
These days I typically like to wait until election day to vote. It is not so much that I am waiting for or hoping for new information, although that is always a possibility. Rather, I enjoy the social experience of voting with other people and chatting with our poll workers. I also know several folks who take advantage of early voting and most are staunch conservatives. If some Republicans assume otherwise in their quest to shorten the period, they may be spitting into the wind by making it less convenient for their own party members to vote.
I agree with your arguments supporting early voting. I would have been happy to exercise that option years ago when there were always long lines and long waits at my polling place in District 35. Today polling places here have been reorganized and there is usually little if any line or wait to vote, even in presidential years.
The arguments you suggest for limiting early voting are interesting. Do you know if any such arguments have been made by our legislators in committee hearings or on floor speeches, or by lobbyists advocating for such laws?
Incidentally, its seems a bit inconsistent for people who think their party votes at a particular time to oppose both voter day registration and early voting. I would think they would benefit more by picking a lane. Perhaps they just hope their bad ideas will cancel each other out.
When did the neighbor in the holler, “neighborhood opioid thief” bashing Mr. Sutton come out? It was the last week, wasn’t it. (Not that it was his fault he got addicted to Vicodin and had to break into farms.)
Was Lee Qualm in that GOP movie from many years ago, “Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels”?
Sorry Cory, it was newcomer Rep Linda Duba of Minnehaha County that made a motion to amend HB 1025 by allowing same day voter registration if the eligible voter has two forms of ID. This was on 1/23 and not one republican was in favor of it. Cwach spoke in support of it.
Sorry Cory, The same day voter registration was A motion to amend HB 1025 by Rep Linda Duba minnehaha county. If you go to January 23 there is audio of it.
The already notorious Congresswoman from New York (Dem) Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is advocating for election day to be a national holiday.
There it is! Thanks, Rep. Duba and Rep. Cwach!
ID’s are easily faked and same day registration would not allow them to be verified.
Jason, Minnesota has same day registration, the highest voter participation in the nation, and nearly non-existent voter fraud.
Voter fraud is minimal everywhere. Election fraud, chiefly perpetrated by the GOP, is not uncommon.
Minnesota does not require IDs either. We don’t try to fix imaginary problems, though our state GOP has tried to push voter ID bills. Citizens don’t want them. That’s one of the benefits of an educated electorate, another thing the GOP opposes.