I read all of your links carefully and with an open mind. In the Atlantic article, the conclusion was that black and white voters were 'suppressed' equally by having fewer voting locations, but when more were added white voters came back out (as did black) but in numbers that exceeded their turnout in 2012. In otherwords, white turnout was simply heavier in 2016 than in 2012, while for blacks it was the reverse.
The Hurricane impacted voter turnout in NC (apparently) but that must be considered a one-off, I would think.
The other two articles added nothing to the longer and more detailed Atlantic article.
Without looking at actual numbers (so I could be wrong), my guess is that the case for voter suppression happening in NC has yet to be made. Why? Because black turnout in 2016 was lower than in 2012 in every state, not just in NC. I haven't studied actual numbers but suspect the margins would be found to be essentially the same in NC as an average of the other states.
Saying Reps would like to suppress Dem turnout and even admit to this in an email is meaningless simply because my assumption is that Dems would like to suppress Rep turnout, too. The question is was it done.
Did it happen in NC, or did the lower turnout of blacks in NC simply mirror the lower turnout of blacks in other states in 2016?
Also 17 days of early voting along with absentee ballots plus a long day of voting on election day is plenty of opportunity for someone who takes voting seriously to get their vote in. Too long, imo, because it does cost the county quite a bit to staff all these polling stations.
In my own experience, I have only voted early on two occasions, and then by only a few days early. I don't like the idea of voting way early and then having some important new event break. Plus in my county there is only one polling station for early voting and it's a long drive from where I live and the parking used to be a problem. There were so few other people voting there early that I had the impression it wasn't very important each time I went. |
