Rachel Maddow has been making an excellent point over the past several days: while many people view the long lines at voting booths as a triumph of democracy, showing that people are committed to voting that they are turning out in record numbers, Rachel sees it differently.
Rachel Sklar at HuffPost writes:
Maddow rightly notes the long wait times at early voting stations — and
worries not only about what that bodes for election day, but about who
is getting disenfranchised because of it:
MADDOW: This is a poll tax. How much do you get paid for an hour of
work? Do you have the kind of job that would be delighted to give you
an hour, a half-day, a whole day off work because you were waiting in
line at your precinct? Even if it won't cost you your job, can you
afford to not work those hours? Are you elderly or disabled, do you not
have the physical stamina for this kind of exertion? This is a poll
tax... Who is not in those lines — because they can't afford to be?
Video below; read the full article (w/ video) here.
