Hiatus Update! – How Did We Not Know That
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Show Notes
We’ve got a HUGE election coming up in 2020 during a PANDEMIC! In this special episode, our good friend David teaches us everything we know about preparing to vote this year and the history and ongoing issue of voter suppression in the USA!
VOTING LINKS BELOW! LET’S GO!
PSA GENERAL ELECTION IS NOVEMBER 3rd 2020!!!
What do I need to do today?Register to vote! Request an Absentee Ballot NOW (THOSE ARE DUE ~3 WEEKS BEFORE NOV 3RD) Research WHO is up for election Choose who you plan to vote for VOTE + SEND IT BACK OR DROP IT OFF AT YOUR LOCAL ELECTION OFFICE (if absentee) Am I registered? https://www.vote.org/ When are the Elections? https://www.vote.org/election-reminders/ Who are the candidates? https://www.ballotready.org/
Sources:
One Person No Vote by Carol Anderson
https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article122593759.html
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/7-years-gutting-voting-rights
https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/blog-post/numbers-voter-fraud
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2017/05/voting_in_america.html
Transcript
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hi everyone welcome back to another
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episode of how did we not know that my
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name is jack
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i’m nat and i’m david
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and we have a very special guest
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david is going to be talking to us about
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something exciting related to voting
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very excited to hear about it
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uh yeah because voting is coming up so
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in the united states
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the us is about to have a really big
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election this fall
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so david’s gonna educate us on voting
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yeah so as of today
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we are 93 days out from the election
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it’s going to be pretty insane probably
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the most unique election of our
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lifetimes
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during a pandemic countless americans
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are getting prepared to vote by mail
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we have no idea what things are going to
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look like
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lines that are already pretty long are
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going to be
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social distanced with six feet between
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people
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we might have some lines stretching a
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mile long across
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cities not to discourage people but
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people need to be prepared ahead of time
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with how they’re gonna vote this year
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if people are going to vote by mail they
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should be applying for ballots
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already david actually
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is the one who encouraged me to register
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absentee so i can vote by ballot
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this fall so good job yeah
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oh thank you thank you for doing so but
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yeah
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uh voting by mail is pretty interesting
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in the united states too because like i
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i live in montana 40 of people here vote
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by mail on a normal year just everyone
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does it
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polling places are far apart or like
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that’s a big part of it
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because i mean montana is insanely
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spread out but
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also kind of the culture of the west you
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know like
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oregon and washington ballots are
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automatically mailed to registered
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voters
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even like all across the west in
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arizona eighty percent of people vote by
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mail
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it’s come out yeah you go out west and
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it’s
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it’s the norm yeah question david
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because don’t you oh sorry david’s from
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nebraska
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i just know this because we’re pals but
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um so you’re voting
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in montana this fall are you or
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okay so how does that work if you’re
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from nebraska what if you’re from one
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state and you move to another state
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which state do you vote for where do you
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register absentee
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well you can only vote in one state and
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it has to be a state where you live so
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for me
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i could vote in either nebraska or
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montana
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because i’m a permanent resident of
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nebraska technically
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and i’m i’m registered to vote there but
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there are different rules for each state
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for who can vote in montana they’re
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really
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relaxed you have to live here for 30
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days
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like that’s i don’t know what else but
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it’s
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it’s very simple and i will have been
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here for
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a lot more than 30 days so so yeah i’ll
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be voting in montana
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but then like i’m also like i voted in
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ohio
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two years ago but i don’t have an
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address there anymore so
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i i can’t vote there yeah
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okay yeah i did the same thing like i
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was out of state at
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when i was at osu but i still voted in
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ohio in the 2016 elections also i have a
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question for you too
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um can you vote by mail in every state
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or are there some states that don’t
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allow it you can in
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every state but there are some states
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where you need a reason
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you need to prove why
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you want to vote by mail and uh
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for the pandemic since we’re in a
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pandemic you would hope
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that everyone would say yeah you can
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vote by mail but
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unfortunately not i think that like 40
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states you can
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vote by mail at least during the
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pandemic though
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gotcha okay you have a list of states by
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any chance off the top of your head
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where you
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would have to prove that you need to
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vote by mail
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overwhelmingly be from the south okay um
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the thing about voting by mail is uh
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it can be tricky for the infrastructure
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infrastructure of a state
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like in michigan uh in 2016
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500 000 people voted absentee in their
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primary
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but for the 2020 primary two million
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people
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voted absentee whoa and
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it’s it’s hard for states to handle that
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uptick
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of volume which is why if you’re voting
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by mail
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you want to do so way ahead of time you
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want to be super prepared
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also for mail-in ballots or absentee
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voting
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your ballot will be mailed to your
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address then you can either mail it back
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out to your election office
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or you can drop it off in person at your
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election office or
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secure dropbox and that’s a good idea
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for this election to not
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overwhelm the mail services yeah
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yeah how is oh my gosh that’s crazy like
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because also i’m thinking about the
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people who have to like
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count these ballots and like count these
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votes and like you also have to be
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safe and like socially distance while
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you’re doing that as well so i
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that must be really stressful like i
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can’t even imagine
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there’s not a lot of time too to prepare
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um
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yeah to go from 500 000 people to 2
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million
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so and i think too at least in ohio
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has to be received before a certain date
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like they can’t receive it
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on election day from my understanding so
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is that like a standard for all of the
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states
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is there like a certain time that you
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should be making sure you’ve mailed your
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ballot in
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it varies per state there are some
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states where it has to be received
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by election day there are other states
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where it has to be
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postmarked by election day so they can
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come in days later and still count
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but especially out east like i think i
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was reading that michigan
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ballots have to be received by election
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day like i don’t think it matters when
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it was sent and election day is what day
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this year
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november 3rd okay so if you’re voting
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absentee
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make sure that you send out your ballot
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way before
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november 3rd so you can make sure that i
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would i would say like three weeks
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if you’re mailing it yeah and if you’re
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pushing it close
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bring it to a secure dropbox or your
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election office
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if i register to vote absentee do you
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know when they’re supposed to send that
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to me
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if i like haven’t received my ballot by
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a certain date
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is there something i should do someone i
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should contact well you would want to
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contact your local election office
0:06:51.840,0:06:55.120
it honestly varies by state there’s some
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states where this is a lot more
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difficult than others
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i can speak mostly from montana where
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it’s it’s pretty easy here you can track
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your ballot but i don’t think
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that’s offered in every state you want
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to talk to your local election office or
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check the
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secretary of state website for your
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state so yeah when you ask a lot of
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people why they’re
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why they vote i think they’ll say
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because we live in a democracy
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and it’s important to make your voice
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heard or you can’t complain about what
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happened
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that’s definitely true and the reason
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voting is important for me is that you
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know in a democracy the more people that
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vote
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the harder it is for the government to
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get away with
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doing whatever they want no matter how
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it
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might impact their citizens so the more
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people that vote the more
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politicians feel the consequences of
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their constituents
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and have to accurately represent
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everyone unfortunately a lot of
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america’s history has been the story
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of some people trying to stop others
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from voting
0:07:52.400,0:07:56.800
i think we like to think that that’s
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something of the past that
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ended with the civil rights era but
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we have not progressed past voter
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suppression being an issue
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and it’s actually been revving up
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a lot recently as people have relaxed
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their focus in recent years thinking
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we’ve
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moved on from certain issues voter
0:08:15.599,0:08:19.840
suppression today is actually
0:08:17.280,0:08:20.800
as serious as it’s been in a long time
0:08:19.840,0:08:23.280
i’ve seen a lot of
0:08:20.800,0:08:24.879
people talking about how like 46 of
0:08:23.280,0:08:27.199
americans didn’t vote in the last
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election like get off your couch you
0:08:27.199,0:08:30.479
need to go
0:08:28.000,0:08:31.120
like it’s your fault that for whatever’s
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happened
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and like i even read a washington post
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article
0:08:34.320,0:08:38.800
was titled about 100 million americans
0:08:37.039,0:08:42.479
couldn’t be bothered to vote this year
0:08:38.800,0:08:43.279
wait 46 did not vote in the last
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election
0:08:43.279,0:08:47.279
yeah but the thing is it’s not always
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that simple as saying
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100 million people couldn’t be bothered
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to get up and go vote a lot of those
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people
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wanted to vote may have actively tried
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to vote
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and simply not been able to because for
0:08:56.959,0:09:01.200
some people the barriers for voting
0:08:59.040,0:09:02.560
are impossible to get past it’s hard to
0:09:01.200,0:09:03.360
wrap your mind around sometimes
0:09:02.560,0:09:05.360
especially like
0:09:03.360,0:09:07.360
voting’s always been so easy for me i’ve
0:09:05.360,0:09:09.839
been able to just walk right in
0:09:07.360,0:09:11.519
no line cast my vote and go but it’s not
0:09:09.839,0:09:12.800
like that for everyone can we talk about
0:09:11.519,0:09:15.920
some of the barriers
0:09:12.800,0:09:18.880
that people face when going to vote
0:09:15.920,0:09:19.920
yeah one of the big ones is shutting
0:09:18.880,0:09:22.000
polling locations
0:09:19.920,0:09:23.120
in a second i’ll talk about the the
0:09:22.000,0:09:26.240
voting rights act
0:09:23.120,0:09:28.560
and how it was rolled back in 2013.
0:09:26.240,0:09:29.920
that caused a lot of states to flat out
0:09:28.560,0:09:32.880
start closing
0:09:29.920,0:09:34.399
mass amounts of polling locations and
0:09:32.880,0:09:37.519
implementing these strict
0:09:34.399,0:09:38.399
voter id laws yeah those are two of the
0:09:37.519,0:09:40.160
main reasons
0:09:38.399,0:09:41.519
that all really starts with the voting
0:09:40.160,0:09:43.760
rights act so
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i’ll backtrack a second to talk about
0:09:43.760,0:09:46.720
that so yeah i think
0:09:45.040,0:09:48.880
everyone associates the voting rights
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act with you know one of the landslide
0:09:48.880,0:09:53.519
victories of the civil rights
0:09:50.080,0:09:56.000
era and it was certainly prior to that
0:09:53.519,0:09:57.440
some states in the south used loopholes
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to make their primaries
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whites only so minorities could vote in
0:10:00.399,0:10:03.680
the general election
0:10:01.680,0:10:05.200
but it wouldn’t matter by then because
0:10:03.680,0:10:05.920
the candidates would pretty much already
0:10:05.200,0:10:08.560
be selected
0:10:05.920,0:10:10.000
african americans would be intimidated
0:10:08.560,0:10:11.920
by the police and
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local militias when they attempted to
0:10:11.920,0:10:16.800
vote like you would have to be
0:10:13.519,0:10:18.480
a hero to even try to vote in certain
0:10:16.800,0:10:20.959
states back then but with the
0:10:18.480,0:10:21.600
voting rights act that cut back poll
0:10:20.959,0:10:23.680
taxes
0:10:21.600,0:10:25.680
literacy tests it increased polling
0:10:23.680,0:10:29.040
locations in minority areas
0:10:25.680,0:10:31.440
and it was a very proactive
0:10:29.040,0:10:32.320
policy so areas that had a history of
0:10:31.440,0:10:34.720
discriminating
0:10:32.320,0:10:36.640
had to have new laws they were trying to
0:10:34.720,0:10:37.920
implement be approved before they were
0:10:36.640,0:10:40.560
even put into place
0:10:37.920,0:10:41.839
so states couldn’t just try and pass
0:10:40.560,0:10:44.640
this discriminatory
0:10:41.839,0:10:46.399
act and wait for someone to step in they
0:10:44.640,0:10:47.200
had to get that approved ahead of time
0:10:46.399,0:10:48.720
which
0:10:47.200,0:10:50.640
wouldn’t happen most of the time that
0:10:48.720,0:10:52.320
was a major turning point in voting
0:10:50.640,0:10:53.519
rights in the united states can we do a
0:10:52.320,0:10:56.000
refresher on like the
0:10:53.519,0:10:56.800
poll taxes and the literary literacy
0:10:56.000,0:11:00.160
test right
0:10:56.800,0:11:00.959
yeah right right yeah so uh poll taxes
0:11:00.160,0:11:04.240
essentially
0:11:00.959,0:11:07.200
uh voters would have to pay a tax
0:11:04.240,0:11:09.920
every time they wanted to vote and for a
0:11:07.200,0:11:12.320
lot of places this tax was cumulative
0:11:09.920,0:11:14.399
so if you took elections off that poll
0:11:12.320,0:11:16.640
tax would grow higher and higher so
0:11:14.399,0:11:18.720
if someone was 40 years old and was like
0:11:16.640,0:11:20.720
i want to go vote for the first time
0:11:18.720,0:11:21.760
boom look they’d have this massive poll
0:11:20.720,0:11:24.480
tax they had to pay
0:11:21.760,0:11:24.880
wow i didn’t realize it was cumulative
0:11:24.480,0:11:28.079
that’s
0:11:24.880,0:11:30.399
insane yeah at least in some states
0:11:28.079,0:11:31.360
and it was targeted at mostly african
0:11:30.399,0:11:34.959
americans and
0:11:31.360,0:11:38.000
hispanic voters and uh literacy tests
0:11:34.959,0:11:40.640
citizens would have to take these insane
0:11:38.000,0:11:42.079
tests proving that they know the laws of
0:11:40.640,0:11:44.320
their local community
0:11:42.079,0:11:45.760
and if you read those literacy tests
0:11:44.320,0:11:49.279
they’re insane
0:11:45.760,0:11:52.639
like no one and no one could possibly
0:11:49.279,0:11:54.880
pass them yeah and they they pretty much
0:11:52.639,0:11:56.000
only administered them to minority
0:11:54.880,0:11:59.120
voters so like
0:11:56.000,0:12:00.320
they they selectively used these uh like
0:11:59.120,0:12:02.720
poll taxes and
0:12:00.320,0:12:03.360
literacy tests to stop minorities from
0:12:02.720,0:12:06.720
voting
0:12:03.360,0:12:10.639
yeah back to the voting rights act uh
0:12:06.720,0:12:13.120
in 2013 the supreme court decided
0:12:10.639,0:12:14.160
to roll back the voting rights act by
0:12:13.120,0:12:17.440
their logic
0:12:14.160,0:12:20.399
issues of voter suppression racism
0:12:17.440,0:12:22.480
wasn’t really an issue anymore in the
0:12:20.399,0:12:24.800
states the voting rights act
0:12:22.480,0:12:27.040
initially targeted they said at this
0:12:24.800,0:12:30.000
point it’s kind of discriminatory
0:12:27.040,0:12:30.560
towards these southern states who have
0:12:30.000,0:12:33.200
to get
0:12:30.560,0:12:34.320
all of their policies approved so they
0:12:33.200,0:12:37.440
decided to
0:12:34.320,0:12:40.639
roll back the voting rights act
0:12:37.440,0:12:41.440
because there was in their words no no
0:12:40.639,0:12:44.560
need
0:12:41.440,0:12:47.680
for it anymore as you can imagine
0:12:44.560,0:12:49.519
as soon as they did that uh insidious
0:12:47.680,0:12:50.880
voter suppression tactics started coming
0:12:49.519,0:12:53.279
back after that
0:12:50.880,0:12:55.519
about a thousand polling locations were
0:12:53.279,0:12:59.200
closed in nine states alone
0:12:55.519,0:13:00.160
a thousand yeah and that happens
0:12:59.200,0:13:04.160
primarily
0:13:00.160,0:13:06.320
in african-american hispanic communities
0:13:04.160,0:13:07.360
where residents might not have access to
0:13:06.320,0:13:09.120
a vehicle’s
0:13:07.360,0:13:10.800
vehicle maybe not even public
0:13:09.120,0:13:13.279
transportation and have to walk
0:13:10.800,0:13:14.320
miles to vote and there may be one
0:13:13.279,0:13:16.959
polling location
0:13:14.320,0:13:17.680
that’s ridiculous voting voting day
0:13:16.959,0:13:19.920
isn’t
0:13:17.680,0:13:22.160
a holiday federally but are there some
0:13:19.920,0:13:25.040
states that make it a paid
0:13:22.160,0:13:26.720
work holiday you know i don’t believe
0:13:25.040,0:13:28.399
there are any states i’m not sure but
0:13:26.720,0:13:29.040
there has been a lot of talk about that
0:13:28.399,0:13:30.959
recently
0:13:29.040,0:13:32.839
i know i’ve seen some companies letting
0:13:30.959,0:13:36.079
their their workers off
0:13:32.839,0:13:37.040
oh on election day but there has been
0:13:36.079,0:13:39.519
more talk about that
0:13:37.040,0:13:41.360
recently at the same time states started
0:13:39.519,0:13:43.680
implementing voter id laws
0:13:41.360,0:13:44.399
along with this a lot of them started
0:13:43.680,0:13:46.959
shutting down
0:13:44.399,0:13:48.000
dmvs which is where you go to get a
0:13:46.959,0:13:50.800
driver’s license
0:13:48.000,0:13:51.600
and again this happened mostly in black
0:13:50.800,0:13:54.240
communities
0:13:51.600,0:13:54.880
i read that in some areas in texas you
0:13:54.240,0:13:58.320
have to drive
0:13:54.880,0:14:02.240
250 miles to get a voter id
0:13:58.320,0:14:04.160
oh my gosh what yeah ridiculous
0:14:02.240,0:14:05.839
and you have to have certain you have to
0:14:04.160,0:14:07.040
have like a birth certificate or certain
0:14:05.839,0:14:08.800
documents to prove
0:14:07.040,0:14:10.480
you are who you are and not everyone has
0:14:08.800,0:14:12.399
those maybe if you weren’t born in a
0:14:10.480,0:14:14.399
hospital that’s not so easy to get
0:14:12.399,0:14:16.000
it takes a long time to get like a copy
0:14:14.399,0:14:18.240
of your birth certificate and it’s a lot
0:14:16.000,0:14:19.199
of money too yeah like it’s ridiculous
0:14:18.240,0:14:22.160
unreasonable
0:14:19.199,0:14:23.360
so uh to see the actual effects of that
0:14:22.160,0:14:26.880
in milwaukee
0:14:23.360,0:14:29.360
in 2016 compared to 2012 50
0:14:26.880,0:14:30.320
000 fewer votes were cast in the
0:14:29.360,0:14:33.440
presidential
0:14:30.320,0:14:35.600
election whoa and
0:14:33.440,0:14:38.079
a lot of media was saying like the
0:14:35.600,0:14:38.639
african-american enthusiasm is not as
0:14:38.079,0:14:41.440
high
0:14:38.639,0:14:43.360
but no they weren’t able to vote because
0:14:41.440,0:14:45.440
their polling locations were gutted and
0:14:43.360,0:14:48.000
they implemented a strict voter id
0:14:45.440,0:14:50.000
law sorry i have another question so
0:14:48.000,0:14:51.279
what is like the justification that
0:14:50.000,0:14:52.880
these states use
0:14:51.279,0:14:54.320
to implement these laws why are they
0:14:52.880,0:14:56.160
saying this is a beneficial
0:14:54.320,0:14:58.320
thing yeah well for the polling
0:14:56.160,0:15:01.120
locations it’s basically
0:14:58.320,0:15:01.760
efficiency reasons or like saving money
0:15:01.120,0:15:04.560
but
0:15:01.760,0:15:05.279
they mostly only cut them in minority
0:15:04.560,0:15:08.079
communities
0:15:05.279,0:15:08.480
keeping multiple polling locations open
0:15:08.079,0:15:11.360
in
0:15:08.480,0:15:13.440
white communities with significantly
0:15:11.360,0:15:16.639
fewer citizens oh my god
0:15:13.440,0:15:17.279
for the voter id laws it’s in an effort
0:15:16.639,0:15:19.680
to
0:15:17.279,0:15:20.480
fight voter fraud i’ll touch on that
0:15:19.680,0:15:23.680
near the end
0:15:20.480,0:15:24.720
okay but spoiler alert those voter id
0:15:23.680,0:15:27.920
laws don’t
0:15:24.720,0:15:29.519
have any impact at all on voter fraud
0:15:27.920,0:15:31.040
so that’s why they’re justified but
0:15:29.519,0:15:32.959
there’s no statistical
0:15:31.040,0:15:34.959
basis for it another voting rights
0:15:32.959,0:15:37.600
debacle in america
0:15:34.959,0:15:38.079
is felon voting rights in the united
0:15:37.600,0:15:41.120
states
0:15:38.079,0:15:42.320
it’s really difficult for felons to vote
0:15:41.120,0:15:44.480
sometimes impossible
0:15:42.320,0:15:45.440
there are only four democracies in the
0:15:44.480,0:15:47.199
world
0:15:45.440,0:15:48.959
that restrict voting rights after
0:15:47.199,0:15:50.000
someone leaves prison and the united
0:15:48.959,0:15:52.800
states is one of them
0:15:50.000,0:15:53.519
wow felon disenfranchisement or like
0:15:52.800,0:15:55.600
felons
0:15:53.519,0:15:57.519
not being able to vote that varies state
0:15:55.600,0:15:59.839
by state in maine and vermont
0:15:57.519,0:16:01.600
felons can vote in prison okay they
0:15:59.839,0:16:03.600
don’t lose their voting rights but
0:16:01.600,0:16:05.360
that is the exception it’s a big deal
0:16:03.600,0:16:08.240
because like we have the most
0:16:05.360,0:16:10.079
like the highest per capita rate of
0:16:08.240,0:16:12.480
incarceration or like what are you
0:16:10.079,0:16:13.600
like we just have like yeah in the world
0:16:12.480,0:16:16.480
oh yeah
0:16:13.600,0:16:17.600
like we have like a historical high for
0:16:16.480,0:16:19.279
citizens in prison
0:16:17.600,0:16:21.680
even when rights are restored to felons
0:16:19.279,0:16:25.040
though it’s it’s not always that simple
0:16:21.680,0:16:27.920
in florida in 2018 the state voted
0:16:25.040,0:16:29.279
to restore voting rights to felons which
0:16:27.920,0:16:31.120
was a big deal
0:16:29.279,0:16:32.959
but then the florida legislature came
0:16:31.120,0:16:34.240
out and said but you have to pay your
0:16:32.959,0:16:37.120
court fees first
0:16:34.240,0:16:37.920
and for some of those felons their court
0:16:37.120,0:16:40.000
fees are
0:16:37.920,0:16:41.120
thousands upon thousands of dollars it’s
0:16:40.000,0:16:43.120
hard to get a job
0:16:41.120,0:16:45.759
after you’re out of prison and paying
0:16:43.120,0:16:48.240
that off is no easy task at all
0:16:45.759,0:16:50.720
so that’s basically a modern day poll
0:16:48.240,0:16:52.240
tax yeah like being required to pay
0:16:50.720,0:16:55.360
money to vote like that
0:16:52.240,0:16:57.600
that does not sound very democratic yeah
0:16:55.360,0:17:00.959
spoiler alert it’s not
0:16:57.600,0:17:02.160
yeah so yeah in alabama the legislature
0:17:00.959,0:17:04.240
came out and said that
0:17:02.160,0:17:05.520
felons couldn’t vote if they had
0:17:04.240,0:17:08.640
committed a crime
0:17:05.520,0:17:09.600
of moral turpitude but they didn’t state
0:17:08.640,0:17:11.919
what that meant
0:17:09.600,0:17:12.799
and they didn’t tell the vote the felons
0:17:11.919,0:17:15.919
whose
0:17:12.799,0:17:19.199
rights had been restored oh no
0:17:15.919,0:17:21.039
so no one knew if that meant them or not
0:17:19.199,0:17:22.240
yeah they didn’t tell you like your
0:17:21.039,0:17:24.000
crime was moral
0:17:22.240,0:17:25.600
what does that even mean that sounds
0:17:24.000,0:17:29.039
like a fake word it’s like
0:17:25.600,0:17:30.799
severity okay and if if they went to
0:17:29.039,0:17:32.720
sign up to vote they would have to check
0:17:30.799,0:17:33.840
if they had committed a crime of moral
0:17:32.720,0:17:36.640
turpitude
0:17:33.840,0:17:37.600
under fear of prosecution well who’s the
0:17:36.640,0:17:40.320
one deciding
0:17:37.600,0:17:42.160
like yeah is it a judge or what and then
0:17:40.320,0:17:44.880
do they have to pay court fees for that
0:17:42.160,0:17:46.640
judge to decide if it’s a moral tribute
0:17:44.880,0:17:48.320
it would be the like the attorney
0:17:46.640,0:17:50.320
general wow
0:17:48.320,0:17:51.600
the courts so no one knew they would go
0:17:50.320,0:17:53.520
to vote and be like
0:17:51.600,0:17:55.360
i don’t know if this is me or not yeah
0:17:53.520,0:17:57.200
and it’s like are they classifying like
0:17:55.360,0:17:58.559
do they have to do case by case person
0:17:57.200,0:18:00.400
by person or is it like
0:17:58.559,0:18:02.559
caught with a certain offense like all
0:18:00.400,0:18:03.760
people if it’s like a drug offense like
0:18:02.559,0:18:04.559
but i don’t know but like what if it’s
0:18:03.760,0:18:06.400
like person
0:18:04.559,0:18:08.320
per person and then that’s going to take
0:18:06.400,0:18:11.200
forever to like figure out if
0:18:08.320,0:18:12.240
you qualified yeah i think that was the
0:18:11.200,0:18:14.480
point to make it
0:18:12.240,0:18:16.320
difficult to make people confused to not
0:18:14.480,0:18:18.480
know if they can build or not yeah
0:18:16.320,0:18:19.600
but yeah all in all there are six
0:18:18.480,0:18:21.600
million
0:18:19.600,0:18:22.799
americans who have lost the right to
0:18:21.600,0:18:24.880
vote and like that
0:18:22.799,0:18:25.840
only hurts our democracy i was like
0:18:24.880,0:18:28.080
talking to like my
0:18:25.840,0:18:30.480
australian friends and then i think it’s
0:18:28.080,0:18:32.320
the same in britain in malaysia
0:18:30.480,0:18:34.160
in those countries apparently voting is
0:18:32.320,0:18:36.320
mandatory so they always have to like
0:18:34.160,0:18:37.039
you’re legally required to vote in every
0:18:36.320,0:18:39.039
election
0:18:37.039,0:18:40.880
and so they always have 100 turnout you
0:18:39.039,0:18:42.240
can choose to abstain your vote but you
0:18:40.880,0:18:44.160
still have to like tell
0:18:42.240,0:18:46.160
the government like i’m staying in my
0:18:44.160,0:18:48.400
vote and like at first i was like my
0:18:46.160,0:18:49.360
like gut reaction to that was like i’m
0:18:48.400,0:18:50.890
an american
0:18:49.360,0:18:52.559
government can’t tell me what to do
0:18:50.890,0:18:55.120
[Laughter]
0:18:52.559,0:18:57.039
classic but like i don’t know like what
0:18:55.120,0:18:58.799
i feel like that’s kind of like
0:18:57.039,0:19:00.799
like what a true democracy means like
0:18:58.799,0:19:02.799
everyone that way like you can’t
0:19:00.799,0:19:03.760
be restricting people’s votes what do
0:19:02.799,0:19:05.760
you guys think about that because i’m
0:19:03.760,0:19:07.679
sure there’s like a lot of pros and cons
0:19:05.760,0:19:10.000
i think there’s so many barriers that
0:19:07.679,0:19:12.080
we’re talking about right now to voting
0:19:10.000,0:19:13.520
if you required like felons to vote
0:19:12.080,0:19:15.120
which means you’d require them to pay
0:19:13.520,0:19:17.280
court fees i think that’s not
0:19:15.120,0:19:18.880
awesome not super feasible for our
0:19:17.280,0:19:21.039
country right now but i think that
0:19:18.880,0:19:22.799
that’s the point that we want to get to
0:19:21.039,0:19:24.480
i think having the option to abstain
0:19:22.799,0:19:26.480
easily i think that we should also
0:19:24.480,0:19:27.600
utilize technology with voting
0:19:26.480,0:19:30.240
i don’t know if we have a bunch of
0:19:27.600,0:19:31.760
luddites in politics or what
0:19:30.240,0:19:34.000
luddite is like someone who’s scared of
0:19:31.760,0:19:34.640
technology but like i think that oh
0:19:34.000,0:19:36.080
definitely
0:19:34.640,0:19:37.520
i think we should start utilizing
0:19:36.080,0:19:38.240
technology to make voting more
0:19:37.520,0:19:39.520
accessible
0:19:38.240,0:19:40.720
ideally that’s where we’d want to be i
0:19:39.520,0:19:42.240
think that’s a better idea it’s
0:19:40.720,0:19:43.520
mandatory to at least say that you’re
0:19:42.240,0:19:45.919
abstaining from voting
0:19:43.520,0:19:46.799
or to actually place your vote if anyone
0:19:45.919,0:19:50.080
happened to
0:19:46.799,0:19:52.960
watch a bit of the of congress
0:19:50.080,0:19:54.160
questioning the uh the tech ceos last
0:19:52.960,0:19:57.440
week i think you would get
0:19:54.160,0:20:00.400
that they don’t have much uh technical
0:19:57.440,0:20:01.760
technological knowledge yeah i think uh
0:20:00.400,0:20:04.640
have either of you heard of the
0:20:01.760,0:20:06.080
electoral integrity project it’s the
0:20:04.640,0:20:08.080
most accurate measurement
0:20:06.080,0:20:09.200
for free and fair elections the most
0:20:08.080,0:20:11.919
commonly used one
0:20:09.200,0:20:12.960
in 2016 they came out with a report that
0:20:11.919,0:20:16.080
basically said
0:20:12.960,0:20:19.039
that north carolina isn’t a democracy
0:20:16.080,0:20:19.600
their electoral rating was so bad that
0:20:19.039,0:20:23.039
they fell
0:20:19.600,0:20:26.080
somewhere between iran and venezuela
0:20:23.039,0:20:28.480
one party is overwhelmingly receiving
0:20:26.080,0:20:30.080
seats in regards to how the people vote
0:20:28.480,0:20:32.159
the main issue was
0:20:30.080,0:20:34.320
voting district boundaries if you know
0:20:32.159,0:20:36.559
what gerrymandering is it’s
0:20:34.320,0:20:38.240
drawing district boundaries in a way
0:20:36.559,0:20:41.679
that helps your party
0:20:38.240,0:20:42.960
so republicans in power will decide to
0:20:41.679,0:20:44.799
redistrict the state
0:20:42.960,0:20:46.880
and draw out the voting boundaries
0:20:44.799,0:20:48.159
between districts if the state is maybe
0:20:46.880,0:20:51.280
like 55
0:20:48.159,0:20:53.280
republican and 45 democrat they may be
0:20:51.280,0:20:56.320
able to draw those boundaries to make
0:20:53.280,0:20:58.640
them have 12 republican seats versus
0:20:56.320,0:20:59.679
three democratic seats the electoral
0:20:58.640,0:21:02.320
integrity project
0:20:59.679,0:21:03.760
found that north carolina’s integrity of
0:21:02.320,0:21:07.520
voting district boundaries
0:21:03.760,0:21:09.200
was lower than any country on earth so
0:21:07.520,0:21:10.880
their boundaries like their voting
0:21:09.200,0:21:11.840
district boundaries are just so
0:21:10.880,0:21:13.840
like you could tell it’s been
0:21:11.840,0:21:15.520
manipulated so much and it’s like so
0:21:13.840,0:21:17.600
unnatural yeah
0:21:15.520,0:21:18.640
okay they gave them all these crazy
0:21:17.600,0:21:21.039
names like
0:21:18.640,0:21:23.039
frogs splattered on a windshield because
0:21:21.039,0:21:24.880
the districts look like they make no
0:21:23.039,0:21:27.039
logical sense on how they look
0:21:24.880,0:21:28.240
because they’re they’re drawn
0:21:27.039,0:21:30.480
specifically
0:21:28.240,0:21:32.480
to increase voting power for a certain
0:21:30.480,0:21:34.159
party so i know in our example we said
0:21:32.480,0:21:36.000
the republican party
0:21:34.159,0:21:37.280
is this hap does this happen on both
0:21:36.000,0:21:39.280
sides or is there
0:21:37.280,0:21:41.039
like a particular side that has done
0:21:39.280,0:21:43.919
this more often historically
0:21:41.039,0:21:45.039
yeah you know both parties have done it
0:21:43.919,0:21:47.360
mostly
0:21:45.039,0:21:48.720
republican both parties have done this
0:21:47.360,0:21:51.919
to their own advantage
0:21:48.720,0:21:52.640
in unfair ways but if you look at how
0:21:51.919,0:21:55.120
things stand
0:21:52.640,0:21:55.760
now like wisconsin north carolina
0:21:55.120,0:21:57.840
georgia
0:21:55.760,0:22:00.000
pennsylvania their districts are drawn
0:21:57.840,0:22:03.200
in ways that disproportionately
0:22:00.000,0:22:04.720
favor republicans oh wow okay
0:22:03.200,0:22:06.799
that’s interesting it’d be interesting
0:22:04.720,0:22:10.000
to see like the ratio between
0:22:06.799,0:22:12.159
states that are gerrymandering and what
0:22:10.000,0:22:13.120
political party represents that state
0:22:12.159,0:22:15.200
yeah yeah
0:22:13.120,0:22:16.720
yeah like wisconsin’s a pretty split
0:22:15.200,0:22:19.280
state you know
0:22:16.720,0:22:20.240
but their their state legislature is
0:22:19.280,0:22:22.400
overwhelmingly
0:22:20.240,0:22:23.679
republican this is something that gets
0:22:22.400,0:22:25.600
fought in the courts
0:22:23.679,0:22:27.360
and a lot of but honestly a lot of the
0:22:25.600,0:22:28.159
time the chords rule you need to redraw
0:22:27.360,0:22:30.400
your boundaries
0:22:28.159,0:22:33.120
and then they just reach on in another
0:22:30.400,0:22:33.120
gerrymandering
0:22:35.360,0:22:40.320
it’s a hard problem to solve definitely
0:22:38.400,0:22:42.480
also just i’m curious where did that
0:22:40.320,0:22:42.960
term come from gerrymandering is there a
0:22:42.480,0:22:46.080
guy
0:22:42.960,0:22:49.679
whose name was gerrymander
0:22:46.080,0:22:52.240
it’s from like the like early colonial
0:22:49.679,0:22:53.120
days so this has been an ongoing issue
0:22:52.240,0:22:57.200
yeah
0:22:53.120,0:22:59.760
okay wow yeah it was first used in 1812.
0:22:57.200,0:23:03.840
because uh the first time it was done it
0:22:59.760,0:23:05.679
resembled the shape of a salamander
0:23:03.840,0:23:09.760
it was the governor’s last name put
0:23:05.679,0:23:12.400
together with the word salamander
0:23:09.760,0:23:12.960
very creative natalie you asked earlier
0:23:12.400,0:23:15.120
about
0:23:12.960,0:23:16.480
why voter id laws are implemented the
0:23:15.120,0:23:19.440
justification for that
0:23:16.480,0:23:19.840
is to stop voter fraud but when you look
0:23:19.440,0:23:23.440
at
0:23:19.840,0:23:25.760
all the elections between 2000 and 2016
0:23:23.440,0:23:26.960
that’s five presidential elections how
0:23:25.760,0:23:29.039
many more small ones
0:23:26.960,0:23:30.880
that is one billion votes there were
0:23:29.039,0:23:33.120
only 44
0:23:30.880,0:23:34.080
incidents of voter fraud out of a
0:23:33.120,0:23:37.120
billion
0:23:34.080,0:23:40.320
whoa that’s a point
0:23:37.120,0:23:40.799
zero zero zero zero zero four percent
0:23:40.320,0:23:42.640
chance
0:23:40.799,0:23:44.080
you’re more likely to win an olympic
0:23:42.640,0:23:47.120
gold medal
0:23:44.080,0:23:48.480
yeah and all of those incidents of voter
0:23:47.120,0:23:50.159
fraud they did find
0:23:48.480,0:23:51.600
three of them would have been stopped by
0:23:50.159,0:23:53.600
a voter id i feel like
0:23:51.600,0:23:55.120
the voter fraud debate here all the time
0:23:53.600,0:23:56.640
but i actually didn’t know the numbers
0:23:55.120,0:23:58.320
behind it so i’m glad you
0:23:56.640,0:24:00.000
put them in the episode yeah the whole
0:23:58.320,0:24:01.600
point is putting that on the agenda
0:24:00.000,0:24:03.360
making people worried about it
0:24:01.600,0:24:05.440
nowadays you hear everyone talking about
0:24:03.360,0:24:08.640
like mail-in voting fraud
0:24:05.440,0:24:10.240
but actually voting by mail
0:24:08.640,0:24:12.159
those ballots are under much more
0:24:10.240,0:24:14.159
scrutiny than normal voting
0:24:12.159,0:24:16.159
the only real problem with them is that
0:24:14.159,0:24:18.799
way too many are rejected
0:24:16.159,0:24:21.200
because they a lot of they’ll check your
0:24:18.799,0:24:23.440
signature to see if it matches
0:24:21.200,0:24:25.200
the signature on your id those ballots
0:24:23.440,0:24:27.039
are actually under more scrutiny
0:24:25.200,0:24:28.240
and a decent number of them do get
0:24:27.039,0:24:32.400
rejected
0:24:28.240,0:24:34.320
wow also millions upon millions of
0:24:32.400,0:24:34.960
voters have been purged from the voter
0:24:34.320,0:24:36.799
rolls
0:24:34.960,0:24:39.120
to stop voter fraud that’s the thing
0:24:36.799,0:24:42.799
like these accusations of voter fraud
0:24:39.120,0:24:46.240
are speculation but the voter purging
0:24:42.799,0:24:48.640
is real well why
0:24:46.240,0:24:50.960
these state governments will remove
0:24:48.640,0:24:52.799
voters from the voter registration list
0:24:50.960,0:24:54.000
because they think maybe they moved out
0:24:52.799,0:24:56.480
of state or something
0:24:54.000,0:24:57.840
they see someone who’s registered in
0:24:56.480,0:25:00.320
multiple states
0:24:57.840,0:25:02.320
but there have been so many flaws with
0:25:00.320,0:25:04.240
that people have been like uh i voted in
0:25:02.320,0:25:05.679
the primary election three months ago
0:25:04.240,0:25:06.640
and you purged me from the voter roll
0:25:05.679,0:25:08.720
and a lot of people
0:25:06.640,0:25:10.480
show up to vote on election day and find
0:25:08.720,0:25:12.240
out that they’ve been purged from the
0:25:10.480,0:25:14.559
voter roll to stop voter fraud
0:25:12.240,0:25:17.039
oh my gosh and you can’t can you
0:25:14.559,0:25:18.400
register the day of to vote or no like
0:25:17.039,0:25:21.279
what if you got purged
0:25:18.400,0:25:21.679
and then you showed me you’d be out of
0:25:21.279,0:25:24.159
luck
0:25:21.679,0:25:25.760
that’s another thing like in montana you
0:25:24.159,0:25:28.640
can register the day of the election
0:25:25.760,0:25:30.000
it’s so easy out here but but like you
0:25:28.640,0:25:33.120
go to like georgia
0:25:30.000,0:25:34.000
there are so many barriers it’s it’s
0:25:33.120,0:25:36.000
ridiculous
0:25:34.000,0:25:37.760
it shouldn’t even be a partisan thing
0:25:36.000,0:25:40.880
there is reason to be
0:25:37.760,0:25:41.679
very careful with voting and to double
0:25:40.880,0:25:43.520
check
0:25:41.679,0:25:45.600
that you’re registered to know how
0:25:43.520,0:25:48.159
you’re voting especially this year
0:25:45.600,0:25:49.520
like if you’re voting in person try to
0:25:48.159,0:25:51.600
vote early if you can
0:25:49.520,0:25:52.960
a lot of states offer early voting take
0:25:51.600,0:25:54.640
safety precautions
0:25:52.960,0:25:56.400
if you’re voting by mail make sure your
0:25:54.640,0:25:58.720
signature matches your id
0:25:56.400,0:26:00.080
mail in your ballot far ahead of time
0:25:58.720,0:26:02.400
take that ballot
0:26:00.080,0:26:04.240
drop it off at a drop box if you can
0:26:02.400,0:26:06.640
request an absentee ballot
0:26:04.240,0:26:08.320
now for me like you know you hear a lot
0:26:06.640,0:26:10.960
of people talk about how they don’t like
0:26:08.320,0:26:13.039
politics how they’re disillusioned
0:26:10.960,0:26:14.320
but i don’t think that’s any excuse not
0:26:13.039,0:26:17.200
to vote and
0:26:14.320,0:26:19.279
for me that comes down to the stories of
0:26:17.200,0:26:20.159
all those who have fought so hard for
0:26:19.279,0:26:21.760
the right to vote
0:26:20.159,0:26:23.200
you look at how many people are trying
0:26:21.760,0:26:25.679
to vote and have
0:26:23.200,0:26:28.080
such difficulties in doing so i don’t
0:26:25.679,0:26:30.480
think you can look at that and say
0:26:28.080,0:26:32.159
well i don’t want to vote because i
0:26:30.480,0:26:32.640
don’t really like either candidate i
0:26:32.159,0:26:34.559
know
0:26:32.640,0:26:36.880
we want candidates that perfectly fit
0:26:34.559,0:26:38.559
everything we want all our policy wishes
0:26:36.880,0:26:40.720
but it rarely works like that
0:26:38.559,0:26:41.600
and there is a difference in the leaders
0:26:40.720,0:26:44.559
that we choose
0:26:41.600,0:26:46.240
even if we don’t like our options and
0:26:44.559,0:26:47.440
it’s the vulnerable communities that
0:26:46.240,0:26:49.520
most feel the effects
0:26:47.440,0:26:50.960
of that which i think everyone needs to
0:26:49.520,0:26:52.799
remember when they vote i don’t think
0:26:50.960,0:26:54.400
voting has to be a cure-all
0:26:52.799,0:26:56.720
your vote isn’t going to change
0:26:54.400,0:26:59.600
everything but it’s a first step
0:26:56.720,0:27:00.320
it’s an important one and for some of us
0:26:59.600,0:27:03.200
it’s easy
0:27:00.320,0:27:05.360
yeah beautifully said and i agree it’s
0:27:03.200,0:27:07.760
not just voting in the general election
0:27:05.360,0:27:09.360
local elections primaries every single
0:27:07.760,0:27:11.039
chance you get to cast a vote
0:27:09.360,0:27:12.640
it’s a privilege and responsibility for
0:27:11.039,0:27:15.360
american citizens to
0:27:12.640,0:27:15.919
cast a vote whenever you can local
0:27:15.360,0:27:18.399
elections
0:27:15.919,0:27:19.279
have like the lowest turnout out of all
0:27:18.399,0:27:20.880
of our
0:27:19.279,0:27:22.880
different types of elections but like
0:27:20.880,0:27:23.679
honestly they’re so important state
0:27:22.880,0:27:25.840
officials
0:27:23.679,0:27:27.039
county officials town officials they
0:27:25.840,0:27:28.640
have a lot more power
0:27:27.039,0:27:30.880
than people realize like attorney
0:27:28.640,0:27:31.200
generals i realized until recently like
0:27:30.880,0:27:34.640
oh
0:27:31.200,0:27:37.919
man like i didn’t realize how much
0:27:34.640,0:27:39.600
legislation they impact yeah the
0:27:37.919,0:27:42.320
attorney general’s the one
0:27:39.600,0:27:43.120
doing the moral term interpretee what is
0:27:42.320,0:27:46.159
it
0:27:43.120,0:27:48.159
turpitude perpetuity you gotta
0:27:46.159,0:27:49.360
pick the right one encourage everyone to
0:27:48.159,0:27:52.159
do their research i think
0:27:49.360,0:27:53.840
there are a lot of websites that i think
0:27:52.159,0:27:55.279
break down all the candidates for like
0:27:53.840,0:27:56.640
all these like various
0:27:55.279,0:27:58.480
positions i don’t know what i’m trying
0:27:56.640,0:28:00.720
to say let’s try to link that
0:27:58.480,0:28:02.000
in like the description on the youtube
0:28:00.720,0:28:04.320
channel and the podcast because
0:28:02.000,0:28:06.080
i’m gonna get off my high horse i will
0:28:04.320,0:28:07.679
be the first one to say i do not vote in
0:28:06.080,0:28:09.360
every single election i’m really like
0:28:07.679,0:28:12.000
giving good advice that i should be
0:28:09.360,0:28:13.679
taking i need to vote more often and i
0:28:12.000,0:28:15.440
do not educate myself as much as i
0:28:13.679,0:28:16.480
should to be a good voter and that’s
0:28:15.440,0:28:18.480
something that i’m
0:28:16.480,0:28:20.159
working on changing and making an effort
0:28:18.480,0:28:21.440
to get better at we’re all learning
0:28:20.159,0:28:23.520
we’re all learning how to be better
0:28:21.440,0:28:24.799
proactive citizens of our country for
0:28:23.520,0:28:27.679
sure i really agree
0:28:24.799,0:28:29.360
even in like the 2016 election like in
0:28:27.679,0:28:30.640
the general election i just voted for
0:28:29.360,0:28:33.600
like president
0:28:30.640,0:28:35.279
like all the other like local um
0:28:33.600,0:28:36.799
officials that were on the ballot i kind
0:28:35.279,0:28:38.080
of like i just abstained and i skipped
0:28:36.799,0:28:40.080
through because i was like oh i don’t
0:28:38.080,0:28:41.600
i didn’t even realize they were up for
0:28:40.080,0:28:42.559
election and like i don’t know who these
0:28:41.600,0:28:45.200
people are and like
0:28:42.559,0:28:46.640
all these positions are so important so
0:28:45.200,0:28:49.120
everyone should do their research
0:28:46.640,0:28:51.600
definitely especially all the new young
0:28:49.120,0:28:54.480
voters our demographic for this podcast
0:28:51.600,0:28:56.960
is quite young so some of you may be
0:28:54.480,0:29:00.000
voting for the first time so get excited
0:28:56.960,0:29:00.720
get educated and get ready to vote for
0:29:00.000,0:29:03.520
this fall
0:29:00.720,0:29:04.000
for sure that’s right so for my job i’ve
0:29:03.520,0:29:05.840
been
0:29:04.000,0:29:08.080
talking to a lot of voters across
0:29:05.840,0:29:10.399
america i talked to this one lady she
0:29:08.080,0:29:12.559
was 75 years old i asked her if she
0:29:10.399,0:29:15.760
would vote absentee she was like
0:29:12.559,0:29:18.880
nothing short of death will stop me from
0:29:15.760,0:29:20.799
voting she was like if i become sick i
0:29:18.880,0:29:23.919
will have my children keep me on
0:29:20.799,0:29:24.880
life support until november 3rd this
0:29:23.919,0:29:27.039
lady is
0:29:24.880,0:29:28.880
my hero i think our i think our
0:29:27.039,0:29:30.559
generation needs more of that
0:29:28.880,0:29:32.960
you talk to the older generation they’re
0:29:30.559,0:29:34.720
always like yes
0:29:32.960,0:29:36.880
nothing will stop me i was like an
0:29:34.720,0:29:39.120
election judge one year and i swear like
0:29:36.880,0:29:40.880
80 of the people that came to vote were
0:29:39.120,0:29:43.440
like over the age of 65
0:29:40.880,0:29:46.080
i was like wow well i mean think about
0:29:43.440,0:29:47.039
that demographic if you’re over 65 you
0:29:46.080,0:29:49.200
probably grew up
0:29:47.039,0:29:51.120
civil rights era so you know how much of
0:29:49.200,0:29:52.720
an honor it is to be able to like have
0:29:51.120,0:29:55.600
your voice represented
0:29:52.720,0:29:57.919
that’s true thank you so much david for
0:29:55.600,0:30:01.200
doing this episode and educating us
0:29:57.919,0:30:04.480
on how to vote everyone get excited
0:30:01.200,0:30:09.690
yeah thanks for having me on your show
0:30:04.480,0:30:19.259
come back i’m an honored guest
0:30:09.690,0:30:19.259
[Music]
How Did We Not Know That 