It appears that “Jim Eagle” has flown the coop.
Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld critical provisions in Florida election law reforms, including provisions that Democratic politicians and pundits spent years misrepresenting as “a return to Jim Crow.” Many of these attacks were directed against Georgia, which was the subject of boycotts. However, other states passed similar provisions. In a majority opinion written by Chief Judge William Pryor (and joined by Judge Elizabeth Grant), the 11th Circuit found that the district court misconstrued the controlling precedent and made factual errors in its injunction of a few of the provisions enacted by Florida.
The voting reforms were signed into law in 2021 by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
The decision deals with many of the provisions long denounced in the media as voter suppression from regulations on ballot drop boxes, the solicitation of voters at the polls, and the delivery of voter-registration forms by third-party voter-registration organizations.
These provisions have been called a virtual return to the confederacy by President Biden.
Indeed, it was not enough for Joe Biden to repeat his past claims that these provisions were “Jim Crow on steroids” and “sick.” He weirdly called them “Jim Eagle.” Former Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias also denounced the laws and was hired to challenge them, including the action in this litigation.
Elias and others also lost similar efforts in Georgia. Courts have rejected voter suppression claims by Stacey Abrams, Elias, and others.
One of the key provisions being challenged in both Florida and Georgia (and repeatedly referenced by Biden) is the ban on campaigns and groups handing out food and water to people waiting in line at election sites. These so called “line warming” provisions are designed to prevent campaigns from getting around bans on politicking near voting sites by handing out things of value to voters just before they cast their votes.
The provisions in Georgia (and states like Florida) have been grossly misrepresented by President Biden and others.
Even The Washington Post awarded Biden four “Pinocchios” for his characterization of the law. For example, Biden declared, “it’s sick. It’s sick … deciding that you’re going to end voting at 5 o’clock when working people are just getting off work.” Biden repeated this claim despite it being untrue. The election law actually does the opposite. It guaranteed that, at a minimum, polls would remain open for a full workday while allowing extended hours commonly used on Election Day.
Biden also claimed that the Georgia law prevented water from being given to voters waiting in line at polling places: “Imagine passing a law saying you cannot provide water or food for someone standing in line to vote, can’t do that? C’mon!” That is also untrue.
The law does not prevent providing water to people standing in line. The law allows “self-service water from an unattended receptacle” for voters waiting in line. Instead, it blocks campaigns from directly supplying such drinks and allows anyone to give water to voters outside of a limited area around the polling place. In reality, the Georgia and Florida laws have considerable overlap with provisions in other states.
Courts have swatted back these challenges and refused injunctions.
In one of the most significant elements of the decision, the 11th Circuit reversed U.S. District Judge Mark Walker’s order that the state must secure court approval for a decade before it enacts any changes to three areas of election law. The court found that Walker committed errors on the applicable standards as well as “clearly erroneous” findings of fact. It noted that Walker ignored that “[w]e have rejected the argument that ‘a racist past is evidence of current intent.’”
Moreover, in his district court order, Judge Walker wrote that “for white and Black voters in Florida, separating race from politics only works in science fiction.”
However, Chief Judge Pryor responded that “the Supreme Court has warned against conflating discrimination on the basis of party affiliation with discrimination on the basis of race.”
Judge Walker will now have to reconsider the case.
The court did affirmed Walker on vague language banning any activity with the “effect of influencing a voter” near a voting area. The law prohibited people from “engaging in any activity with the . . . effect of influencing a voter.” Chief Judge Pryor balked at the vagueness of that language:
“How is an individual seeking to comply with the law to anticipate whether his or her actions will have the subjective effect of influencing a voter? Knowing what it means to influence a voter does not bestow the ability to predict which actions will influence a voter. As a result, the district court correctly determined that this phrase in the solicitation provision ‘both fails to put Floridians of ordinary intelligence on notice of what acts it criminalizes and encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, making this provision vague to the point of unconstitutionality.’”
Nevertheless, that was a minor victory given the reversal of the major provisions. It specifically found that the ban on giving food and water in line, the drop box limitations and the third-party voter registration restrictions are all lawful under the 14th and 15th Amendments and the Voting Rights Act (VRA).
The majority lays out its reasoning in 78 pages of detailed refutation of the district court’s findings and standards. What is curious is that Judge Jill Pryor does not specifically address a single one of these arguments and just offers a conclusory one paragraph dissent:
“I would affirm the district court’s injunction prohibiting the enforcement of S.B. 90’s drop-box, solicitation, and registration-delivery provisions. In my view, the district court, in its thorough and well-reasoned order, committed no reversible error when it concluded that these provisions violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, as well as section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Given these violations, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it ordered the State of Florida to submit to preclearance under section 3 of the Voting Rights Act. I respectfully dissent.”
That is equivalent to a judicial shrug. It is curious because the plaintiffs may seek an en banc appeal or a petition for writ of certiorari before the Supreme Court. It is useful to have a reasoned dissent that addresses these appellate issues. Instead, Judge Jill Pryor offers a mere 153-word dissent, if one counts “I respectfully dissent.”
While the plaintiffs may want to go for an en banc review, an appeal to the Supreme Court would come at a heightened risk. They could magnify this loss with a major new ruling from the highest court. Chief Judge Pryor’s reasoning is likely to resonate with a majority of the Supreme Court, particularly the rejection of the preclearance order. Most public interest advocates seek not to just make good law but avoid making bad law in the interests of their clients. Doubling down on a bad hand could prove costly for these groups.
Washington State has followed Oregon in having *only* mail-in ballots; now no stamp required. All you need at home is a blue or black pen or even pencil.
#2 pencil
I have heard the district court judge who got so comprehensively overruled will be the one hearing the Disney case.
The important restriction is to limit the influence and access by outside parties into the voting process.
Zuck Bucks to put more ballot boxes in Democratic strong holds so that they can vote early and vote often.
The tying of these funds to specific requests like access to data.
The abuses that are rampant because of illegal ballot collections and then drop off.
The laws that allow one to count a vote if postmarked by EOD on election day.
(If you can’t vote in person… then cast your vote early enough to get there before election day.)
Lax signature validation and lax registration validation.
(You could register the day of voting and have it count, yet you may not be eligible to vote. )
But the dangers are bad data and bad voter registration rolls.
You can have and see 100’s of ballots being set to apartments and buildings where they physically couldn’t live.
You have nursing homes where elderly patients can’t vote because they aren’t mentally there. Yet they voted.
(Good luck charging the nurses or orderlies who voted for them.)
No signature validations means that anyone can pretend to be you, vote and before you know it. Its counted because the vote is anonymous once the ballot is separated from the envelope.
The ability to cure a bad mail in ballot. (You didn’t sign? Ok we’ll let you sign or if the address is partially incorrect… its still ok. )
Then there’s the sharing of real time voting data.
This can be dangerous because you can see people priming the pump w mail in ballots that just happen to appear.
Voter rolls being manipulated where people are suddenly added, voted and then mysteriously removed.
-G
Here’s the wild thing.
Most liberals live in an echo chamber.
A couple of years ago, my nephew and his then girlfriend were on a road trip from NYC to somewhere in FL to visit her family.
Both were Brown graduates, so they had a few functioning brain cells.
Now I’m a centrist, and an independent. Never had a party affiliation, ever. (So primaries are a blast since I can’t do anything about them)
But compared to these kids, I was right of Genghis Kahn.
All she would do is claim that there is systemic racism. Everywhere. That theres the ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ laws going on.
Yet she couldn’t give me any examples. The simple truth is that for the most part, we’ve evolved from the racism of the 60’s and 70’s… except that we’ve started to back slide a bit under Obama thru Biden. Turley could probably give you an example of the Chicago Fire Department and the lawsuit that fixed the racism issue. When we see racism, we correct it. (Unless its against White males since they are not a protected class.)
BPOC groups demand ‘separate but equal’ environments and the ‘woke’ Universities are placating them.
MLK is probably doing spins in his grave over this. There’s more like cultural appropriation vs ‘melting pot’ and what it means to be an American.
But I digress.
My wife shut me down because I was about to expose the fallacy of their world viewpoint.
The racism and antisemitism my father saw was worse than what I saw … which was worse than what some of my nephews faced. The point is that the trend is that we’re getting better. Until the rise of the ‘wokeness’ and CRT. Now everything is racist.
100+ years after abuses of minorities, we must still pay the price. Reparations?
Sure. Show me a person who was a slave in the US.
The whole idea that a black person can’t vote and barriers are being raised to stop them from voting is false.
Anyone who has a valid ID can vote if they so choose. (Assuming that they are legally eligible to vote. )
And this gets to the other issue that the Libtards want. Lower the voting age. They want this because they’ve been indoctrinating the kids in school and have sway and influence over them. (Extra credit if they attend a protest march.) They know that when these kids leave school, their opinions will change when they get out into the real world. Oh and one ironic issue… raise the age to own a gun to 21 while reducing the age to vote? Really?
The simple truth.
There is no Jim Crow 2.0 unless you’re a libtard and you’re the ones being racist.
Sorry for my ramblings…
-G
Ian Michael Gumby: Actually, your “ramblings” are good. I add one note to your comment, “All she would do is claim that there is systemic racism. Everywhere. That theres the ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ laws going on.”
—It reminds me of that old children’s fairy tale about the boy who repeatedly called “Wolf!”
@Lin,
Its not crying ‘wolf’ but the indoctrination that has been going on.
Turley has written about the lack of ideological diversity in the schools, especially at the University level.
She is merely spouting what she learned in school. But because I went to a state school, not an ivy league school… her education is so much superior.
(Of course I am an engineer who got college credit for my AP courses in History and what not. So what do I know? )
To be clear… there is racism still going on. I’ve seen it occur. But its not systemic. The system isn’t racist.
While everyone talks about how the blacks require reparations because of the racist past… I had to remind her about the Vietnamese refugees that came to this country in the 70’s. First generation fleeing w nothing more than a suitcase if that. Yet by the second or third generation, you have engineers, lawyers (ick) and doctors. This was the same for Jews back around the turn of the 20th century. Or those who fled Cuba… All of these minorities have gone thru the same scenario and have done well. The only difference… the welfare system of the late 60’s and 70’s that was supposed to be a safety net helped create the scenario and trap for black Americans. I blame it on the destruction of the nuclear family due to our welfare system.
The other difference… the importance of an education.
While this is getting a bit off topic, let me bring it back in…
The issue isn’t that we need to make voting easier… but that we need to raise awareness and the importance of the right to vote.
Show me someone … an American citizen who doesn’t have an ID. (Those over 18)
I suspect its a very small percentage.
-G
“But [racism is] not systemic.”
I beg to differ.
There is systemic racism, as in: racism spread throughout the culture’s system, i.e., its institutions — education, politics, business, the media. That racism is in the form of affirmative action and “diversity” — both Leftist policies.
HEAR!! HEAR!! Thank you for posting this.
Ian Michael Gumby AKA a Nonny Mouse AKA …….
Are you aware that you all have the same gravatar? Is this coincidence or are you changing your handle in different posts.
If you are the poster that uses this gravatar and the handle “anonymous” have you had a brain transplant recently.
@Carlyle
Sorry, you lost me.
I’ve been using Gumby for years…
I don’t post w any other name.
If you’ve got a mouse, it must be in your pocket and you use the “We/They/Them” pronouns when talking.
Sounds like a personal problem to me.
Yes I have a mouse, it is not in my pocket but on my mouse pad.
Do you look at other people’s comments and observe the Gravatars that are attache to your post? If you do you will see another commentor who has the same Gravatar as on your posts. It may be that Gravatars are chose via a hasing algorithm and are not guaranteed to be unique especially the small ones maybe of the order of 30 something bits ones that the Turey blog uses.
It is my impression that both you and Anonymous have swapped from left wing to right wing.
I do not know how gravatars are chosen, they may be based on your email address or they may be based on your handle or maybe on a hash function based on both.
It is impolite and impertinent to make assumptions on what ideologies a commentor follow from just one post.
each email address is assigned a gravatar. If a commenter does not enter an email address, the standard icon is assigned by WordPress to the commenter. However, a commenter can enter their name but not enter an email address, which will result in the assignment of the standard icon. This comment is authored by Estovir, where I will not use my email address but will enter my usual name, Estovir. This is a test
I was correct, though I misspelled my online name
Gumby is likely entering his name but not an email address. Only he knows for sure
@Estovir
Yup.
No email address entered.
Carlyle is full of it.
And it is a mouse in her pants.
-G
Carlyle is full of it.
And it is a mouse in her pants.
Richard Gere was said to use gerbils so if Caryle has a preference for mice, who am I to judge?
Yeah, Carlyle is definitely full of it.
Petsmart spokesman Piers Robertson said that “Richard’s gerbils are bred with a small hoop or loop in the base of their tail. This makes it easier to tie a string on them for tracking purposes and to help pull them out of tight places.”
https://www.thespoof.com/spoof-news/entertainment-gossip/46214/richard-gere-now-californias-biggest-gerbil-breeder
My family left the ‘worker’s paradise’ called Cuba in the 1970’s, I am obviously of Latin origin but for some reason have never found it insulting to produce an ID to vote (and I have never demanded government services in Spanish). You need an ID to board a plane or enter a government building but for some reason our s@@tlib moral betters deem this to be ‘racist’ (whatever that means).
I find it especially patronizing when Anglo s@@tlibs want to speak for or save me; and they seem to take it personally when you don’t need their help. I rarely get push back from other Hispanics for my views on a secure border, race or culture, if I do it is almost always from White Liberals. These ‘do gooders’ give minorities little or no moral agency.
Can some s@@tlib explain how they come to develop a savior complex on behalf of Hispanics (and especially blacks)? Curious minds want to know. Maybe it has something to do with virtue signaling? I need to know.
And calling me a slur is NOT an answer.
antonio
@Antonio,
Is Latinix a slur?
Asking for a friend.
-G
@Ian
I am an American of Cuban origin. LATINIX is one of those terms developed by upper middle class mostly white leftists and their allies to show their inherent goodness and virtue. I seldom, if ever hear ordinary Hispanics use this term (and trust me I have close ties to those communities). I wouldn’t say it is a slur but it’s silly and unnecessary.
antonio
Completely agree, Antonio. Too many Leftists just don’t ‘get it’.
I particularly despise upper middle class s@@tlibs (pardon the redundancy) who like to virtue signal and have a soft spot for regimes like the one in Cuba but do not have to live there under the same conditions as ordinary people. I remember waiting in line as a boy for milk in the 1970’s and we didn’t have relatives in Miami to help by sending foreign currency. This was before the big tourism boom as a result of the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The average citizen is better off but the standard of living is nowhere near that of the West and you can still go to jail for offending the wrong people. I am quite certain that If only they had ‘real’ socialism, it would be heaven on earth.
antonio
“I particularly despise upper middle class s@@tlibs (pardon the redundancy) who like to virtue signal and have a soft spot for regimes like the one in Cuba but do not have to live there under the same conditions as ordinary people.” It has not gone unnoticed by me and many others, those same folks who praise the likes of Socialism never seem to want to move to any of their Utopian-Dream countries where it’s actually practiced; Cuba being the closest Prime example. Nor do they say why. They’re completely dismissive of those who’ve fled Cuba and other genuinely socialist societies, yet I suspect they actually agree those places are Shineola-holes, if you will, but don’t dare let on to prevent their Leftist brethren from attacking their own.
If hasn’t been said yet, or said enough, “Welcome Home, Antonio!” We’re glad you and your family are here.
If a tree falls in the forest, and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? In Miami, I get to listen to DeSantis bashing on every newscast. It is unrelenting. Not a peep about any of the fine things this POTUS is doing to our country. To watch something that is not in line with the Dems talking points spread throughout the “news”, one has to go to Fox. Thank God for this blog and many on Substack. But unless we are able to capture one of the big three (ABC, CBS, NBC) it will always be a mountain climb to wake up most of the public. I’m betting this story will not be seen tonight or any other ight on the big three.
From: Eric Schwerin eschwerin@ Subject: Income
Date: January 16, 2017 at 3:11 PM To: Hunter Biden hbiden@
In 2013, your taxes reported $833,614 in income.
In 2014, your taxes reported $847,328 in income. (To be amended at $1,247,328) In 2015, your taxes reported $2,478,208 in income.
2013 and 2014 were normal years where your income was based pretty much solely on income from Rosemont Seneca and Boies. In 2014 you joined the Burisma board and we still need to amend your 2014 returns to reflect the unreported Burisma income. That is approximately $400,000 extra so your income in 2014 was closer to $1,247,328.
The reason for the increased income in 2015 was that your income broke down as follows:
$166,666 from Burnham (for RSA)
$216,000 from Boies
$365,403 from Owasco (for RSA)
$300,000 one time payment from Eudora (for the 1/3 of CitizensRx)
The above represents all the cash you received directly.
In addition, you reported $1,000,000 of income that all went to RSB and you report $188,616 in income that also went to RSB. You didn’t receive this in cash and it is in reality “phantom income”.
So, of the approximately $2.5m in income you never really received almost $1.2m of it. (My numbers are approximate but you get the idea.)
Of the $1,300,000 in cash you received you had to pay $751,294 in taxes. Since you couldn’t have lived on approximately $550,000 a year you “borrowed” some money from RSB in advance of payments.
FYI, in 2014 and 2015 you also had expenses beyond the norm because you renovated the house. Across 2014 and 2015 the renovation payments totaled approx. $200,000.
The numbers for 2016 haven’t been finalized yet but you made at least the following:
$1,295,000 from Owasco, P.C. (representing Burisma and any Romania payments) $216,000 from Boies Schiller
Unlike the prior years you actually received the above cash but the total income for 2016 won’t be close to 2015.
Hope this makes sense.
Eric D. Schwerin
It looks like your comment is about a different posting than the above.
“the numbers for 2016 haven’t been finalized yet”. How is that possible? Where is the IRS?
The e-mail in question was sent more then seven years ago on 1/1617!
This is such a nothing burger of an issue, and our Dems are so unbelievably vile, racist, and classist at this point I don’t know what to say but that. Joe Biden has created enough bad karma and bad will at this point, the White House and his administration’s lies and gaslighting are SO off the charts, it’s a miracle they don’t just explode from the absurdity of it all. They have made a mockery of civil rights and race relations in this country, our legal system, and basic decency and civility (I’m looking especially at you, Pelosi) right along with the modern MSM, ACLU, NAACP, SPLC, and any other formerly liberal organization you might like to add. What a joke, and thank goodness for a modicum of sanity from the 11th circuit. My family is mixed race, and we are tired of this boosheet. We are far from alone. In ‘enlightened’ NYC, ‘liberal’ people thought my niece’s mother was her nanny because my niece ‘looks’ white and her mother is decidedly not.
They can kiss our a**es, never voting dem again. None of us. Not for school boards, districts, house or senate seats, or POTUS. They can forget it, they have lost all of us for good.
Not a word on Corporate Media about this decision. They sure squawked a lot when Baseball’s ruling idiots took the All Star Game away from local Atlanta Businesses who needed it and gave it to Denver.
@Clay,
They are silent because they can’t win on this issue. Its over.
And they don’t want to bring it up in MSM because its a failure on their part.
Elias should be disbarred.
-G
For those readers of this blog who are unfamiliar with the background of Florida’s election law, here is a short summary what SB 90 (which is similar to SB in GA) had changed:
1. Goal
To restore faith and confidence in elections
2. Main restrictions about vote-by-mail [1]
* Requests (name, address, DOB, form of ID, written signature) must be received in no later than 5:00 pm on the 10th day before an election.
* Aides may only pick up 2 vote-by-mail ballots per election (written authorization from voter, present a picture I.D. and sign an affidavit)
* Signature matching
* Shortened duration to use drop boxes
* Assistance of NGOs in the election process is limited
3. Appeal Court [2]
Except a portion of the law’s solicitation provision SB 90 stays.
[1] https://www.votelevy.gov/Portals/Levy/documents/SB%2090%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf?ver=3Z4cTMQUfaBj769Cn-8E5w%3D%3D
[2] https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202211143.pdf
The real unanswered question is why do republicans continue to pass laws across America that make voting more difficult and unpleasant?
why do republicans continue to pass laws across America that make voting more difficult and unpleasant?
Why do Democrats continue to lie about election law that make voting more difficult.
That’s what repeated judicial ruling are highlighting.
Why do blacks claim they unduly encumbered by attaining a free govt issued photo ID?
“Why do blacks claim they unduly encumbered by attaining a free govt issued photo ID?” To be fair, they aren’t making those claims. Whites are complaining for them by proxy.
https://babylonbee.com/video/white-liberal-shocked-as-black-man-gets-id
@JAFO,
You do realize that the babylonbee is a satire site?
Using it to make your point, unless you were being sarcastic is a bit wonky, no?
@iowan2,
We live in a highly polarized environment. Anything one party is for, the knee jerk reaction for the opposing party is to be against it.
In terms of racist behavior… that would be the Dems. Abrams gets the MLB to boycott GA over a gross misinterpretation of the law… then tries to duck and cover when the only people hurt by the move of the All Star game were the small mostly black businesses that lost revenue due to the move.
The whole issue on voter id requirements is a joke.
You can’t do anything these days without showing an ID. Drivers License or State ID.
Voting is a right that requires a pro-active response from the voter. What many forget is that one can make a conscious decision not to vote and that it doesn’t mean that their rights were violated.
There’s more about the dangers to the election process concerning voter data. (I’ll bring it up in a separate post.)
-G
“@JAFO, You do realize that the babylonbee is a satire site?” Um, yes. “Using it to make your point, unless you were being sarcastic is a bit wonky, no?” Are you implying there’s no room for sarcasm in this blog? If so, I disagree. Or, with respect,…
@JAFO… LOL
Sorry mate, wasn’t sure if you were being *sarcastic*… and no I’m not Francis. 😛
Next time add the tag.
There are a couple of trolls on the board who appear to be sarcastically challenged and post some serious bat sh_t crazy stuff as if it was gospel.
And yes, some of those same people don’t know anything about babylonbee and would use it as a serious link.
-G
BTW the Ian Michael Gumby is a long running joke.
I used to use it for my phone directory listing which later became the name in caller ID.
(Ian Michael Gumby was too long… so could you just use I. M. Gumby ? ala I’m Gumby)
So yeah, I have a sense of humor…
No worries, G, all good here. 😊
Voting is not recreation. Let’s go back to voting in person, on Election Day, with valid (not expired) photo identification that matches the voter’s name and address as entered on the voter registration roles – and severely limit eligibility for voting absentee. Same rules for everyone.
Mistressadams, that’s rank racism! In person, on Election Day. How could you?
A clown would day
Democrats cheat. That is what causes all the rule making.
It is much simpler to have one vote, one person, at the polling place, with voter ID on one day.
That is not good enough for Democrats that need to print their phony ballots, harvest them from dead people, and do all sorts of cheating when the ballots are counted.
Anonymous all that BS you’re saying has been debunked multiple times. It’s what got Fox News in trouble. Fox News has been lying to it’s viewers for years. it seems they took you for a ride too.
” Fox News has been lying to it’s viewers for years.”
Tell us the lies about ballot trafficking?
So if you truly believe in “one person one vote”, surely you must find republicans ‘winning’ supermajorities in state legislatures with < 50% of the vote perverse?
Learn what one person one vote means.
“The law does not prevent providing water to people standing in line. The law allows “self-service water from an unattended receptacle” for voters waiting in line. Instead, it blocks campaigns from directly supplying such drinks and allows anyone to give water to voters outside of a limited area around the polling place.”
Turley as usual mischaracterizes what the law is saying. Those “self service receptacles” are not going to be put throughout the line and the polling places are NOT required to provide them. Only that they MAY by provided. A distinction that Turley ignores because it’s not a guarantee that they will be provided. It also neglects the fact that many of Alabama’s polling places are underfunded in the first place. They barely have enough money to run they operation much less provide water receptacles for long lines. The law blocks ANYONE from providing water or food. It only allows the polling place to do that.
The law makes it a misdemeanor to give away food or water within 150 feet of the outer edge of a polling place building or within 25 feet of any voter in line. Violations of this law are punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. While people other than poll workers can give away food or water, they have to adhere to these boundaries to avoid breaking the law.
It clearly states that ANYONE cannot give away food or water within 25 feet of voters standing in line meaning anyone standing in line, the whole line. Not just within the 150 foot boundary outside a polling place. SB 202 makes it a crime for people — and not just people from political organizations — to hand out food or bottles of water within 150 feet of a polling place or 25 feet of any voter standing in line.
The only kernel of truth is that the law has a sentence which allows poll workers to make available “self-service water from an unattended receptacle to an elector waiting in line to vote.” But just because poll workers can make self-service water available, doesn’t mean they are required to come up with a way to make water accessible to voters in every line at every polling site. Also, people could hand out water or food to voters outside the 150-foot and 25-foot boundaries. It means people would have to leave the line to avoid breaking the law.
Quote the statute, or STFU
Iowan2, you’re a smart guy, surely you can look it up. SB 202
google is your friend.
“No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any
person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give,
or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and
drink, to an elector, nor shall any person solicit signatures for any petition, nor shall any
person, other than election officials discharging their duties, establish or set up any tables
or booths on any day in which ballots are being cast
(1) Within 150 feet of the outer edge of any building within which a polling place is established;
(2) Within any polling place; or
(3) Within 25 feet of any voter standing in line to vote at any polling place.”
https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20212022/201121
“The only kernel of truth is that…”
The only kernel of truth is that Svelaz hides-in-waiting in the bushes near this blog, 25 feet away, every morning without fail, to irrationally jump on any comment that the professor or like-minded commenter makes. Like a vulture or crow, he pecks at the little bits of words (even though he copy-cats others’ words or phrases) to find some crumb to sink his beak into
Anonymous, as usual fails to provide anything of value or substance other than insults and empty rhetoric. He’s only hiding the fact that he does not understand much of what he reads. So he uses insults and vapid responses to deflect from that sad fact.
A distinction that Turley ignores because it’s not a guarantee that they will be provided. It also neglects the fact that many of Alabama’s polling places are underfunded in the first place,
Only adults can vote. Adults are more than capable to anticipate their own needs for food and water. Requiring something so mundane, is a problem.
Iowan2, adults also don’t carry hours worth of water or food when they go to vote, none will know how long they will be in line either. You must be stupid or something because clearly you have not stood in line to vote for more than 4 hrs, right? How long does a bottle of water last while standing in line for vote for 4hrs in the heat? How about just 2 or 3 hrs?
If it’s so mundane, why criminalize the act of giving someone a bottle of water?
Iowan2, adults also don’t carry hours worth of water or food when they go to vote,
A human can go 24 hours without physical harm. But it you are aware enought to vote, you are aware enough to provide for yourself. If you didn’t, it will be the last time you fail to provide for yourself.
Contrary to leftist dogma, the Government in not a nanny.
The law is written with the specific food a beverage restrictions, Democrats hid behind the food and drink to conduct electioneering at the polls. Democrats created the restrictions.
Iowan2, you’re an idiot. Not every human is the same nor is as capable. You’re still ignoring the fact that nobody’s vote is going to be changed because someone provided you with a bottle of water or a snack for free. As you say, if people are capable of voting they sure are capable of knowing who they are going to vote for on their own. once they are in line most voters are already committed to who they will vote for. A free bottle of water or snack is not going to convince you to change your mind.
“ The law is written with the specific food a beverage restrictions,”
Yeah, specially saying ANYONE is liable to be charged with at crime for giving free water or food to people standing in line to vote no matter where they are. The restriction includes no giving away water or food within 25 feet of a voting line. Your asinine argument that people are capable of bringing their own water is besides the point.
You don’t account for heat, humidity, length of time in line. Age of voters, and those who can’t leave the line if they need to get some water. YOU may be able to do what you claim, congratulations. But it’s more likely even YOU would whine and complain about standing for hours in the heat and humidity nursing that hot bottle of water and staring at the back of the voter in front of you…for hours. I doubt you would put up with that kind of BS. It’s easy when you’re all talk, it’s much harder when you actually have to do it.
what a stupid, stupid reply, obviously just to be argumentative. svwelaz, stay in your narrow lane, eh?
“. You’re still ignoring the fact that nobody’s vote is going to be changed because someone provided you with a bottle of water or a snack for free.”
Pure ignorance. Additionally this demonstrates a lack of knowledge of American history, the law and common sense.
“they sure are capable of knowing who they are going to vote for on their own.”
If that were the case Democrats wouldn’t be flooding neighborhoods with people trying to garner votes. They wouldn’t be getting votes from people in nursing homes with Alzheimer’s disease. You seem to know nothing worthwhile and err on everything.
“The restriction includes no giving away water or food within 25 feet of a voting line. “
Bring your own. In any event that is about 8 steps away from the line. You sound foolish. A bathroom seems like a more pressing issue for voters on line. I suppose you wish to bring a bathroom to the voter.
Let me make it clear. Do you think bathrooms should be brought to people on line?
Enough of this foolishness. The ability to put words together doesn’t mean the sentences make sense. Your sentences do not.
Or, bring your own bottle of water.
As noted above, how much water do you consume in the heat and standing for at least 4hrs to vote? One bottle of water is not going to be enough and why should it be a crime to give someone a bottle of water because somehow someway a voter will be “influenced” to vote a certain way? If you are more than 150 ft away from a polling place you are still subjected to billboards and signs to vote for someone else. This lines famously extend for blocks. Should you also wear an adult diaper so you don’t have to leave the line? The reality is that the only reason why they put that food and water restriction is because long lines are more commonly associated with polling places that have majority black populations. No polling place should have you stand more than an hour to vote. At a minimum, I live in a large city and the most I’ve waited to vote in my mostly white district with plenty of polling places for convenience is 20 min.
Polling places are deliberately kept as sparse as possible in minority neighborhoods so lines are long and tiresome instead of convenient and quick.
Svelaz – you say that “polling places are kept sparse in minority neighborhoods.” How is that possible. There is one polling place for precinct, and precincts are about equal n terms of population. Are you suggesting that there are no polling places in certain precincts? Or that there are two or more polling places in “white” neighborhoods? What is your evidence?
My daughter waited in line 8 hours to vote Trump out. The polling place was a church. They provided pizza and drinks for voters. They also had someone available to hold your place in line if you needed the restroom. Today, if this was in Florida, they would be a criminal.
Liar
Polling places are deliberately kept as sparse as possible in minority neighborhoods so lines are long and tiresome instead of convenient and quick.
You know who runs the polls in minority neighborhood? Democrats.
Iowan 2: polls are BIPARTISAN.
“are not going to be put throughout the line and the polling places are NOT required to provide them. Only that they MAY by provided. ”
What is your complaint? No one will lack water if anyone wishes to provide it. How far is too far to walk for a bottle of water?
You sound like a child. Children walk further to the water fountain in their local park.
“They barely have enough money to run they operation much less provide water receptacles for long lines. ”
How long must it be for a line to be too long? If the lines are so long, they can be near the perimeter where campaigning is permitted, so there is no problem.
Do you know anything?
“The law blocks ANYONE from providing water or food. It only allows the polling place to do that.”
How stupid can one be? Outside the polling perimeter, they can have food trucks, active restaurants, etc. What are you muttering about? You sound like an idiot.
“The law makes it a misdemeanor to give away food or water within 150 feet”
You are contradicting what you said earlier. Putting sentences together without understanding them makes you look like a fool.
Do you know how short a distance of 150 feet is? 3/4 of the length of a hockey ring. If one walks from their front door to their neighbor’s, that might be 150 feet.
Why this list attracts such ignorant people is hard to understand.
Svelaz: thank you. Turley keeps using the word “reform” to descibe these laws, which imples that there is something that NEEDS to be reformed. What would that be? How is providing foot and water to people forced to stand in long lines just to vote a bad thing, especially when polling places and times are limited? Providing food and drink is only bad if the places where this is happening are areas with large numbers of Democratic voters. Somehow, providing this comfort is supposed to–what? Cause someone who would have voted Republican to vote Democrat? Turley knows better. Because they keep losing the support of the majority of Americans, Repubicans have to do everything possible to suppress Democrats from voting. Just yesterday, it was reported that another private company paid to investigate Trump’s bogus claim of widespread voter fraud came up with nothing. So, referring to these laws as “reforms” is deliberately misleading. If Florida really wants to reform voting, do away with gerrymandering. That’s not going to happen. But, Turley is paid to shovel the chum to the disciples, so, somehow, keeping people waiting in line for hours to vote hungry and thirsty is a “reform”.
It’s extremely confusing that there are two Judge Pryor’s, apparently. Chief Judge William and Judge Jill.
I’ll bet they are not related.
We find more lies and disinformation from progressive clowns, I am shocked.
We’d like to think that appellate judges (indeed, all judges, but especially appellate ones) would be free of personal/political bias in their opinions. As noted by Professor Turley, Judge Jill Pryor (an Obama appointee, by the way) rendered a rather non-specific, lame dissent that fails to identify any reasonable precedent or even a legal tenet as basis for her opinion.
I note that this same judge (Jill Pryor) was also outnumbered when she authored a losing but vehement dissent against DeSantis just a few years ago, –regarding Florida’s new law that convicted felons who have served their time cannot vote until they pay all pending fines still owing to the county/state.
These facts lead me to conclude that Judge Pryor has allowed her personal/political bias to infiltrate her legal opinion(s).
(I only mention this because, as commenters here already know, MEDIA and other critics love to knock legal opinions they dislike by identifying the judges/justices as “a Trump appointee,” or “conservative.”) I would hope that these personal identifiers would stay out of legal analyses.)
Touché on your very insightful analysis on Judge Jill Pryor. I would not have caught it without your mentioning it.
Reuters did the very thing you stated
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-appeals-court-upholds-florida-voting-law-that-judge-found-discriminatory-2023-04-27/
“The two judges in the majority, William Pryor and Britt Grant, were both nominated by Republican presidents; the dissenting judge, Jill Pryor, who is not related to William Pryor, was nominated by a Democrat.”
Reuters purposely ignored mentioning the fact that the Circuit Judge, Mark Walker, who used “clearly erroneous findings of fact”, was nominated by Barack Obama. Fidel Castro employed a tactic when he launched a coup, known as dividir y conquistar.
Reuters, AP, MSM, et al are the reason why our nation is hopelessly polarized. Tasting power they will never go back to professional journalism. Watergate was the rage in the 1970s and is still mentioned as the demarcation line of corruption in a presidency. Yet, LBJ got a complete pass despite killing millions in Viet Nam, his racism, and corruption in Texas. Joe Rogan stated yesterday on his podcast that LBJ was suspected by RFK of planning the assassination of his brother JFK. That was new info to me but not entirely unrealistic. In the 1970s the MSM acted like paragons of virtue and oracles of truth. They were only getting started.
Recall how Sam Donaldson at ABC waged a jihad against Ronald Reagan at White House pressers with his arrogant, “Now hold on there Mr President”, even writing a book and choosing as its title, that very phrase. I will never forget how the MSM ruthlessly mocked Nancy Reagan, then later in his 2nd term, Reagan for his onset of Alzheimer symptoms. Bush and Bush were treated like piñatas where the MSM and DNC swung with gusto at the caricatures they created of each. Michelle and Barack Obama are all but living flames of genteel holiness, while Jill and Joe Biden are miles away from the press. Biden’s press secretary lies with impunity.
Many of us always felt that the MSM like the Miami Herald practiced yellow journalism, brainwashing their readership with the tactics Reuters employed in the above article. Americans are realizing that the marriage of Biden’s administration with the MSM / Big Tech literally personify fascism. Mussolini would be green with envy. It is a message that all of us should discuss with those within our sphere of influence.
Lin, a dissent is neither “winning” or “losing”. It’s a disagreement on the majority opinion. Judge Pryor had a point that was ignored by the majority. A felon would have no idea how much they owe not the state is required to tell them how much they owe in fines or other fees that are not readily available. Since states are notorious for providing that information it is used as an excuse to unnecessarily prolong the punishment. Fines may take years to pay off and that is if the state is keeping accurate track of them effectively preventing felons from voting for a long time which is the intent in my opinion.
“In dissent, Judge Jill Pryor said that figuring out whether LFOs have been paid is merely “legislative.” She said it was adjudicative because “the Division of Elections is tasked with both conducting an individualized assessment of felon’s LFOs and determining whether they have been satisfied.”
SB 7066 failed to “provide sufficient standards for how to determine whether a felon has satisfied the LFO requirement, resulting in an arbitrary application.” Judge Hinkle’s judgment granted injunctive relief to set in place procedures to make that determination.
The majority noted that 85,000 felons have registered to vote and none have been removed from the voter rolls, and until they are removed, all 85,000 are entitled to vote. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Jordan said that “Florida has not completed screening even a single registrantfor unpaid LFOs.”
“The truth is that many of these registrants will not vote to avoid the risk of prosecution, even if they are in fact eligible, creating a de facto denial of the franchise,” wrote Judge Jill Pryor. “Florida ignores this reality, and the majority is blind to it.”
“In denying an appeal to overturn the Eleventh Circuit’s stay of Judge Hinkle’s order in July 2020, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented. Ginsburg died on Sept. 18, 2020.
“This court’s order prevents thousands of otherwise eligible voters from participating in Florida’s primary election simply because they are poor,” Justice Sotomayor explained in her dissent. The court’s “inaction continues a trend of condoning disenfranchisement.” (Florida has an estimated 774,000 disenfranchised felons in the state.)”
Judge Pryor made a logical point that the majority clearly ignored. The intent of the law was to make it harder to for felons to gain the right to vote by putting up additional barriers, barriers that are almost impossible to overcome by using the state’s bureaucratic sloppiness and the fact that many felons can’t get jobs that would allow them to pay off those fines or fees within a year or more or ever. It disenfranchises them by putting up an impossible task before them. It’s in effect a perpetual punishment that is itself unconstitutional.
. A felon would have no idea how much they owe not the state is required to tell them how much they owe in fines or other fees that are not readily available.
Fines and fees and clearly enumerated in the sentencing documents.
Iowan2, felons don’t always have ready access to sentencing documents and fees and other incidentals are not itemized either. Then there’s the fact that most felons come out of prison with little or no money. And being burdened by the fact that you have to state in a job application that you have a felony makes it harder to get a job that pays well enough to pay off any fees or fines. Which is the point. They know they can’t pay off those fines or fees. Which effectively disenfranchises them as long as they are poor.
Clearly you have never been convicted or had to experience the bureaucracy. Which makes you ignorant of the facts.
The govt ALWAYS hands the convicted a sentence that includes all fees, court costs, and fines. ALWAYS.
Every sentenced felon is given, at no cost to them, a copy of the sentencing documents, including all fines, penalty assessments and restitution included in the order. Defense counsel is required cover all information in the plea agreement or covered in the judgment with their client, and in a plea agreement sign off that he/she has explained the details of the agreement to their client. The court, on the record, will cover all the terms and conditions to the defendant. If the defendant is not required to surrender immediately, they are ordered to report to the probation office immediately, where the terms and conditions of the court order are explained to them again by a probation officer. If they are order into custody forthwith, when they are released from custody they are ordered to see a probation officer, where the terms and conditions of probation are explained, including payment of fines, penalty assessments, and restitution.
At no point in the process is a defendant who has been convicted of a crime or has plead to a crime is not made aware of the fines, penalty assessments and restitution they are required to pay, when payments are to be made, the amount of the payments, or the terms and conditions of their sentence, probation.
Svelaz is ignorant of these facts and despite proof he will remain ignorant. That is his nature. Ignorance leads to Svelaz lies (or dumb mistakes) that are big whoppers.
“Every sentenced felon is given, at no cost to them, a copy of the sentencing documents, including all fines, penalty assessments and restitution included in the order”
from svelaz the non-lawyer, who likes to correct the mistakes of an appellate court. Funny that no Supreme Court decision reversed the appellate court. svelaz, stay within your lane, eh?
Judge Jill has a tell. It’s when she says, “In my view…” Imagine playing poker with her…”In my view, a pair of threes beats a royal flush.”
Virtually every real democracy in the world has voter ID, including the UK which just changed its law. Previously they were the only one in Europe that did not have voter ID. Even the most populous country in the world (India just passed China) has voter ID. I agree with previous statements of a single day of voting, just make it a 24 hour period and all votes have to be in person. I don’t always agree with European voting results but within 24-48 hours the results are known. Even the groups that monitor elections warn everyone that the longer results are delayed the greater chance for foul play.
Nice to see Jim “Eagle” badly damaged and smoking on it’s death spiral. President Biden should watch out for falling debris.
GEB,
Well said.
Not so sure about making voting a 24 thing, as I know most of my local election committee and most are of the 50+ age group.
But I can see early, in-person voting, and after hours voting. IIRC our polling site is open till 8pm.
And I agree with some kind of picture ID.
Many Third world countries require photo ID including Latin America
“Mexico in 1991 mandated voter photo IDs with biometric information, banned absentee ballots, and required in-person voter registration. Despite making registration much more difficult and banning absentee ballots, voter participation rates rose after Mexico implemented the new rules.”
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2021/06/01/the_us_is_a_voter_photo_id_outlier_theyre_the_rule_in_europe_and_elsewhere_778714.html
Thank You,
Kristin Oren [Editor], Darren Smith [Head Guru], and You [Maestro of Free Speech]
Jonathan for Hearing Us. 🫡
Democrats knowingly lying to advance their narrative, is just another day ending in Y.
Much like the leftist commenters here. Wall to wall lies.
And yet you have not been able to prove there’s been lying.
For many years we voted on election day, had the preliminary results by the end of the evening, and no one felt disenfranchised. President Biden and the Democrats droning on about “Jim Crow 2.0” is yet another woke manufactured fantasy claim that has zero basis in fact. But it sure has a catchy ring to many uniformed voters. Democrats better start placing their orders for Bullhorns early. Thank you, Jonathan, for an excellent article.
Totally agree. In a precinct of mostly 20-somethings in Dallas, I waited four hours to vote for Reagan in 1980. Worth every moment. I believe any rational person (if such still exists) looking at the requirements of voter ID and restrictions on ballot harvesting and mail-in ballots will agree that protecting those who play by the rules is more important than voter nullification through fraud. Let’s face it, they could care less about protecting minorities if certain minorities were not voting lockstep for Dems.
Oh please appeal one of these voter ID cases to SCOTUS. I notice no state has done that yet because an overriding definitive declaration approving of that would stop all these frivolous lawsuits.
All the lies about Jim Crow just to advance the Democrat agenda! What a shameful legacy these Democrats are leaving. And what about their voters, who proceed with willful ignorance to vote these charlatans back into office. The Democrat voter is like a sick person with Stockholm syndrome. They are trapped in a dysfunctional relationship with their corrupt captors.
Great, spot-on analogy. Jason Riley nails it in his book “Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make it Harder for Blacks to Succeed.” The scary part is if they get back in the WH–and with Susan Rice as VP to eventually take over as president (life imitating art)–the Dem agenda will be the last for America.
Mary: Love your “life imitating art” reference.