Trying to Disenfranchise Poor People

[ysabetwordsmith]

 ... with what amounts to a poll tax, requiring felons to pay all fees before regaining the right to vote.  Supposedly federal law supercedes it, but bigots aren't exactly the most law-abiding people.  What's going to stop them from simply refusing those victims the right to vote?  It's not like the poor bastards can afford to sue.

Comments

[cmcmck]

And you'll be aware what happened the two times they tried to introduce a poll tax here?

The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and Maggie Thatcher coming close to a civil war in Scotland in 1989 and in England in 1990!

[siliconshaman]

Arguably that's what ended her career, her backing down over that was like blood in the water.

[dewline]

Damned good thing for the Kingdom that Thatcher did back down over such things.

[siliconshaman]

She wasn't given much choice.. her own cabinet were more frightened by what they saw happening, then they were of her, so for once they stood up to her. Maggie it seems was all for cracking down on the poll-tax protests the same way they did to the miners. But she was given an ultimatum by her own party, back down or be fired.

She caved.

After which it was only a matter of time before the knives were out and shortly so was she.

[siliconshaman]

Hmm... I wonder what a 'pay to vote' democratic system would look like? One where you could legally sell your vote, where people could form cooperatives or syndicates pay in a certain amount and pool their resources to buy a block vote, or where companies legally owned their employees vote and could block vote how they wanted. Or for that matter, billionaires could legally buy the votes of poor people, and then use those to block vote how they wanted to instead of [or as well as maybe] financially supporting politicians. [cutting out the middleman I guess]

While that might be an interesting thought experiment, I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there.

[kengr]

Well, as one of Heinlein's characters pointed out in the Moon is a Harsh Mistress abuses in a system where you can pay for votes tend to be self-correcting. Buy a lot of votes and you are out the money regardless if you win or lose.

And frankly, most of the folks roich enough to *not* have that as a problems over many elections don't really *care* about what the government does. there are cheaper ways to get left alone.

[(Anonymous)]

Oligarchy, then divine right of kings.

[technoshaman]

I wish Boris Nekulturnivich would try some shit like that....

Only problem is the Opposition are all squabbling about who gets to lead...

[dorchadas]

There's some great tweets I've seen that point out that if Bloomberg and the other billionaires running really want to make a difference, they could pay off all of those fees in Florida and almost definitely flip the state by doing so.

They won't, of course, because it's not about being strategically effective.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

... but that does leave the tactic open to others, and not quite 100% of billionaires are evil. Someone should drop a hairpin to the ethical holdouts.