Rachel Maddow Decries "The New Poll Tax," Long Lines

MSNBC broke with tradition and had live Sunday-night programming last night, including a special edition of Rachel Maddow's show. Maddow has gotten a lot of attention and praise lately (the latest from this week's New York magazine), but this is what I hope gets a lot of attention: Her invocation against what she's identified as "the new poll tax."

Maddow rightly notes the long wait times at early voting stations — and worries not only about what that bodes for election day, but about who is getting disenfranchised because of it:

This is a poll tax. How much do you get paid for an hour of work? Do you have the kind of job that would be delighted to give you an hour, a half-day, a whole day off work because you were waiting in line at your precinct? Even if it won't cost you your job, can you afford to not work those hours? Are you elderly or disabled, do you not have the physical stamina for this kind of exertion? This is a poll tax... Who is not in those lines — because they can't afford to be?

On Friday, she foreshadowed the piece, writing on MSNBC.com's NewsVine: "What does it cost you to wait eight hours? Is this the way our democracy works now? We're a country where only people who can afford to give up 20 percent of a week's pay are allowed to vote?"

Never mind that there are forces at work trying to deliberately disenfranchise voters — "Democrats vote on November 5th" anyone? — but the fact that this is still going on after the horror shows of 2000 and 2004 says a lot about just how far the election-day process in this country hasn't come. Check out here smart — and important — commentary below:

Comments

[mnyobpres]

That is so true, we have been in the longest line ever, 8 years of waiting for a new day of peace and prosperity. And, yes, waiting in a short line knowing there is something we can do to make a difference, is priceless. So, waiting is NOT an issue.

OBAMA / BIDEN 08' !!!!

[t0msman]

I think your line about the 8 year wait in line is great. However, short lines are not the issue, but waiting IS an issue in some parts of this country. During early voting, there were lines where people were waiting 8+ hours to vote (FL) and today will be worse by all accounts. Rachel's point is more than valid. The majority of people cannot take off an entire day to stand in line for something that should take minutes, not hours. This certainly can be viewed as a poll tax - by giving up time at work, they lose money. How long do you tell your boss you need to take off? People in areas with waits like these cannot afford the time and give up on voting. Waits such as these are total deterents and its wrong. Oregon has total mail-in voting, its low-cost and efficient - this whole issue would be moot if there was a uniform national standard. Rachel is spot on.

[c1ee]

It's a travesty. Here in Australia voting is compulsory. The longest I've waited to vote is 20 minutes, and I remember the people were really pissed off because of the wait.

[JTyroler]

I'm disabled - about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks ago, I called the local election board for an absentee ballot - I got someone's voice mail. No response. I printed the form for an absentee ballot a week ago, no response. I called this afternoon and again, got someone's voice mail again. So, I'm going to go stand in line for an unknown amount of time - hopefully, I'm able to do so without any problems. I live in a state that doesn't have early voting, so, I'm hoping to get there early and get done fairly quickly.

[simkmer]

Good Luck... bring items that you may need or want in case of long lines. Thanks for the effort!

[JTyroler]

Thanks. Fortunately, my precinct didn't have a line when I went. Another precinct a couple of blocks away had a line about 1/2 block long.

[kittyma]

Rachel Maddow is bright. Too many people do not realize the importance of someone being bright. BTW, Senator Obama is also BRIGHT!

[LKV]

We've been in the longest line ever...8 YEARS ... so a couple of hours is nothing compared to 4 more years. VOTE!!!

[tokitori]

Let's have Obama do that in his first 100 days -- make it a paid Holiday. I'm sure we can exchange it for another useless holiday. Let's go thru them--maybe combine Memorial Day with Voting day? What better way to honor our dead.

[hypnotoad72]

Queen Padme from A Very Star Wars Prequel is telling everyone to vote for kitties... she isn't taking things seriously.

[ar-from-Spokane]

Spokane County, Washington State - mail in ballots. I hate them, but there is no waiting in line. Is a 42 cent stamp considered a poll tax? Hmm ...

[irishgawdess]

You can drop them off at designated spots, such as local libraries, w/o a stamp. There are groups who will come by and pick them up and take them to the county elections office for you. So no, no 42 cent poll tax is required. (Aren't stamps 43 cents now? I can't keep track!)

[sl0play]

There are several options for delivering your ballot without a stamp. Community Collection Centers, Accessible Voting Sites (where you can use a booth), or the Auditors Office.

[Tanyars5]

Waiting in lines to vote is not an option. It is not inspiring to see this hapenning. Election reform is not an issue where you need a rocket scientist to understand the complexities of the issue. Both the democratic and republican parties benefit when the general population doesn't vote. Hence, we have had two elections pass that were tainted with voting irregularities. Nothing really has changed. This issue needs to be talked about until it is fixed. This is a national disgrace. CONGRESS NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO GET THIS FIXED!!!!!

[KatDawgATL]

3Hrs I waited....­It was worth every minute.

[mm29464]

very perceptive, rachel. i totally agree with you.

[wydgage]

i saw her last night giving this "special comment" and, as usual, was dazzled by this remarkable lady. she's got "it".

she's my choice for the new Meet the Press host...

[OhComeOnNow]

Yes, yes, yes!! Can we get a movement going to draft her for that spot??

[mujer-lg]

Seriously, she would be way better than David Gregory who is the current front runner.

[lemonyashes]

If David Gregory hosts MTP I will never watch MTP again he's boring and irritating, I prefer MSNBC over CNN except when David Gregory I flip to CNN immediately before I hear 1 sec. of his voice. I actually like Scarborough better than Gregory at least he can be entertaining with his nonnewssence.

[havetosayit]

Eventually ALL STATES in the US should have the Vote by Mail option. Here in California, It not only makes it easier for the elderly and disabled, but for everyone who doesn't get paid to stand in line. There should be a bar code where a voter can check online whether the election office has received their ballot. Perhaps there should also be a password system where after the election a voter can be sure that their votes were accurately tallied so there is no question of ballot tampering or claims of non-receipt.

[irishgawdess]

Here in Oregon, all elections are by mail-in voting. We place our ballots in a "secrecy" envelope, which in turn get placed inside an outer mailing envelope. We sign that envelope; it can be mailed to the county elections office or dropped off at various drop boxes, e.g. at the library.

I wanted to say, I like your idea of a bar code that could be used to see if the elections office has received our ballots. If there were a bar code on the ballot, it might sacrifice secrecy, however, once the ballot goes through the scanner, we would have a way to check to see if our ballots have been counted, perhaps verify who we voted for.

I just checked online at my county elections site; they only tell us if we are registered to vote, and where to drop off our ballots. One extra step, the bar code, would tell us if our ballots made it in on time and if they were counted.

[lemonyashes]

I vote in Oregon too but I don't trust the mail so I drop it off at the drop box and save a stamp.

[just4shiggles]

Rachel is just wonderful and she is making a difference with her show. I hope that her shining the spotlight on this issue will help to start some changes in the voting process. There are way too many issues about this current process that need to be addressed. I'm voting tomorrow and probably in the rain, but I live in a small town and don't expect the line to be too long. I don't care how long that wait turns out to be, I'll crawl in there to vote if I have to! My biggest concern about my vote is that we don't have a paper trail in this state. I would feel much more comfortable if we had a paper trail in case the touch machines malfunction etc...

[Linda51]

What can we do to make this a paid holiday?

[LollieDotCom]

In sales terminology, what's really at work in our favor is "the take away." Voting becomes much more important when you realize they've been setting this crap up for eight years to 'take away' the ability of poor working people to vote. And if you thought we cared about voting just because of the economy, the wars, our jobs, our homes, our retirement­s.... and Lord knows, those things are all getting us out to vote - but the "take away" is one of the most powerful motivating sales tools in existence - and the lines can't get long enough to keep us from voting when Rovian Republicans worked so hard to keep us from it.

I'm sure glad I was the first person to vote in my county. It was my first straight democrat ticket. Knowing Obama, it won't be my last.

ALWAYS proud to be a liberal.

Obama / Biden '08 & '12

[joebiz]

So true.
Another way to disenfranchise new or more mobile voters is through not sending them a ballot.

I re-registered on September 15, 2008. Three-weeks later, I had not received my ballot. After repeated calls, I still did not receive it. I drove down to the Registrars of Voters to get a ballot, only to experience 90 minutes of wait time, in line, in the hot sun. (Banana Republic politics). When I got in, I just decided to vote for Obama/Biden, just to spite the Republican local leadership for their attempts to squash my fundamental right to vote.

As to date, I have yet to receive my ballot. What are the chances I get it AFTER the election?? You get the picture. I will ask our Attorney General to look into these factual allegations.