Long lines at polling locations are the new poll tax

Rachel Maddow ran a very interesting ‘Talk Me Down’ piece on a special edition of her show Sunday night.  Here’s part of what she said:

I know I know I know… I’m the last skeptic standing about Tuesday’s election. I can read! I can hear!

But bear with me because I am so not convinced by the thing that was supposed to convince me about the process and disenfranchisement this time — EARLY VOTING! It was supposed to make things better this time, right?

Well look at the lines.

In Georgia, people waited eight hours to cast a ballot today. There are reports of five hour waits in Indiana. In, North Carolina, the state board of elections ruled voting sites can stay open an extra four hours tomorrow to accommodate large crowds. And in Oklahoma the first voter at the Oklahoma County Election Board reportedly showed up at 4:30 a.m. even though the polls didn’t open until 8 a.m.

Here’s the thing: A day-long wait might as well be a poll tax. 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?

Read the full quote on NewsVine

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

OK, so she makes an excellent point here. If thousands of people will be required to wait several hours to vote, how many will actually wait?  How many CAN wait?  For most working people, their job environment won’t allow them to take off or be away from work that long for one workday. For others, health limitations or family obligations might make this impossible.

How can this be possible given the number of states participating in early voting?  If it’s been this bad for days ahead of Election Day, what are we in for on Tuesday?

Regardless of who one supports in this election, we should all be concerned about these ongoing issues. When is the US going to get our elections process up to acceptable standards for the 21st century?