U.S. Democrats Are Signaling That Turnout In The 2022 Midterms Will Be A Disaster For Them

A long line of voters along Flag Chapel Road wait around 7:15 a.m. to vote in the general election at Precinct 85 at Jackson Fire Station 26, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Jackson, Miss. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)  

Politico: ‘We’re f---ed’: Dems fear turnout catastrophe from GOP voting laws  

There’s growing concern — bordering on alarm — about the potential impact in 2022 of the raft of new voting restrictions. 

ATLANTA — After Georgia Republicans passed a restrictive voting law in March, Democrats here began doing the math. The state’s new voter I.D. requirement for mail-in ballots could affect the more than 270,000 Georgians lacking identification. 

The provision cutting the number of ballot drop boxes could affect hundreds of thousands of voters who cast absentee ballots that way in 2020 — and that’s just in the populous Atlanta suburbs alone. 

It didn’t take long before the implications became clear to party officials and voting rights activists. 

In a state that Joe Biden carried by fewer than 12,000 votes last year, the new law stood to wipe out many of the party’s hard-fought gains — and put them at a decisive disadvantage.  

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WNU Editor: Every democracy in the world holds elections where voter-id is required. The only exception is the U.S., and the U.K. 

But the UK is changing their laws where voter-id will be required .... New Elections Bill to 'protect democracy,' says government (BBC). And like the U.S., the same arguments are being used in the UK to protest these measures. 

As to what is my take. 

I live in Canada where voter-id is mandatory. 

In advance polling, we must also provide proof of residence (i.e. a utility bill, etc.). 

Machines are not used. All ballots are counted by hand, with election observers from all political parties present. 

After the polls have been closed, the results are usually known within a few hours. Sometimes sooner. 

The turnout in the last Canadian election was 68.5%, a turnout that is far better than most countries. 

So if voter-id is a success in Canada, why not the U.S.? 

Sadly. We all know the answer.

I think the audit for Maricopa County in Arizona was an eye-opener for everyone .... Arizona Election Audit On The 2020 Presidential Election Reveals Many Discrepencies (July 15, 2021). 

The audit did not look at who voted for who, but instead it focused on how the vote was conducted. Clearly having 74,243 mail-in ballots with no clear record of them ever being sent is one big flag. A red flag that even to this day Arizona election officials have not properly addressed. 

These new US state voting laws will also do away with ballot-harvesting. A practice that interestingly Elections Canada has deemed to be too risky for abuse and fraud, and have banned it in our federal elections. 

Another problem for Democrats is (they say) the lack of polling stations in Democrat heavy districts. I agree. Waiting a few hours to vote is inexcusable. But solving this by issuing mail-in ballots without the voter-id requirement is not a solution at all.

So will Democrats be "f---ed' in the midterms? 

The Democrats are clearly signaling that they are dependent on these voting practices to win elections. So the answer is an obvious yes. 

Update: A lot can happen from now to election day, but there is a shift in the mood of the US electorate, and this is what Democrats should be focused on changing if they want to be re-elected .... More than half of Americans say they're PESSIMISTIC about the next 12 months - a 20% rise compared to three months ago as Delta variant surges nationwide (Daily Mail).