(FL) Researcher: Long lines at polls caused 49,000 not to vote

[kpete]

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Like Jordan, as many as 49,000 people across Central Florida were discouraged from voting because of long lines on Election Day, according to a researcher at Ohio State University who analyzed election data compiled by the Orlando Sentinel.

About 30,000 of those discouraged voters — most of them in Orange and Osceola counties — likely would have backed Democratic President Barack Obama, according to Theodore Allen, an associate professor of industrial engineering at OSU.

About 19,000 voters would have likely backed Republican Mitt Romney, Allen said.

This suggests that Obama's margin over Romney in Florida could have been roughly 11,000 votes higher than it was, based just on Central Florida results. Obama carried the state by 74,309 votes out of more than 8.4 million cast.

Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-discouraged-voters-20121229,0,215136.story

[samsingh]

1. and the majority of those were Democrats

who would have guessed.

so i would argue that both of bush w elections were impacted by this type of surpression.

[Gman]

2. Under the circumstances, that is a minimal amount

It could have been worse and Obama loses FL but for the tenacity of the Democrats there.

[Scuba]

3. The tenacity of those who waited in line to vote is to be admired.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. and the timidity of the US Dept. of Justice is to be scorned.

There actually are rules about this stuff. There are legal avenues available. The DOJ had a duty, and it did little or nothing to fulfill it. But, that seems to be the norm, not the exception.

Instead, Holder goes after pot dispensaries in California and Colorado. The protections that Holder has provided to war criminals, corporate types, Wall street bandits, and other criminals from the Bush admin have been almost unbelievable. Since we had an election, now two, those criminals get a Stay Out of Court Card? Unbelievable.

[Scuba]

7. +1

[Dustlawyer]

8. Holder comes from a Wall Street law firm. Ever wonder why no indictments for the financial collapse

[awoke_in_2003]

11. And Holder serves at the pleasure...

of the President.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. I'm glad someone noticed.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. I have seen so much rage against Holder...

but few acknowledge the fact that he does what the president wants him to do.

[hay rick]

4. GOTV.

I was involved in the GOTV effort. We spent the last 3 weeks prior to the election contacting Democrats by phone and urging them to cast absentee ballots or to vote early. Could have been a lot worse.

[oldhippydude]

10. thank you n/t

[alphafemale]

6. the pleas from social media to Stay In Line! nt

[progressoid]

9. But but but what about that Black Panther!!11!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. A NEW black panther, even worse!

[RebelOne]

15. My daughter voted at a Hollywood, FL. poll

and she said it almost empty. She walked in, voted and was out in 15 minutes.

[FreeBC]

16. Why shouldn't Republicans in Florida disenfranchise Democrats?

Obviously they keep getting away with it. Why would they stop? Integrity? Honesty? please... we're talking about republicans here.

They will keep doing it until there are repercussions. That's where the federal government is supposed to come in. But, despite a democratic administration, they keep letting Florida republicans get away with it.

[AnnieK401]

17. Funny, I posted a link to this article and didn't get one response. Oh well. n/t

[lovelyrita]

18. One important thing to note is that Florida had a really long ballot.

It was full of silly ballot amendments added to the ballot by our horrible legislature. If one went on election and read each one (there were 12) it would take each person about 45 minutes to vote. A lot of people think the legislature did this intentionally to slow down voting.

So not only did they reduce early voting days and make it very difficult to register voters but they made the actual act of voting take an inordinate amount of time. The outcome should not be a surprise because minus Obama winning, the FL GOP got what they wanted.

[XRubicon]

19. You're right, I think the long ballot backfired on them

I bet quite a few repubs in conservative counties read each amendment at the polls like it was a mortgage contract... it slowed all voting down.

[tblue37]

20. Mission accomplished. nt

[Blasphemer]

21. Exactly. I hope these problem are addressed and don't take a back seat...

to the economic policy and gun control debates. Willing voters being unable to vote is a national disgrace.