Thanks to Colorlines for showing me the video of a Republican poll watcher in Colorado, bearing witness to the ruin of his hopes and dreams. Sure, I suppose that's harsh. But it wasn't me that pitted white men vs. everybody else in this country. And even though I am one of them, I couldn't help but side against them.
This is the explanation from Aura Bogado at Colorlines...
When I arrived to Arapahoe’s Aurora CenterPoint voting center, people were braving chilling temperatures to wait their turn to cast a ballot. A handful of volunteers handed out water bottles, some cups of coffee, and even pizza to thirsty and hungry voters—and their sometimes exhausted kids—in line.
...
The man, who later identified himself to me as Republican poll watcher Dayton Conway, complained not only about the water and pizza handed to voters in line, but also about what he said was the disproportionate amount of people of color who were casting ballots.
I voted by mail, so I skipped out of the whole queuing up issue, talked some friends into voting that way too, and they were pleased with the outcome. Gave us time to read through the voter guides and research the propositions to amend the state constitution, and there were many of those.
I wonder, though, if there will be some reprisal for Scott Gessler, their Secretary of State, for encouraging voters to exercise their right wherever it's convenient.
Conway, meanwhile, was in denial about his city’s population, and frustrated that so many people of color cast their ballots at the CenterPoint voting center. Many did so because Colorado’s Secretary of State, Republican Scott Gessler, encouraged voters in several counties, including Arapahoe, to use voting centers anywhere in the county, instead of assigned polling stations. That means people driving to and from work could stop by at a location most convenient to them—and they did.
Somehow, though...I'm guessing not. He made
ThinkProgress' five worst election officials list.
Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler is currently under investigation for allegedly misusing taxpayer dollars to travel to a Republican National Lawyers Association event. Even if these allegations prove false, however, Gessler has still distinguished himself through his efforts to restrict the franchise. As a candidate for his current job, Gessler campaigned on a promise to fight the wildly exaggerated problem of election fraud. As Colorado’s chief elections official, Gessler spearheaded a voter purge targeting thousands of alleged non-citizens on his state’s voter rolls. He was eventually forced to largely abandon this purge, however, after his efforts revealed that non-citizen voting is a virtually non-existent problem.
In other news
...sorry, can't help myself to just a little joy at the despair of conservatives.