Sad to Say, I Knew This Was Coming

I found this first at forgston.com. I like his take on things.

Many of the people were not aware that they were registered to vote elsewhere and intend to return to Louisiana, said [NAACP Legal]defense fund attorney Kristen Clarke. Times Picayune, August 31, 2007

Like C. B. I wonder what they thought they were doing when they registered to vote somewhere else? Were they duped by undercover Republicans, intent on creating more Democrats in Texas?

If expatriates someday return to Louisiana (I hope they all do) I welcome them. I welcome them to register to vote here again.

I've long wondered how long can a person reside in another state and continue to vote in Louisiana? I believe the Supreme Court has ruled that any residency requirement beyond about 90 days is excessive. How long must you be absent before you forfeit you registration?

I was always sure many people would find they were better off when they moved and would never return. That seems obvious, not because there is any inherent advantage to other places but simply a matter of circumstance. Many people will also decide not to return because of their fear of a recurrence of Katrina. That too is understandable and predictable. Many of these expatriates will continue to identify themselves as New Orleanians. Just as many of the thousands who left long before Katrina was even a thundercloud in the Atlantic do. New Orleans is home. It is captivating and magic. It's also a hard place to live in many ways.

The article in the Time Picayune makes interesting reading. State officials apparently examined many thousands of registrations and sent two notices to many thousands of people. They pared an initial list 50,000 down to 19,000. How much is enough? When will there ever be enough good faith demonstrated? When does an individual registered voter have a responsibility to respond or even take any action? Is it up the State sue each and every voter registered in two place, including the ones residing in cemeteries?

I'd guess the Mayor would like his new neighbors in Dallas to come over to the house for a barbecue and then come over to New Orleans for a fun weekend so they can vote for him.

Let's create the world's first virtual city (outside Second Life) with a strong brand. We could all go somewhere comfortable and safe then simply mail in our votes for our favorite crook who can continue to skim contracts and collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees for his friends and family over the Internet, while he and increasingly she sips drinks through a straw on the beach somewhere in the Caribbean.

If we work it right we can continue to support the local crooks with our votes while at the same time voting for honest public servants where we sleep at night.

Does someone living in Dallas deserve to be Mayor? Does someone living in Katy know enough to be a responsible voter in New Orleans? I don't know.

I also wonder how the NAACP determined the voters being purged were disproportionately black? If they identified the voters being purged why didn't they take steps to correct the problems? Once the dual registrations were discovered why weren't the Texas registrations weren't voided?