Delta found itself in hot water again this week after involving the carrier in a Georgia voting law. Delta’s good intentions have #BoycottDelta trending, but what else could they do?
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Inaction Has Consequences
One thing brands have learned in the last few years is that they cannot simply remain agnostic on complicated topics even if they stray from the direct involvement of company goals. If the company does not actively support or protest the same concerns its customers and employees have it can be seen as sympathetic or ignorant, even if the intent of the company is solely to focus on the business they are in.
It’s no longer an option to stand on the sidelines on nearly any controversial topic, activism is required.
Good Intentions Doesn’t Always Lead to Good Results
Delta Air Lines worked with elected officials on Georgia voter laws that would lead to more accommodation and inclusion. Benefits of that law included expanded availability for weekend voting, no reason required for absentee ballots, and drop boxes.
However, some suggested the law didn’t go far enough:
“This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle.” – President Joe Biden
Other provisions included the removal of signature verification and other modifications focused on removing the regulations that might exclude, not include voters who want to cast a ballot.
After backlash, the company acknowledged that the final bill was imperfect. For Delta, voting is an important issue to signify to its employees and customer base that they are not going to stand silently by on matters that affect their stakeholders.
Catch-22
As Leff points out in the aforementioned post, this is not the first time they have riled up a crowd by taking a political stance.
By involving the carrier in issues outside of the central purpose of generating profit by transporting passengers and cargo, the airline opened itself up to criticism and risk even when the company believes it is doing the right thing.
What would critics have Delta do? If they stand back and say nothing while the legislation makes its way through the chambers, they have in essence agreed with whatever the outcome may be, or suggested it wasn’t an important enough cause for which they should make a stand.
If they take a stand against the legislation because it doesn’t go far enough, they risk fighting some form of advancement for voting issues in their home state, potentially disenfranchising their own employees and customers.
Conclusion
Delta had good intentions in its support for legislation that expanded voting ability for its home state and largest employee base. Penalizing the carrier for its support of legislation that wasn’t perfect while ignoring the progress it makes is absurd.
What do you think? Should Delta have sat this one out? Would it be guilty of abdicating responsibility if it did so?
Wait a minute, are you IN SUPPORT of the recent Republican voter suppression law in Georgia? Sounds about white.
I’m not in support of anything that restricts voting and encourages participation in the process. But that’s also not the point of the article. Delta is a company and shouldn’t be involved in voting rights at all – it’s nothing to do with their business. Companies are no longer allowed to be agnostic on seemingly any issue, so if they say nothing, that’s not allowed, if they lobby for more access and fewer procedures but it doesn’t go far enough, then they are vilified for that. Nothing but the completely correct answer is acceptable, and that’s nuts.
Um, no, the Georgia law does not make it easier to vote. It outlaws giving water to people waiting in line. It requires voters to make a photocopy of their ID to vote absentee (who has a photocopier?). It allows anyone to challenge individual voters registration over and over without reason. It’s pure and simple voter suppression. It’s the worst example of sore losers rigging the system for their own gain we’ve seen in a long time.
Agree with Lance. Your description of the voter law in GA is very misleading. In no way are these changes being made to “lead to more voter accomodation and inclusion.” The intent is for the opposite to happen.
It appears that never in his life will Kyle have to wait ten hours in line for voting without water or food.
It appears that never in his life will Kyle deal with less access to ballot boxes because of where he lives and what is the surrounding demographics of where he lives.
It appears that never in his life will Kyle have to prove who he is based on archaic methods just because of the surrounding demographics of where he lives.
It appears that never in his life will Kyle deal with the authorities fighting against his right to vote, just because he and the surrounding demographics legally casted their votes for the opposite political side.
It appears that Kyle may wants to live, but he doesn’t really care about letting other people live as well.
@Jeff – Hold up.
1) If the law allows dropping ballots in drop boxes and early voting up to three weeks in advance, no reason absentee voting, and no signature checks, why would people have to wait in line at all?
2) I waited several hours on election day, but brought a bottle of water, should this have been provided to me? Does the law state this isn’t allowed?
3) Did you click on the link? Did you see what Delta believed it was supporting? It wasn’t less access it was more.
4) Why should Delta, or any airline be involved in this anyway?
Kyle – do your homework next time man. Seriously this is an embarrassing post.
Georgia (along with many other states) are precisely targeting POC voters because they didn’t like the 2020 results. Republicans could try and change their policies to join the 21st century and widen their appeal to voters – but they don’t, and thus realize their best path towards continuing minority rule is restricting voting in all ways possible.
1) I support every citizen’s right to vote. Every single person. It shouldn’t be easier or harder for anyone.
2) Did you click on the link and see what they thought they were supporting?
3) Delta, not for one minute, would intentionally support any law that restricted voting rights in their home state, especially not people of color. If we agree on that, how is this not a case of good intentions?
Calling this “good intentions” is like an abusive husband saying that he should be forgiven as his “intentions were good.” I am a moderate, not a far leftie ignoring facts, the bottom line is that if you analyze the rules carefully you will see that it is directly targeting urban minority voters and making it more difficult. All Trump needed was 11K votes in Georgia. This will easily assure that with the new rules whoever runs next time will have that margin.
As H.L. Mencken once said, this is an example of politicians “swathing the bitter truth in bandages of soft illusion.”
@Stuart – Based on their employee communications and giving Delta the benefit of the doubt that the law as written differed from the law as promised, what should they have done? I personally don’t think that Delta should have been involved in it at all. I don’t think they should have to take a side on anything that doesn’t involve transportation. They thought that what was going into the bill expanded rights and availability and based on what they thought was in it, I would have been in favor of it too.
If I said to you right now, there’s a bill in the Georgia house that gives expanded early voting, makes drop boxes a legal location to deliver valid ballots, and removes any restrictions with regard to voting by absentee ballot, would you generally oppose or support that?
Have you actually read anything about the law? This is an willfully inaccurate portrayal of what the bill will do. DL isn’t between a rock and a hard place on this one, their company values are antithetical to what this bill accomplishes and yet they supported it anyways- no wonder customers and employees are angry.
@Matthew, I really appreciate your blog, and the effort you put into each post, but I don’t know why you let Kyle take it over ever Sunday. The difference in quality between your content and what Kyle posts is vast. I don’t have a problem with his contrarian tone, but Kyle’s posts- more like “hot takes”- are poorly researched and argued.
This is what Delta stated they thought they were getting: expanded weekend voting, ballot drop boxes, the ability for anyone to vote by absentee without supplying a reason. Based on that information what should they have done?
Are you getting paid by delta?
I wish I was.
Matthew should just go dark on Sundays. Say the blog is closed because you need a day off with the family versus posting inaccurate and factually lazy articles. I thought the numerous I Love Spirit articles and best Post Offices in Fort Myers were boring and repetitive. But at least they weren’t littered with just complete nonsense.
Wow what an absolutely ignorant post. The law excludes people and was ONLY put in place in response to a lie told by the former president, not to fix any real legitimate issue. Im disgusted at the way you’ve portrayed this, and think it’s shameful that Matthew allowed this post. Your ignorance is disgusting.
Did you read the post? Did you actually read it? My point was that what Delta thought they were supporting expanded voting access. What should Delta have done?
Reading your description of this bill was gobsmacking. Stop watching Faux News and other non-news sites, Kyle. You’ve been conned by the right wing rage machine.
Now, on to the topic: Delta could have quietly lobbied and never made any public statements about it – like dozens, or or perhaps more- companies did. However, making any statement of support for this abomination of a law has earned them the boycott they deserve. (The board should seriously discuss dismissing Ed Bastien for gross dereliction of his fiduciary duty to this publicly-owned company.)
I don’t watch Fox. Did you click on the link, or nah? In case you didn’t:
https://twitter.com/meiselasb/status/1375882989276569602?s=20
Here’s my question to you. Taking the temperature of the country, why on earth would any company – especially Delta – lobby to restrict voter rights and access? Of course they didn’t think that this was going to be worse for voters. Do you disagree with that?
Are people actually saying that this makes it harder for blacks to vote?
Are they suggesting blacks cannot get an ID? Let me tell you, as a mixed race man, it is EASY to get an ID. Saying people cannot get an ID based upon their race, is rhetoric I would expect from an old KKK democrat from the 1920s who was arguing why segregation was a good thing
As a Georgian, I voted absentee in the November election because I wanted to lessen Covid exposure. Otherwise Georgia’s long lines (where I vote in Midtown Atlanta has lines that extend for hours) increase the risk. I asked for a ballot online, signed it, then returned it to a drop box near me that was outside (with a security camera on it) and available 24-7. Now, I would have to, instead of signing go find a photocopier to copy my license, then go find a drop box that is inside a voting facility during official hours only. I will do those things because I want to vote but you cant say it hasnt made my voting efforts harder and more time consuming.
Also, if you live in Georgia you know that all these restrictions make it even harder for people of color to vote, many of whom do not have state issue IDs. Thats the game here and anyone who denies the racial component is willfully blind.
I dont know what Delta did or what their motivation was. They may have made a bad bill less bad. But as a loyal Delta customer for many decades, I am very unhappy with them if they supported passage of this bill.
@Kyle I love your Sunday posts. In full disclosure, the comment sections are just as entertaining LOL. In response to the question you ask many commenters “Did you read my post?” — that’s not relevant. It’s a pitchfork virtue signaling mob and they got one thing on their mind and that’s to smear you LOL. You were posting how DL basically got involved with something they shouldn’t have and now you’re apparently Hitler?? Makes sense. Look forward to next Sunday!
“Companies are no longer allowed to be agnostic on seemingly any issue, so if they say nothing, that’s not allowed, if they lobby for more access and fewer procedures but it doesn’t go far enough, then they are vilified for that. Nothing but the completely correct answer is acceptable, and that’s nuts.”
I don’t disagree, but these companies brought that on themselves. They wanted to be able to essentially buy politicians without restrictions using dark money via super PACs, so they and their allies got us Citizens United, according to which companies are really “people” and have the same “freedom of speech” as actual people. So now their political positions. I say get the companies out of all politics. If they aren’t paying politicians, then I don’t need to care what their politics are, because they won’t have any.
Hate to say it, but as a Georgia resident and Delta employee, you come off as a person who has probably lived in a rich, white suburb in democratic state with probably a 5% diversity distribtution. These laws effect so many people, including Delta’s own employees. These laws don’t even effect all Delta employees in Georgia equally either. If you work at the airport/on the front-line or on the ramp, you are most likely coming from one of these communities that will be punished from voting.
Delta has all the power to do something and a precedent was set in the past. Coca-cola threatened to leave Atlanta in 60’s if they did not honor MLK Jr for the Nobel Peace Prize. And because of that threat they did honor MLK Jr. Atlanta is home to some of the most recogniable companies in the US, if not the world. Betweem Coke, Delta, Home Depot, UPS and others, they can demand a better future and have the responsibility to do so for their employees.
Putting out a tweet and a internal memo in favor of votign rights is not enough. And you are basically saying it is. Shameful
I’m not defending the law itself. I’m stating that Delta thought they were getting those benefits so on the surface, should they have not fought for those additional benefits? Is it better to sit on the sidelines until a perfect bill comes along? I don’t think it is. But either way, Delta shouldn’t have been in this mess in the first place but no company can just be a company any more.
^ Should say “So now their political positions have become a liability for them.”
They can call a boycott all they want.
When somebody wants to fly somewhere, who the airlines is doesn’t matter. Price matters.
If people cared about quality and other things, Frontier and Spirit wouldn’t exist as airlines…
Spot on.
Do you think Delta was truly ignorant of the contents of this law given the broad press it received? If so, either you believe a massive corporation with a sophisticated lobbying operation is gullible beyond belief, or you yourself are gullible beyond belief.
Neither of these conclusions says anything positive about your critical thinking capability, nor does it speak well to your credibility on this or frankly any other issue.
@Dan, thanks for reading and for your comment.
I’d return the same critical thinking question to you. Do you think that ANY company right now can openly try to restrict voter rights, especially in the case of a Georgia company? I don’t. It makes a lot more sense that they thought they were making a positive impact as they said than they thought they’d have ANYTHING to gain by restricting the rights of voters.
Given the number of people that initially read your post and took it as defending the bill, including me, you might consider analyzing your delivery and looking at it as an outsider. Clearly we all read it differently than how you feel you wrote it. And the defenders are only coming now as you backtrack in replies.
Yeah, perhaps that’s true.
10 hours without food or water…..BRING YOUR OWN!!! “Oh but some people can’t afford water”……some people can’t afford clothes either… go naked?
It’s about stopping Stacey Abrams from handing you a full-on meal or a gift card because you’re poor/black/lgbtqia++etc/poc/doc/moc/illegal alien or whatever the hell you identity as that day in exchange for your Warnock vote. It absolutely did happen…..and you ALL know it.
They should have shut up about it. If they were trying to make a bad bill less bad, there’s just no upside for telling people “we reduced the shit in this sandwich by 50%”. There’s just no PR upside to telling employees and the public “we made a terrible bill into a less terrible bill”. This is something that they just should have done and kept their mouth shut about. The reward isn’t good PR, it’s doing the right thjng.
This right here, this is exactly what I would have suggested a long time ago. But like I said, companies don’t have the privilege of standing on the sidelines (where they should for issues that don’t directly affect their financial interest.) So the choice is only, step in and try to make something bad better, or try to completely change the bill until it’s completely the way you hope it would be which may never, ever come.
@Kyle
Your post cites a controversy.
You only present the “good” aspects of the bill and wonders out loud why the backlash from Delta if they were supporting these “good” things.
Not once anywhere did you list the really onerous parts of the bill (and you know what they are, you just chose to omit them).
That’s what really irritates me about your post.
I don’t know what the onerous parts are, your assumption is incorrect, and I don’t think Delta did either. I think Delta thought they were doing the right thing to try and expand the positive aspects, not to limit voters.
Tell me, what does a Georgia-based airline benefit from limiting voter rights? How does that help them?
You have coughed up a Delta press release without any independent research or analysis (or actual useful travel-related info.)
“Companies are no longer allowed to be agnostic…” The airlines have been deeply involved in the legislative process to benefit themselves from the beginning of the industry.
“…Delta thought they were supporting expanded voting access.” I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. This law is engineered (like the extreme gerrymandering in the state) to impede participation of urban and working class voters. None of its provisions actually addresses purported concerns of election integrity.
Delta was involved in softening a couple of the law’s most egregious edges, those with the worst optics, such as eliminating souls-to-polls voting. They are now spinning that as expanded access.
@Juan, thanks for reading thanks for commenting.
1) I didn’t use a Delta press release, the blue words means there is a link that has more information. If you click that you will see where it came from. Also, when I said, “Leff” and mentioned the linked post, that’s what I’m referring to.
2) Deeply involved in the legislative process, yes, but around transportation laws, not voting rights. That’s a huge difference. If they start to take a stance on student loans it would seem as out of character for an airline as voting rights. Being involved in labor laws and transportation laws is a valid part of representing the interest of their stakeholders.
3) Ok, but that’s not what they were sold. No company in the US – none – can be seen as attempting to minimize the rights of the people. Do you genuinely think that Delta thought that’s what would happen and said, “yeah, this will for sure not generate any blowback”? Of course not.
4) That could be the case, I guess I would ask the question again, is that not better than leaving those egregious edges in?
You’ve confirmed it in another comment. You “don’t think Delta knew” what was in the bill, which is just beyond ludicrous. Sure, they shouldn’t be involved. But if you actually think they’re just some babe in the woods here, I don’t know what else to tell you.
Take the L and move on, man.
So your suggestion is that Delta thought it would be in its interest to come out resisting voter rights? I just want to make sure we are on the same page.
Clearly FEW posting here have actually read the law that was passed. As a GA citizen I can tell you we have very easy early voting, UNLESS you wait until voting day and have some activist lackey drop you off at a crappy precinct and pressure you into going to vote last minute. And remember voting Precinct issues are local, not state run.
Kyle, my suggestion is that when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
Finally a suggestion, but Dan you’ve not answered what Delta should have done.
Do they do nothing because the bill isn’t what they want? Do they take progress where they can get it, though they admit, imperfectly? You’re fine to say how everyone else is wrong, but what should Delta have done? Or do you just have opinions about everyone else’s opinions and none of your own?
1. IMO the intent of Georgia SB 202 is voter supression. The South has a 150 history of expertise for this type of legislation.
2. IMO any national company headquartered in Georgia is fair game for boycotts. Why should our money assist the economy of a state that would enact such a bill?
3. To correct some misstatements in earlier comments, the legislation does not criminalize the distribution of food and water to people waiting in line to vote – it criminalizes the distribution of food and DRINK.
Ergo, bring pressure on Coca-Cola, headquartered in Atlanta, to have a massive Coke distribution on election day. Let Coca-Cola decide to kowtow to this enactment, or dare the Georgia authorities to arrest employees of one of the state’s largest companies. Should Coca-Cola not take that action, there’s always Pepsi on the grocery shelf.
This message is for both Kyle and Matthew. I very much enjoy reading your blog posts about travel. You guys do a great job of reviewing airlines and hotels and your various travel experiences and I appreciate yours authenticity and infusion of family and life values, which I certainly reflect. That said, your foray into politics is as disturbing as it is divisive. Can’t you just leave this material out of your posts? I don’t think I’m alone when I say that travel is an outlet that allows me to escape from the polarizing nature of media in our present culture. I don’t need nor want it here, on your website. And if this is just some stab for data (i.e., clicks and responses) to show your value/reach to advertisers, then you’re going to lose readers like myself. I’m just saying: stay with your favorite ice cream parlors in Fort Myers and ignore the unnecessary discussions about the insane intersection of corporations and identity politics. I imagine this will serve you in the long term.
I appreciate your readership. I guess I am terribly confused. For some reason, many of our commenters feel compelled to say, “no politics, just travel” even when travel companies interact with politics.
But then when I look at the comments of the linked post in this very article, I see something different in Gary’s comments. People are debating the issue. Some, granted, are just fighting each other with needless incendiary personal attacks on each other, but I don’t see any that are suggesting to Gary that the topic shouldn’t be covered. What do you think causes this difference?
See comments section for reference: https://viewfromthewing.com/delta-tells-employees-they-were-part-of-crafting-georgia-voting-restrictions-bill/comment-page-1/#comments
Kyle,
It’s a Sunday afternoon and I have nothing going on, so let’s do this.
Delta never claimed not to know what was in this bill. Delta’s internal comms in fact indicate that it knows exactly what’s in this law, which makes their victory lap all the more troubling.
YOU made the claim that you don’t think Delta knows what was in this. To believe this, you would have to believe that a multibillion dollar organization co-located in Atlanta with the state legislature and so plugged into local, state, and national politics that it is able to regularly achieve its goals through changes in policy would be out of the loop on this bill–a bill that it decided to toot its own horn on. In short, such a belief indicates that you have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s a claim so ignorant that it calls into question your analysis on, well, anything.
I have enjoyed your posts on this site in the past. Your claims here are so ridiculous that it calls all of that into question. For example: when the flight attendant threatened you with arrest, I now can’t rule out the possibility that you were wearing your mask on your head like a hat. and that the mask was actually a loaf of bread.
Further, you say it would not be in Delta’s interest to come out for a bill that is against voter rights. But that’s what they did! Corporations do stupid things all the time. That you also just assume they’re smart and benevolent organizations when they are so plainly not in so many cases also calls into question your reasoning ability.
Look: like I said earlier, you should just take the L and move on. But you’re clearly not because again, you seem to lack basic cognitive function. Just
It was a dumb take, it’s still a dumb take, and it will continue to be a dumb take. Stop doubling down, reflect on why you might have said something so preposterously stupid, and learn from it.
You. Still. Haven’t. Said. What. Delta. Should. Do.
Kyle,
You already did! They shouldn’t do anything. They certainly SHOULDN’T take credit for this.
What you haven’t done is address how you came to the absurd conclusion that they didn’t know what was in this legislation. I can accept that you didn’t know; after all, you aren’t in Georgia, and you mayor may not be in the weeds on news.
But for some reason you seem to think a sophisticated lobbying organization is. And you made the leap to say that they’re ignorant on the issue. You’re either full of crap, or you’re willing to eat someone else’s. In the first case, you’re a liar; in the second, you’re an idiot. In either case, you have demonstrated that you’re fundamentally unserious and that you don’t have any credibility.
Pick which one it is.
I think where we disagree is their full understanding of what was in the bill. Companies are (and should be) completely focused on earning, maintaining, and growing value for their shareholders. I can’t imagine that Delta saw the final bill with all of this stuff and came out to support it anyway. I think they were sold on what it would add, and not what it would take away.
You can’t imagine a world in which Delta didn’t know every aspect of the final bill and that they support restrictions to voters while under the guise of voter empowerment. I can’t imagine a world where Delta knew this stuff was in the bill and nefariously wanted to suppress voters because there’s no possible upside to that. This appears to be the crux of our disagreement.
That said, we both seem to agree that Delta didn’t have to engage in this at all, but I do think those days are over. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why a company would want to enter the fray on something like this at all.
I’m sorry, but that’s just too dumb to entertain.
Delta knew what was in this bill. EVERYONE knew what was in this bill. The contents of this bill were widely reported locally and nationally. To claim otherwise is frankly preposterous.
Your continued insistence on this point does yourself, your readers, and this website a disservice. You don’t know what you’re talking about; you should stop talking about it.
I’m done on this topic. Readers of this conversation can draw their own conclusions.
When it became obvious that *on balance* the net effect of the many negative provisions would outweigh the good, Delta should have pulled out of their lobbying efforts and gone publican that the bill needed to stop moving.
Delta blew it because they put their “this is good” stamp on a bill that has far too many negatives.
Last year, Ed Bastian told CNN that he felt shame that Delta hadn’t done more to advance Black people to upper management and on the corporate board. That failure shows up in misguided lobbying efforts like this.
That’s fair.
Anyone who opposes voter ID wants big black Dem cities to dump in hundreds of thousands of fraudulent mail in ballots because black privilege prevents the public from questioning their criminality and fraud. We need IDs to fly, to get a library card, to buy cigarettes, to buy beer, to enter a college campus, or to cash a check. The argument leftists use for opposing IDs is blacks don’t have access to IDs. I guess none of them smoke, drink, fly, go to the library, or cash checks. Nope. They do all those things. They have IDs like everyone else. It’s just an excuse to hide massive fraud.
Delta should stay out of politics or have the courage to call out voter and election fraud and call for mandatory voter ID.
I don’t understand why Kyle Stewart is so determined to give Delta Airlines a pass on this. The last paragraph of this article is so disgusting to me because everyone knew when Georgia first proposed these changes their intentions were not to expand voting rights or voting access their intentions, where to restrict voting access and suppress votes. Delta Airlines continued to support this bill even after it became crystal clear what Georgia Republicans were doing. This was never about securing an election because the system already in place the system Georgia used to run their 2020 elections was secure and that system was put in place by Georgia Republicans. The problem Republicans had was not with security but with the outcome of the elections, so now their intentions is to make it harder for people to vote. It would have been better if Delta had stayed on the sidelines but since they decided to get in the middle of this mess you don’t get to write an article saying give Delta a break because they had good intentions.
People in this country have fought and continue to fight for voting rights. As a person of color I was raised not to take the right to vote for granted because it can be taken away at any point in time which is what this law does. Delta had plenty of opportunities to change their stance and pull their support for this bill they decided not to. They do not have the right to claim ignorance now that the bill has become law, and you should be ashamed of yourself for writing an article trying to defend Delta Airlines actions.
At least the resident white nationalist, Jackson Waterson, finally showed up to give his racist bigoted take. Stay Proud, Boy.
What Delta did was stupid, plain and simple. The act of what they did, and the PR mess they created, stupid. But it cracks me up to no end to suggest DL shouldn’t be involved in crafting such issues. This country has entire state governments and large portions of the Federal legislature allowing entities to completely control (indirectly through fear and ‘membership’) and dictate the direction of lawmaking, without paying a penny in taxes. They are called churches, religious institutions, whatever you want. Yet here is a business that does pay taxes and (misguided as it may be) attempted to shape legislation in its and employee’s best interest. I’m okay with that, it’s the system. That being said, DL deserves all the repercussions of this decision, this law is reprehensible and un-American.
Now this post is directed at Matthew, who I assume has something more than half control of this blog. The commentary here is now, and has been every time Kyle turns to politics, taking down the quality of your page. It’s time to put an end to these ridiculous posts and the outrageous dialogue that ensues. As informed global travelers, we’re above this drivel. I reiterate my above comment: if you’re simply after clicks and mayhem to appease advertisers, I will leave and find new outlets.
Jackson:
We have 100% vote by mail here in Washington state, and have had this for the past ten or so years.
When we register to vote, we show identification that proves who we are and that we are citizens. Usually this happens at driver licensing, but can happen elsewhere. We sign our names to that application.
When we vote, we sign the ballot envelope. If we do not sign it, or if the signature does not match the one we gave when registering, the vote is not counted.
ZERO fraud.
The Republican party has beliefs and ideas that are not supported by a majority of the country. They could compete by listening to ALL the people and making a good faith effort to appeal to them. But they won’t do that. So, to win elections in areas that are other than deep red, they have to do whatever they can to minimize the number of people who do not support their beliefs and ideas from voting. In many cases that means allowing only ID types that “those” people are less likely to have (as in Texas: gun carry permit OK, student ID not), or making it very difficult for “those” people to successfully get that ID by reducing the number of locations where they can get it.
Most telling, of course, is that while voter fraud is almost nonexistent and therefore this is not really a problem that needs solving in the first place, legislation like this only seems to happen in Republican-led states.
“Wait a minute, are you IN SUPPORT of the recent Republican voter suppression law in Georgia? Sounds about white.”
I know many non-whites, including a gifted African American who holds a PhD from MIT, who votes Republican and supports election integrity laws. Are whites who oppose “Republican voter suppression laws’ not really “white?” Are non-whites who support them not really non-white?
In any case, this type of commentary, IMO, is offensive and doesn’t belong on a travel blog. If you dislike white people, then fine. But does it belong on here?
Jackson Waterson writes:
“Delta should stay out of politics or have the courage to call out voter and election fraud and call for mandatory voter ID.”
This IS pertinent, I think, to a travel blog in that I think I have a great idea: For both sides that (legitimately) claim to have concerns about voter disenfranchisement or election integrity, some of the pork in the various COVID bills should have included making Passport Cards free to all (eligible) citizens (minus, I think, felons on probation and child-support arrears)
I just applied for a passport renewal for my wife and didn’t get the card and I regret it. I think it would be useful in certain situations when traveling as a form of backup ID.
The ONLY stumbling block I could even imagine might be that some people theoretically who don’t have a single dollar to their name couldn’t afford a passport photo. Delta and other woke minded companies could offer to take them for free. Or heck, develop an app that could make a selfie, compliant passport app photo.
In the words of The Fonz: Problemo solved.
Delta usually supports and funds the left sided!! The Ga Bill will support legal voting but I’m sure Stacy Abrams will find more ways around it! That’s how she found 700,000 New Democrat voters last year!! I’m sure they were all legal!
I’m just adding a final comment to potentially take this to the most commented on post of the year thus far. That’s all, just that.
Requiring ID and a signature match is not “voter suppression”” and you’re being scammed if you think it is. Every other nation on Earth requires an ID match to vote. Many require your fingerprint. This is to prevent fraud. If that’s ‘racist’ then Canada, the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy, etc are all racist as hell. And the US requires ID for every other significant transaction there is. Got my COVID vaccination last week and had to show ID twice. Everyone has one or can get one.
This whole argument about supposed “voter suppression” is pure BS and the left knows it. They just want to be more able to receive fraudulent votes from non citizens, and dead people.
Except the US Supreme Court Citizens United decision, changed the narrative that companies should only focus in earning, but they are allowed to have a political position.