1. We should be careful. In expressing outrage for citizens being cheated out of their right to self-government, liberals run the risk of deepening distrust in the whole enterprise. That’s especially true if we’re wrong.
2. It looks like we were wrong. It turns out, those 53,000 voters can still vote, according to the ACLU of Georgia. It said that “all voters who have pending registration applications can still cast a regular ballot by presenting photo identification.”
3. This is from a Pro Publica outlet:
4. Liberals are missing another angle to this story.
5. It can’t be repeated enough that liberals are too focused on voter registration and not focused enough on people already registered. Citizens already registered, but who have not voted in four years, are more receptive to persuasion than people who are not already registered.
6. This is because of a difference in culture. Registered voters already *believe voting matters.* They just need to be nudged with the right incentives. Unregistered voters, however, typically do not believe voting makes a difference in their lives.
7. Why that’s the case is for another time. What’s important now is that that’s the case. Because resources are always limited, it’s best to make wise choices. The wisest choice would be for voter turnout activists to turnout already registered voters.
8. Now, one of the reasons already registered voters do not vote in every election (as they should) is because many of them are under the impression that they must be informed in order to vote. This is especially the case among young registered voters.
9. According to a HuffPost/YouGov survey, voters under the age of 29 say by a 2-to-1 margin that only well-informed people should vote while older voters have no such qualms.
10. What does “informed” mean? I can’t read minds, but usually that means citizens taking the time to look at each individual candidate’s policy proposals and deciding which is better. @jbview refreshingly calls this balderdash. bloomberg.com/view/articles/…
11. In other words, all you have to do is look at which party the candidate is from, and vote for that person based on his or her party. This is not something Americans typically admit to doing, because Americans have a bad habit of thinking parties are bad.
12. But when you think about it, we’re all ignorant voters. There’s just no way of knowing everything about a candidate or everything about the issues and policies. Normal people don’t have time for that kind of thing. That’s what political parties are for.
13. I have to dash, but there's more here. Thanks. stoehr.substack.com/p/we-get-the-g…
