Some are arguing that the long lines at polling places aren’t necessarily indicative of voter suppression efforts. We should wait before jumping to conclusions, they say. I disagree. Here’s why.

First, we know from @pettigrew_stats’ great work about the racial disparities in wait times. Who waits in long lines and for how long is not random. Minority voters wait much longer than white voters. That’s a problem.

The claim also conceives of voter suppression too narrowly. All the pre-work the president and his party has done to stoke doubt in the electoral system, to confuse, and to actively make it difficult to voter is voter suppression at work.

Everything we know about human behavior suggests that when given the choice, we like to get shit done quickly. So why are people waiting in terribly long lines to cast their ballot when other faster options are available? Hint: voter suppression.

Creating chaos and confusion is a key tactic of those who want to suppress the vote. That lots of folks feel compelled to wait in these lines suggests they are afraid to use other means to cast their ballot. Why? B/c they have eyes & ears & worry their vote won’t count.

So I’m not sure what the incentive is for us to play the role of “the reasonable observer.” People should not feel compelled to wait in long ass lines to participate in the electoral process. The fact that they do, esp. when other options available, is a sign of a broken system.

Sometimes it really is that simple. And for folks who don’t think this is necessarily a problem, tell me why every time I see one of these long ass lines in the news, I rarely see people who look like them making up the majority of those waiting for so long.