Great argument that the Berners are not correct in their current assessment of thing and how the system prevented them from getting him elected or winning MI
@charles_gaba
Dear @AOC
: I heard you claimed on @BretBaier's show that there was "rampant voter suppression" here in Michigan which prevented Bernie supporters from voting. Your "evidence" for this is that some college kids had to wait several hours to vote.
I agree that you shouldn't have to wait several hours to vote, which is why it's such a great thing that in 2020, Michigan voters had SIX WEEKS to vote by mail, which they DIDN'T have in 2016. I also agree that you shouldn't have to wait several hours to *register* to vote...
...which is why it's such a great thing that in 2020, Michigan residents were allowed to REGISTER to vote RIGHT UP THROUGH ELECTION DAY, which they COULDN'T do in 2016 (you had to be registered at least 30 days *before* e-day back then). Yet even with the addition of both...
...Bernie ended up receiving over 3.7% *FEWER* votes in 2020 than he did in 2016 (he went from 598,943 to 576,580...a drop of 22,363 primary votes).
"But it was a crowded field!" Yes, it was. Let's add 100% of Warren votes. That brings it to 602,626, an increase of 0.6%.
Now, how about Biden 2020 vs. Hillary 2016?
Hillary 2016: 581,775 MI primary votes
Biden 2020: 838,515 MI primary votes
That's a 44% increase for a candidate who's arguably even more "establishment" (36yrs Senate, 8yrs VP) than Hillary (8yrs 1st Lady, 8yrs Senator, 4yrs SoS).
None of this is to downplay voter suppression in general--it's VERY real in many states & is done *by the GOP* to suppress *Dem* voters--but you claimed it was done *in MI* which just passed MASSIVE voting rights reform, specifically to suppress BERNIE supporters, which is BS.
One more thing, @AOC
: I see that you clarified that you aren't blaming Bernie's *loss* on suppression, just some of the margin ("rampant" suppression was your term)...except for one thing...
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC
I do not attribute the loss on voter suppression.
Biden bested the night, fair & square. However *anywhere* w/ a multi-hour wait to vote - whether in GA, TX, MI, or anywhere else - is a problem.
Voter suppression primarily targets Black voters, & young ppl can be impacted too.
...by all accounts, the vast majority of those long lines in college towns you referred to were college kids REGISTERING at literally the last minute...something which, again, they wouldn't have even been able to do AT ALL until last year:
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Jonathan Cohn@CitizenCohn
State spox tells @detroitnews that "delay in processing voters appears to be concentrated at city clerks office is college towns, such as Ann Arbor, East Lansing and Kalamazoo, that are fielding hundreds of people registering to vote"
https://detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/10/michigan-localities-juggling-rise-same-day-voter-registration/5004002002/And when I say "literally the last minute" I mean EXACTLY THAT:
https://twitter.com/JocelynBenson/status/1237544212746260480Over 6,000 people (presumably those college kids in the video clip) waited until there was less than 3 1/2 hours left on election day before even *showing up* to REGISTER to vote.
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Jocelyn Benson@JocelynBenson
Updating ... over 13,157 eligible citizens registered and voted today, as of 8:30pm - with almost half (just over 6000) showing up after 4:30pm to do so.
https://twitter.com/jocelynbenson/
