‘I think one thing that isn’t being talked about is the rampant voter suppression in this country…’
(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-N.Y., spread false excuses to explain the devastating collapse of Sen. Bernie Sanders‘s campaign, MLive reported.
After the March 10 little-Super Tuesday primary contests, which included Michigan, Ocasio–Cortez spoke in an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier about the reasons for Bernie’s loss.
“I think one thing that isn’t being talked about is the rampant voter suppression in this country,” she said. “Right there in Ann Arbor where we had that rally, those kids were waiting three hours in line to vote in Michigan.”
When Baier asked if voters who were planning to vote in Ann Arbor were unable to vote, she said, “Absolutely.”
Ann Arbor City Clerk Jackie Beaudry said Ocasio–Cortez’s claims were misleading.
She said campus polling places had short wait times to vote, if any at all.
She acknowledged, however, that University of Michigan students who waited to register to vote until the day before or the day of the election had to wait 2-3 hours at city hall.
Citizens and students who had prepared to vote ahead of time were not subject to long waits.
“We understand long waits are not acceptable, whether at the polls or for voter registration,” Beaudry said, “and we are making plans for improvements for November, including the opening of a satellite office to assist with voter registration, in addition to encouraging students to register in advance of Election Day, as many did.”
In Ann Arbor’s defense, Michigan had recently passed a law to allow same-day voter registration, which appears to be rife with suspicious activity and outright fraud. This was the city’s first attempt at implementing the law that, by its very nature, places immense burden on densely populated areas where progressive candidates thrive.
“Unfortunately, the current laws in Michigan do not allow us to implement Election Day registration at polling places, so everyone who wanted to register on Election Day, and the 14 days leading up to Election Day, was required to come to one place, city hall,” Beaudry said.