Mildly Infuriating @lemmy.world grue @lemmy.world 3w ago

Why are people doing this at voting locations in the USA?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21109313

I went to vote today in Georgia USA. People showed up wearing bed sheets over them. What is this supposed to communicate exactly??

You're viewing a single thread.

77 comments

This is not my picture; I only crossposted it (original was in [email protected] ). I also only did so because it was apparently being deleted and I wanted it not to be lost (sorry if it's a loose fit for the community because of that).

According to OP, it was an early voting location in Georgia. The thread was deleted 9 hours after being posted, with a score of 125 and 36 comments.

Edit: the deletion my not be as nefarious as I assumed; there's a similar thread in this community that (as I write this) still exists. https://lemmy.world/post/21116630
- Weird, your linked post seems to be gone now
  
  Edit: actually, I can't find any of the original posts. And when I try to Google it I can't find anything either. Wtf
  
  Edit 2: okay, it took some digging but by searching all of Lemmy by comments and filtering by time, I was able to find the two original posts. Both have been deleted, I assume by moderators? And I can't find anything when I reverse Google search the image. Something smells fishy. For SEO: Georgia election; election interference; voter intimidation; KKK; sheets; ghosts; early voting; Cobb County
  
  This time I had the foresight to take screenshots:
  
  Well that's illegal. They're probably trying to stir up trouble because Cobb county goes Democrat.
  
  Damn, looks like you're super popular or something! 😄
  
  It looks like I don't mark my messages read, LOL.
  
  Or maybe you said something SUPER controversial in an extremely active post? 😁
  
  Man, I wish Lemmy had enough participation to have posts that active!
  
  I'm sorry but some white sheets + sunglasses is absolutely not resembling the KKK in any way, especially since everyone in the US is already dressing up for Halloween. This seems to be just overblown drama. Some dumbos probably thought they'd make some funny ghost voting video for tictok or something, not knowing the rules. Claiming this to be some sort of intimidation attempt is just a fragile victim complex.
  
  You really can't see how wearing sheets to a voting station in a state with deep historical ties to the KKK could be perceived poorly?
  
  So people in that state are not allowed to dress up as ghosts?
  
  Context.
  
  You try to use this as a reason to not sound like a bigot, but you're just meaning to say "yes".
  
  Nope, in almost every context it's fine to dress up as a ghost. ~~A polling station~~ An in person voting location in Georgia is one of the only exceptions.
  
  Because polling stations are places for Nazis.
  
  What the fuck are you talking about
  
  You are absolutely not allowed to film or disturb a place of voting.
  
  I never said anything implying the opposite. But filming also does not make you a Nazi either.
  
  In the US, fucking with voting is very much Nazi behavior.
  
  They weren't "fucking with voting" and even left when they got told off. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor
  
  Right... That's why they were allowed to stay.
  
  Agreed. This is most likely just some people being doofy.
  
  I can't tell if the original post is an elaborate hoax with a link that never worked in the first place or if something is legit happening. Why would there be lines to vote already? Maybe I'm naive and early voting is that difficult in Georgia that people are lining up now. I don't know, my ballot gets mailed to me by default and I can just walk up and drop it off any time up until polls close on election day. This feels like it's a post to sow discord but 🤷‍♂️
  
  Yeah I really can't tell the truth here. All I know is something isn't right
  
  Edit: there are lines for early voting in Cobb County, Georgia, where the original pictures are allegedly from. There were some lines but not long waits usually between 15-30 minutes but many places less than that.
  
  There wasn't much of a line at 7:00 a.m. a week ago when I voted in that same building, but last year it took me half an hour or so to get up to the door. It's also typically a little longer wait on weekends.
- If I had to guess it's to protect their identity so that they can vote without being harassed. But I will fully admit I only looked at the picture and didn't click the link or anything.

77 comments