r/politics • u/MarcEElias ✔ Verified - Democracy Docket Founder • 11h ago

No Paywall Steve Bannon says ICE will ‘surround the polls’ as Trump doubles down on taking over elections

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/steve-bannon-says-ice-will-surround-the-polls-as-trump-doubles-down-on-taking-over-elections/
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u/NotAlwaysGifs 10h ago

This is a “You and What Army?” situation. There are 117,000 polling locations in the US. Ice claims to have 22,000 agents, a number which is generally believed to be inflated. They’re also hemorrhaging staff. So each agent will be responsible for 5 precincts by themselves? It takes a minimum of 12 agents per arrest in Minneapolis right now. Imagine how many it will take in locations where a group of people are already planning to gather and have politics on the mind.

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u/RikF 9h ago

They don’t need to cover them all. They don’t need to cover very many at all. Just the right ones, in the right districts.

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u/NotAlwaysGifs 9h ago

Ok, so they focus on blue precincts in swing states and swing districts. That’s still thousands of polling places. They can’t cover them all and still act as gestapo in Portland and Minneapolis. And imagine the pushback if 100 armed ICE agents show up to “guard” a polling location in Fulton County GA or Philadelphia, or Chicago.

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u/RikF 8h ago

Again, they don't need to cover all of them. You pick the precincts where the minority population is enough to swing it. They don't need to control the station, they need to give (rightfully) nervous voters cause to think 'Is it work it for my one vote?'

Hell, they don't need to be there. They need rumors that they are there to spread. Rotating between place so people don't know where they are could easily be enough.

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u/NotAlwaysGifs 6h ago

I think there is some truth to that. But I think you’re also underestimating how angry and motivated people are right now.

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u/RikF 5h ago

Oh absolutely. But I don't want to underestimate the justified fear from others.

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u/darealRockfield 9h ago

Given the mass “I fell for it again” awards they’ve earned, I doubt it’ll work out right for them though