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{D Well, } [ [ I, + I've ] been, + {F uh, } I have probably had ] more time than you have to think about this # subject # , /
WMN: 2956-0_2956-158
Dialogue: 2956-0
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# Uh-huh # . /
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{C so } I'll tell you, is it a serious problem? /Yes, /I do --
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# Yeah # . /
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-- # believe # it's a serious problem. /
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# Uh-huh # . <
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# However # , there are solutions to it. /
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# Uh-huh # . /
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# {C And } # foremost, {F uh, } where we compare [ w-, + that we ] are now doing fifty percent of our, {F uh, } people are voting. /{F Uh, } we're probably making a comparison against, {F uh, } some European [ and, + {F uh, } and, ] {F uh, } {F uh, } {D s-s-say, } newer republics [ that, + # {F uh, } #
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# Uh-huh. #
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that ] have very high percentages. /
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Uh-huh. /
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{F Uh, } {C so, } {F uh, } [ [ one of the reasons, {F uh, } that, + {F uh, } [ o-, + one ] of the reasons that ] we could get, + {F uh, } one of the reasons that it is ] lower in the United States is that mostly we hold it on Tuesdays. /God knows why we hold it on Tuesdays. /{C And then } we # further # --
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# What # ... -/
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-- complicate it by saying, {D you know, } we will keep the polls open until eight o'clock. /
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# Right # . /
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# [ Most # people, + {F uh, } a great number of people ] now work [ at various, + at different ] jobs that, if a third of the people are shift workers, they won't be able to get [ to the, + to the ] polls in any case. If they, {F uh, } have to work late into the evening and not get up. /My # solution #
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# Right. # /
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to that is that we hold it on Sundays. As do probably sixty to seventy percent of the European countries now. /
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{F Oh, } really, /they hold it on the weekends? /
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[ They hold it on the week-, + {E no } they hold it on [ a, + # {C either } a ] # --
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# Sunday. # /
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-- Saturday or a Sunday, ]
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# Uh-huh. # /
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# or at # least a day [ when, + when, ] {F uh, } a great number of people are not working. /
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{F Huh. } /
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I-, - /in America that is not true because [ a, + a ] great number of people work on Sundays. /
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# {D Well, } {F uh } # ... -/
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# [ {D Bu-, } + {C but } ] # that is one of my solutions. # {F Uh } # ... /
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# [ I + # , I ] know here in Dallas that they have just instituted in the last couple of years, [ a, + {F uh, } a ] real long period of time that you can absentee vote before the elections. /{C And } [ they, + I do not think they ] have seen a really high --
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Have you # absentee # --
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-- # improvement # . /
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-- voted # [ [ in, + in ] # -- +
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# No # . /
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-- in ] Texas? /
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# No, /I always vote. # /
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# {D Well, } I have absentee voted # in, {F uh, } New Hampshire, /{C and } it is a [ fairly, + fairly ] complicated process where you # have to go # --
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# {F Oh, } really. #
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-- pick up the ballot. /I do not say that it is that complicated, /{C but } part of the process also is that you must [ register, + preregister ] at some particular point. /New Hampshire is fairly easy /{C but } other # states # --
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# {F Huh } # . /
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-- you have to register every couple of years. [ And, + ] {F uh } ...
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To absentee vote specifically? /
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{D Well, } [ [ to vote, + to vote, ] + to just # vote # . ] /
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# Oh. # /
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{C So } registrations are perhaps [ a, + a ] problem also. /{C And } we're the [ mobile, + mobile ] society, {F uh, } /
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# Uh-huh # . /
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# People are # always mo-, {D you know, } - /one out of every seven people moves every year. /
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# Uh-huh. # <
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# {D you know } # , - /if you compound [ that, + that, ] {F uh, } {F eh- } {F eh, } [ th-, + ] - /[ i-, + if ] it is difficult to register to vote, that would remove your eligibility to vote. <
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{C But }
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# {D Well } # . -/
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# [ who + # , or, who ] are not just motivated who really believe that [ [ their, + they, ] + their ] voice is heard. /{E I mean, } {C and } the # people that I have talked to # ... -/
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# {D Well } maybe that is another factor # , the motivational # factor. /The motivational factor is probably # ... /
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# Right. /I think that is the biggest one. # /
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# I # ... -/
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# That's # the biggest problem. /# I # ... -/
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# {D Well } # , that's diminished by, - /w-we have noticed this in particular. /I, [ I'm + ] just read two books, /one of them is WHOSE STARS AND STRIPES NOW? /
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Uh-huh. /
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THE, {F uh, } TRIVIAL PURSUIT OF THE PRESIDENCY IN NINETEEN EIGHTY-EIGHT. /
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# {F Oh, } really # ? /
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# It's a fairly # decent book. /{E I # mean } #
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# {F Huh } # . <
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[ it's, + {F uh, } it's ] preceded by, {F uh, } several other books by these guys. /{F Uh, } WAKE ME UP WHEN IT'S OVER was about the eighty-four elections. /{C And } I forget what
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#
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{C but } any case, {F uh, } i-i-it is, {F uh, } {F uh, } the mar-, - /{F uh, } {F uh, } [ [ th-, + th-, ] + there ] was, {F uh, } - /BLUE SMOKE AND MIRRORS was the one in eighty-two. /{F Uh, } [ they, + these guys, ] {F uh, } have taken the place of Theodore White on reporting elections. /In any case, they say that, {F uh, } there's a definite trend, {F uh, } {D well, } {D you know, } toward candidates using negative voting. /It is the only way that you can use television effectively. /
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I don't understand that. /[ Why do, + {F uh, } is that just because they have ] such a low opinion of the public? And the public's, # {F uh } # ,
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# No # , /the public --
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# gullibility # ? /
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-- # would rather hear # something negative about the other guy [ [ th-, + {F uh, } than, ] + than ] a positive factor. /[ {C And } y-, + {C and, } ] {D you know, } - /[ to + ] [ if you, + if you ] go on the attack, [ i-, + ] and put some sensational thing before the public, as Mike Dukakis learned in the last campaign, - /{C and } it is not refuted, /people will, {D you know, } {F uh, } believe it. /If you don't refute it, as he didn't, # there must be some truth #
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# {D Well, } he did refute it. # /
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to the matter, # {D see } # . /
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# [ He # + , he ] refuted it, /it just was not effective enough to ... -/
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<
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# {D Well } [ that + {D see, } [ I, + I ] # didn't believe anybody would believe that ] either. /[ [ I, + # I, ] + I ] guess I #
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# {D Well, } they do. # /
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have a hard time coming to terms with [ the, + the ] fact that the American public really was, # {D you know, } so # ... -/
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# {D Well, } don't give # too much credit to the American public for their motivational # ability # . /
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#
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[ [ {C And, } + {C and, } ] + {C and } ] it ... -/
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{D Well, } then how can a democracy work then? /
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# {D Well, } it, {F uh, } - /{D well, } I don't know. # /
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# [ How, + how ] can it work? # /
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Is it working? /{E I mean } [ that's, + that's ] the question. /I guess the question also [ is + that we discovered, is ] that they don't throw rascals out. /Everybody seems --
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# Right # . /
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-- # disappointed # , /{C but } they don't throw the rascal out, their own rascal. /
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Right. /
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{F Uh, } [ my, + my ] solution [ to, + to ] part of this [ is, + is ] [ to, + to ] make it [ a-a-an, + an ] economic incentive for people to vote. /That # sounds rather crass, I think, because # --
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# What?
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-- [ then, + then ] you are saying, {D well, } {F uh, } {D y-y-you
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#
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# know } # , [ y-, + [ in-, y-y, + ] ] it could be [ c-, + convoluted ] in many ways where people would actually, {F uh, } by paying them, /{E I mean, } {D you know, } you would take a certain amount off their income tax or property tax or whatever. /
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# {F Huh. } # /
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# {C But } [ th- + # , it ] would be very difficult to administer because I am sure that any time money and votes are involved,
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# {D Well, } #
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just stinks. /
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[ how about, + how about ] the reverse of that? /When I have heard about England's elections, they are allowed to run for what, a total of six or eight weeks. Even for the higher offices [ in the, + in the ] land. /What if we totally [ took money out of the camp-, {F eh, } ma-, + ] just severely limited the campaigns so money wasn't so much of an issue? /I feel like, # [ if + # ,
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#
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if ] we did that people would have a lot higher confidence that their vote was counting rather than their # contributions would count. # /
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# Yeah, /{C but } the idea is to get # the individual to the polls, a-a-and we have to make it as easy as possible for him to get to the # polls # . /
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# [ I don't + # , I don't ] care how easy it is for them, /I do not think they are going to because they do no think [ that their, + that anybody ] listens to their vote. /They think whoever has the b-. - /They really think that the packs, {D you know, } no matter what you're promised during a campaign, - /{C and } these days we are promised # hardly anything of substance. # /
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# {F Oh, } you mean the special interest groups? # /
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Right. /[ {C And, } + {D eh, } {C and, } ] {D eh, } [ y-, + ] no matter what [ a, + a, ] candidate promises during the campaign, [ i-, + ] which isn't very much, specif-, - /[ any, + [ th-, + they ] do not promise anything ] specific these days. /{C But } whatever you are promised, [ they just, + they just ] reverse themselves depending on who pays them what once they get into office. /# {E I mean, } I think that's the # ... -/
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# {D Well, } read my lips # . [ [ And, + and, ] + and ] no new taxes /{C and } # yet Bush did that. /[ [ {C But } + {E I mean, } {C but } ] # -- +
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# Yeah. /Yeah.
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{C but } ] he's excused from that. /Generally, people, I've read polls now where they've excused him because there was [ a, + a ] definite necessity to balance the budget. /
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{D Well, } then why did he say that during his campaign? /
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# {F Oh, } [ [ he, + he ] + he ] gave it, - /[ [ he did # +
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# Then he, - /it was totally irr- ... # -/
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he did, ] + he promised ] the best he could. /{C And } he is the president /{C and } [ he should, + he should ] address those problems /{C and } if there needs to be a change in a period of time. - /[ Wh-, + what ] was so funny about it is that, I guess, that it happened so rapidly, {D you know. } /He knew it. /# He actually knew it. /{C And } being #
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# Yeah. /Yeah. /Yeah. # /
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associated with government, he should be held up to the light for that. /{C And } # maybe #
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# Yeah. # /
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he will. /
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Yeah. /{D Well } ...
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{C But } I think it is, {D er-r-r, } - /{E I mean, }
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#
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# I think [ you # + , you ] still have a view that the American voter is different from other voters. /{C And } he is motivated because we happen to be the cradle of liberty and all that. /I think voters are # motivated, {F uh } ... # /
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# [ What about, + what about ] # voters in the other countries that you were talking about? /Like in the European countries where they have higher turnouts? And, {D well, } the newer democracies /{C because } # it's going to be totally different, /{C but } # -- -/
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# {D Well, } I don't know if they have higher # turnouts --
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# You do not think so # ? /
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# overall. /I don't # think England has, /I think England has about a seventy percent, sixty-five percent turn out. /
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Uh-huh. /
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I think that we just discovered [ in this, + [ in, + in ] the ] Indian elections is [ th-, + one of # the ] [ greatest + # --
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# Oh # . /
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-- greatest ] and massive things [ in, + in ] the world. /{F Uh, } just, it [ was, + got ] [ vi-, + more # violent ] every year. # /
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# Right. # /
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They went down almost fifty percent in this election # before they blew up #
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# {F Oh, } really? # /
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Ghandi. But,
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#
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# simply because people were so #
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# Yeah # . /
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# concerned # about their inability [ that + [ to, + ] that ] their vote does not count any way.
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# {F Huh. } # /
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# And the # corruption of politics [ [ in, + in, ] + in ] that s-s-situation there. /[ {C But } + [ th-, + ] {C but, } ] {D you know, } everything is relative to when, {F uh, } {F eh, } [ w-w-, + {D you know, } we ] had higher turnouts because at that time we [ cur-, + ] talk about the turnout relative to the eligible voter, right? /
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Yeah. /
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{E I mean } is, - /[ {C but, } + {C but } ] [ before these enormous, + before this ] Voting Rights Act, what we had was [ a, + a ] great deal of our population, {F uh, } mainly the blacks in the south and # the #
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# Uh-huh # . /
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Hispanics were precluded [ by, +
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# Oh # . /
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# by, ] {F uh } # , voting laws, {F uh, } [ from reg-, + from their eligibility to register. ] /Now everybody is available. /
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# Oh # . /
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# {C So, } if you really # computed it, they probably - /when we said we had a seventy percent turnout in nineteen fifty, we really only had a fifty percent # turnout /{C because } all the eligible # --
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# {F Oh, } I see, /because, right. # -/
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-- voters -- -/
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Weren't qual-, -/
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-- # {D you know, } [ the-, + it ] was skewed # --
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# [ dis-, + ] were disqualified # . /
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-- by the eligible voters being less than the total population # of ... # /
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# {C But } [ isn't that # , + isn't that ] kind of a blanket racist kind of thing to say the blacks and Hispanics and other minorities just don't vote? /{C Or } is that just # [ the, + the ] truth? # /
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# No, /I think [ the high-, + there's a higher ] # percentage [ in, + in ] certain black areas of voters. /I don't know about Hispanics, {D you know. } # /[ I just, # +
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# Yeah # . /
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[ I, + {E I mean } I ] ] haven't studied the statistics well enough to, - /{E I mean, } I think in this sort of --
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{D Well } ...
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-- conversation we can only do our own reaction. /
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Right, /right. /{C But } {D you know } that just made me think of something that happened down here in Dallas last year. /They have this huge fight going over redistricting here. /
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Uh-huh. /
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{C And } at one point [ they di-, + they took ] another vote on it, /{C and } [ they, + {F uh, } the minorities ] could not get enough of a vote out [ to, + to ] pass their plan. /{C And } this is something that had been going on for months. /It was on the news every night. /[ They, + {C and } they ] have had lawsuits over it. /{E I mean, } [ it was r-, + it was ] a major issue, /{C and } there still wasn't enough minority vote [ to get, + to pass ] the plan that they were backing. /{C So } that's, [ y-, + ] - /{D you know, } I think that you have really hit on something there. /[ Wa-, + ] to say that, {F uh, } those ... -/
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What do you mean? /
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{D Well, } with the minorities {C and } we are saying we have lower voter turnout. /Maybe it [ is, + is, ] {F uh, } now that we have # minorities included in the # ... -/
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# {D You know, } Karen, I wonder if # we are recording. /
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Why, /did you not press one? /