Shabbat doesn’t end until 6:25pm tonight (so it just ended) but the polls are only open until 7pm. Sheesh. Jews cannot get any respect!
How many voters will this issue affect?
According to the Jewish Virtual Library, South Carolina has an overall population of 4,255,083 million people, with 0.3%, or just over 11,225 who are Jewish. Obviously, not all 11,000 Jews are of voting age. (Here’s information on South Carolina’s connection to Israel.)
Wouldn’t you think that if the Republicans were willing to debate in Boca Raton, Florida of all places, a state like South Carolina, with a city like Charleston, that sincerely has an illustrious and notable Jewish history, could keep the polls open on Saturdays long enough for observant Jews to cast their votes!? Well, I never.
Vessels Sarcasm Alert Scale: 9*
*This sarcasm scale originated after I made a tongue in cheek suggestion that Ohio lefties forward to the conservative blog, Eye on the Statehouse, all the statehouse waste we observed, as opposed to letting the purveyors of Eye on the Statehouse control the agenda of what they believe is waste. A well-respected and much loved Ohio lefty blogger, Eric Vessels, thought I was off my rocker, until I explained that it was reverse psychology and that I knew exactly who was involved. Eric suggested that, since people take me so seriously most of the time, I need to alert people to when I’m being sarcastic. Thus was born the Vessels Sarcasm Alert Scale. Much thanks and love always to Eric.
UPDATE: Now, seriously, I wrote this post in jest, because for one thing, I’m not an observant Jew and I would still go and vote on a Saturday. However, I do know many Conservative Jews and of course Orthodox Jews who would feel very uncomfortable doing so. The numbers are small in South Carolina, which is not the case in Ohio.
However, this concern about scheduling is no joke, as this post on Religion Clause indicates:
As previously reported, Nevada effectively disenfranchised observant Jews and Seventh Day Adventists last week by holding its caucuses to select delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions on Saturday. Now, it turns out, that the Nevada Democratic State Convention– an all-day event– will be held Saturday, April 19, in Reno. Not only is that the Jewish Sabbath, but that evening is the start of Passover. Even less-observant Jews generally attend a seder, which means many will travel to be with family or will need the day to prepare for the evening seder meal. Thanks to Frume Sarah’s World for discovering this latest religious accommodation issue.
That’s just rude, because even Jews who identify with the religion as only a cultural experience often celebrate Passover, and the preparations are not small and the time commitment for the Passover seder is not short. This is one of those times when I just kind of cock my head and ask, Did they really have no other choice? Did they have to schedule it this way?
It just feels not nice.
FYI: The Jewish Virtual Library indicates that Neveda has many more Jews percentage-wise than South Carolina. Of a state population of 2,414,807, there are 69,600 Jews, or 2.9% of the population. That’s more than the percentage as is in all of the United States’ population.
Come on Nevada. Straighten up and fly right, huh?