Obama: You Can Vote ‘If You Actually Want To,’ People Who Don’t Vote Weren’t Turned Away

During an interview with Rev. Al Sharpton broadcast on Friday’s edition of MSNBC’s “All In,” President Obama said, “as systematic as Republicans have tried to make voting more difficult for minorities, for Democrats, for young people, the truth of the matter is, if you actually want to vote, then, you can vote,” and “You can’t tell me that all those folks who don’t vote are doing so because somebody’s turned them away or somebody’s intimidated them. No, it’s because they decided they had something better to do.”

Obama stated, “And the notion that some voter suppression is keeping you from voting, as systematic as Republicans have tried to make voting more difficult for minorities, for Democrats, for young people, the truth of the matter is, if you actually want to vote, then, you can vote, and it’ll take you 15 minutes in most cases where you’ve got early vote. If there’s no early vote, then, yes, you might have to wait in line for 20 minutes, or half an hour, to vote. And, the question would be, why would you disempower yourself? Why would you give them that victory if they’re trying to keep you from voting by not voting? We disempower ourselves all the time. You can’t tell me that all those folks who don’t vote are doing so because somebody’s turned them away or somebody’s intimidated them. No, it’s because they decided they had something better to do.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett