The Voting Thread (Procedures, Turnout, Legal Challenges)(Update: Trump to file suit in PA, MI, WI, AZ, NV, GA) (7 Viewers)

[Lapaz]

There is a lot of push-back from Trump on voting by mail, but most states allow it, and 1/3 allow it without any excuse. His rationale is that it will lead to vast fraud, but of course that isn't his real reason. His real reason is that he thinks it will be worse for conservatives, but studies have shown that states that have instituted much broader voting by mail haven't had any statistical changes in party voting.

Stanford study: Mail voting doesn't benefit one party over another

Coronavirus-spurred limits have intensified a push to allow more mail balloting in November.

www.politico.com

Voting Outside the Polling Place: Absentee, All-Mail and other Voting at Home Options

Most states offer at least one method for any eligible voter to cast a ballot before Election Day. While some states provide early in-person voting, this webpage addresses absentee voting and all-mail voting.

www.ncsl.org

Although, normally voting by mail doesn't affect party votes, I bet it might this year if we have another resurgence of Covid, because I think the right is much more apt to discount the virus than the left. I know that is why Trump is against it.

Whether you're left or right wing, expanding mail in votes is the right thing to do to reduce the likelihood of spreading the virus, to expand voter participation, and to make it easier for those that do show up to stay distant. It will also allow any people with susceptibilities to remain safer. I think voting by mail could be made extremely secure by having people vote using traditional postal mail, coupled with requiring a confirmation either by phone, email or text. If done by phone, then voters can provide confirmation that can include confirming their form number. If done by email or text, it can include a picture of their form, and then confirmation that that was their form. Rather than staffers individually calling people, this can be automated by having voters call the number, text the number, or email the address provided to them on their form. A website can even be created with a database of those that have voted, and perhaps a link to allow people to confirm their vote was correctly registered. For people without computers, a site can include a means to access the database over the phone with some confirmation information. These types of systems are used extensively by banks and other sites that need security, so I think they are mature enough to use. We could even use such a site for people to confirm their vote on the day of the election.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Oh really? Did she accidentally reveal their plan?

Do you think she's being unreasonable in her stance, given the reasons she laid out?

 

[SaintForLife]

[MOD EDIT: This sort of post will not be allowed in the future scope of this thread. There is no content added beyond innuendo and does not take into account the processes of mail in voting. This thread is meant to be informative and legitimate concerns can be included. This, however, does not fit those criteria without more substance included.]

I'm sure it will all be fine.

Warning as People 'Going Door-To-Door' To Illegally Collect Voting Ballots

The Anne Arundel County Board of Elections advise not to give a stranger your ballot following reports of suspicious behavior.

www.newsweek.com

 

[Mixtape]

A note going forward about this thread. The issue of mail-in voting and absentee ballots has become a critical issue. Just yesterday, Facebook decided to restrict and ban posts that begin to cast doubt on this process which has been in place for a very long time, and worked well in those places and instances, with minimal fraud. These decisions are made because it's clear that the legitimacy of voting by mail is being called into question with very little justification beyond political posturing and deliberate misleading.

I think that is a wise move, and they aren't the only ones who are doing it. I mention it because FB has been generally reluctant to make these kinds of decisions about their content, while others have been doing it for a while. And this site is not going to be accommodating those sorts of posts, either.

If there is something legitimate that comes up, then post it and discuss it. But we are not going to have conspiratorial or re-framed content that suggests there's some nefarious plot about our voting institutions. The process of mail-in voting and filing absentee ballots is a process that involves a lot of steps and many of the posts, of the more dubious and conspiratorial variety, do not take that into account. In the last two posts here of that nature, I don't see any actual evidence of some plot to rig the election. And it would be irresponsible for us to allow these sorts of posts, with no explanatory substance, to remain and be treated as valid.

If anyone sees anything that alarms them and is legitimate, and can be supported with something more than innuendo or a lack of awareness of the absentee ballot process, then post it. These do not meet that threshold, but will stay up as examples of what, going forward, will be moderated.

 

[zztop]

Any conservatives want to chime in with the “legitimate” reason for reducing 11 drop-offs down to one?

Of course not. They don't even blink when they do something so obvious as this, why? Because it favors them. It's almost like they are fine being blatant hypocrites and frauds b/c of some warped sense that "it is for the common good" (which somehow most of the republican party has been brainwashed to believe people like "radical socialist Biden" is too dangerous for the US to be subjected to lol)

 

[Optimus Prime]

Any conservatives want to chime in with the “legitimate” reason for reducing 11 drop-offs down to one?

getting sued over it
===============================

(Bloomberg) -- Texas Governor Greg Abbott was sued by voting rights groups who say his plan to limit each county to a single ballot drop box for the Nov. 3 election, regardless of size or population, will have the effect of suppressing the vote in urban areas.

The suit, filed late Thursday in federal court in Austin, alleges Abbott, a Republican and outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, is violating the rights of voters who wish to drop off their mail-in ballots amid a pandemic and delays in the Postal Service........

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[bdb13]

Received my ballot yesterday and just put it back in the mail. Methinks that ought to be enough time.

 

[efil4]

Received my ballot yesterday and just put it back in the mail. Methinks that ought to be enough time.

My oldest is going Oct 8 with Honor Society to count ballots for 4 hours.

I thought that was pretty cool that they get to be a "part of" an election even tho they cannot vote just yet.

 

[MT15]

So, I actually went to the website (BRB, scrubbing internet history).

It actually just asks for volunteers to sign up with the Republican party and take the election site training to be a poll worker, as far as I can tell.

Mainly the landing page has places to volunteer to make phone calls, go door to door, and drive people to the polls.

You know they are making it seem militaristic, but it seems the actual site is not doing anything untoward.

 

[brandon]

So, I actually went to the website (BRB, scrubbing internet history).

It actually just asks for volunteers to sign up with the Republican party and take the election site training to be a poll worker, as far as I can tell.

Mainly the landing page has places to volunteer to make phone calls, go door to door, and drive people to the polls.

You know they are making it seem militaristic, but it seems the actual site is not doing anything untoward.

If the people who follow that link follow through and actually become poll workers, a lot of good people are going to be disenfranchised.

 

[Optimus Prime]

We dropped off our ballots this weekend

Dropped at off at the box outside the board of elections

A bit surprised how many people were doing the same

Good steady stream of cars coming in

Not bad this early In The process on a Saturday afternoon

 

[MT15]

If the people who follow that link follow through and actually become poll workers, a lot of good people are going to be disenfranchised.

im not entirely up on the process, but I think there are representatives from both major parties present? So it wouldn’t be possible for someone to unilaterally disenfranchise a voter? I really don’t know though.

I have seriously thought about volunteering for my location, but then I’m 65 and it might not be a good idea due to Covid.

 

[Nebaghead]

im not entirely up on the process, but I think there are representatives from both major parties present? So it wouldn’t be possible for someone to unilaterally disenfranchise a voter? I really don’t know though.

I have seriously thought about volunteering for my location, but then I’m 65 and it might not be a good idea due to Covid.

Problem is these poll watchers might be emboldened to do more than they should. Typically the Dems will have lawyers ready to fight if their is blatantly occurring. The dem poll watchers will let them know and they will be asked to leave.
I know here they make people take off campaign shirts and hats when they vote, even early voting. I remember a trumper getting all mad about having to take his hat off then when he tried to show his id, the election official said we don’t need it. She said put it away, I don’t want to see it. He got mouthy about that and then a supervisor came out and asked the guy to stop or he would be asked to leave with an absentee ballot he can fill out and put in the drop box outside. This in Nebraska which is fairly conservative.

 

[MT15]

Saw the exact same thing in 2018! I’m also in a red state. Pretty old farmer type, with a Trump hat on, came in to vote and this little old lady poll worker said “will you please remove your hat before you vote?”

He practically growled at her “no, I will not”.

she stood her ground, told him he couldn’t vote unless he removed the hat. I was so proud of her because he was a big hostile guy and she didn’t back down. He eventually took it off and shoved it in his pocket.

Made me happy.

 

[EmBeeFiveOhFour]

Jeff Landry is suing Mark Zuckerberg's non-profit to keep them from giving grants to local election officials in Louisiana to use for the increased costs of running elections during a pandemic.

Local elections officials across Louisiana in recent weeks perked up at an opportunity Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was funding through a nonprofit organization: Free money to run elections in a pandemic.

But after Attorney General Jeff Landry caught wind of the endeavor, the Republican official put his foot down, warning registrars of voters, clerks of court and other officials not to pursue the money.

Now all of the local officials have backed off and are no longer pursuing the funding. Landry is filing suit, asking a court to declare the arrangement illegal and warning of the “corrosive influence of outside money on Louisiana election officials.”

The nonprofit handing out the money across the U.S., the Center for Tech and Civic Life, said 26 election officials across the state applied for grants, with a total potential amount of about $7.8 million. Now, all those applications have been withdrawn by the officials after Landry’s intervention.

 

[wardorican]

Interesting

Why are they trying to make a distinction between mail in voting and absentee voting?

============================
Robocalls sent by Trump campaign surrogates Kimberly Guilfoyle and the President's daughter-in-law Lara Trump are encouraging Republican voters to use absentee ballots to vote in November, calling them one of the "best ways" to support President Trump in November.

Both calls attempt to draw a false distinction between absentee voting and other forms of mail-in voting. Guilfoyle's call goes so far as to claim the "radical left" wants to "confuse you" on mail-in voting and that "Democrats want to scare you away from voting absentee."

"Absentee voting and universal vote-by-mail may sound similar but could not be more different," says Guilfoyle. "Absentee voting is safe, secure and supported by President Trump. The radical left wants universal vote-by-mail, which is proven to be filled with fraud, abuse and mistakes."

None of those assertions about vote-by-mail are true..........

Fact Check: RNC and Trump campaign robocalls urge Republicans to vote absentee by falsely claiming Democrats oppose it | CNN Politics

Robocalls sent by Trump campaign surrogates Kimberly Guilfoyle and the President’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump are encouraging Republican voters to use absentee ballots to vote in November, calling them one of the “best ways” to support President Trump in November.

www.cnn.com

They're using a techicality. "universal" vote by mail, I think assumes that you don't have to request the mail in ballot. You just get it. Absentee voting requires a request.

It's semantics. I mean, I can request up to 2 or 4 elections in a row. Either way, it's a freaking ballot you receive and send back via the mail (or drop off locations).

 

[wardorican]

Oh really? Did she accidentally reveal their plan?

To take their time and accurately count the ballots and ask media to not rush to predictions and confuse everyone?

I thought you were all about not rushing in before the facts?

We're just not used to this taking longer, which it might.

 

[wardorican]

Trump has been laying the rhetorical ground work and building a legal team to challenge the counting of mail-in ballot votes versus absentee ballot votes. So it makes sense they are doing everything they can to persuade their voters who are going to vote by mail to use absentee ballots instead of regular mail-in ballots.

There's an actual voter suppression plan in action in regards to the constant rhetorical assault on mail-in ballots.

I dug it up... In most states there isn't actually a distinction..

Absentee voting
The original term for voting without physically going to a polling place, the first major use of absentee voting first began during the Civil War. Some states, like Wisconsin and Connecticut, passed legislation allowing U.S. soldiers to vote while away from home and forward their ballots to their state's governor or election leaders.
In the 1864 presidential election, about 150,000 Union soldiers were able to cast their vote while away from their respective polling places.

No-excuse absentee voting
As of 2020, 34 states and Washington D.C. allow this type of voting, which does not require an excuse to send in a ballot by mail. Other states have loosened their absentee voting requirements because of coronavirus concerns.
Still, more than a dozen states face lawsuits as advocates try to expand mail-in voting.

Universal vote-by-mail
Some states don't require voters to request or apply for a mail-in ballot, they just automatically send a ballot to every registered voter.
States that have universal vote-by-mail include California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado, Vermont, Massachusetts and Hawaii.

 

[wardorican]

It's smarter to PM that stuff. Just saying.