The Voting Thread (Procedures, Turnout, Legal Challenges)(Update: Trump to file suit in PA, MI, WI, AZ, NV, GA) (1 Viewer)

[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.

 

[SaintForLife]

If, should, and can shouldn’t be words associated with our Constitutional rights.


You don’t have any discernible reason why mail-in voting is a bad idea, other than it means your party gets complete washed out when more people have access to votes.

Why do you support voter suppression?

Requiring people to vote in person is voter suppression?

 

[CoolBrees]

Absolutely it is yes.

How can you not see that?

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Requiring people to vote in person is voter suppression?

Yes. People that live in rural areas may be required to invest much more time- time that they may not have- in order to get to their polling place as opposed to someone that lives five minutes away from theirs.

Owning a vehicle is an expense many can't afford and not every big city has robust public transportation.

Counties all across the south have lost polling places in the last decade or so.

Do you think any of these things make it harder for some people to vote?

 

[SFIDC3]

Yes. People that live in rural areas may be required to invest much more time- time that they may not have- in order to get to their polling place as opposed to someone that lives five minutes away from theirs.

Owning a vehicle is an expense many can't afford and not every big city has robust public transportation.

Counties all across the south have lost polling places in the last decade or so.

Do you think any of these things make it harder for some people to vote?

And some might even think, just maybe this transition to not continue to foster voter suppression is a good idea because of that pesky pandemic going on right now....because it is very possible there could be another one one day....right?

 

[efil4]

Absolutely it is yes.

How can you not see that?

he sees it.

he knows it.

he wont admit it.

waste of time.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

So apparently, voting by mail in Florida is absolutely fine...

 

[SaintForLife]

He was filibustering. They stopped him.

That doesn't seem like what happened, but if it did I'm sure you can post a video showing it right? Otherwise I'll just assume that was a Democratic talking point.

Democrats departed from that format today. Only the politicians asked questions, and they had only five minutes each to do so. Many of the committee’s senior Democrats chose to use their limited time not to seek answers from Barr but to make speeches. “Reclaiming my time” quickly became the anthem of the day. “This is a hearing,” the attorney general complained at one point. “I thought that I was the one who was supposed to be heard.”

The Democrats who did interrogate the attorney general often interrupted him before he could respond, or neglected to follow up when he did. And the few members who effectively questioned Barr couldn’t get very far in the five minutes they were each allotted. “Disappointing hearing,” opined Preet Bharara, one of two U.S. attorneys in Manhattan that Trump has removed, as well as a former Democratic congressional staffer. “And getting worse,” he added a few minutes later.

Why the Democrats Can’t Nail Bill Barr

The long-awaited testimony of Trump’s most powerful Cabinet member yielded more venting than questions, and few answers. There’s a reason for that.

amp-theatlantic-com.cdn.ampproject.org

Chris Wallace: Barr hearing 'an embarrassment' for Democrats: 'Just wanted to excoriate him'

Chris Wallace called a recent Capitol Hill hearing with Attorney General William Barr "an embarrassment," with the "Fox News Sunday" adding that Democrats "just wanted to excoriate him" during a network podcast interview on Friday.

thehill.com

 

[SaintForLife]

Yes. People that live in rural areas may be required to invest much more time- time that they may not have- in order to get to their polling place as opposed to someone that lives five minutes away from theirs.

Owning a vehicle is an expense many can't afford and not every big city has robust public transportation.

Counties all across the south have lost polling places in the last decade or so.

Do you think any of these things make it harder for some people to vote?

Are you specifically talking about now since we are dealing with Covid or any previous elections?

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Are you specifically talking about now since we are dealing with Covid or any previous elections?

I'm talking about in general. There are reasons specific to the pandemic, though. For instance, any voter in a high risk group may feel that voting in person is a danger to health and might not be able to obtain a ballot to vote through the mail. A younger person that isn't in a high risk group but is in frequent contact with one more more people who are- elderly live-in relatives, for example- might not even be eligible to obtain a mail-in ballot .

 

[SaintForLife]

I'm talking about in general. There are reasons specific to the pandemic, though. For instance, any voter in a high risk group may feel that voting in person is a danger to health and might not be able to obtain a ballot to vote through the mail. A younger person that isn't in a high risk group but is in frequent contact with one more more people who are- elderly live-in relatives, for example- might not even be eligible to obtain a mail-in ballot .

Serious question, do you think our way of voting the entire history in our country has amounted to voter suppression?

I understand there are legitimate concerns about voting during the pandemic, but why not modify our current system of voting instead of rushing a huge change? Once again, look at the New York races I posted that were overwhelmed by the amount of mail in ballots and those were local elections. Imagine that on a national scale.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Serious question, do you think our way of voting the entire history in our country has amounted to voter suppression?

I understand there are legitimate concerns about voting during the pandemic, but why not modify our current system of voting instead of rushing a huge change? Once again, look at the New York races I posted that were overwhelmed by the amount of mail in ballots and those were local elections. Imagine that on a national scale.

There is a long history of voter suppression in this country. That doesn't mean every single thing ever done in relation to voting eligibility is a form of suppression.

You don't want to rush a huge change and I get that. Expanding the availability of voting by mail would be a modification and not a wholesale change, though. Much of the potential problems could have been alleviated if the federal government pulled together to expand mail-in voting capabilities in April, especially since it would be in addition to- and not in lieu of- voting in person.

 

[Complex Kid]

Serious question, do you think our way of voting the entire history in our country has amounted to voter suppression?

Yes.

America's shameful history of voter suppression

Voter fraud is more rare than being struck by lightning, yet the fear-mongering persists. Don’t blame Donald Trump – blame America’s democratic model

www.theguardian.com

 

[SaintForLife]

Yes.

America's shameful history of voter suppression

Voter fraud is more rare than being struck by lightning, yet the fear-mongering persists. Don’t blame Donald Trump – blame America’s democratic model

www.theguardian.com

Come on. You know that's not what I was talking about. I was strictly talking about people voting in person.

 

[SaintForLife]

There is a long history of voter suppression in this country. That doesn't mean every single thing ever done in relation to voting eligibility is a form of suppression.

You don't want to rush a huge change and I get that. Expanding the availability of voting by mail would be a modification and not a wholesale change, though. Much of the potential problems could have been alleviated if the federal government pulled together to expand mail-in voting capabilities in April, especially since it would be in addition to- and not in lieu of- voting in person.

I doubt even if they started implementing it in April if it could be ready and secure by November.

What about the two New York races I posted that were done by mail and haven't worked well or efficiently?

 

[cuddlemonkey]

I doubt even if they started implementing it in April if it could be ready and secure by November.

What about the two New York races I posted that were done by mail and haven't worked well or efficiently?

Those New York races should serve as a good learning opportunity. It seems the issues were caused by a delay in getting out ballots, reduced staff at the NYC Board of Elections, and some improper ballots that are being challenged over things like a lack of postmark, missing signatures, improperly secured envelops, etc.

The majority of these things can be easily addressed within the given time frame, had the current administration opted to work towards a solution instead of demonizing mail-in voting.

 

[dtc]

Requiring people to vote in person is voter suppression?

Yes. It is when not in-person voting works very well. Especially when it's been shown over and over again that Republicans systematically attempt to disenfranchise those who would vote against them. From voter ID, purges, closed polling places, moved polling places, last minute time changes and all the rest, it's a cynical plot aimed to keep power despite the fact that the GOP is no more than an amalgamation of cynical, immoral and moneyed interests who've convinced values voters and racists to vote against their own self interests.

 

[SaintForLife]

Those New York races should serve as a good learning opportunity. It seems the issues were caused by a delay in getting out ballots, reduced staff at the NYC Board of Elections, and some improper ballots that are being challenged over things like a lack of postmark, missing signatures, improperly secured envelops, etc.

The majority of these things can be easily addressed within the given time frame, had the current administration opted to work towards a solution instead of demonizing mail-in voting.

I disagree that exclusive mail in voting on a national scale could be debated, implemented, and the integrity and security of the votes could be trusted in 7 months while we are dealing with Covid.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

I disagree that exclusive mail in voting on a national scale could be debated, implemented, and the integrity and security of the votes could be trusted in 7 months while we are dealing with Covid.

Every state already has some level of mail-in voting. Again, this is not something that needs to be implemented because it already exists. Is there an issue with the integrity and security of absentee votes that are sent submitted through the mail? Is there rampant voter fraud in states like Colorado that already use a mail-in based system?