Country over party

[RiverDog]

Mail in voting works fine. Trump's an idiot.

I'm a little old fashioned in that I think that there is something more genuine about enduring a modest amount of personal sacrifice, like putting down the TV remote, and showing up at a polling place and announcing that you are there to exercise your right to vote. I also have some concerns about people letting others mark their ballot for them. My preferred method for the majority of the voters is the mechanical voting machine at a nearby polling place like a school gymnasium.

But under the circumstances, I can certainly see the need for an enhanced vote-by-mail option. Trump's concerns are completely baseless and unsupported by evidence. It's a naked attempt to change the paradigm to one that favors him.

[Hawktawk]

It shouldn’t be optional . It should be vote by mail this time period . Nothing remotely patriotic about being a super spreader .

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm a little old fashioned in that I think that there is something more genuine about enduring a modest amount of personal sacrifice, like putting down the TV remote, and showing up at a polling place and announcing that you are there to exercise your right to vote. I also have some concerns about people letting others mark their ballot for them. My preferred method for the majority of the voters is the mechanical voting machine at a nearby polling place like a school gymnasium.

But under the circumstances, I can certainly see the need for an enhanced vote-by-mail option. Trump's concerns are completely baseless and unsupported by evidence. It's a naked attempt to change the paradigm to one that favors him.

I know that's how you feel.

Whereas I can't wait until we can vote by computer. I'm hoping we can design a voting site where a voter can do a good amount of research about a candidate up to the moment they decide to vote with a clickable prospectus for each candidate explaining their views, experience, and effect on the economy, laws, and the like.

I like technology. I find it interesting. I can't wait until they can remap human genes and make superhumans that live as long as they choose. Complete control of the environment until the likely descent into depression due to a lack of purpose and a likely reversion to the Big Bang type of hit the reset button scenario to start all over again. But we're a long way from that.

[Hawktawk]

At an event yesterday Trump said the only way loses is if it’s rigged. I’m alarmed . My brother a trumpanzee and gun nut swears it will come to shooting war. All because of this evil cult. Anyone not afraid at this point is whistling in a the graveyard. And they may wind up in one for their naiivety. TDS is real. It’s not never trumpers who have the affliction

[RiverDog]

It shouldn’t be optional . It should be vote by mail this time period . Nothing remotely patriotic about being a super spreader .

It might not be an option for all states/precincts. As I noted, it's not as easy as it sounds.

Here's a bipartisan study, done in 2016, that details some of the issues regarding the use of the USPS as the primary vehicle for distributing and collecting ballots:

The Postal Service of 2016 does not operate under the same service standards as it did even one or two presidential cycles ago.
Mail volume is down, and the USPS has adjusted its infrastructure accordingly. A restructuring of the USPS’s backbone—called
“rationalization”—has resulted in the closing of many smaller processing plants across the country. Mail is now routed to larger plants equipped with sophisticated automation equipment that allows for ballot tracking. Delivery standards have also changed. First-class mail is now delivered to recipients within a two-to five-day window; standard mail now reaches its destination in three to ten days.

The first key to successfully using the vote-by-mail system is to understand fully the legal deadlines. For example, 17 states in 2016 allow voters to request a ballot on the day before Election Day. Two states—Florida and Minnesota—allow voters to apply for an absentee ballot on Election Day. While this law is very accommodating for voters, it is impossible for an elections office to send a ballot to a voter with sufficient time to ensure its delivery before Election Day let alone leave enough opportunity to return a marked ballot. However, states also have varying deadlines for the return of the mail ballot. While the majority of states require that the ballot be received by the election jurisdiction some time on Election Day—and the time on Election Day itself varies by state—other states base acceptance on a combination of a postmark and receipt of the ballot by the election jurisdiction within some defined period after Election Day.

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/wp-content ... y-Mail.pdf

[RiverDog]

Whereas I can't wait until we can vote by computer. I'm hoping we can design a voting site where a voter can do a good amount of research about a candidate up to the moment they decide to vote with a clickable prospectus for each candidate explaining their views, experience, and effect on the economy, laws, and the like.

In terms of voter security, I don't think we're there yet. As far as research goes, there's already plenty of information out there for voters to make an informed decision. But it's one of those "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink" propositions. All the high tech systems imaginable aren't worth a damn unless people are willing to educate themselves.

IMO that's our biggest challenge as a country: Getting people interested in the election process, and not just in the simple act of casting a vote. Interested enough to do even a modest amount of research into the candidates and propositions. We are a nation of stooges, which explains how we can elect a POS like Donald Trump.

[Hawktawk]

I’m most afraid of computers. When I just now read Kim jong un has 60 nukes and 6 k tons of chemical weapons but also thousands of hackers operating in Russia and China who can hack any targeted computer in the world . 4 years ago Russia hacked at will . I will never trust a vote over the internet .

[NorthHawk]

Totally against voting by computer.
There's an old adage that still rings true that says anything connected to the Internet can be hacked. And probably will.
If it's important it will be hacked. That's the way of the world - and the best hackers are not discovered unless or until
they make a mistake. The best hackers rarely make those types of mistakes, but reviews of logs can show what happened.
By then it's too late.
The best (securest) form of voting is pen/pencil and paper, probably followed by standalone machines with paper trails.

[RiverDog]

There's a role for computers to play in elections, which is in voter registration, distribution of ballots, validation of eligibility, and the tabulation, validation, and reporting of results. But until I see some major improvements in security and reliability, of which would take many, many years to develop a level of confidence in, I don't want to see any kind of electronic voting. There needs to be some sort of hardware, either a paper ballot or gear driven counters, ie voting machines, for the actual balloting to take place.

[RiverDog]

It looks like the USPS PG is backing down from his earlier position of proceeding with their "operational initiatives" in the face of mounting public pressure and Congressional scrutiny:

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced Tuesday that he was suspending "longstanding operational initiatives" at the United States Postal Service, amid fears that the changes could delay election mail this fall in the middle of the pandemic.

"To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded," DeJoy said in a statement.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/1 ... ure-397765

If we're not going to use polling places, the states need to start getting away from using the USPS as their primary means of delivering and collecting completed ballots and start using ballot drop off boxes placed in strategic locations. With exceptions for the disabled and other home bound individuals, there's no reason why most voters can't drop off their ballots on a trip to the grocery store.

[Aseahawkfan]

At an event yesterday Trump said the only way loses is if it’s rigged. I’m alarmed . My brother a trumpanzee and gun nut swears it will come to shooting war. All because of this evil cult. Anyone not afraid at this point is whistling in a the graveyard. And they may wind up in one for their naiivety. TDS is real. It’s not never trumpers who have the affliction

As you know, I think both sides are afflicted myself. I want to see if both of these sides really have the balls to step up and go to war against each other. Personally, I think both sides are a bunch old, out of shape, yapping loudmouths much like Trump who don't know what real suffering is or what real bad times are. Once their internet, cell phones, food supplies, cars, credit and debit cards, and the like are all shutdown, they'll surrender like the whining bitches they are.

Just be glad you're not part of the looney left and right who think we're going to end up in some Civil War because they don't even know what causes a Civil War or what it takes to make one happen.

[Hawktawk]

I don’t see civil war but there will be skirmishes . We already had skinheads with AKs in state houses demanding *freedom. If antifa and the neo nazi true trumpanzees kill each other off so much the better .

[RiverDog]

I don’t see civil war but there will be skirmishes . We already had skinheads with AKs in state houses demanding *freedom. If antifa and the neo nazi true trumpanzees kill each other off so much the better .

I agree. The veracity and duration of the current and recent past protests and demonstrations are almost undoubtedly due at least in part to the pandemic and associated lock downs. The atmosphere is ripe, and if the election is close, we can count on quite a bit of violence and unrest. That's why I'm hoping for a fairly substantial Biden win in November, by at least 3 states. Otherwise, the seeds that Trump has been planting about a rigged election will come to life.