Election Day, November 3, 2020

[Keith&Co.]

It does make me wonder, if you make it a holiday, will that make it easier or harder to vote? Holidays mean kids are home, not at school. People don't like having to do something on a holiday.

But if it's not a holiday, you have to squeeze time in line to vote between getting off of work and putting dinner on the table.

if only there were a way to make it a drive-through , and instead of a 'I Voted' sticker, get a side of fries...

 

[Gun Nut]

Why does it have to be one day.. why not election week... vote anytime during the election period. That is how it works in Colorado... election "day" is just the deadline. All you have to do is fill out your ballot, which is mailed to you a month in advance with all kinds of informational resources, and then either mail it back, drop it in a ballot box located at like every train station, library, post office, and park.. or drop it at an official voter registration location. Whatever is convenient.
Anything less than what Colorado does is an obvious intentional attempt to disenfranchise a group of potential voters. There is no excuse.

 

[Elixir]

... I read yesterday that Georgia is actually in the process of getting new voting machines for the entire state. They are already in use in several counties.

Have they elected any Democrats yet?

I just hope they are more reliable than what we've been using for the past 15 or so years.

As long a reliable doesn't mean "will reliably change your vote to Republican".

I'd prefer paper ballots at least as a backup.

 

[TV and credit cards]

nm

 

[southernhybrid]

... I read yesterday that Georgia is actually in the process of getting new voting machines for the entire state. They are already in use in several counties.

Have they elected any Democrats yet?

I just hope they are more reliable than what we've been using for the past 15 or so years.

As long a reliable doesn't mean "will reliably change your vote to Republican".

I'd prefer paper ballots at least as a backup.

I read we are supposed to have a paper backup, but my county hasn't gotten the new machines yet, so who knows. We already have a lot of Democrats in Congress here in Georgia, but in about the past ten years, they are all black and they all represent districts that are primarily black. John Lewis is the best example I can think of, but there are quite a few others. I'm skeptical but a little more optimistic than you.

Perhaps our idiot governor thinks he can simply suppress the vote by kicking people off the rolls. If all voters were knowledgeable in how to check their voting registration, that would help. There is a site where people can do that, but I doubt enough people realize it.

But, at least we have three full weeks to vote. That's a lot better than a lot of more liberal states, like New Jersey. When I first moved to Georgia, it was run by Democrats, and now Georgia is far more liberal than it was a few years ago. It's not unusual for the country to swing back and forth from left to right. We just need more of those damn Yankees to move here and help us turn Georgia royal blue. We're due for a change, don't ya think?

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Why does it have to be one day.. why not election week... vote anytime during the election period. That is how it works in Colorado... election "day" is just the deadline. All you have to do is fill out your ballot, which is mailed to you a month in advance with all kinds of informational resources, and then either mail it back, drop it in a ballot box located at like every train station, library, post office, and park.. or drop it at an official voter registration location. Whatever is convenient.
Anything less than what Colorado does is an obvious intentional attempt to disenfranchise a group of potential voters. There is no excuse.

Here in Texas, we have early voting. At selected sites, one can vote early. This is for people that have to work on election day, for example, hospital workers, firemen, police etc. The problem with this is there are too few such sites, and some of them have short hours they are open. This seems to work best in urban centers like Houston, not so well in rural areas like West Texas.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Why isn't your presidential election day a national holiday? It seems that should be the most important one. Why don't countries generally do that? Maybe make it patriotic and move it to July 4 even.

Because making it easier to vote would just be pandering to the will of the people. A 'Democrat power grab' as McWinkle puts it.
Our forefathers had to fight for the right to vote, so to honor their sacrifice we need to make the voters suffer, to make each individual vote as rare as hens teeth. That drives up the value, so each individual vote has a bigger net impact.

It amazes me that your Democrats can fail so regularly against these Republicans who say such things. Why are the Democrats not highlighting this stance? Why are they not pushing this issue and putting it to the voters in campaign adds? Why isn't it being made a key election issue? If it gets highlighted as an issue strongly enough, will the Republicans still dare oppose it? Will they be able to do that politically feasibly? I don't see how.

And unlike other potential election issues that are oddly rarely brought up to the electorate, this is one that would not hurt the Democrat power elite, so long as it was restricted to federal presidential elections and not primaries. So why aren't they pushing it?

 

[Tigers!]

It does make me wonder, if you make it a holiday, will that make it easier or harder to vote? Holidays mean kids are home, not at school. People don't like having to do something on a holiday.

But if it's not a holiday, you have to squeeze time in line to vote between getting off of work and putting dinner on the table.

if only there were a way to make it a drive-through , and instead of a 'I Voted' sticker, get a side of fries...

Why isn't the vote on a Saturday? In Oz voting is Saturday.

 

[Patooka]

It does make me wonder, if you make it a holiday, will that make it easier or harder to vote? Holidays mean kids are home, not at school. People don't like having to do something on a holiday.

But if it's not a holiday, you have to squeeze time in line to vote between getting off of work and putting dinner on the table.

if only there were a way to make it a drive-through , and instead of a 'I Voted' sticker, get a side of fries...

Why isn't the vote on a Saturday? In Oz voting is Saturday.

In the mid 1800s, Tuesday in November would be an ideal day for a white, Christian male farmer as voting day. It hasn't changed because one political party finds it advantageous to make voting as inconvenient as possible.

 

[Elixir]

Why isn't your presidential election day a national holiday? It seems that should be the most important one. Why don't countries generally do that? Maybe make it patriotic and move it to July 4 even.

Because making it easier to vote would just be pandering to the will of the people. A 'Democrat power grab' as McWinkle puts it.
Our forefathers had to fight for the right to vote, so to honor their sacrifice we need to make the voters suffer, to make each individual vote as rare as hens teeth. That drives up the value, so each individual vote has a bigger net impact.

It amazes me that your Democrats can fail so regularly against these Republicans who say such things. Why are the Democrats not highlighting this stance?

The reason our Democrats fail to highlight the Republicans opposition to letting people vote, is that - WAIT! SCANDAL OVER THERE!

(Getting Democrats to focus on voter suppression is like getting a golden retriever puppy to focus on the duck you just shot out of the sky while some asshole with a bag of squirrels is releasing them in a steady stream right in front of your blind.)

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Why isn't your presidential election day a national holiday? It seems that should be the most important one. Why don't countries generally do that? Maybe make it patriotic and move it to July 4 even.

Because making it easier to vote would just be pandering to the will of the people. A 'Democrat power grab' as McWinkle puts it.
Our forefathers had to fight for the right to vote, so to honor their sacrifice we need to make the voters suffer, to make each individual vote as rare as hens teeth. That drives up the value, so each individual vote has a bigger net impact.

It amazes me that your Democrats can fail so regularly against these Republicans who say such things. Why are the Democrats not highlighting this stance? Why are they not pushing this issue and putting it to the voters in campaign adds? Why isn't it being made a key election issue? If it gets highlighted as an issue strongly enough, will the Republicans still dare oppose it? Will they be able to do that politically feasibly? I don't see how.

You are talking about the Party that went to SCOTUS in 2000 to stop a state mandated recount in Florida... and got away with it. Ultimately, the Republicans own the narrative because they are willing to lie more. Just look at the ACA and the "death panel" bullshit that led to a crushing mid-term election in 2010. Today, the Republicans can't simply repeal ACA without having a super majority in the Senate because ACA is popular enough. So the people that voted out the Dems in 2010 because of passing ACA couldn't be trusted to not vote out the GOP in certain areas if ACA were repealed.

And unlike other potential election issues that are oddly rarely brought up to the electorate, this is one that would not hurt the Democrat power elite, so long as it was restricted to federal presidential elections and not primaries. So why aren't they pushing it?

Because Amending the Constitution is harder than getting a Middle East peace deal.