Voting By Mail

[Airbrush]

In California, I have voted by mail for decades.  If it was such an unreliable method, why was it allowed in many states for so many years?

The criticism of voting by mail, comes from the GOP mostly, more chances of fraud happening.  They believe that voters could not be identified properly as they are when they vote in person when they show their IDs.

So I propose that there could be mass identification of voters which could be done quickly in the safety of your car.  You drive up, show your IDs through the window, and you are issued a unique code to use when you vote at home later.  That would be much more efficient than standing in line for hours, spaced 6 feet apart, and spending 10 minutes voting in person, risking getting Coronavirus.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Airbrush

[MigL]

You have till November.
Wait and see how things turn out.

Besides, once D Trump declares himself dictator, the election will be cancelled.

[iNow]

There was one instance of fraud using vote by mail. It was in North Carolina when a Republican tried to cheat. The rest is about the GOP knowing that more voters equals Democrats more likely to win. Republicans maintain control in large part by restricting voting and using clever means to disenfranchise specific groups more likely to lean left.

[Airbrush]

I have heard that the vast majority of Americans are more sympathetic to liberal policies than conservative policies.  Conservatives remain in power through voter suppression.

So how about the idea of "speed identification" so people can vote at home in their leisure?  How can Republicans disagree with that?

Edited April 7, 2020 by Airbrush

[MigL]

Maybe if you tell us what you mean by 'speed identification'...

[Sensei]

Voting by mail could be made more safer (i.e. harder to fraud) by splitting ballot paper to two parts. One part remains at hand of voter, second one is sent back to government. Everybody should make photography ("selfie") of their ballot paper after making check mark at the right places (the same on the both), but prior splitting them.

This way it will be possible to verify whether election has been compromised after the fact.

Obviously election committees counting votes must be made of members from the all parties and foreign independent watchers.

Each committee member must count the all votes from his or her region (couple hundred to couple thousands). Results from the all election committee members must match. Then they release it to public by Internet and media takes care of the rest.

 

Without special precautions voting by mail can be easily compromised.

ps. I am generally advising voters to make selfie together with their ballot paper. Regardless if it is voting by mail or traditional.

[Airbrush]

25 minutes ago, MigL said:

Maybe if you tell us what you mean by 'speed identification'...

People line up in their car, or on foot, to show their ID thru a window, ANYTIME (24/7) before the election.  You can have separate lines for cars and pedestrians.  They wait in line only minutes, and verification takes only seconds.  They are issued a code to use when they vote by mail.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Airbrush

[MigL]

Don't you guys have a census that generates, and mails, voter registration cards, automatically before an election ?
I assume you're not homeless, airbrush, so why is this such a problem for you ?

[Airbrush]

29 minutes ago, MigL said:

Don't you guys have a census that generates, and mails, voter registration cards, automatically before an election ?
I assume you're not homeless, airbrush, so why is this such a problem for you ?

No we don't.  In Canada can everyone vote by mail?

It's a problem for me because the GOP are against voting by mail.  They want people to wait in line for hours during this Coronavirus to vote, in order to suppress voting.  Suppression of voting always benefits the GOP.  

The Milwaukee Election Commission has cut the number of polling places from 180 to five for the April 7th Spring Election as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/04/03/milwaukee-will-have-only-five-in-person-voting-sites/

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to proceed with a Wisconsin election Tuesday as “shameful” and an “undermining of our democracy.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/undermining-our-democracy-pelosi-slams-shameful-supreme-court-ruling-allowing-wisconsin-election-to-proceed

Edited April 7, 2020 by Airbrush

[MigL]

Sure they can.
In Canada every eligible voter ( with a mailing address  ) receives a voter registration card in the mail before elections.
That is your voting ID. No need to make a separate trip to a window to get a 'code'.

A person without a  mailing address would still have to present ID, which is checked for eligibility, and duplication of voter registration.
And I've seen your voter turn-out numbers. They are no better than ours. You do not need to practice much social distancing with the low number of voters that turn out. You should be safe even if the pandemic is still raging in November.

[CharonY]

6 hours ago, MigL said:

A person without a  mailing address would still have to present ID, which is checked for eligibility, and duplication of voter registration.
And I've seen your voter turn-out numbers. They are no better than ours. You do not need to practice much social distancing with the low number of voters that turn out. You should be safe even if the pandemic is still raging in November.

Actually, you would be wrong. While turnout is low, the number of polling stations are often also very limited (perhaps unsurprisingly, especially in areas with many minorities, guess why...). So in certain areas you have long queues and wait times. It is ultimately a tactic to disrupt the democratic process and part of the larger voter suppression strategy.

[MigL]

If that is the case, why was the Democratic Primary held in Wisconsin today ?
Is political ambition more important than people's lives ?

[CharonY]

5 minutes ago, MigL said:

If that is the case, why was the Democratic Primary held in Wisconsin today ?
Is political ambition more important than people's lives ?

I do not understand the primary process in detail, there seem to be weird state-level rules involved perhaps iNow can provide insights?

Edit: Just saw that apparently the governor (a Democrat) tried to postpone but was overturned by the State Supreme Court. Apparently the Federal Supreme Court also blocked extension of mail in ballots, which was heavily criticized by Ruth Bader Ginsburg (a Supreme Court Justice). So apparently it went ahead due to the Republican-controlled legislature. Which is a weird thing, but again, I have not tried to understand the process. I fear I may lose whatever sanity I may have left.

[iNow]

18 minutes ago, MigL said:

If that is the case, why was the Democratic Primary held in Wisconsin today ?
Is political ambition more important than people's lives ?

It would appear so. That’s what the evidence currently shows. 

In what seems to everyone as the obvious right thing to do, the Democratic Wisconsin governor tried to allow more time for ballots by mail. The Republican legislature then stepped in to stop him.
 

That sent it to the state Supreme Court who having a Republican majority ruled via teleconference (because it wasn’t safe for them to be near each other) yesterday by a 5-4 decision that in-person voting must proceed and that all ballots mailed MUST be in today (even though the populace didn’t have enough time to receive and send them).

Also, areas where there are normally almost 200 polling stations only had 5 today, because... democracy, I guess? We must prioritize our vote over our health and lives apparently. 

Edited April 8, 2020 by iNow

[MigL]

11 minutes ago, CharonY said:

I fear I may lose whatever sanity I may have left.

I don't get it either.
What would be the advantage to the Republicans by forcing it to go ahead ?
Some dead democrats, who won't be voting in the November election ?

I think the Political leaders in the US have lost their minds; you still seem sane to me, CharonY.

[iNow]

28 minutes ago, MigL said:

What would be the advantage to the Republicans by forcing it to go ahead ?

At the risk of oversimplifying: Political power, and the seeding of distrust in the process itself. 

[Airbrush]

On 4/7/2020 at 6:42 PM, MigL said:

What would be the advantage to the Republicans by forcing it to go ahead ?
Some dead democrats, who won't be voting in the November election ?....

Generally, suppressing voting benefits Republicans.  What happened in Milwaukee, reducing polling places from 183 to only 5, could also happen in November, unless something changes. 

[swansont]

On 4/7/2020 at 11:51 AM, Airbrush said:

So I propose that there could be mass identification of voters which could be done quickly in the safety of your car.

What if you don't have a car?

How do you get your ID?

[MigL]

1 hour ago, Airbrush said:

Generally, suppressing voting benefits Republicans. 

Wisconsin was a Democrat primary, with only a Democratic candidate, and an independent, trailing so badly, he threw in the towel the next day.
Think about it.
How would voter suppression benefit the Republicans ?

[Airbrush]

23 minutes ago, MigL said:

Wisconsin was a Democrat primary, with only a Democratic candidate, and an independent, trailing so badly, he threw in the towel the next day.
Think about it.
How would voter suppression benefit the Republicans ?

Wisconsin was an example of what can happen in November in the general election.

1 hour ago, swansont said:

What if you don't have a car?

How do you get your ID?

The idea was TWO lines, one for cars and one for pedestrians, open 24/7.  It takes minutes waiting in line and seconds showing your id at the window.  That would be better than waiting in line for hours to vote, spaced 6 feet apart.

Why can't everybody have a valid photo id?

Edited April 9, 2020 by Airbrush

[swansont]

2 hours ago, Airbrush said:

The idea was TWO lines, one for cars and one for pedestrians, open 24/7. 

If voting were 24/7, the lines wouldn’t be so bad. But you still have people congregating, so you’re trading one problem for another, similar problem. 

 

2 hours ago, Airbrush said:

It takes minutes waiting in line and seconds showing your id at the window.  That would be better than waiting in line for hours to vote, spaced 6 feet apart.

You’re just asserting that it takes minutes. You think the same people closing polling places are going to make this easy?
 

2 hours ago, Airbrush said:

Why can't everybody have a valid photo id?

How do you get a government-issued ID? You go somewhere (not always close by) and wait in line. The same people affected by not having time or easy access with voting lines are affected by the ID procurement process.

[Airbrush]

3 hours ago, swansont said:

How do you get a government-issued ID? You go somewhere (not always close by) and wait in line. The same people affected by not having time or easy access with voting lines are affected by the ID procurement process.

Then getting a government ID should be facilitated.  There should be offices set up in every local neighborhood that will issue official photo IDs.  Getting an ID is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

[CharonY]

9 hours ago, MigL said:

Wisconsin was a Democrat primary, with only a Democratic candidate, and an independent, trailing so badly, he threw in the towel the next day.
Think about it.
How would voter suppression benefit the Republicans ?

An important strategy is to normalize suppression strategies. If this fine during a pandemic it is moreso during regular elections. Trump and the GOP have rebuffed measures such as mail in ballots for a reason.

[swansont]

9 hours ago, Airbrush said:

Then getting a government ID should be facilitated.  There should be offices set up in every local neighborhood that will issue official photo IDs.

Should be, but aren’t

 

9 hours ago, Airbrush said:

  Getting an ID is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

Does anybody issue IDs without requiring renewal? I have an ID for work, a driver’s license and a passport. All of them have expiration dates.

[Phi for All]

11 hours ago, Airbrush said:

Getting an ID is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

Just like credit cards and marriages.