Biden to raise stakes in voting rights battle as his party presses for more

[Dashinka 24,438]

26 minutes ago, Crtcl Rice Theory said:

We have had this debate before to no avail, there is no need for polling places when your mail in voting system is mature.

Not sure every state is ready to adopt the Washington voting method, and regardless it is up to them and not the Feds.  Personally, I feel more confident voting in person, where I put the ballot in the machine myself and not relying on the postal system or some other process to handle my ballot.  But to each their own.  Regardless, the new laws are not restricting absentee voting with no reason, so those that like you wish to vote that way can.  

Edited July 14, 2021 by Dashinka

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

Not sure every state is ready to adopt the Washington voting method, and regardless it is up to them and not the Feds.  Personally, I feel more confident voting in person, where I put the ballot in the machine myself and not relying on the postal system or some other process to handle my ballot.  But to each their own.  Regardless, the new laws are not restricting absentee voting with no reason, so those that like you wish to vote that way can.  

In Washington state you can drop your ballot in the neighborhood election box, prepaid in the mail or you can go down the week of and vote at the county seat by requesting a ballot, it's up to you.  We didn't need the Fed's to tell us that effective and efficient voting systems make for an effective democracy. Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Utah , Colorado and now even California figured it out, I am not sure why this seems so hard. 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Crtcl Rice Theory

[laylalex 7,284]

2 hours ago, Crtcl Rice Theory said:

In Washington state you can drop your ballot in the neighborhood election box, prepaid in the mail or you can go down the week of and vote at the county seat by requesting a ballot, it's up to you.  We didn't need the Fed's to tell us that effective and efficient voting systems make for an effective democracy. Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Utah , Colorado and now even California figured it out, I am not sure why this seems so hard. 

I used to prefer going to vote in person whenever I could -- I liked the community aspect of it, the sense of ceremony, chatting with poll workers and seeing my neighbors. When I moved up to Berkeley I accidentally ticked off the permanent vote by mail box when I registered to vote. I was skeptical when it came in the mail, and for a few elections I still went and dropped the ballots off in person. I wanted to see it drop in a box.

 

When I got back down here, I registered as permanent vote by mail again, because I had the option to always walk it to one of the voting centers. For the primary last year, I finally just dropped my ballot in the mailbox across the street and crossed my fingers because voting in person seemed like a not so great idea. The next day I got a text from the registrar confirming the ballot had been received by USPS. Then another when it got to the registrar, and another telling me my vote had been counted. That's more than I ever got voting in person except for a little paper stub and an "I Voted" sticker.

 

Plus this past year they gave me TWO "I Voted" stickers with the ballot for the general election, they have a permanent permanent mail in customer here! What can I say, I'm a sucker for stickers.

[LIBrty4all 3,749]

Congrats.  Personally, I only voted once.

[TBoneTX 45,089]

https://babylonbee.com/news/texas-democrats-in-dc-shriek-with-terror-when-asked-to-show-ids-for-capitol-tour

[Dashinka 24,438]

13 hours ago, Crtcl Rice Theory said:

In Washington state you can drop your ballot in the neighborhood election box, prepaid in the mail or you can go down the week of and vote at the county seat by requesting a ballot, it's up to you.  We didn't need the Fed's to tell us that effective and efficient voting systems make for an effective democracy. Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Utah , Colorado and now even California figured it out, I am not sure why this seems so hard. 

Effective and efficient are relative terms.  Like I said, I am not sure all other states are ready to adopt something like that.  Looking at the stats from Washington and Ohio from for a presidential election it is 78% vs 71% for 2016 (2016 was the latest data from Wash SOS).  Mid-terms shows a bigger difference with WA being higher than OH.  It is interesting that the stats for WA did not increase very much over the years, so the full vote by mail did not drive more participation (1952 80.1%; 2016 78.8%) in presidential elections, or mid-terms (1958 70.2%; 2018 71.8%).  Again, this is a state by state decision.

 

https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voter-participation.aspx

 

https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/election-results-and-data/historical-election-comparisons/voter-turnout-in-general-elections/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=67243b32078c95097858ea763e762878555087fc-1626358691-0-AWyyTy9-O9oBBPXPD8zcd-Q3yN2uMqIFSDPF-mbFp2HiGscuUKLCUWbxyZ6DhK1KQIdwEuj0LHjJyZuAxZlAvKISlPzEdb0PtUVQGxfx1k97CiJqJUHLHcDsWSX2G4rUNU9mYpmQCodpE6AlOq7PX3SPLPBuWsNU5hSkPSe7ditV7cgDlmg_yTuYEWr4sdsge111cEcRE9UBTg3tOTeVMPCfGMkAYF5WQuDTNhag-HBE12FC57OU9EveV3FlVwUTYlAcLhMMFbMu1NJrSCbqbfAau3TM-m4iU9Nk5fApwOIXEZLZaYdDs-WcIc5K2siER_wWRv3aNv1GCBUEy2h1TDTltNw3TS4p0vXpCSn-p0XXBh_YIfrLn76lsvG9MWoK3VWi2cm5rkhEUyarKLuFBGepBhfFOKaivmRl7zcuIPbOI8w3vGf8z6Odf1ZieoZLjuYTduD5wJsj61jszalo0KDeLcNI6rqAMB3wtz_MhzcBhnrLw-rl1fY-ZcQW6_itLCPk5LPFB3nB-n57vZ_l95ljtnC8Hw9CeajTzKWaPPJcbmtc25lT9VpNBkIWFyCbkos_oAQAg2SEnzJXF7WpelU

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

11 hours ago, laylalex said:

I used to prefer going to vote in person whenever I could -- I liked the community aspect of it, the sense of ceremony, chatting with poll workers and seeing my neighbors. When I moved up to Berkeley I accidentally ticked off the permanent vote by mail box when I registered to vote. I was skeptical when it came in the mail, and for a few elections I still went and dropped the ballots off in person. I wanted to see it drop in a box.

 

When I got back down here, I registered as permanent vote by mail again, because I had the option to always walk it to one of the voting centers. For the primary last year, I finally just dropped my ballot in the mailbox across the street and crossed my fingers because voting in person seemed like a not so great idea. The next day I got a text from the registrar confirming the ballot had been received by USPS. Then another when it got to the registrar, and another telling me my vote had been counted. That's more than I ever got voting in person except for a little paper stub and an "I Voted" sticker.

 

Plus this past year they gave me TWO "I Voted" stickers with the ballot for the general election, they have a permanent permanent mail in customer here! What can I say, I'm a sucker for stickers.

Two 'I voted" stickers? That is proof positive of voter fraud!

 

It sounds like the California system is even better than Washington on the communication about processing. I can, though,  look at my application from mailing to processing on the web.

 

Several years ago I forgot to date my ballot. They informed me that my ballot had not been processed and would I please sign the affidavit? A few years ago they flagged my ballot as not having a signature match and asked my to sign a new signature card in person at the courthouse. That is to say, mail in ballots are not a loose ship and reasonable controls are in place.

 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Crtcl Rice Theory

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

6 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Effective and efficient are relative terms.  Like I said, I am not sure all other states are ready to adopt something like that.  Looking at the stats from Washington and Ohio from for a presidential election it is 78% vs 71% for 2016 (2016 was the latest data from Wash SOS).  Mid-terms shows a bigger difference with WA being higher than OH.  It is interesting that the stats for WA did not increase very much over the years, so the full vote by mail did not drive more participation (1952 80.1%; 2016 78.8%) in presidential elections, or mid-terms (1958 70.2%; 2018 71.8%).  Again, this is a state by state decision.

 

 

Again, the issue to be addressed is the perception of fairness for all parties having equal access (geographic and timewise) to the polls. Mail in ballots address that issue. A working parents should not have to stand in line for hours and pay for daycare, while a retiree at the lake cabin gets to use mail in "absentee" voting. If you want examples of rural counties with no poll for miles and no transportation options, they are out there

 

Most Secretary of State are all over this issue, it's when governors and legislators get involved in avoiding modern best practice to push some perceived agenda that things get very unfair.

[Dashinka 24,438]

29 minutes ago, Crtcl Rice Theory said:

Again, the issue to be addressed is the perception of fairness for all parties having equal access (geographic and timewise) to the polls. Mail in ballots address that issue. A working parents should not have to stand in line for hours and pay for daycare, while a retiree at the lake cabin gets to use mail in "absentee" voting. If you want examples of rural counties with no poll for miles and no transportation options, they are out there

 

Most Secretary of State are all over this issue, it's when governors and legislators get involved in avoiding modern best practice to push some perceived agenda that things get very unfair.

I believe most states have adopted "no reason" absentee voting, but many still allow you to vote in person.  I have never waited in line more than 30 minutes to vote, but of course I am not an urban dweller and never will be, but comparing rural vs suburban vs urban is kind of an apples and oranges thing (most people that live in rural areas understand there is little or no public transportation, and drives will be long, heck, I was in a small town in Western NV where people have to drive 150 miles round trip to buy groceries).  Regardless, the voting laws in each state are up to the legislature and governor, so them getting involved is unavoidable (secretary of states do not have absolute power to create laws on their own). 

 

I am curious, if the WA system is so superior, why has it not been adopted in areas like Western Europe?  I know the TX proposal eliminates the need to match signatures, which I believe can be quite subjective replacing it with DL# or last 4 of the SSN.