Suspending the Election

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Revnak

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There'd be no problems if you guys just held a digital election.
A digital election? You have any idea how easily falsified the results of that would be? Oh god please I can only get so erect.
 

tstorm823

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To be clear, most conservatives who are worried about universal election by mail aren't super worried about fraudulent results per se, obviously setting Trump aside. What scares a lot of Republicans about universal vote by mail is ballot collection. Democratic voters have a tendency to be both sketchy as far as unreliable voting, as well as geographically bundled together, so you find Democrat-aligned groups doing lots of things like voter drives because they can target majority-minority areas or large colleges with confidence that they're primarily recruiting Democrats. If you mail everyone a ballot and tell them to mail it back, now they can do the same thing but say "hey, if you fill out that ballot now, we'll submit it for you." That practice is illegal in some places and highly regulated in others, but it still happens, and it's not something Republicans can do as effectively because the Republican voter base is dispersed. There's not really anywhere you can go in a purple state and be confident you're getting more Republicans than Democrats other than places so rural it's logistically difficult to collect a significant number. So Republicans are inclined to ban the practice, but have no say in states run by Democrats.
 

tstorm823

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And making it easy for certain groups who are entitled to vote to actually do so, of course.
Let's not pretend the Democratic Party doesn't decide what is and isn't "voter suppression" based on the statistics of whether it would benefit them or not.
 

Generals

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To be clear, most conservatives who are worried about universal election by mail aren't super worried about fraudulent results per se, obviously setting Trump aside. What scares a lot of Republicans about universal vote by mail is ballot collection. Democratic voters have a tendency to be both sketchy as far as unreliable voting, as well as geographically bundled together, so you find Democrat-aligned groups doing lots of things like voter drives because they can target majority-minority areas or large colleges with confidence that they're primarily recruiting Democrats. If you mail everyone a ballot and tell them to mail it back, now they can do the same thing but say "hey, if you fill out that ballot now, we'll submit it for you." That practice is illegal in some places and highly regulated in others, but it still happens, and it's not something Republicans can do as effectively because the Republican voter base is dispersed. There's not really anywhere you can go in a purple state and be confident you're getting more Republicans than Democrats other than places so rural it's logistically difficult to collect a significant number. So Republicans are inclined to ban the practice, but have no say in states run by Democrats.
I'm actually quite amazed by what you're saying because it truly paints a shitty picture of republicans... You're essentially saying they are worried because Democrats may have an advantage at facilitating a legal act (voting). Combined with the Republicans' desire to continuously try to use laws to make the legal act of voting more difficult for demographics they know are more likely to vote Democrat it really displays an anti-democratic behavior.
 

Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
To be clear, most conservatives who are worried about universal election by mail aren't super worried about fraudulent results per se, obviously setting Trump aside. What scares a lot of Republicans about universal vote by mail is ballot collection. Democratic voters have a tendency to be both sketchy as far as unreliable voting, as well as geographically bundled together, so you find Democrat-aligned groups doing lots of things like voter drives because they can target majority-minority areas or large colleges with confidence that they're primarily recruiting Democrats. If you mail everyone a ballot and tell them to mail it back, now they can do the same thing but say "hey, if you fill out that ballot now, we'll submit it for you." That practice is illegal in some places and highly regulated in others, but it still happens, and it's not something Republicans can do as effectively because the Republican voter base is dispersed. There's not really anywhere you can go in a purple state and be confident you're getting more Republicans than Democrats other than places so rural it's logistically difficult to collect a significant number. So Republicans are inclined to ban the practice, but have no say in states run by Democrats.
You would think that republicans would be more worried about trump trying to sabotage the post office and slowing down mail delivery/pickup so mail in ballots just aren't counted.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...parks-delays-election-questions-idUSKCN258197
 

tstorm823

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I'm actually quite amazed by what you're saying because it truly paints a shitty picture of republicans... You're essentially saying they are worried because Democrats may have an advantage at facilitating a legal act (voting). Combined with the Republicans' desire to continuously try to use laws to make the legal act of voting more difficult on demographics they know are more likely to vote Democrat it really displays an anti-democratic behavior.
That's not what I'm saying.

Flip this in your mind a little bit. Neither party wants everyone of the opposite persuasion to vote. If the Democratic Party wanted everyone to vote, and wanted better facilitated voting universally, they would want universal, public programs to do these things. Instead, they advocate for poorly regulated processes so that their private groups can push voting among only their constituency. That's not good will, that's a particularly shameless election strategy.

I'm not going to suggest the Republican Party is innocent, they're fighting on the same battlefield. Non-universal mail-in voting is likely to lean Republican, as older people are more inclined to file for voting in advance. It's shameless party politics from both sides

You would think that republicans would be more worried about trump trying to sabotage the post office and slowing down mail delivery/pickup so mail in ballots just aren't counted.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...parks-delays-election-questions-idUSKCN258197
That story is dumb. They cut off overtime and are leaving things until the next day. I won't pretend to know if that's wrong or right in a general sense, but it would delay mail-in ballots by potentially one day. That's a pretty pathetic excuse for a conspiracy to defraud voters, just hoping that a lot of voters will wait until the exact last possible day to mail in votes, and then assume the states will play along and stop counting before the next day's mail comes through. No, not worried about that.
 

Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
That story is dumb. They cut off overtime and are leaving things until the next day. I won't pretend to know if that's wrong or right in a general sense, but it would delay mail-in ballots by potentially one day. That's a pretty pathetic excuse for a conspiracy to defraud voters, just hoping that a lot of voters will wait until the exact last possible day to mail in votes, and then assume the states will play along and stop counting before the next day's mail comes through. No, not worried about that.
This article goes into it, I don't have time to sum it up at the moment.
 

Agema

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Not at the same scale with the same ease.
Indeed. The digital revolution has been a revolution in the efficiency with which we can do things.

However, anything made more efficient by taking it digital is necessarily more efficient for crooks and liars to fuck with.
 

Agema

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Flip this in your mind a little bit. Neither party wants everyone of the opposite persuasion to vote. If the Democratic Party wanted everyone to vote, and wanted better facilitated voting universally, they would want universal, public programs to do these things. Instead, they advocate for poorly regulated processes so that their private groups can push voting among only their constituency. That's not good will, that's a particularly shameless election strategy.
I can't help but feel this is a little like trying to argue that left-wing parties don't truly care about welfare because they prioritise welfare for poor people.
 

tstorm823

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I can't help but feel this is a little like trying to argue that left-wing parties don't truly care about welfare because they prioritise welfare for poor people.
No, it's like arguing that politicians don't actually care about welfare if they only provide it to the demographics that vote for them.
 

Agema

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No, it's like arguing that politicians don't actually care about welfare if they only provide it to the demographics that vote for them.
I can't help but note it overwhelmingly seems to be poor people who have trouble voting. They seem to me like sensible people to help most.
 

tstorm823

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I can't help but note it overwhelmingly seems to be poor people who have trouble voting. They seem to me like sensible people to help most.
You notice wrong. The people who "have trouble" are primarily young adults. The poor vote you're noticing missing and the youth vote that doesn't turn out are the same missing vote. Younger people have lower incomes.

People will also say minorities in the South face longer wait times to vote, without noting that they're voting more than other demographics. If more people in your area turn out, the line gets longer.
 

Eacaraxe

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People will also say minorities in the South face longer wait times to vote, without noting that they're voting more than other demographics. If more people in your area turn out, the line gets longer.
In states with below average population density and high disparity between cities and rural areas? No, that's down to precinct consolidation and polling station closure.





Funny how these massive lines and irregularities never seem to happen in affluent, white areas.



I have studied this issue and have some respect for the people who have studied it more than any of us. Digital voting would be apocalyptic.
Yup. What I learned as a kid, was the way you vote is just the easiest to rig at the time, and elected officials are never going to let you vote in a way they can't rig. If elected officials are pushing for a particular voting method, it's because they figured out a better con than they already had.
 
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tstorm823

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In states with below average population density and high disparity between cities and rural areas? No, that's down to precinct consolidation and polling station closure.





Funny how these massive lines and irregularities never seem to happen in affluent, white areas.


That's a lot of narrative you got there. Not a lot of consideration as to the how or why though. Just a big old pile of "'this is happening, therefore racism."
 

Exley97

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To be clear, most conservatives who are worried about universal election by mail aren't super worried about fraudulent results per se, obviously setting Trump aside. What scares a lot of Republicans about universal vote by mail is ballot collection. Democratic voters have a tendency to be both sketchy as far as unreliable voting, as well as geographically bundled together, so you find Democrat-aligned groups doing lots of things like voter drives because they can target majority-minority areas or large colleges with confidence that they're primarily recruiting Democrats. If you mail everyone a ballot and tell them to mail it back, now they can do the same thing but say "hey, if you fill out that ballot now, we'll submit it for you." That practice is illegal in some places and highly regulated in others, but it still happens, and it's not something Republicans can do as effectively because the Republican voter base is dispersed. There's not really anywhere you can go in a purple state and be confident you're getting more Republicans than Democrats other than places so rural it's logistically difficult to collect a significant number. So Republicans are inclined to ban the practice, but have no say in states run by Democrats.
The GOP literally stole a Congressional election in North Carolina doing the essentially the same ballot fraud scheme you accused "sketchy" Democrats of using. They got caught, the election results weren't certified, the GOP candidate had to drop out in shame, and the election was re-held. So....