Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Second rate reporter says what?

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

So many bastards, so little time.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The revolution will be supervised.

Cole is on a roll !

Optimism opens the door to great things.

T R E 4 5 O N

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Vote By Mail – Don’t Wait

Open Thread: Vote By Mail – Don’t Wait

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Vote By Mail - Don't Wait

85 days until Nov 3. But it’s time to check your registration and if needed, request your Absentee Ballot.

Rock the Vote has state by state information on mail-in voting here.

Check your rules. Know what you can do if your ballot never arrives. Find out if you can drop off your ballot instead of mailing it in, most states are adding drop-off locations.

And once you know the rules in your state, let everyone know – friends, family, strangers on the street. //

Next, don’t wait. Vote as soon as you’re sure of your choices. This will help with the run-up to election day craziness.

Add any additional information in the comments on how we can do our best to thwart all the voter suppression that is being thrown at us daily.

Evening open thread

Reader Interactions

103Comments

  2. 2.

    jl

    I ask for my inexcusable ignorance to be forgiven, beforehand, and thanks in advance for all BJ commenters’ infinite understanding, which they give always. You are welcome.

    So, if we do mail in vote at a drop box early enough, does that get counted by the day of election?
    I feel very comfortable in my place to do in-person if needed, and I’d like to vote in a way that gets counted asap, by election night if possible. Best way to do that? Asking for a friend

    Edit: for various reasons, voting in person likely to be  safe in my neighborhood if they keep the current polling place. So, main disadvantage is I probably have to show up sober, rather than shit-face, to avoid difficulties.

  6. 6.

    Elizabelle

    Put this on a dead thread, so including it here:

    Interesting.  “Republicans Against Trump” concocted an ad, using Lindsey Graham’s comments against Trump (“demagogue”) and praising Joe Biden (“as good a man as God ever made”).

    On youtube.

    First you have some commentary on MSNBC, and then the ad itself, which is very effective.

    Lindsey Graham has no one but himself to blame for kowtowing so completely to Trump, but this ad reminds that there’s a person inside that weathervane Senator too.  I hope we learn — before too long — just what Trump or whoever was holding over his head.  Hard to believe it could be worth it.

  10. 10.

    FelonyGovt

    I’m in California and I plan to fill out my ballot right away and drop it off at the library, or so wherever the nearest drop off location is, at the very earliest.

  11. 11.

    Mary G

    I’m a Democrat, so I usually dither around researching candidates for water district or whatever and mail my ballot in late. This time I am doing that already and will complete and mail back my ballot the day it arrives. I signed up for text and email alerts when it has been received and when it has been counted and accepted. If I don’t hear that it’s OK by Election Day, I’m showing up at the polls demanding a provisional ballot accompanied by any media I can find.

  13. 13.

    Raoul

    I checked my primary ballot (MN officially votes tomorrow) online this evening. I put it in the mail on Aug 3 (at the downtown post office) and see that it was accepted on Aug 5, and is in line to be counted tomorrow.

    MN is a state that allows one to drop off in person a vote-by-mail ballot, rather than mailing (check by county where that can be done). Another option that may be OK for some folks is early in-person voting. I did that for our previous, off-year election for local races. There were probably a dozen-15 people in the room, including election judges, clerical staff and a couple people voting. I’d imagine it’s being handled by even fewer people now (no need, perhaps, for a photographer, which was a nice touch for encouraging early-voting turnout that cycle).

    Certainly, early voting in person is likely to mean no or very limited lines. Not risk-free, but it could work for some who maybe don’t prefer to, or can’t easily vote-by-mail.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    @TaMara (HFG):   That’s fascinating.  Good to know.  A lot of states allow counting before election day, which should be helpful.

    Maryland is the latest to count absentee ballots in the nation.  They begin at 8 am the morning after Election Day.

  15. 15.

    dnfree

    Know what your state will do if a mail-in or drop-off ballot is rejected. This can happen for various reasons, including forgetting to check a box on the ballot, or someone deciding your signature doesn’t match the one on file.  If you registered years ago, or have developed arthritis, your signature might not match.  Some states will notify you of a problem and give you a chance to correct it.  Other states just discard the ballot and you don’t know.  There was an article that gave the percentage of mail ballots rejected, and it was surprisingly high.

    I plan to do the early vote in person, which is usually not crowded and can be done quickly.  Those votes are counted ahead, so they also don’t delay the counting of ballots after the election  I would encourage people to take that option if they think it’s feasible where they live.

  16. 16.

    Emma from FL

    I double-checked the Florida database and both my father and I have ongoing mail-in requests until 2021. For the last presidential election we received the ballots on the first week of October IIRC. We’ll see about this year.

  17. 17.

    jl

    @Elizabelle: Nice ad, in a certain sense of ‘nice’, as in ‘bless his heart’. IIRC it’s riffing off some Jaime Harrison ads, except with several vats of sulfuric acid shot in Graham’s direction, through a fire hose.

  19. 19.

    Patricia Kayden

    .@BenSasse would not know what was right if it jumped out of the toilet and bit him on his ____________This guy fakes outrage and waves his arms like an aggravated seal — and then bends over and takes what Trump gives him with a smile.— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) August 11, 2020

  20. 20.

    counterfactual

    @Elizabelle: I caught Lou Dobbs on Fox today as I was passing the TV (Dad watches it :( ). Lou was accusing Graham of getting squishy on “Obamagate.”

  22. 22.

    jl

    @counterfactual: Dobb’s is acting like he wants to be sure to get out ahead of the show trials if Trump is re-elected. Way Trump operates, he’ll do the GOP traitors first, and Dems will be next on the list.

  24. 24.

    Ohio Mom

    I am definitely voting early, undecided about doing it in person at the Board of Elections or dropping off an absentee ballot at the Board drop-box.

    I like the idea of being the one who puts my ballot in the scanner but I don’t know if I want to spend very much time inside the Board of Elections.

    I live in a Red suburb and voting in-person was always very easy — no long lines, everything in working condition. Until this spring’s primary and Governor DeWine’s last minute cancellation of all in-person voting due to COVID.

    I don’t think he had any other motive except protecting health, and eventually I was able to submit an absentee ballot. But it was completely unnerving to experience an election being cancelled, even temporarily.

    The storm that’s been blowing through the Midwest has just arrived here. Seems to have lost much of its power.

  25. 25.

    counterfactual

    @Elizabelle: I gather it was the harassment of poor innocent Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and Carter Page. I try not to peer into the abyss too deeply.

  26. 26.

    Martin

    Got myself a new gig on an advisory board for an NGO that will be collecting and disseminating information on Covid related closures and reopenings at US higher education institutions. Pretty excited about this.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    @Ohio Mom: We had really high winds here earlier, and they swept huge pots off my deck that easily weigh 50 pounds.  One second they were there on my deck, the next second they were all on the ground, and tipped over.

    Only one pot broke and the plants survived, so I’ll call that a win.

  30. 30.

    Martin

    @dnfree: What’s a real shame here is that there is no shortage of help to solve that problem. CA’s been going through the transition (quite well in my experience) and up and down the state we’ve been open sourcing everything from procedures to software to hardware.

    In my experience the places that are struggling to adapt to it are because they don’t want to.

    One of the main things CA put in place was time. Counties have a month to validate their vote counts. So they have time to contact voters over ambiguous ballots and do the equivalent of a challenged vote count. It affords time to do things methodically and accurately.

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Martin: Shared dorm rooms, shared and/or communal toilets and showers, only access to food on the meal plan in buffet style dining halls. What could possibly go wrong?

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    huh, Ben Rhodes just said on the O’Donnell program that Obama’s three finalists for Veep were Biden, Tim Kaine and Evan Fucking Bayh. I knew Bayh was short-listed, I didn’t think it came that close. Didn’t know Kaine came that far either.

  38. 38.

    Martin

    @WaterGirl: In the past I’ve headed up some statewide efforts, so people have gotten to know me. I’ve been volunteering information to NGOs that I thought could help with a more informal national coordination – the kind of thing I kept contacting the US Dept of Education for, and being turned away. Apparently, some grants have been granted.

    Also, I was working with Purdue U on a grant a number of years ago that unfortunately fell through due to national politics and my name got around from that effort, which this NGO is now looking to take on. So, a spot on the board opened up, they have a number of new initiatives very much in my wheelhouse, so I’m in.

    Now I get to decide what candidate to give my stipend to. Thinking Jaime Harrison may be the winner.

  40. 40.

    Martin

    @Adam L Silverman: Yeah. I mean, in the last 2 weeks we’ve managed to infect about 100,000 schoolkids. In the next 2 weeks we’ll start to hear from parents whether there are indeed worse things than not having classroom instruction.

  43. 43.

    Patricia Kayden

    Guess I need to say this again: I will vote for @JoeBiden no matter who he chooses as his VP.Anyone and I mean ANYONE who doesn’t feel the same should google the current #Covid death totals.And realize that NONE of us will survive four more years of Tang.— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) August 10, 2020

  49. 49.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: I’m trying to think back about who I pointlessly speculated about, and probably got mad about not being picked, back then, but I can’t remember.

  55. 55.

    Ken

    @Adam L Silverman: Picking Buttigieg would annoy the heck out of all the columnists who’ve already written their “Biden’s choice dooms Democratic hopes” articles with just a couple blanks for the name. They’ll have to go back and change all the pronouns, at a minimum.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @Martin:

    in the last 2 weeks we’ve managed to infect about 100,000 schoolkids

    I’m sure you wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t a real number.  But seriously?  Why haven’t I heard that before?

    Translation: WTF is wrong with our media the we don’t ALL know that.

    edit:  is that daycare/grade school/high school and college?

  57. 57.

    satby

    @Baud: I would submit it’s the kind of irrelevant, mindless drivel that takes up entirely too much of the broadcast time that our high school mean girls clique of media “analysts” burdens the airwaves with.

  64. 64.

    Jean

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I can say that Kaine was at the tippy top of candidates for VP.  He was the first to endorse Obama.  Kaine is squeaky clean, honest, and won every election he campaigned for in VA–from mayor to governor to senator.  He won over some Republicans as well.  I was quite close to his campaign rallies with Obama and knew him from his earlier gigs in VA.

  66. 66.

    Elizabelle

    @Jean:  I love Tim Kaine.  Not happy when people dump on him here.

    He’s an incredibly sincere, accessible and decent guy.  I think every day that he and Hillary were robbed; that Trump and his idiot wrecking crew are sitting in jobs that the Democrats earned.

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Yes!  Kathleen Sebelius!  That’s who I wanted.

    I worked my ass off for Barack, and even though i had always liked Joe as a candidate – every time he ran – I cried that morning at 5am when my text arrived, telling me it was Biden.

    But Barack was right, Joe was a great choice for him.  Barack knew best.

  70. 70.

    Martin

    @WaterGirl: Here you go.

    There’s been a 90% increase in child Covid-19 cases

    Thousands of students started returning to classrooms this week as a report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association shows how easily children can get coronavirus.
    There has been a 90% increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in children in the US over the past four weeks, according to the report, published Monday. The new report, expected to be updated weekly, said there were 179,990 new Covid-19 cases among US children between July 9 and August 6.
    “It’s not fair to say that this virus is completely benign in children,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.
    Children make up just over 9% of the total cases in states that report cases by age, according to the report. At least 380,174 total child Covid-19 cases were reported as of August 6.

    97,000 cases among schoolkids in the last 2 weeks. You’re not hearing much about it because the president, governors, mayors, and god knows who else who ordered the openings don’t give a shit.

  71. 71.

    Baud

    I’m a little creeped out by the fact that all our contenders are being stalked by media right now.

    Will there actually be a joint appearance, it will they do it by zoom?

  73. 73.

    Elizabelle

    @Adam L Silverman:   Not like Wilmington has any banks.  Or major corporations, like DuPont.  Or any wealthy people.  Who have been known to take “private flights.”

    That said, remember how someone got the jump on John Edwards being John Kerry’s running mate because they saw the campaign jet’s sides being repainted?

  77. 77.

    Martin

    @Ken: He’s not picking Pete. With no in-person convention to do the normal party unity bullshit, Biden is almost certainly going to be doing videos and the like with the other Dem candidates as part of the announcement. I’d expect to see something with Bernie, with Hillary, Obama, Harris (if it’s not Harris), Gillibrand, etc.

    Pretty sure that’s all this is. We know the decision is made, so just producing the rollout.

  79. 79.

    Jean

    @WaterGirl: What Tim K is not is an attacker.  Not his style.  If he people were expecting that, he came across as bland.  But he is not! Great campaigner and could talk off the cuff easily, never needed prepping.  Clinton’s run was the only losing campaign for him.

  81. 81.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: Canned hunt. They’re going to release them all into the same preserve, give them a 1/2 head start, and then Jr is going to see how many he can bag before sunrise.

  86. 86.

    prostratedragon

    On vote by mail: if a Chicago voter, information is at Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago (chicagoelections.gov). Voters can register and check everything there, and apply for mail-in ballots now. There are also links to suburban county boards and to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

    In Chicago there will be plenty of dropoff sites once early voting starts in October. There doesn’t seem to be a statewide law requiring them, but the ISBE has put out a guidance on setting up collection sites.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    @Jean:

    Clinton’s run was the only losing campaign for him.

    I never think of either Hillary or Tim as losers.  They won the popular vote.  Decisively.  They were robbed.  I am not so sure about that Electoral College “victory.”  What is provable, though … and there never was a stringent postmortem on it.  GOP governors, and tiny, tiny margins.

    Goddamn fucking Donald Trump and all the enablers.

  88. 88.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    another voting information resource, Vote Save America by the podcasting ex-Obama aides known as the O’Bros, has links to every state with voter information– registration deadlines, absentee vote requests– and other resources, including their “Adopt a state” campaign if you have extra time or cash to help target close races

  89. 89.

    Jinchi

    @Martin: 97,000 cases among schoolkids in the last 2 weeks.

    That’s an increase in infections of children from before the start of the school year!

    I hate to think what the numbers in Georgia are going to look like in another week or two.

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Huh, certified Very Serious People Brian Williams just asked a guest if we should be giving credence to the rumors about trump dumping Pence.
    I’ve said for a while trump would drop him like an un-prenupped wife if Nikki Haley would take the job, but my hunch is she doesn’t want to tie herself that closely to The Beast. Tim O’Brien says he can’t imagine trump doing it this late in the game.

  91. 91.

    Kent

    Thank God I live in Washington where I trust the state to actually do mail-in voting correctly.  Yet I’m still going to drop my ballot off at the local red ballot drop box just to be positive

    More for the local WA-3rd Congressional race which promises to be close.  If the presidential race here is close then we are all fucking doomed.

  92. 92.

    Avalie

    Delurking to give a plug for VoteRiders.org . State by state info on in-person and vote by mail, plus assists with voter ID if your state requires it for registration or voting.

  93. 93.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio

    @satby: I did that for the State/Local primary here last month; I strongly recommend this. It was slow because of the 6-foot line spacing, and I don’t expect that to change by November. But they had plenty of staff, and some clever workarounds to limit contact.

  97. 97.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    There has been much talk about the time Sen. Kamala Harris spent as a prosecutor. As a public defender for 24 years, I examined, critiqued and battled Harris when she was the San Francisco district attorney. And more often than not, Harris and I were on opposite sides.

    Having had this experience, I feel compelled to speak on Harris’ record while she was a district attorney. Simply put, Harris was the most progressive prosecutor in the state. This is not an anecdotal opinion. It is based on facts.

  98. 98.

    Martin

    @Adam L Silverman: Was pretty shocked to hear that Trump has  inquired about the USPS refusing to deliver ballots in certain places, and to refusing to deliver ballots that would arrive after election day.

    Expecting to see some poll workers shoved into unmarked vans on election day.

  99. 99.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Martin: It is going to get uglier. And if he somehow ekes out a win, it’ll get uglier after the election as he and the rest of the sore winners in his base decide that they are now fully liberated to act how they’ve always wanted to. And if he loses, it will also get uglier as they attempt to use political violence to overturn the election results or make it impossible for the US to actually be governed.

  100. 100.

    sfinny

    Late to the thread, but for any NY people:

    I work as an election inspector and while I haven’t received any official notice yet (I don’t think the board of elections has decided) my guess is that they will do what they did in primaries in June.  Which is greatly consolidate the polling sites for both early voting and election day.

    When I worked the primary, there were long lines and waiting times in Westchester County, in places where that was unusual.  But many voters were not aware that early voting had been available during the two weeks prior to the election (have only had it the last couple of elections).  And that was much less crowded.  Often no waiting times.

    I voted by mail, had requested an absentee ballot under the relaxed conditions issued by Cuomo.  But for the general I am voting early.  That’s because early voting is scanned into the machines and reported along with the election day results, when polls close on election day.  NY usually doesn’t begin counting the absentee ballots until a week after election day.

    So if you feel comfortable voting early or in person on election day, those results are available much earlier than absentee ballots.  Again, this is just in NY.  And probably not a question as far as the electoral college, but the more firm numbers there are, the less Trump can pull his “fraud by mail” bullshit.

  101. 101.

    Ukai

    This isn’t disturbing, at all! /s

    In light of this, it may be better to drop off ballots in person at the post office, or at the election office if that’s allowed. Of course, that’s probably easier said than done for a lot of people.

  102. 102.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ukai: …it may be better to drop off ballots in person at the post office…

    Or it may not. I posted this as a cautionary tale a few days back:

    Decades ago (long before anyone was trying to destroy the USPS) I mailed a mortgage payment at the central Baltimore PO, whose destination address was a PO box at that very same PO – and had to pay a late fee when the envelope took several days to travel the 20 yards to its destination.

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