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
James E Powell
For any California residents, check right here to ensure you are registered.
Does every state have a website like that?
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.
TaMara (HFG)
@jl: Depends on the state, even county in some cases, so contact your County Clerk to know for sure.
jl
@TaMara (HFG): OK, thanks. Will do.
TaMara (HFG)
@TaMara (HFG):
@jl:
And google gave me this resource for when ballots are actually counted.
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vopp-table-16-when-absentee-mail-ballot-processing-and-counting-can-begin.aspx
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.
satby
I decided I’m doing what Indiana calls “in person absentee” (aka early) voting. It starts Oct 6 here.
jl
@TaMara (HFG): Many thanks, that link is a great resource: bookmarked!
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): That’s a great resource. I added it to the What We Can Do thread.
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.
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.
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): Totally OT, but one of the On the Road posts this week has pictures of a Labradane, which I didn’t even know existed.
edit: I just checked, and it’s Thursday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jerry
Has anyone volunteered for this group? I’ve never done any volunteering like this before and want to know if it’s worth my time. It seems like it is.
Turnout 2020
https://www.mobilize.us/turnout2020/event/292968
Patricia Kayden
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.”
dnfree
Here’s one article. Google will show you others. Most states really aren’t set up to process mail ballots efficiently or even accurately.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/states-reject-tens-thousands-mail-ballots-year-s-primaries-setting-n1233833
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.
Elizabelle
@counterfactual: And what was “Obamagate”? Had to do with “unmasking”?
These geriatric rightwingers and their conspiracy-spewing.
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.
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.
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.
WaterGirl
@Martin: That is exciting! Congratulations. How did you come to do that?
Elizabelle
@Martin: Excellent!
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.
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.
Adam L Silverman
@Emma from FL: They’re collecting the primary ballots at the drop boxes now. They drop boxes opened up last Saturday.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: I’m going have to do another post aren’t I? Because the past 12 on this topic weren’t enough…//
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?
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.
NotMax
Huh? Wha? There’s an election of some sort? Who knew?
// :)
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He wanted to cover the bland, unzested, and unready demographic. You know, Rick Santorum voters.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: At one point, I heard the same thing on Pod Save American or Pod Save the World.
I shuddered. Tim Kaine, sure. But Evan Fucking Bayh, major ugh.
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.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: Um, sometimes I am very glad there are not pop quizzes on this blog.
@WaterGirl: Whoa. That’s a heavy wind. Glad the damage was limited.
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.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Interesting to think about who we would have selected as the final three for Obama in 2008. (Let’s put Hillary and Biden aside to avoid the obvious choices.)
Citizen Alan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: JFC, if that’s true, I regret ever having had any doubts about Biden back in 2008.
Patricia Kayden
satby
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: because nothing’s been happening lately so we all have the time and inclination to grizzle over potential veep candidates from almost 12 years ago, right?
Our media is pure garbage.
and I guess I stand corrected…nah, not really @Baud
Baud
@Elizabelle:
Where is John’s car?
A. An empty field.
B. An IHOP parking lot.
C. Next to the willow tree.
Ken
I believe the traditional response is “would you like the list in alphabetical order, or sorted by severity?”
Adam L Silverman
@Citizen Alan: Joe Lieberman was available because GOP officials made it clear to John McCain that he could not pick him.
Baud
@satby:
It’s fluff, but relevant fluff because Biden is about to name his Veep.
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.
Adam L Silverman
@Ken: Amortized.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: Petementum!
Ken
Amazing how something as fragile-looking as a leaf can survive seventy MPH winds.
WaterGirl
@Martin: I am very excited for you!
You are good to share your stipend for the good of the country.
James E Powell
Swarm of earthquakes near the Mexican border.
Because 2020 ain’t done with us yet.
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.
WaterGirl
@Martin:
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?
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.
Martin
@Adam L Silverman: Getting the rollout endorsements and party unity sorted out. Good, good.
satby
@WaterGirl: 97000+, so far.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The woman who ended up heading up the health care initiative. That’s who I wanted. Cannot recall her name at the moment.
satby
@Ken: He’s not picking Buttigieg.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman:
Everyone loves Chastain.
Baud
@WaterGirl: Sabelius?
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.
satby
@Baud: Now that’s absolutely true!
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.
WaterGirl
@satby: Thank you!
And may I just add Oh My God!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jean: he’s very impressive beneath that low-key manner
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.
Martin
@WaterGirl: Here you go.
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.
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?
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I thought Tim Kaine was a stellar choice for Hillary.
Fuck the haters.
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?
Baud
@WaterGirl: unfortunately, the haters fucked us.
WaterGirl
@Martin: Thank you.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Nodding.
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.
Adam L Silverman
@Ken: Depends whose column it is. Some may just plug his name in and hit publish.
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.
WaterGirl
@Jean: Definitely our loss, in so very many ways.
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.
WaterGirl
I am going to bed now, which means that we will likely hear about the VP choice in the next few minutes.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: And getting a haircut.//
Adam L Silverman
@Martin:
Martin
@Adam L Silverman: We all like Chastain better anyway.
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.
Elizabelle
@Jean:
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.
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
Jinchi
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
sgrAstar
@WaterGirl: it’s not a real number. Pure speculation.
?
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It won’t be Haley, she’s too brown for the GOP now that its gone white Christian herrenvolkish. If he does it, it’ll be Noem.
Adam L Silverman
@Kent: The problem won’t be the state.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
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.
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.
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.
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.
Uncle Cosmo
Or it may not. I posted this as a cautionary tale a few days back:
WaterGirl
@Uncle Cosmo: It doesn’t seem like one experience, decades ago, should influence our choices for this election.