Early voting is starting real soon in some states.
It is advantageous to a campaign to get as much as its vote in early. An early vote counts the same as an Election Day vote but an early vote removes variance. A campaign, like Harris that is highly likely in the lead at this point in time wants there to be less variance while a campaign that is behind (Trump now, Biden in June) wants more variance.
Every campaign will score the voting universe on some combination of the likelihood of an individual actually voting and then likelihood of that individual voting for a particular candidate. I should be scored in both the Harris and Trump GOTV models as Exceedingly Likely to Vote & Exceedingly Likely Harris. Some people might be Iffy to Vote but Exceedingly Likely Harris so the Harris campaign will try to mobilize this class and the Trump campaign will try to demobilize. Other voters might by Likely to Vote and FLIP A COIN at which point both campaigns will try to persuade that voter. Different combinations of scores will produce different strategies.
If I vote early on the first day of in-person early eligibility, I’m transitioning in the data from Exceedingly Likely to Vote to VOTED. Individually that means the Harris campaign can now completely forget about contacting me for anything other than money or volunteer hours. They don’t need to mobilize me. More importantly, if a campaign’s modeling says that they are on pace if by Day 5 they have 52% of people like me already voted to be on track for a win, but 57% of people like me have voted, they can systemically shift resources either within or between states to target mobilization and persuasion of less likely voters. Remember, in all the polling, the Dems have dominated this cycle on 2020 voters. Trump is competitive because he is doing well enough with the seldom to never voters.
Most importantly, an early vote makes that voter information agnostic. No new information that arrives after the vote is cast will change the vote.
So make a plan to vote as early as you can, and then get the people in your life who are less politically attached than routine readers of an Almost Top-10,000 politics blog to vote early with you.
BC in Illinois
Mrs. BC and I will certainly be voting early.
It carries with it a certain satisfaction of a job well done. Or at least a job done.
+ + +
On other matters, today is “Talk Like a Pirate Day.” AAAARRRGH to all who celebrate.
For my part, last night I watched a pirated movie.
On a scale of 1 – 10 , I would give it a 3.141592653589
Baud
Especially important for GOTV for down ballot races.
Another Scott
Here in NoVA I’ve been antsy about getting my (permanent, absentee) mail-in ballot. A FAQ says they are mailed out 45 days before the election, so tomorrow!
Looking forward to voting for Harris-Walz and Team Blue!
I’ll drop it in the county ballot box, to remove the anxiety about the USPS under DeJoy. :-/
Forward!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Anonymous At Work
Voting early and posting to actual social media that I did so is my “proof of life.” Tempted to delete myself otherwise.
And I cannot imagine an undecided voter that is actually undecided.
Kyle Rayner
@Another Scott: Oh, thanks for the information on when VA ballots are sent out! They always seem to come so early in hindsight that if it’s a big election and I haven’t seen it yet, it feels late.
Love the permanent mail-in ballots so much.
Trivia Man
WI GOP is beating the drum hard on talk radio for early voting. Yesterday senator tReasOn Johnson (obligatory FRJ) spent 2 full segments explaining why early voting helps.
Frequent mentions that it SHOULD be 100% in person, same day… but since it isn’t they better play the game.
Charity ohimai
Jeffry_cyber1 on iG got my account restored
Another Scott
Speaking of voting, a reminder of the vital importance of the Senate in this cycle – Michael Waldman at the Brennan Center (from August 27):
We must be able to fairly choose our leaders, and those leaders must be subject to the same norms, rules, and laws as all the rest of us. Everything else depends on that.
Forward!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Barbara
I will be voting tomorrow or Saturday. Another reason to vote early is to dilute or weaken the likelihood that the kind of stochastic terrorism taking place in Springfield Ohio will be aimed at polling places in swing states.
Matt McIrvin
My mail-in ballot is coming sometime in early October. I’m itching to get it.
I already got the information packet about the various referenda on the ballot, a mixture of no-brainers and genuinely tricky decisions.
PST
Chicago makes it very easy to vote early in person, which is my favorite way to vote. Urban density means that an early voting site may be just a pleasant stroll from home. I’ll vote at Union Park, where the DNC protesters gathered, such as they were. Early voters may select ballots in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Korean, Tagalog, Gujarati, Urdu, Arabic, Ukrainian, or Russian. I find that an interesting range of languages. It appears to skew toward languages with non-Latin scripts, perhaps reflecting a presumption that speakers of these face extra challenges using a ballot in English.
Matt McIrvin
@Trivia Man: So, they’re not discouraging early voting by their side so they can then try to declare the early ballots illegitimate and do another “Stop the Steal”?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Matt McIrvin:
How would you rate the information packet you get?
In Colorado/Denver, I gotta admit, they do a fantastic job with them. I’m impressed at how they word the “sides” of an issue to actually be neutral. Or at least they do a good job of including “both sides” in such a way as to not make it slanted one way or the other. It’s not easy to pull that off and lord knows I’m always looking for any hint of that.
Fair Economist
Vote by mail in CA starts October 11. I await my ballot eagerly! Planning to get it in within 2 days (CA ballots are long and can take a while, due to the propositions and judges).
Stacy
@Another Scott: My college age daughter’s mail in ballot came for her here in Loudoun about two weeks ago. My daughter in Richmond called the registrar about hers yesterday and they’re just sending them out now. Excited to early vote in person tommorow.
@Another Scott:
@Another Scott:
Dangerman
Does Georgia vote early? I so hope Jimmy Carter gets to vote for KH.
So help me Betty White, I don’t want to jinx anything, but it’s close to one hell of a Birthday; fingers crossed, toes crossed, cross worn.
I have likely shared this previously, but there is a Betty White movie where the Navy plays a significant role (and supported it in ways I can’t share without giving away the plot). I’m normally not a Hallmark Movie kinda guy (I’m not a movie guy, period, really). Seems appropriate with JC’s Navy background and the message of the Film to share it again (or for the first time; I’m on first half caff coffee). The entire movie is available on youtube. There are different points you have to watch closely.
Suzanne
I will be voting early! As will Mr. Suzanne.
SuzMom deeply enjoys voting in person, on Election Day. I understand that. It’s a secular ritual of democracy and there is meaning in sharing it with others, repeating its rhythms.
Matt McIrvin
@Barbara: I know some people are reluctant to vote early or by mail because they’re worried about all the attempts to throw out those votes to get a partisan advantage (or to just demagogue about it, like in 2020-21).
But the physical vulnerability of in-person Election Day voting, and the fact that you don’t get a second chance if that goes wrong somehow, I think outweighs this concern for most people. I’m voting by mail ballot (possibly dropped off at the City Hall drop box), though it is never really a problem in my district regardless of how you do it.
mali muso
@Stacy:
Does that mean early voting in Virginia is starting/has started? If so, yay…I’m going to bank my vote ASAP. I always go in person because I don’t trust the mail and I still like the process of physically seeing my ballot get counted.
RevRick
I hate these messages haranguing Democrats who are going to vote as surely as the sun rises. I find them exceedingly annoying, because the people who need to be prodded and encouraged aren’t here. If anyplace, they’re on TikTok or Instagram.
I do not need to be scolded. A thank you will suffice.
Matt McIrvin
@Dangerman: Some reports imply that he might be hanging on to life so he can vote for Harris. Given the way some people near the end seem to willpower their way past a significant date before they let go, I can believe it.
Matt McIrvin
@RevRick: I thought of it as an essay I can link to when haranguing others.
Fiona
Early voting doesn’t start in CT for another month.
Matt McIrvin
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: The “sides” in the Massachusetts packet are supplied by advocates for either side, if they can find them. They often make me roll my eyes, but it’s good to have them.
And there’s a fairly neutral-sounding summary of the gist of the initiative, along with the full text of it.
They also include an estimate of any financial impact of the initiative (often it’s “we couldn’t find any”), and a terse recommendation from some committee of the state legislature (which seems to almost always be “we think you should vote no” regardless of the question, I guess because they’d have passed a law if they thought otherwise, so it’s pretty useless).
Another Scott
@RevRick: I understand the sentiment you express, but…
I think the cultural norm needs to be – you have an obligation to vote. (As I’ve said before) People don’t need to be cajoled or bribed to take out the trash. You spend the time to take out the trash and roll the bin to the curb (or dump it in the dumpster) once a week because very bad things happen if you don’t.
Take out the trash. Don’t expect to be rewarded for it.
Vote. Be an adult citizen. Don’t expect a thank-you. Don’t expect a bribe. Eat your peas. Vote.
The default should be that not voting is weird and shunned.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
GregMulka
In Misery, we don’t say say early voting because that’s bad and scary. Instead starting six weeks before the election we can cast in-person absentee ballots. At two weeks before the election we can cast no excuse in-person absentee ballots.
That means our polls open 24 September. I volunteer as a poll worker in St Charles county, the extension of the St Louis metro area west of the Missouri river. Election workers in St Charles are strongly encouraged to vote absentee as, unlike in St Louis county, our ballots can only be cast at our specific precinct of residency. I suspect we could have a system like St Louis county that allows any voter registered anywhere in the county to vote at any polling station but there are budgetary and probably other reasons we don’t.
Anyway, this was a long typed way of saying my ass will be at the door of the election authority at 0830 on Tuesday to vote for Harris, a woman’s right to choose, and metaphorically spit in Josh Hawley’s face.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
New York is sending out absentee ballots within the week, I’m told by someone from the New York County Board of Elections. I just got the NY State email telling me to download my ballot … and the site where one downloads the ballot stated that it couldn’t find my voting record. The gentleman at the County Board found my record almost immediately, so I’m registered and due to receive an absentee ballot, but the email system may be a bit hinky.
And Hellenic Post may be rather hinky, much more so than the US Postal Service under DeJoy, so my plan is to drop off my absentee ballot at the US Embassy, which is within walking distance from me.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Another Scott: That kind of clashes with the GOP playbook of suppressing the vote.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I’ve been postcarding for Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles and this is the point Simon keeps making. They get updates (daily I think) on voter status, and when you are marked as VOTED you are freeing up crucial GOTV resources. In effect it’s an in-kind donation to the entire ballot.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Matt McIrvin:
At least here we don’t get any state legislature (or other) “recommendations” on how to vote. That’s. A. Good. Thing.
rk
I want to vote by mail in PA becasue I’ll be out of town but just back in time on election day. Husband doesn’t trust mail-in-voting, so I’m confused. I know it’s fine to vote mail in, but we’re going back and forth on this.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@GregMulka:
Is that a relatively new thing? I ask cuz back when I was in Central Misery, I do remember the 6-week absentee thing (plus you had to go to the county seat and sign up for it or something). I don’t recall a 2-week no-excuse option. That’s something I guess given it’s Misery.
For the last 10 years of our residence in red, rurl Misery, I was also asked to be a poll worker in my tiny-ass county of 13K. Why me, who as never asked to do anything? They had trouble finding Dems (the old ones who used to do it were dying off at an alarming rate) to man the polls since they needed an equal # of both.
I always demurred because the last thing I wanted was to be in a room with my rwnj neighbors who, if I were Jewish and we were in a Ukranian village in 1942, would have turned me into the Germans in a nanosecond.
Sure Lurkalot
@Another Scott:
The postcard outfits suggest you pen something like “Thanks for being a voter!”, which I often do, but my sentiments are more like yours. Or go the way of Australia and make not voting carry a fine. You don’t get a puppy for voting, you are force fed mud if you don’t.
catclub
It is beside town hall where I am.
Matt McIrvin
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: We also generally don’t have as many ballot questions as you do. This time around, there are 5, which is a pretty typical number.
Kirk
In Texas early voting starts on October 21. I’m off work that day. The only reason I don’t plan to be at the doors when they open is that the poking place is an elementary school and there will be a lot of traffic then. 9am seems a good time, though.
catclub
If there is a hardest way to allow non in person voting, Mississippi has it. You probably need a note from your doctor… notarized in triplicate.
catclub
@Matt McIrvin: I agreed with voting NO, on ‘audit the legislature,’ on separation of powers grounds.
Others seemed ok. and it looks like they are all just recommendations to the legislature.
Kosh III
Here in Warren Co Tn early voting starts Oct 16 thru 31.
We go as soon as possible, the poll is a short distance from us and never crowded.
Harris Walz 2024
Harris Walz 2028
Buttigieg AOC 2032
Matt McIrvin
@catclub: I figured out where the City Hall ballot box is in this cycle because we already voted with mail ballots for the Democratic state primary a few weeks ago.
For the primary, they weren’t going by postmarks–the ballots had to be in their hands by, I think, close of polls on primary election day. And we were a little late filling them out, so we weren’t taking any chances (even though the stakes were low–the only offices with a contested race were Clerk of Courts and Register of Deeds, with a lopsided favorite in both cases).
Kyle Rayner
@rk: In 2020, VA mail-in ballots could be tracked. Idk if that’s still a thing or just implemented at the time to ease people into doing it the first time, but perhaps PA has some online service to show you when they receive your ballot.
At least, there’s likely some way your state govt allows you to check which elections you have participated in, including the current one.
Also, in addition to dropping it in the mail, VA ballots can be dropped into specific ballot receptacles located in govt places like libraries, perhaps that’s an option for you as well?
There may be some detail in the process or options that would ease his worries, is what I’m saying.
Matt McIrvin
@catclub: Yeah, that’s one of the tough ones to me. There are legit arguments that the lege could use more oversight, but I don’t like the idea of an elected executive-branch officer being the oversight. So I’m leaning toward no.
The other one I’m undecided about is the psychedelics legalization one–I’m inclined to vote yes because fuck the drug war and because criminalization is hindering legit research, but with the knowledge that if this actually happened, there would be negative externalities.
Mousebumples
@Trivia Man: my mail ballot is being my out today. I’ll be watching my mailbox for it’s arrival. And will probably drop off at the Clerk’s office. Thankfully, it’s near the daycare for Tiniest Mouse.
I wonder if we’ll have drop boxes this time. (haven’t so far this year, even though they are permitted again
WISCONSIN VOTERS – http://myvote.wi.gov to register to vote online, register to vote by mail, or check the status of your mail ballot.
Also, please vote NO on the amendment. Again.
Chris
@PST:
Why, you don’t even have to be alive to do it!
Sorry, sorry, I had to.
One of my friends is Chicago born and raised, and regularly jokes that when he dies, he wants his body returned to Chicago for burial, so that even death can’t stop him from voting Democrat.
The Audacity of Krope
I’ve been keeping two residences and going back and forth over which to vote at.
Decided I’m going to re-register at my new address today so I can use it as a prompt to get my roomies to do the same.
RaflW
In a state like Minnesota, voting early is easy and a great idea (and we will!). The ballots are distributed to the precincts and counted as soon as the polls close.
But it seems that early votes in some states cause tabulation delays (fucking Republicans passing laws like ‘they can’t be opened until election day’ delay processing).
Delayed tabulation is going to be fodder for Trump & GOP “Steal” narratives.
Mousebumples
His birthday is my birthday. And agreed. 🤞
Ohio Mom
Ohio Family will vote early at the Board of Elections. As a fairly anxious person, I like beating deadlines.
I have to say, I have mixed feelings about the idea of early voting for low info folks. They are so gullible and swayable, and one late October surprise after they’ve voted, and realized they made a mistake — that could work for or against us, I suppose.
I wish there was some data on the optimum length of early voting. Is a week enough time, is six weeks too long? What promotes the most thoughtful voting?
I hate that our country’s future always hangs on the least informed people.
Mousebumples
What part doesn’t he trust? The mail? (if yes, I get it) That’s why I return my ballot personally. And I have the ballot at home if there are any races I need to research.
MattF
Got an email from (Maryland) Montgomery County with PDF of the ballot. Says paper ballot will be mailed in next few days. So, so far, so good.
Dorothy A. Winsor
We’re on permanent vote-by-mail so we’ll be voting soon. I can’t wait for this to be over.
karen gail
Did anyone catch the “news” that Trump is claiming the audience during last debate went crazy?
He is totally detached from reality. As my Auntie Tee once said, “that boy is so spoiled he rotted and grew evil.”
Dorothy A. Winsor
@karen gail: Audience?
Misswhatsis
I wish I could vote early! In New Hampshire there is no early voting, no mail voting, and no absentee voting without a valid reason presented to your town clerk. It’s ridiculous. And now the governor has signed a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. It’s like they don’t want us to vote.
Ken B
@mali muso: Virginia early voting starts Friday.
Cheryl from Maryland
@BC in Illinois: I celebrated early by dressing as a pirate captain with my godson as my henchman for Pirate weekend at the Maryland Renaissance Fest,
GregMulka
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Very new. Post 2020 election as far as I know. It looks like it was some form of concession to get the voter id law through. But I could be wrong on that. We also have Saturday voting the two weekends before the election.
Steve in the ATL
@GregMulka: I usually eat at Prasino when I’m in that part of town. Good wine and wine list. This is arguably not related to early voting.
Another Scott
@rk: Someone wrote up a history recently that says that mail-in voting goes back to the Civil War days. There’s no reason to expect that it’s any less secure than any other voting process.
The thing I always remember is: The local voting officials are our neighbors. They are mostly volunteers, and the rest are civil servants. They take the time to follow their oaths and get the counts right because they take this stuff seriously – they spend a good fraction of their lives working to get it right for themselves and the rest of us.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Almost Retired
I drop my ballot off at a box in the local dog park, which is a very Balloon Juice way to vote. Busy researching judges now, because my vote is amplified 100 times by local Facebook friends who don’t do their own research. California ballots typically have a bunch of picayune propositions and hyper-local bureaucratic candidates that always raise the question “why the fuck am I voting on this issue/office?” Better than a dictatorship on day one, though.
MattF
@karen gail: There’s also several videos of him waving, campaign-style, to empty spaces. Exhibits A, B, C, and D for ‘Not all there’.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott: I like mail voting and I do it, but I have one concern about going to ONLY mail-in voting, which is that it’s not a secret ballot on the voter’s end–an abusive spouse or even an abusive employer could demand that you vote a certain way and actually have a means of verifying that. I think the benefits outweigh that concern but it’s a thing to watch out for.
cmorenc
@Anonymous At Work:
Many of these purportedly “undecided” voters who say they “need more specifics” from Harris before making a decision actually mean one of two things:
Soprano2
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Yes, this is new just since 2020 I think.
Trivia Man
@Matt McIrvin: they still will do that, but this is a clear signal they see the see the strategic value if actually doing it… no reason they wont also scream about the validity later because that is and always has been performative outrage.
MattF
@cmorenc: Also, there are people who have to hear a precise series of words on a specific issue.
HeleninEire
I just went to the NYS Board of Elections site to confirm my registration. All is well, but I discovered for the first time this year NY’rs can request an early mail-in vote. No excuse necessary. So, I signed up!
A lot of people complain about voting in NY, but I’ve been voting here for more than 40 years and never had a problem. In fact, last year I picked up Dad’s ballot at the Board of Elections so he could vote by mail and this year they called him and asked if I would be picking it up again. So, YAY.
wjca
California has long done something similar. I actually find those advocate more useful than an objective for/against presentation would be. Why? Because it often makes it clear that one side is basically sufforted by raving lunatics. Which is worth knowing when looking at, and trying to understand, a (often very) long proposition.
Ocotillo
@Kirk: Poll worker (Texas) here. Good plan. Typically, the first day tends to be busy and the third or fourth day is a bit slower. Since this is a presidential cycle all bets are off and my gut says it’s going to be busy the whole time with election day being the craziest.
Trivia Man
@Dangerman: GA does havecearly voting. BUT if you die after voting but before election day it is discarded. HOWEVER – if it has been “processed” the ballot is separated from the voter identification and thus impossible to retrieve/ nullify. I have read that varies widely depending on the location. Some process immediately and some save to do in batches..
rk
@Mousebumples:
I think he doesn’t trust the process. He thinks that republicans will somehow challenge or reject mail in ballots and does not want to take any chances.
I tried to get a mail in ballot and went through the process at the website. It said that the signature on the ballot has to be the one that I have on my driver’s licence. I looked at my licence and realized that I signed my name in a way that I never usually do (I have a weirdly inconsistent signature). Now I’m concerned that my ballot will be rejected because of the signature and should I still apply for a mail in ballot?
catclub
Agreed, however, it is more likely that you will do something wrong/ omit some signature/ put the form in the wrong envelope/ and your vote will not be counted. That is less likely once you are at the polling place. Nonetheless, I am voting by mail.
Trivia Man
catclub
@wjca: I am definitely voting no on the one that has ‘the entire text of the bill’
wjca
Also @Sure1 Lurkalot
The question has to be, will that vote be the result of being at least marginally informed about the candidates and the issues? IF there was any reason to think so, in the case of those who now don’t vote, fine. But I would give long odds that, if they are too disinterested to vote, they are also too disinterested to learn about the candidates, propositions, etc. People who vote based on a coin flip, or whether a candidate has a (first) name similar to a friend or relative, do not add anything positive to our governance.
Now of you want to make becoming informed about politics a cultural norm, that would be a different story. And very probably have increased voting as a side effect.
Mousebumples
We don’t have signature checks in Wisconsin, so I can’t offer much advice there. Do you have the ability to deliver your ballot in person? Or to contact your elections clerk to ask your questions? PA probably also has a voter protection phone number you could call for local advice
Eta – see here https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/vote/contact-us.html
Kelly
Oregon mails out ballots October 16th.
I know they check the signatures when you mail them back because Marion County rejected my Mom’s ballot for the May primary. That was her final ballot. She was very weak. She’d always voted. Voting held her dementia at bay for a little while that afternoon. She had me fill in the squares. Her signature wandered. Could have driven her to the county clerk’s office to cure the ballot but everything she voted for won.
Trump drew 74% in my rural Oregon precinct in 2016, 70% in 2020. Local flags and signs seem about the same. Very curious to see how it goes this time.
Another Scott
@Matt McIrvin: We all know about the legitimate concerns about coercion, but we don’t know how common it is. I understand the concern, but making voting easier is very important. 43% voted absentee in 2020 and turnout was high even with all the difficulties.
Only 7.8% of 2.9M eligible overseas citizens voted in 2020 (5 page .pdf). Obviously, all those votes are absentee/mail-in. Highest listed turnout percentage was in Germany (25%); lowest listed was in Hong Kong (3%).
I think the solution is to increase the penalties for any interference with free expression in the franchise (and of course highly publicize them). Try to force your spose to vote for the other gal? Education classes, community service, etc., and maybe go to jail! Make it shunnable rather than a “oh, yeah, but it’s a red area so what are you gonna do?” thing.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Soprano2
@karen gail: I saw that. Once again, if Biden said something like that it would be fodder for “he’s got dementia” stories for days! It’ll probably sink below the waves after a day for TCFG. I think the press has decided it doesn’t matter whether they talk about stuff like this when it comes to him, because “all his voters have already made up their minds.”. True, but what about the undecided voters? Don’t they need many, many stories about how TCFG said Bagram was in Alaska, or that the debate had an audience when it didn’t? People need to know these things about someone who’s trying to become president.
Another Scott
@wjca:
I disagree, pretty strongly.
If the norm is one votes, then the universe expands because it strengthens the norm. Sure you get people who just go through the motions – “gimme the green ballot, my father always voted green so I do too” – but you get that now. But you also make it easier for people who are interested but have 2 jobs and a kid got sick on election day and they don’t have sick leave and they’re worried and distracted and may not make it home before the nursery school closes if they stop to vote…
The system should understand the outliers, like the people who go through the motions, but the system should be broad and deep enough to make it easy for as many people as possible to participate. The history of democracy is that it becomes more inclusive and more representative by opening it up, not by demanding that voters somehow be better (citizenship tests, poll taxes, voter IDs, etc.) before they can participate.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott: And coercion can happen even with the in-person ballot–I think there are still some rural areas where it’s understood that husbands go into the voting booth with their wives to “vote her in”!
Beatrice Blacklow
@Suzanne: I feel the same way about the ritual of voting on Election Day. Fortunately I live in a very blue county in a very blue state in the precinct with one of the highest Dem turnouts in the state. I doubt if anyone is chasing my vote.
Another Scott
@catclub: Here in Virginia, one can easily get information on whether the absentee ballot was accepted, and if it wasn’t, how to fix it. (Website, text, e-mail.) That should be universal (I don’t know if it is).
Cheers,
Scott.
skyweaver
Thanks, David. I didn’t know this. I will be voting early this year.
peter
@Kyle Rayner: Yes, here in NoVA my wife and I get our absentee ballots reliably 45 days before the election. Text message sent to alert us that they’ve been sent. They can be returned by mail or dropped off. When they’re en route, we get a text. When they’re received, we get a text. When they’ve been counted, another text message. It’s a good system.
rikyrah
I’ve decided to Early Vote opening week.
Jackie
@BC in Illinois: I always vote within a few days of receiving my ballot. Then I’m not deluged with constant, increasingly URGENT texts reminding me I haven’t voted yet and our democracy DEPENDS on MY VOTE!!!
kindness
Out here in the Central Valley of CA we have drop boxes for early voting. I don’t think early in person voting starts until a week before election day. I’ll have dropped mine off well before that.
trollhattan
California peeps, some key dates:
Sept 6, voter guide posted on line. https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/
Sept 26-Oct 15, voter guide mailing period.
Oct 7, latest day for county election officials to begin mailing ballots
Oct 7, early voting begins.
Oct 8-Nov 5, early dropoff voting sites opened.
Oct 21, last day to register.
Oct 22-Nov 5, “same day registration” provisional ballot registration period.
Oct 26 vote centers open.
Nov 5, election day.
Dec 13 SoS issues statement of vote.
https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections/general-election-nov-5-2024/key-dates-deadlines?ref=app
Perhaps varies by county and mine texts me when my ballot has been mailed and again when it has been received.
Matt McIrvin
@Jackie: Political campaigns mostly bother me for money anyway, not votes– they clearly know what kind of voter I am and what might make a difference.
wjca
I have been a poll worker for years. Last general election, I saw something new. Young lady came in with her family, voting for the first time. Saw her father standing over her shoulder while she voted.
Now in California we allow assistance for voters who (physically) need it. But I went over and insisted that he sit out of sight of her voting. Next to the voting booth, but out of sight. She could ask about items on the ballot. But he couldn’t determine if she followed his advice.
It could have been totally innocuous on his part, of course. But still….
KrackenJack
@MattF:
And don’t forget they are not listening. I always see, “Why don’t Biden/Harris talk about X?” Of course they almost always have, but it’s not saturating TikTok, so it didn’t happen…
Aziz, light!
@Matt McIrvin: The more likely possibility with voting by mail, as here in Oregon, is not that someone will be pressured or forced to vote a certain way, but that someone unmotivated to vote or even give a thought to what’s at stake will sign the envelope and let a partner or family member do their voting for them. In a nation in which half the eligible voters cannot be bothered to vote, this may be what sometimes happens when their ballots come in the mail. In most such cases, the votes cast for them will probably reflect their interests.
In the case of an abusive or controlling person making their demands, a voter can always protect their vote by filling out the ballot away from home, then drop it in the box at the library, etc.
TBone
We can vote early in person here in PA but Election staff cannot start opening and counting the ballots until election day, is what I’m given to understand.
https://vote.pa/early/
Scout211
Same in my county in California, mostly foothills, but with a few differences.
Early voting in person starts on October 7 (same as when the ballots are mailed) but only in the elections office in the county seat. You can vote M-F in the elections office starting October 7.
The in-person voting centers scattered around the county start later in October. The 11-day centers open October 29 and the 4-day centers open November 2.
Our local drop box just got an outdoor permanent location. It used to be inside a business, then it was moved to inside the Veteran’s Hall and now it’s in the Veteran’s Hall parking lot, permanently fixed.
Voting is easy in California, so many choices.
wjca
Totally in favor of making it as easy as possible to vote. But doubtful that, if voting was required (or even just social expected), people just going thru the motions would be outliers.
Only look at how may do not vote currently. Even in places where everybody gets a mail ballot. Would they somehow be motivated to become informed? Some of them, perhaps. But anything like a majority of them? Not seeing it.
Trivia Man
@Mousebumples: I suspect Ron J is all in in early voting because he is well aware of the risk to republicans… trump could be in jail, have a strike, flee the country, descend further into madness… lots of possible vote depressors every day is a big risk
rikyrah
For anyone who doesn’t have the opportunity to return their Mail Ballot to a Election Authority Dropbox…
DO NOT JUST PLACE YOUR MAIL BALLOT IN A MAILBOX.
TAKE YOUR MAIL BALLOT INSIDE OF THE POST OFFICE AND WATCH THEM PUT A DATE STAMP ON IT.
I can’t stress this enough.
Tell your elderly relatives – don’t just give that Mail Ballot back to the postman.
There are two main reasons why a Mail Ballot is rejected:
Seeing the date stamp put on your ballot in front of you, eliminates reason 1.
Another Scott
@KrackenJack: +1
Then there’s the, “sure, that’s what they said, but I don’t think they mean it – it’s just words – because (Wall Street speeches, Clinton Global Initiative, friends with Henry Kissinger, worked for McKinsey, is pointy and shouty, has a stutter and a stiff walk, …)…”
Some people really don’t like to be forced to make a decision. So, they don’t. They find an excuse not to. They don’t want to be associated with (flawed – like everyone) people they have been told (by people (or bots) they respect) have deal-breaking beliefs or policies.
I was a person like that when I was young, and not so young. I like to think that I mostly grew out of it.
People need to have space to make their own decisions and grow, but what goes along with that is they need to be willing to accept criticism and friendly guidance and advice from people who were there once. And even from people who were (mostly) right all along. “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice,” and that choice is often the bad one, and guess what snowflake – you won’t get universal acclaim for being “independent” for making that choice… Being an edgy cynic who always finds fault doesn’t make you better, it makes you an outsider and non-participant (and maybe worse) in the job of making the country and the world a better place. Part of growing up is figuring out what you believe, recognizing that there are almost never perfect choices, and you have to figure things out and act.
[/soapbox]
Thanks.
Grr…,
Scott.
Trivia Man
@MattF: I always asdume any gesture, facial expression, or posture and s dine for TV cameras. He waves not TO anything, but because a camera is pointed at him and he wants to look engaged and involved. As the ultimate solipsist he can’t fathom the idea that cameras can focus on something other than him.
BR
I’m not the target demographic for this ad — I’m curious if this white dudes for Harris ad (from a super pac, I think) works:
https://www.tiktok.com/@dudesforharris/video/7416337527998631210
BR
Oprah event with Harris tonight — live stream link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZasBoVhuUA
Paul W.
My wife and I signed up to get mail in voting this year in NYC, AOC’s district so no impact on House/Senate/Pres, but will get that out of the way first thing so we can help with GOTV efforts in swing states on Eday.
Matt McIrvin
@wjca: In my experience, the people who are most worried about whether they’re informed enough to vote aren’t the ones who aren’t actually informed. There’s a Dunning-Kruger-like effect. The mere fact that they’re reluctant because they think they don’t know enough indicates that they’ll probably do better than zero information.
That’s especially true in partisan elections with known party affiliations– you may not know the candidates but most of the time, the party alone tells you a lot. But many liberals particularly are really disturbed by the idea of just voting a straight ticket.
Trivia Man
@wjca: thank you for speaking up
Scout211
@wjca: Back in the Stone Age when my mother had to take her three littles with her to vote, they actually had curtains on every booth. You could bring your children in but no one else. I have often wondered why there are no curtains anymore for privacy.
FastEdD
@BC in Illinois: Talk Like A Pirate Day is my high holy day. TLAPD!! If ye be luffin yer jib, ye be lashed to the Poop Deck, and I be swiggin all yer rum. With midjits. And strippers. And midjit strippers. I be praying at the beer volcano tonight. YARRDILY YARR.
Stacy
@mali muso: Yep. It’s starts here tomorrow, 9/20, 8:30-5pm.
TBone
@FastEdD: you’re hired, do you schooner?
rikyrah
@rk:
Call your voting jurisdiction and ask them if there’s anyway you can update you official signature in their database. Explain that you want to do a Mail Ballot, and you just want to make sure that they have your latest signature on file.
artem1s
If you vote early, you can also be available to volunteer on the day of. Pass out water people standing in line. Work at the polls so they operate smoothly. Be available to campaign offices to answer the phone and run errands.
I was a same day voter for decades who recently changed to early voting. I love early voting. It’s just one less thing to worry about so I can put my energy someplace towards being a helper.
Steve LaBonne
Fellow Ohioans, here are the early in person (at your county Board of Elections) voting dates and times.
October 8-11: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
October 14-18: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
October 21-25: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
October 26: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
October 27: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
October 28: 7:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
October 29: 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
October 30 – November 1: 7:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
November 2: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
November 3: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Matt McIrvin
@Scout211: When my daughter was a baby/toddler I would sometimes walk to my voting location (the middle school she later attended) with her riding in a baby sling. The poll workers loved seeing her and would ask if she wasn’t there.
FastEdD
Since it is FSM heaven the strippers can be any gender you want, or no gender at all. Don’t even have to be human. The beer volcano can be any beer you want, or not even beer, maybe chocolate lava cake. Except Coors Light. That stuff doesn’t belong in heaven.
Baud
Via reddit, true and heh.
rikyrah
Ricky Davila
@TheRickyDavila
I love how Teamsters in Michigan, California, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and more broke from National Teamsters by endorsing Kamala Harris due to their idiot president Sean O’Brien refusing to endorse her even though she’s very pro-union. 👊
11:06 PM · Sep 18, 2024
https://x.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1836617781758038223
TBone
@FastEdD: Coors Light is like ‘doing it’ in a canoe. Too close to water.
Avast! Gimme the the motion of the ocean 😆
I used to live at a big condo complex in Galveston called The Galleon (Gulf side, since renamed I think). Then I moved to a bayside condo in Pirate’s Cove!
wjca
We do take some trouble to orient individual voting booths so it’s inconvenient to walk behind them, i.e. where you might see how someone is voting.
As for curtains, I suspect they were abandoned because they would all needed to be taken down and washed regularly. The current booths can be just folded up and put in storage until the next election. No maintenance required.
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: One of the coolest election videos I’ve seen was from the May, 2023 Turkish election. It showed a young woman walking into a polling station trailed by her pet lamb. The poll workers smiled and handed the woman her ballot and the lamb stayed close as the woman filled it out and dropped it into a clear plastic bin. The video ended with the woman striding down the sidewalk outside with the lamb behind her.
The video went viral within minutes. Later that day the woman posted a picture of herself at home with her pet. The lamb was draped in an orange flag, the color of R.T. Erdogan’s AK Party.
Mike E
I’ve voted early in NC ever since it was instituted and I hear the same objections to it: “I vote on election day since I know my ballot will get counted then!” “It’s a tradition with me and my family members.” A tough nut to crack with these people. The concept of convenience couldn’t compel them to get the covid vaccine either.
Universal vote by mail would be a godsend. Also, compulsory ballot participation punishable by $25 fine for not at least filling out “present” and mailing it back in the allotted timeframe (the Australian model iirc)
Matt McIrvin
@wjca: The old electromechanical voting machines had curtains integrated into them that closed when you started the process. (There’s a lot of nostalgia for those but my impression is that they were actually finicky, problematic machines and none too accurate!)
Mike E
2nd day for me! I plan on going to the community center 4 minutes down the road from the hospital before my procedure that morning. Just in case, heh.
Matt McIrvin
@Mike E: If they actually are voting, I wouldn’t pester them too hard about how they do it. To me one of the main reasons to vote early is simply to head off a lot of the reasons you might not vote at all.
Also, second the many recommendations to figure out your state’s online method for verifying that your ballot was received and accepted. I wouldn’t do it this way if that didn’t exist. If something goes wrong, you can always vote on Election Day. In my state, any accidental double votes resulting from that will just get rejected, with the first one counting.
rikyrah
COOK COUNTY, IL
City of Chicago (Chicago Board of Elections)
Early Voting
69 W. Washington, 6th Floor
191N. Clark (Supersite)
October 3 – October 27: Supersite (191 N. Clark) and CBOE Offices (69 W. Washington – 6th Floor)
Weekdays: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
October 28 – November 4: Supersite (191 N. Clark) and CBOE Offices (69 W. Washington – 6th Floor)
Weekdays: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Election Day (Nov. 5): Supersite ONLY (191 N. Clark)
6:00 am – 7:00 pm
Early Voting in all 50 Wards of Chicago begins Monday, October 21 at 9:00am.
Chicago 50 Ward Early Voting: October 21 – November 5
Weekdays: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Election Day (Nov. 5): 6:00 am – 7:00 pm
ANY VOTER IN CHICAGO CAN USE ANY OF THE EARLY VOTING SITES ON ELECTION DAY. They don’t have to go to their local polling place. Those EV sites, turn into Vote Centers on Election day.
SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY – Cook County Clerk’s Office
GRACE VOTING
October 9th – October 18th
9 am – 5 pm , Monday – Friday ONLY
69 W. Washington St, PEDWAY
All 5 Suburban Courthouses (Markham, Bridgeview, Maywood, Skokie, Rolling Meadows)
October 21st – November 4th
Over 50 Sites
First week October 21st-October 25th, 9 am – 5pm
Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm
Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm
Second week : October 28 – November 1st , 9 am 5 pm
There are 7 sites that are 9 am – 7 pm this week
Saturday, 9 am – 5 pm
Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm
Monday, November 4th
All EV sites open 9 am – 5 pm, with the exception of those 7 sites, which are open until 7 pm.
Tuesday, November 5th
There are 6 Vote Centers around the County where anyone in Suburban Cook County can cast their ballot, if they aren’t near their local Polling Place
69 W. Washington St, Pedway
All Suburban Courthouses, EXCEPT FOR MAYWOOD- the alternative is the Maywood Public Library.
Kosh III
@wjca:People who vote based on a coin flip, or whether a candidate has a (first) name similar to a friend or relative, do not add anything positive to our governance.
Is that the case in countries where voting is mandatory like Autralia?
catclub
It looks like many of the Teamsters are pro-Teamsters instead of pro-union.
Doc Sardonic
@rk: I had the signature doesn’t match your drivers license issue last Presidental election in Florida, by a presumed to be Trumpy poll worker. I solved the issue when I handed her my CCW permit and told her the State of Florida and the FBI say I am (insert real name here) so shut the fuck up and give me my damn ballot. Got my ballot.
Mike E
@Matt McIrvin: heh, well, you mistake my complaining here for how I worked professionally as a nonprofit gotv phonebanker, but you’re correct that nice and easy does it… I point out this voter self-suppression is a result of RW propaganda which gets easily debunked by a few Google clicks if only they could be arsed to do that research on their own.
ETA a big over the phone selling point: “voting early takes your name off the list for these phone calls!”
rikyrah
Uncle Willie’s Son (@Hereforfoolery2) posted at 0:25 PM on Wed, Sep 18, 2024:
Who tf is keeping butter pecan ice cream in business?!
Jay Perk 🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JohnathanPerk) posted at 3:54 PM on Wed, Sep 18, 2024:
ANSWER: Black Elders, mostly—as they should.
After the U.S. Civil War, white people literally wouldn’t allow Black people to eat vanilla ice cream. Butter Pecan was one of our ancestors’ first substitute options.
(https://x.com/JohnathanPerk/status/1836509057823510659?t=JjbboQWSjSKM0os2UAWFxQ&s=03)
rikyrah
Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) posted at 4:57 PM on Wed, Sep 18, 2024:
Trump operative hints at their Project 2025 plan to purge the federal government of civil servants and replace them with MAGA loyalists: “You’re not voting for Trump. You’re voting for 5,000 people that will run your government… Who’s going to be at the FDA, the CDC, the NIH? I https://t.co/35kOvwINus
(https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1836524918139171042?t=-yv7e_LPZRR9DeDRuTo_wA&s=03)
Chris
@Matt McIrvin:
Yeah, it’s really annoying.
The most rational voters in the country by far are those that are low-information partisans. They’ve got a good general sense of what the party stands for, they don’t get distracted by the bullshit that poses as news but is really 99% court gossip, and they’re smart enough to be in a political party in the first place instead of waiting around for the perfect unicorn that embodies everything they want but can’t get elected to anything.
But a stupendous amount of the population has this deeply ingrained belief that it’s somehow dirty to just consistently vote for a party, and the majority of them seem to be on our side.
piratedan
sorry to be off-topic, but there’s rumblings coming outta NC that the Governor’s race is going to see some serious shit happen…. TODAY, i.e. the NC GOP Candidate.
Mike E
@piratedan: don’t be coy, spill!
ETA it’s the Carolina Journal, rw John Locke mouthpiece, shots fired!
BR
While we wait for whatever craziness is going to come out of NC, here’s a new JD Vance video where he says people should pay more for consumer goods in order to take on “woke corporations”:
https://www.tiktok.com/@kamalahq/video/7416390534614224171
TBone
My (very funny Puerto Rican) Stanley Steemer guy just gave me BOOTY for Pirate Day! (little foot covers for wearing on damp carpet). When he saw Gritty on the lawn, he was all “GPS wanted me to turn right on your street but IT WAS A LEFT TURN that damn racist GPS!” Funny fella!
Gin & Tonic
@rikyrah:
Heh, didn’t know that. Funny, though, butter pecan is my dear (and very white) wife’s favorite flavor.
Scout211
@piratedan:
Carolina Journal
ETA Too late. Already posted above
wjca
Improve your running, and avoid athlete’s foot and toenail fungus! Amputate at the ankle!
Hey, it would work. The second part anyway.
TBone
@Scout211: then it is, fer sure, completely true!
SatanicPanic
@Mike E: Oh I can’t wait to find out what creepy skeletons that man has in his closet
TBone
@Chris: our ability to vote straight party ticket in one swoop was removed here in PA 🤬
piratedan
@Mike E: thru my follows out on BlueSky, the GOP Gov candidate Robinson has cancelled two rallies today and word on the vines are that allies are urging him to drop from the race (even tho he can’t be dropped from the ballot).
Considering the other items that he’s accused of, defrauding taxpayers via a child care outfit, claiming he’s a black nazi and a penchant for watching porn outside of his house… speculation rages about what piece of oppo could be so bad for him to try and get in fron of this by dropping out of the race? Supposedly the info has been passed to CNN and WRAL (local Raleigh station) but the Stein campaign isn’t disclosing hat they’ve found out/shared.
That’s all I know… unsure how much this might tilt NC or how much validity there is to this….
OId Man Shadow
I’ll send in my California ballot as soon as I get it.
Not that it really matters because our votes don’t fucking matter as a state when it comes to this shit. All that matters is a bunch of empty fucking land.
Baud
@Mike E:
NC Supreme Court says “hold my
beergavel.”wjca
Statutory rape comes to mind. That or evidence that he’s made big donations to the Harris campaign.
Mike E
@piratedan: ::loading celebratory pizza::
@Baud: ::loading BAUD FOR NC GOV on my ballot::
TBone
Today’s Comment of the Day comes from Tom Sullivan at Digby’s place. In a delicious ICYMI article:
https://digbysblog.net/2024/09/19/as-unfit-as-his-badly-fitting-suits/
SatanicPanic
@piratedan: something about some comments he made on an adult website. Must be something truly unhinged considering all the things he’s said in public.
piratedan
@wjca: I was thinking pedo porn or snuff films, but if Trump is backing away from him, I’m thinking that there has to be enough there to scare the crap outta them because if being proven to be liars about Immigrants eating pets and then doubling down, what’s so nasty that would cause this reaction?
TBone
https://angrybearblog.com/2024/09/trump-ripping-on-his-man-usps-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy#more-162879
Old School
Baud
@wjca:
They’re asking him to drop out, not suggesting capital punishment.
Baud
Remember that stuff with underage girls was too much even for Alabama, although just barely.
Chief Oshkosh
@BR: Meh. It’s ok.
Another Scott
@wjca: Thank you for doing the work in the trenches. It’s important!
Cheers,
Scott.
wjca
@Baud:
Videos of sex with underage boys might be worse. For those outside the Catholic hierarchy anyway.
SatanicPanic
@Baud: I saw some suggestions that it has something to do with race. I have a few guesses but I would feel dirty voicing them.
Old School
@rikyrah:
I’ve never heard that before today.
For what it’s worth, Snopes says that while there are stories of this occurring, they couldn’t verify that it happened.
HumboldtBlue
Another Scott
@rikyrah: ?!!?
Butter pecan ice cream is great! Haagen Dazs’ version is an occasional vice of mine.
I do notice that at least some of the brands (Breyers?) can’t call it “ice cream” any more, for some reason.
:-(
(Thanks for the history!)
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Mike E: Eh? The “adult” stuff was reported days/weeks ago. I haven’t seen anything that indicates it changed the race substantially (but I’m in NoVA and haven’t been paying that much attention).
I guess we’ll see what happens.
Cheers,
Scott.
Redshift
I’m going to be voting early next week. I was going to go in the first day, today, but I heard from one of our local Dems who’s staffing the polls that the first couple of days are likely to be crazy busy, because there are groups that are organized to go together. All good, but I can save some time by waiting until next week.
frosty
@rikyrah: I love butter pecan and am totally meh on vanilla. Interesting story!
Redshift
@Kyle Rayner:
If you know people who usually vote by mail or early but aren’t in the permanent list, encourage them to do it!
In VA, we’ll have an election for governor next year. A lot more people vote in presidential elections, but those presidential-only voters are more likely to vote next year if they get a ballot in the mail. Science!
rikyrah
@piratedan:
it’s an Open Thread…there are no off topics :)
scav
@Another Scott: If we’re playing speculate while we wait, how about: if the Trump campaign pressuring him to back out, there’s probably some specific danger of spillover / backsplash — otherwise wouldn’t they just go with the standard didn’t know the coffeeboy underbusment?
Redshift
@Another Scott: Maybe they know they’re losing and have delusions of a Biden/Harris type switch saving it for them? Or at least being less of a drag downballot?
Redshift
@scav: If they think it’ll affect turnout on the GOP side, that could be enough spillover to worry about, even if there’s no direct connection to TCFG they need to deny.
Mike E
@Another Scott:
@scav:
@Redshift:
All of the above. The very very red state legislature and supreme court gerrymandered at least 3 Dem US House seats over to the repubs and I refuse to get giddy over this trainwreck but perhaps their internal polling is showing erosion where they thought this was a lock. Good.
scav
@Redshift: Somehow I think the entire Drumpsterfire campaign corpse sees themselves as the starring gorilla in every circus. As for the bit about pulling a Biden/ Harris swap, we’re well into write-in territory, aren’t we?
Jeffro
trumpov & Co feel that Robinson is a drag on the GOP ticket, LOL
This comes just as several polls are showing NC slipping away from trumpov
Good times, Ds, good times!
divF
@Suzanne:
geg6
So pissed! I’m a permanent absentee voter and my county’s ballot were supposed to go out last week. But, of course, those who do not want us to vote had to file a lawsuit and Cornell West was apparently trying to get off the ballot. So the PA Supremes finally settled all of it and I see that my county has announced they will start mailing out the ballots between 10/7 and 10/11. I’m still pouting because I really wanted our votes banked already. It would certainly cut down on the texts I get every day, which averages about 40.
hueyplong
Not sure why the Ds would release the info today. Today is important only for the
Trump teamNCGOP.Dems, if they’re smart, don’t release this info until next week, or the week after.
Hard to imagine what’s politically worse than what we already know about Robinson, but that’s part and parcel of the “finding out” part of his trip
ETA: There is a reason why Harris and Walz have each held multiple events here. I’m starting to get optimistic about NC.
Baud
@geg6:
Didn’t realize West was pulling an RFK Jr. Was he drawing more voters from Trump also?
FastEdD
@TBone: Yah dat’s a guud one (sorry-wrong accent!) I be more a privateer than a pirate. Pirates rape and pillage. We get want we want with just a smile. And a letter from the king.
delphinium
@HeleninEire: Yup, just got information about early mail-in voting too. I’ve always done the in-person early voting (which starts Oct 26th this time) since my polling place isn’t usually too crowded.
hueyplong
@Baud: Calls to mind the old BB King song, “Never Make A Move Too Soon.”
TBone
Today’s Tiedrich for those who indulge in hopium (I drink it for breakfast grog, MAGA tears after lunch):
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/kamala-is-running-a-near-perfect
Matt McIrvin
@Suzanne: An objection to early voting that I’ve heard from my mother is that she might get new information at the last minute before Election Day that changes her mind, and she doesn’t want her vote locked in.
My attitude is that that kind of October (or even early November) Surprise is usually some kind of ratfuck that leaves you less informed than you were before you heard it.
Redshift
@hueyplong:
I believe I read that it’s an imminent CNN story, not something the Dems are releasing.
hueyplong
@TBone: Thanks for the link.
On the subject of hopium, Trump’s stock just dipped below $15. Don’t know if it will stay that low (or go lower) the rest of the day, but one good turn deserves another.
hueyplong
@Redshift: Ah, CNN messing up our timing. They’re probably more competent at this than Trump is at this point.
TBone
@FastEdD: no flirting! Ye made me swoon 😆 away with yer conniving ways, swabbie, afore I cleave ye to the brisket! Scalawag!
TBone
@hueyplong: 💙 may it plumb the depths with Davy Jones locker!
Redshift
@Matt McIrvin: Exactly. Or to put it another way, do you want to risk your choice being shifted by new information that you don’t find out is false or misleading until after Election Day? Are you really making a decision this important based on up to the minute tidbits and not the long and public history of their character and plans?
(I enjoy voting on Election Day, but I won’t argue that it’s better.)
scav
Ah, but the playing with releasing the ballot &printing thing, that works to Dumpsters advantage. Ups the mistrust of the election, they’re all corrupt, we waz robbed! vibe. Toss the formerly endorsed probable loozer but gain some chits for future chaos and media soundbites. That makes a smidgin more sense to my imagined ratfucker brain.
rikyrah
The ENTIRE BOARD OF DIRECTORS of 23 And Me Quit.
WHY does an ENTIRE BOARD quit?
HumboldtBlue
Rep. Jasmine Crockett being a badass once again.
BR
https://www.semafor.com/article/09/17/2024/jd-vance-cracks-open-the-pre-existing-condition-debates
TBone
@TBone:
tam1MI
Here in Michigan, I will probably be voting absentee a bit later than planned thanks to ratfuckery by RFK, Jr. But as soon as I get that ballot, I’m voting!
Manyakitty
@Ohio Mom: I like going to the Board of Elections, too. Very quick and pleasant.
Sandia Blanca
Texas does have a ballot tracker for mail-in ballots. https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/BallotTrackerApp/#/login
BR
I see that Uncommitted just announced that: 1) they aren’t endorsing Harris but 2) they want people to vote against Trump because he would make Gaza worse and 3) they don’t want people to vote third party.
While people are dunking on them, this may actually be the best threading of the needle they could do. If they endorsed Harris they’d just piss off the activists who they represent and their endorsement would be disregarded. But their arguments against voting third party and against Trump are more convincing to their audience with this type of non-endorsement.
TBone
@rikyrah: they were Privateers too free with the data booty, and have lost the cover under which they wash their rubles? Below deck shenanigans!
Belafon
@Matt McIrvin: The least safe day to vote this year will be election day.
Sure Lurkalot
@wjca:
@Another Scott:
I disagree too! There’s no way in hell you can stop anyone from being stupid and having an inane rationale for voting for a candidate or issue. In such case, you want a poll test and haven’t we tried that before?
Create the obligation or at least the concept of responsibility to vote and then reinforce it with information. My state and city sends out a booklet for EVERY ELECTION with sample ballot, details about initiatives, referenda etc. with pros and cons for each as well as fiscal impact. Also available online. No, you can’t make a person not stupid enough to avail themselves of the tools to be a good citizen but you can make it easy to be informed and vote.
Republicans don’t respect the vote, their voters or our system of democracy. It may be far from perfect but the alternatives are worse. That’s why I stand up for full participation and the idea that voting is not a privledge but a responsibility.
Soprano2
@BR: What debate? Who on Earth wants to go back to a time where your insurance company could gin up some “you were treated for that once 20 years ago” crap to deny a claim?
Trivia Man
@OId Man Shadow: Depends on your House and state House races! CA could decide the HOR, and the NEW house is who counts the votes on Jan 6.
TBone
@HumboldtBlue: goddamn SHIVER ME TIMBERS JASMINE! 😍🔥📢
Fire in the hole!
Splitting Image
@piratedan:
Voting for Joe Biden in 2020.
Scout211
Fortune
rikyrah
@Scout211:
thanks
geg6
@Kyle Rayner:
You can go onto the state’s election website and they will have your ballot status there. I also get an email, but that may just be something the county does.
Kent Lind
Here in WA it is all vote by mail so everyone votes early or whenever they want. I always vote early and drop my ballot in the local red dropbox in front of election headquarters because I don’t really trust the post office anymore.
I don’t think Harris is in danger here in WA. If Trump wins WA then we are in Reagan v. Mondale landslide territory.
But we do have a close local congressional race here in the WA 3rd between Marie Glusenkamp Perez and the MAGA filth carpetbagger Joe Kent. So it is good to have some important races to work on and get out the vote for.
Redshift
@GregMulka:
For a while, it was technically an in-person absentee ballot in Virginia, too, but it’s not because of Republican scare stories about early voting. It’s just because it was easier to get a law passed to change the absentee voting options than to create a whole new category. I thought we were stuck with that oxymoron, but I guess they must have at least loosened the rules on how the Board of Elections can talk about it, because their website now has it as early voting.
geg6
@OId Man Shadow:
I’d hardly call PA or MI nothing but empty land.
Geminid
@Another Scott: I remember “Neapolitan” ice cream, with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream in one box. I wonder if that’s still around.
hueyplong
@geg6: “I’d hardly call PA or MI nothing but empty land.”
Yes, looks like the interior west may have entered the chat.
Jackie
@Geminid: Yes it is! Neapolitan also comes in ice cream sandwiches – which I currently have in my freezer 😊
geg6
@Baud:
No idea. Didn’t even know that happened until I went to look to see why the ballots were delayed since the other State Supreme Court case was settled before the ballot mail date (this was about dates on the ballot envelope and the good guys didn’t win that one).
Geminid
@hueyplong: Democrats have paid special attention to North Carolina since 2021. I remember how when Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure bill in November, 2021, Vice President Harris spoke at a Rocky Mount school bus factory the next day. They produce electric school buses, and Harris was touting the bill’s support for transitioning to electric school buses. Both Harris and Biden have visited the Old North State several times since., and now Harris is fighting hard to win it.
Joe Biden came within 80,000 votes of winning North Carolina last time. One thing I keep in mind is that in 2020, the Biden campaign could not direct many resources to the state that year. They did not reach fundraising parity with Trump’s until the convention and had to play catch-up. This cycle they were able to fund a campaign operation there starting in November of 2023.
Quiltingfool
@Gin & Tonic: My dad loves butter pecan ice cream (as do I, but I’m not picky when it comes to ice cream :)). He’s an old white guy. He didn’t get the memo.
So, flavors of ice cream were segregated? WTH.
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
I’m an old fart and used to go with parents when they voted when I was in single digits. I saw very early that each of our votes is important, because our country belongs to all of us, not just the rich who make money off of all the rest of us. Yes sometimes it doesn’t seem that way but this is one way our country is different than some others or how most countries, including this one used to be.
tam1MI
Some Uncommitted voters in Michigan have announced they are voting for Jill Stein, and she has been making a hard play for their votes. It looks like Uncommitted is trying to counter that.
Ruckus
@BR:
Sounds like he’s hunting for wealthy donors.
Ruckus
@OId Man Shadow:
Your vote does count.
Sure because there are so many of us in CA that each vote has less of a effect, it still counts, just like every other vote.
So it is still important to vote, even if your single vote is not as large a percentage of the overall vote as in other states. There is power in your vote, in my vote, because EVERY VOTE COUNTS. Even in a state that is overwhelmingly one party. It didn’t get that way without the votes.
-EVERY DAMN VOTE COUNTS-
wjca
I really, really gotta stop procrastinating and get that short sale done. I could make a bundle!
tam1MI
Also bear in mind that the closer to home you get, the more impact your vote has. Your one vote may not matter at the Presidential level, but it packs a hell of a wallop in, say, a school board election.
wjca
Beautiful concept, and I really wish it were realistic.
How about we reverse the order? Create the concept of responsibility to be informed. Then, when/if that succeeds, we can consider an obligation to vote.
Kent Lind
So let’s game this out to see how stupid it is. There are two possible scenarios for how this election plays out.
Scenario 1: Harris wins. In which case the question will be. Who will have more influence with her staff and a seat at the table when future policy is made. Groups that supported her and actively worked to see her elected? Or groups that sat on the sidelines and undermined her election?
Scenario 2: Trump wins. In which case what influence will they have with respect to Gaza? Exactly zero of course.
There is no Scenario 3.
Do the math idiots. It isn’t primary season anymore. This is for all the marbles.
Ruckus
@Old School:
Given humanity, given the range of nationalities of our population, given our history, and yes, once again – given humanity, I wouldn’t doubt it for a moment.
wjca
And note especially that this is just for national (i.e. presidential) elections. For local stuff, your vote is still very important. To Especially because of the people who skip over down-ballot races. So get informed, even if it’s challenging for local races. And then vote.
EDT What tam1M1 said.