2022 Midterm Thread

[Guest]

I am always bewildered by the notion that voting is a particularly difficult thing to do @CastletonSnob We have weeks of early voting in Texas, including Saturday and Sunday dates. You can vote at any polling place in your county now (you previously had to vote at your precinct polling location). The vast vast vast majority of people who don’t vote simply don’t care.

[CastletonSnob]

2 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

I am always bewildered by the notion that voting is a particularly difficult thing to do @CastletonSnob We have weeks of early voting in Texas, including Saturday and Sunday dates. You can vote at any polling place in your county now (you previously had to vote at your precinct polling location). The vast vast vast majority of people who don’t vote simply don’t care.

We need to get the youth out to vote, but that's a national problem.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, CastletonSnob said:

We need to get the youth out to vote, but that's a national problem.

They don’t want to vote, unfortunately. I was very excited to go vote when I turned 18. I don’t think a single friend of mine that also turned 18 voted that year. Only a few ever went on to become regular voters

[CastletonSnob]

Texas counties will be allowed only one drop-off location for mail-in…

WWW.TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG

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The court upheld Gov. Greg Abbott's authority under state law to limit ballot drop-off locations, issuing what is expected to be the final ruling in numerous lawsuits that challenged his order.

 

Brazos County won’t restore Texas A&M early-voting location despite s…

WWW.TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG

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County commissioners decided Tuesday that A&M still won’t have an on-campus early-voting location for the 2022 elections, despite admitting it was a mistake to eliminate it for the first time in year…

 

 

Tell me more about how it's "so easy to vote!".

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

 

[CitizenVectron]

33 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

They don’t want to vote, unfortunately. I was very excited to go vote when I turned 18. I don’t think a single friend of mine that also turned 18 voted that year. Only a few ever went on to become regular voters

 

I don't think anyone believes it's impossible to vote (if you are motivated), but if there are any obstacles to vote (especially put in place specifically for that reason) then there will be some suppression. My niece, for example, only voted because I drove her to the polling station in the last federal election. She knew enough about the issues to have a stance on the parties, but didn't care enough to drive herself. But if she was dropped right in front of the poll, she voted. That's an extreme example, but there are many people on a scale from that point, who will vote if it's easy to do so, but won't vote if it will take more than 15-30 minutes out of their day, or be any inconvenience. Is that stupid of them? Yes, probably, but it's reality, and the GOP knows this, and so raises obstacles.

 

Even the fact that you have to register to vote in the United States is a form of suppression. It's ridiculous. If you have ever filed taxes then you should be registered to vote. And if you haven't, then you should be able to register at the polling booth anywhere you want. 

[CastletonSnob]

 

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

Even the fact that you have to register to vote in the United States is a form of suppression. It's ridiculous. If you have ever filed taxes then you should be registered to vote. And if you haven't, then you should be able to register at the polling booth anywhere you want. 

I would be fine with same day registration, but I am also always confused by this. Maybe it is different in other states but I get asked throughout the year at least 4-5 times if I want to register to vote or update my registration from all sorts of interactions with the state government. Seems like another case of “they just don’t want to”  

I think a good solution would be to make that an opt-out, as opposed to opt-in thing so that every time you have cause to interact with the state government they automatically update your voter registration to the address you list in that interaction.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

The problem with registration is how it’s handled. There’s often times where hundreds of thousands of people are purged from the rolls and I wouldn’t say that these things are done on the up and up, proper notification not being given, attempted (and sometimes blocked) too close to an election, stuff like that

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

Also North Dakota erasure, they don’t have registration 

[CastletonSnob]

The only responses to complaining about voter suppression seem to be, "Just vote harder, guys! You're just not trying hard enough! It's not like you have politicians who are either actively trying to prevent you from voting or throwing your vote away, and will just refuse to accept the results of an election if the Democrats win!".

[PaladinSolo]

I'm not sure i trust an LV screen this late in the game with 10% or more undecided.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

I actually believe that 10% of Georgia is stupid so this checks out

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

 

[BloodyHell]

9 hours ago, CastletonSnob said:

The only responses to complaining about voter suppression seem to be, "Just vote harder, guys! You're just not trying hard enough! It's not like you have politicians who are either actively trying to prevent you from voting or throwing your vote away, and will just refuse to accept the results of an election if the Democrats win!".

So whats your solution when the law says these restrictions are legal?

You're upset about the right things, but upset at the wrong people. Don't agree with sbl that its easy to register? Thats fine. But he's not the one you need to convince. I doubt he's out scaring away voters on election day. 

 

If you don't get out and do grass roots work to get democratic voters out, the situation won't get better. Join an election team, call people, knock on doors, volunteer at polls, those are things that Abrahms did in Goergia after the 2020 election, those are the things that win elections.

[CastletonSnob]

12 hours ago, BloodyHell said:

So whats your solution when the law says these restrictions are legal?

You're upset about the right things, but upset at the wrong people. Don't agree with sbl that its easy to register? Thats fine. But he's not the one you need to convince. I doubt he's out scaring away voters on election day. 

 

If you don't get out and do grass roots work to get democratic voters out, the situation won't get better. Join an election team, call people, knock on doors, volunteer at polls, those are things that Abrahms did in Goergia after the 2020 election, those are the things that win elections.

I can't drive, so I can't volunteer of knock on doors, and I don't have the money to donate to politicians.

 

Posting about grassroots events like phone banks or block walks and telling people to donate to politicians on forums and subreddits is about all I can do to help. And I don't feel like I'm making a difference, TBH.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

Lmao please be true

[GeneticBlueprint]

43 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Lmao please be true

Anecdotally, I live in the “liberal part” of this state and I see more Lee signs in yards than McMullin ones. I’m really not getting a McMullin vibe around here. Please be true though. 

[Dodger]

14 hours ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

I don't think anyone believes it's impossible to vote (if you are motivated), but if there are any obstacles to vote (especially put in place specifically for that reason) then there will be some suppression. My niece, for example, only voted because I drove her to the polling station in the last federal election. She knew enough about the issues to have a stance on the parties, but didn't care enough to drive herself. But if she was dropped right in front of the poll, she voted. That's an extreme example, but there are many people on a scale from that point, who will vote if it's easy to do so, but won't vote if it will take more than 15-30 minutes out of their day, or be any inconvenience. Is that stupid of them? Yes, probably, but it's reality, and the GOP knows this, and so raises obstacles.

 

Even the fact that you have to register to vote in the United States is a form of suppression. It's ridiculous. If you have ever filed taxes then you should be registered to vote. And if you haven't, then you should be able to register at the polling booth anywhere you want. 

 

But you live in Canada where I presume they don’t Make it a hassle to vote so brown people won’t do it. Sounds like some people won’t vote if they have to anything more than download an app and vote. I moved to red state AZ and registered to vote online when I switched my driver’s license over here, took a minute. I opted for a permanent mail in ballot. I just drop it off in the mail and I’m good to go. I think I can even track it but that part I’m too lazy for. If you can’t bother to spend a minute online to register and for 90+% of people maybe drive a few minutes to drop your ballot off then voting isn’t for you. You probably don’t even have to do that most places. This is literally complaining over a non issue.

[Jason]

10 minutes ago, Dodger said:

 

But you live in Canada where I presume they don’t Make it a hassle to vote so brown people won’t do it. Sounds like some people won’t vote if they have to anything more than download an app and vote. I moved to red state AZ and registered to vote online when I switched my driver’s license over here, took a minute. I opted for a permanent mail in ballot. I just drop it off in the mail and I’m good to go. I think I can even track it but that part I’m too lazy for. If you can’t bother to spend a minute online to register and for 90+% of people maybe drive a few minutes to drop your ballot off then voting isn’t for you. You probably don’t even have to do that most places. This is literally complaining over a non issue.

 

Are you just intentionally ignoring the part where they kill mail in voting, or there's only one drop-off box per county, and it's designed to make it so people to afford a car can't get to the drop-off box 

[Dodger]

Just now, Jason said:

 

Are you just intentionally ignoring the part where they kill mail in voting, or there's only one drop-off box per county, and it's designed to make it so people to afford a car can't get to the drop-off box 

You need a car to function in 99% of America and the places where you don’t the drop off point isn’t an hour away. Even in AZ I can still do mail in voting with no effort.

[Jason]

3 minutes ago, Dodger said:

You need a car to function in 99% of America and the places where you don’t the drop off point isn’t an hour away. Even in AZ I can still do mail in voting with no effort.

 

So the answer to my question is yes 

[Dodger]

2 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

So the answer to my question is yes 

You’re worried about a fraction of the population that spoilers, probably isn’t voting the way you want them to anyway. I don’t freak out over the 1% something isn’t covering.  If you live in bumfuck nowhere rural America you almost definitely have a car because there is zero public transportation available to you.

[Fizzzzle]

More states just need to get into the mail-in system. Turns out it's pretty fucking dope. Oregon's been doing it since 2000, the sky hasn't fallen.

 

Oregon - 2000

Washington - 2012

Colorado - 2014

Utah - 2019 (individual counties can still choose to opt out)

Hawaii - 2020

California - 2022

Nevada - 2022

Vermont - 2022

 

 

Get on board, motherfuckers. Choo-choo.

 

Also I find it funny that the first 3 states to have mail-in voting for all elections were the first 3 states to legalize marijuana. Very on-brand.

[CastletonSnob]

7 hours ago, Dodger said:

You’re worried about a fraction of the population that spoilers, probably isn’t voting the way you want them to anyway. I don’t freak out over the 1% something isn’t covering.  If you live in bumfuck nowhere rural America you almost definitely have a car because there is zero public transportation available to you.

You might not know this, but not everyone is able to drive a car. Some people (and by "some", I mean millions of Americans) are unable to drive because of disabilities.

 

Here, educate yourself on how hard it is for disabled people to vote.

 

 

 

[Jason]

8 hours ago, Dodger said:

You’re worried about a fraction of the population that spoilers

 

By calling them spoilers, you're acknowledging that it's enough to swing elections. 

[Greatoneshere]

Pennsylvania does mail-in voting, I just got a notice in the mail from the state indicating my mail-in ballot should be arriving soon for me to fill out. Gonna be gud.

 

[Jason]

Texas counties will be allowed only one drop-off location for mail-in…

WWW.TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG

---

The court upheld Gov. Greg Abbott's authority under state law to limit ballot drop-off locations, issuing what is expected to be the final ruling in numerous lawsuits that challenged his order.

 

And it's not boxes, you have to potentially get in line to hand it to poll workers--so you can't just go whenever, you have to go while it's open, which is gonna be when you have to be at work. And Abbott wanted poll watchers at each state (intimidation).

 

But sure, it's super easy and it's on you if you can't be bothered.

[marioandsonic]

Honestly, I just go to the voting booth on election days.  I can only speak for myself (being a straight white man and all), but I don't mind it.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

1 minute ago, marioandsonic said:

Honestly, I just go to the voting booth on election days.  I can only speak for myself (being a straight white man and all), but I don't mind it.

 

I too go to the voting booth on election days so I can flip the bird to those supporting the Republican candidate(s) outside the polling center.

[Jason]

'Stop the steal' supporters train thousands of U.S. poll observers

WWW.REUTERS.COM

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Inside the El Paso County clerk's office in Colorado, where officials had gathered in July to recount votes in a Republican nominating contest for this year's midterms, dozens of angry...

 

[PaladinSolo]

50 minutes ago, marioandsonic said:

Honestly, I just go to the voting booth on election days.  I can only speak for myself (being a straight white man and all), but I don't mind it.

Its usually only a problem in certain areas, like in Upstate NY precincts are everywhere and sparsely populated so it takes me like 10 minutes to vote a couple minutes from my house. 

[Dodger]

Getting my mail in ballot in the mail today. Suck it Texas. 

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, marioandsonic said:

Honestly, I just go to the voting booth on election days.  I can only speak for myself (being a straight white man and all), but I don't mind it.

 

1 hour ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

I too go to the voting booth on election days so I can flip the bird to those supporting the Republican candidate(s) outside the polling center.

 

The reason I don't anymore is simply convenience. Especially living in a city, potentially waiting in lines and dealing with whatever the hell on actual election day is just not something I want to deal with if I can avoid it. When I lived in rural areas where it was incredibly convenient and easy I would physically go but now I don't see the point plus we need to encourage mail in voting so it survives.

[Guest]

I like to vote in person, but I also don’t do it on Election Day. We have 7 day early voting in Texas, so I just go when I notice a line is short at one of the polling locations. Usually in and out in 5 minutes.