Election integrity and the transfer of power

[malchior]

Jeez is this a pretty bad ruling. My reaction to it actually lined up exactly with the dissent. Essentially the Ohio Secretary of State made up a rule on August 12th limiting the collection point for ballots. Voting rights advocates sued saying this rule was illegal and the District judge agreed and gave them relief in the form of an injunction against the rule.

These two pinheads reversed it saying that the judge overstepped by ruling during an election. So apparently officials can just drop rules from the sky in an election and judges are powerless to do anything but shrug. The dissent pointed out this clearly allows abuse. This is what we can expect from GOP appointed judges. In effecr, shrug at GOP abuses of power...there are hints of Hungary in the air...

[Isgrimnur]

California

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla's office has received complains about what appear to be unauthorized ballot drop boxes in Los Angels, Orange, and Fresno counties, and it appears from social media posts that California Republicans have set them up to collect ballots, The Orange County Register reported Sunday night. The metal boxes, which purport to be "official," have been reported at local political party offices, churches, and headquarters for GOP candidates.

"Operating unofficial ballot drop boxes — especially those misrepresented as official drop boxes — is not just misleading to voters, it's a violation of state law," Padilla said, and a felony condition would land perpetrators in prison for two to four years. County elections officials and registrars are solely empowered to set up and maintain drop boxes in accordance with strict state security rules.

The California Republican Party did not response to the Register's requests for comments, nor did individual GOP operatives who have implicated themselves on social media. But the state GOP has "been defending the practice in replies on Twitter, alleging the process was made legal under a 2016 law that allows California voters to designate a person to return their ballot for them," the Register reports. "The GOP calls the practice 'ballot harvesting' and blames it for losses to the Democrats in OC and other places in 2018." State officials say unauthorized drop boxes would violate that law since there's no designated person to sign for the ballot, as required.

[Jaymann]

I'm using an official drop box. My daughter told me that, incredibly, some places you can tell your political party from the serial number on the outside of your ballot! I'm not trusting that some disgruntled post office fuck won't try to purge Democratic ballots.

[Isgrimnur]

WUSA

Question:
Is a viral video showing that ballot return envelopes labeled with an 'R' or a 'D' to indicate the voter's registered party legit?

Answer:
Yes. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections confirmed that these ballots are labeled in this way for the primary elections. During a General Election, these labels would not be there, and the ballot for a Democrat and Republican would be identical. This makes concerns about these labels leading to election fraud unlikely.

[malchior]

Some of Tom's comments in the past really have rankled me. He is the type of 'very serious type' who looks down over his glasses to tell you how everything is your own fault. Even in response to comments he still people should have shown up to vote to prevent this. FFS, really? HOWEVER, if even the firmly head up their ass type are starting to realize this was an actual problem maybe we have a sliver of hope. I doubt it still because we're deep in the abyss but who knows.

Edit: Example of head up ass. Sort of like the Lincoln Project guys were explicitly asked on 60 minutes if they felt responsible for spawning the current political atmosphere and they all avoided the question. HINT: Yes they were *directly responsible for enabling* it and were fine with the project until Trump showed up. I think they secretly support McConnell but that is another story.

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status ... 7743224832

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status ... 7053056006

[Jaymann]

WUSA

Question:
Is a viral video showing that ballot return envelopes labeled with an 'R' or a 'D' to indicate the voter's registered party legit?

Answer:
Yes. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections confirmed that these ballots are labeled in this way for the primary elections. During a General Election, these labels would not be there, and the ballot for a Democrat and Republican would be identical. This makes concerns about these labels leading to election fraud unlikely.

That makes more sense - still a bad idea.

[stessier]

WUSA

Question:
Is a viral video showing that ballot return envelopes labeled with an 'R' or a 'D' to indicate the voter's registered party legit?

Answer:
Yes. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections confirmed that these ballots are labeled in this way for the primary elections. During a General Election, these labels would not be there, and the ballot for a Democrat and Republican would be identical. This makes concerns about these labels leading to election fraud unlikely.

That makes more sense - still a bad idea.

During a primary, what does it matter?

[Octavious]

I'm using an official drop box. My daughter told me that, incredibly, some places you can tell your political party from the serial number on the outside of your ballot! I'm not trusting that some disgruntled post office fuck won't try to purge Democratic ballots.

If they are like the PO workers in my area you are giving them too much credit to take that kind of effort. They are more likely to not deliver anything.

[LordMortis]

If they are like the PO workers in my area you are giving them too much credit to take that kind of effort. They are more likely to not deliver anything.

Two weeks after they should have been sent, I have no application for my mail in ballot. I'm going to check with clerk, though at this rate, I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and vote in person. My faith in whatever is happening for mail in ballots and my relationship to them is pretty low at this point.

[Jaymann]

WUSA

Question:
Is a viral video showing that ballot return envelopes labeled with an 'R' or a 'D' to indicate the voter's registered party legit?

Answer:
Yes. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections confirmed that these ballots are labeled in this way for the primary elections. During a General Election, these labels would not be there, and the ballot for a Democrat and Republican would be identical. This makes concerns about these labels leading to election fraud unlikely.

That makes more sense - still a bad idea.

During a primary, what does it matter?

There are other important elections (and propositions) besides the presidential, and some fucktard could still mess with them. The best ballot is a secret ballot.

[Octavious]

If they are like the PO workers in my area you are giving them too much credit to take that kind of effort. They are more likely to not deliver anything.

Two weeks after they should have been sent, I have no application for my mail in ballot. I'm going to check with clerk, though at this rate, I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and vote in person. My faith in whatever is happening for mail in ballots and my relationship to them is pretty low at this point.

We got ours. We are planning on filling them out this week. My wife has no idea what her signature looks like on the voting roles so that should be interesting. I find it hard to believe they actually cross check each one..m

[stessier]

WUSA

Question:
Is a viral video showing that ballot return envelopes labeled with an 'R' or a 'D' to indicate the voter's registered party legit?

Answer:
Yes. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections confirmed that these ballots are labeled in this way for the primary elections. During a General Election, these labels would not be there, and the ballot for a Democrat and Republican would be identical. This makes concerns about these labels leading to election fraud unlikely.

That makes more sense - still a bad idea.

During a primary, what does it matter?

There are other important elections (and propositions) besides the presidential, and some fucktard could still mess with them. The best ballot is a secret ballot.

But it would basically be random. It's not like a R would win by destroying D ballots (or vice versa). Seems extremely low risk.

[Unagi]

WUSA

Question:
Is a viral video showing that ballot return envelopes labeled with an 'R' or a 'D' to indicate the voter's registered party legit?

Answer:
Yes. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections confirmed that these ballots are labeled in this way for the primary elections. During a General Election, these labels would not be there, and the ballot for a Democrat and Republican would be identical. This makes concerns about these labels leading to election fraud unlikely.

That makes more sense - still a bad idea.

During a primary, what does it matter?

There are other important elections (and propositions) besides the presidential, and some fucktard could still mess with them. The best ballot is a secret ballot.

But a ‘primary’ election is, by definition, just a given party’s election on who will represent them in the general election.

So it’s not about one party vs the other, so the envelope is just as anonymous as it needs to be.

[Jaymann]

As I said, there can be propositions in a primary election, and those can be partisan. I stand by my position.

[stessier]

As I said, there can be propositions in a primary election, and those can be partisan.

Not in Florida. I think CA is unique in that. Thus, not a problem.

[Unagi]

As I said, there can be propositions in a primary election, and those can be partisan. I stand by my position.

But those aren’t propositions in the real sense.

The propositions on the primary ballots are basically surveys that will help the parties decide their priorities.

Pretty sure that’s universally the case.

I ‘primary election’ doesn’t put anything into law or seat any elected position.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s the case.

[hitbyambulance]

WaPo (and everyone else):



Fox News:



despite the fact that the CA GOP confirmed they themselves were responsible before the article was published.

the article goes on to say

Unconfirmed reports have suggested California Republicans are helping to coordinate the effort to use unofficial ballot boxes. Jordan Tygh, a regional field director for the California Republican Party, received criticism after tweeting a photo of himself last Thursday kneeling and giving a thumbs-up next to a filing cabinet-sized container with a piece of paper taped to it that read: “Official Ballot Drop Off Box.”

Tygh wrote that he was “doing my part and voting early,” and had cast his ballot for Republican candidate Michelle Steel, who is running for California’s 48th congressional seat against Democratic incumbent Rep. Harley Rouda. He also told people to direct message him for "convenient locations to drop your ballot off." The tweet has since been taken down.

The California Republican Party did not immediately return a Fox News request for comment.

Another unofficial ballot box was spotted outside Freedom's Way Baptist Church in Castaic, Calif., and the Los Angeles County Recorder/Registrar’s Office said that box did not comply with state regulations, KCBS-TV reported.

Meanwhile, the Fresno County Republican Party also posted a list of “secure” ballot collection locations on its website, but none are official county drop box sites, the Orange County Register reported. On its website, the party names its own headquarters, multiple gun shops and other local businesses as drop-off locations

.

ofc it gets ludicrous in the comments where people (or bots/trolls) still insist the Democrats are behind it.

[Jaymann]

California gives you a list of official drop boxes in your area with your ballot. Why would anyone go to a gun shop instead?

[Isgrimnur]

Bloomberg

Minnesota’s plan to accept mail-in ballots until a week after Election Day survived another Republican challenge when a federal judge ruled that GOP claims of potential fraud don’t hold up to evidence -- the rate of voter fraud in the state is just 0.000004% since 1979.

The suit by two Republican presidential electors assumes it’s “human nature to commit voter fraud” if given the opportunity, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel said in a ruling late Sunday denying their request for an injunction against the ballot-counting plan. She also rejected their claim that extending the deadline for ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 will create confusion.

“In reality, the Electors are in danger of creating confusion,” Brasel, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said in the ruling. And their fears, she said, are “conjectural and hypothetical,” given just two cases of voter fraud out of 45 million ballots cast since 1979.
...
The electors, who sued over Simon’s plan on Sept. 22., told Brasel in a filing last week that she should adopt the non-binding reasoning of a federal appeals court that rejected a similar plan for accepting ballots in Wisconsin. In that case, the appeals court said voters could cast their mail-in ballots in time “by planning ahead.”

[Paingod]

I happily mailed in my "Fraud" today with a straight blue ticket. I was baffled to see 5 choices for President/VP on there. I liked that it was alphabetized with Biden on top and Trump on the bottom.

I noted, interestingly, that one race in my County had no opposition - to an "R" candidate. It reminds me that there are a lot of positions where no one really chases them, but they still have an impact and we need more people stepping up.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Texas governor's decree to limit one ballot drop box per county. The decision (made by three Trump appointees) even went as far as to say that order was expanding voting opportunities.

[El Guapo]

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Texas governor's decree to limit one ballot drop box per county. The decision (made by three Trump appointees) even went as far as to say that order was expanding voting opportunities.

Yeah, this is exactly what I was expecting. This is right in the wheelhouse of the conservative judiciary - it lets Republicans craft facially neutral rules in a context where everyone knows what the real purpose is, but where the McConnell judges can just ignore the context and write an opinion like everything's normal and the GOP officials are acting in good faith.

[malchior]

Same here. This is what I expected. We're in for a long slide. We'll have to see how Biden fares but outlook is dim. Remember that Trump has now appointed 30% of the entire appeals judiciary. McConnell blocked so much that Obama in 8 years didn't appoint as many judges. So when someone asks Biden about court packing...it is already packed. Edit: Someone clued me in that McConnell blocked 2 of these 3 seats for *3 YEARS* before Trump filled them.

In other news, there were reports that people waited in line 10-11 hours yesterday in Georgia. It's a travesty. The evidence is clear that the GOP has abandoned even the appearance of supporting "Big R" Republican principles.

[Jaymann]

At least those people in line know who made it so long = vote straight Democratic ticket.

[Kraken]

I happily mailed in my "Fraud" today with a straight blue ticket. I was baffled to see 5 choices for President/VP on there. I liked that it was alphabetized with Biden on top and Trump on the bottom.

I noted, interestingly, that one race in my County had no opposition - to an "R" candidate. It reminds me that there are a lot of positions where no one really chases them, but they still have an impact and we need more people stepping up.

I just dropped off our "mail-in" ballots. Upon researching the challengers to a few incumbents, I learned that they're all running to the left of the Democrats. I especially like the high-school history teacher who studies ancient civilizations, and whose platform centers on forestalling the climate-induced collapse of our civilization. He hasn't got a prayer because I live in one of the more conservative towns in MA, and our long-time incumbent is basically a Republican in blue clothing. But I appreciated having a chance to vote for him. Sometimes independents are really Republicans trying to hide their party affiliation, and sometimes they're libertarians, so one must do one's homework. The three independents I supported are all lefties.

Republicans often don't contest down-ballot offices in MA, so there are a lot of unopposed incumbents. I didn't vote for any of them, as is my personal policy.

I, too, was surprised to see spoiler candidates from the Green and Libertarian parties. I've read zero coverage of them and forgot that they even exist. The Greens won't dent the Biden landslide here, and the Libertarians might even increase it by giving disaffected Republicans somewhere to go.

Dropping ballots into a collection box feels anticlimactic compared to voting in person, but I'm glad to have done it this year.

[stessier]

Heh, someone is having a bad day -

Today is the last day to register to vote in the commonwealth of Virginia, so of course the official website for updating or managing voter registration is offline. Unlike in Florida, however, Virginia's site did not crash from high traffic but instead was rendered inaccessible because a vital fiber connecting the state's digital infrastructure was physically cut.

Twitter users began to notice the state's voter registration page was failing to load sometime after 8:30 this morning, and at 9:00, the state's IT agency confirmed that a severed fiber optic cable was the root of all the problems.

"A fiber cut near Rt. 10 in Chester near the Commonwealth Enterprise Solutions Center (CESC) is impacting data circuits and virtual private network (VPN) connectivity for multiple Commonwealth agencies," the Virginia Information Technologies Agency wrote in a tweet, adding, "Technicians are on site and working to repair the cut; updates will be provided as work progresses."

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Huh. Intentionally cut or just a bad timed accident?

[malchior]

Huh. Intentionally cut or just a bad timed accident?

Probably an accident but the skeptic in me thinks about "Nance’s Law" -- Coincidence Takes A lot of Planning.

[Jaymann]

I mailed my ballot today, you berks convinced me it was safe.

[El Guapo]

Huh. Intentionally cut or just a bad timed accident?

Probably an accident but the skeptic in me thinks about "Nance’s Law" -- Coincidence Takes A lot of Planning.

My assumption has been that it was probably intentionally cut, by some MAGA-ist listening to presidential rhetoric. But then, I don't know much about the wiring, whether there was a storm recently, etc.

[stessier]

Huh. Intentionally cut or just a bad timed accident?

Probably an accident but the skeptic in me thinks about "Nance’s Law" -- Coincidence Takes A lot of Planning.

My assumption has been that it was probably intentionally cut, by some MAGA-ist listening to presidential rhetoric. But then, I don't know much about the wiring, whether there was a storm recently, etc.

Click the link people!

In an update posted just before 1pm, VITA said the fiber was "inadvertently struck as part of activities related to a Chesterfield County roadside utilities project" but did not have an estimate for when repairs might be completed.

It's just a mistake. A poorly timed one for sure, but just a mistake.

[El Guapo]

Click the link people!

Who has that kind of time?

[malchior]

Huh. Intentionally cut or just a bad timed accident?

Probably an accident but the skeptic in me thinks about "Nance’s Law" -- Coincidence Takes A lot of Planning.

My assumption has been that it was probably intentionally cut, by some MAGA-ist listening to presidential rhetoric. But then, I don't know much about the wiring, whether there was a storm recently, etc.

I was mostly joking. I used to work in networking 100% about a decade ago. If I was to take a very accurate SWAG, it was construction. Most fiber cuts are construction work. Why I'd be skeptical of an intentional cut would be it is pretty hard to cut the right fiber if you know exactly where it *might be*. Anyway, I was scratching my head because what single-homed data center are they running this registration web site in? Jesus. It's been 10 years and people still fail at basic network blocking and tackling. Get that shit up to AWS pronto. Government run IT is always the worst. THE WORST.

Edit: Ah yes - that didn't take long - roadwork. Though I did have one fiber link that got hit by lightning on a telephone pole and caused a multi-day outage. And that isn't even the weirdest networking tale.

[Jaymann]

A serious blow to the procrastinator vote.

[Smoove_B]

Government run IT is always the worst. THE WORST.

I needed to be able to share files with a co-worker at a government job and was tired of passing a floppy. So I picked up a crossover cable and wired us together directly (there was no IT department). They thought I was computer guru. True story.

[Isgrimnur]

And probably broke a half dozen rules in the process.

[coopasonic]

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Texas governor's decree to limit one ballot drop box per county. The decision (made by three Trump appointees) even went as far as to say that order was expanding voting opportunities.

Yeah, this is exactly what I was expecting. This is right in the wheelhouse of the conservative judiciary - it lets Republicans craft facially neutral rules in a context where everyone knows what the real purpose is, but where the McConnell judges can just ignore the context and write an opinion like everything's normal and the GOP officials are acting in good faith.

I am not in Harris or Dallas counties, but in one of the nicer suburbs of Dallas. I just checked and I have 46 options for early voting from 10/13-10/30. Unfortunately I have to go like 2 miles to get to my closest early voting location (I literally run past it on my longer runs, though I may not run there when I go to actually vote). My election day location is around 500 meters away.

[LordMortis]

And probably broke a half dozen rules in the process.

From the days of cross over cables and floppies? I would think that would depend on computer and data.

OtOH, I probably work in IT because I wanted to play multiplayer Diablo, so I bought toys to serially connect two computers and learned how to use serial connection and then I learned how to do basic networking with NICs, Coax, and Coax terminators. While it ended up being easier than the friggin dip swithces and boot disks I cut my teeth on PCs with windows 3.xx, it really was my gateway in to learning what a PC was, building my own rigs, and then building my own networks and how the the OS and hardware work together.

[stessier]

My wife voted in person today (I'm going Friday). Took her 2.5 hours. She said the computers doing the check in were slow and that was the hold up - they had 4 voting machines and they couldn't check in people fast enough to keep them full.

[Jaymann]

People haven't lined up like this since Krispy Kreme Donuts opened.