2020 Absentee/Early Voting thread

[Virginiá]

Yeah, hoping PA, MI, WI are able to at least start counting a few days in advance instead of just on ED. Would really spare us a possible nightmare.

It's pretty telling that the GOP isn't just against easy voting, but efficient elections in general. They don't just want restrictive rules that help them win, but also slow, disorganized elections that merely give them some room to claim fraud and sow doubt so they can avoid having to admit they legitimately lost. It's an underappreciated aspect of the Republican Party's reversion to conservative authoritarianism.

I won't say it is the same for all state parties - the PAGOP at least offered to give workers 3 days to process ballots before election day, but they bundled it with poison pills that Wolf/Democrats said they would reject, so it wasn't a sincere offer. But those such as the MI, WI, NC GOP et al are believers in power, not democracy.

[Virginiá]

I don't understand how anyone could possibly be against allowing voters to fix issues before tossing their ballot. There are plenty of reasons why a mismatch could be declared. Perhaps the person checking doesn't know what they are doing, or the voter signed in a hurry, or signed under the assumption it didn't really matter, just like signing receipts after using a credit card.

For as much as conservatives think voting is being made too easy and "vulnerable" by the left, this is the polar opposite - making it too exclusionary for no good reason.

[Virginiá]

Seems possible Michigan might be able to start processing (not counting) absentee ballots before election day, so maybe we won't have to wait too long for results in the end:

https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Senate-leader-Absentee-ballot-processing-bill-15550399.php

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A bill that would allow Michigan clerks to start processing absentee ballots before Election Day is not dead, and the August primary legitimized concerns that some officials will not be able to quickly handle a surge of mailed-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic, a legislative leader said.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, a Republican, said the Senate continues to “finesse” the bipartisan proposal that has been on hold in the chamber since May. It is sponsored by Republican Sen. Ruth Johnson, a former secretary of state. Similar legislation, backed by Democrats, is pending in the House.

“It wouldn't surprise me that we get enough support to do something before the general election and then evaluate it afterward,” Shirkey, who previously opposed the measure, told The Associated Press last week. Allowing clerks to begin processing, but not counting, ballots the day before the election would not necessarily be a permanent change, he said.

Temporarily revising the law, Shirkey said, would enable the state to take “controlled steps, acknowledging that things have changed but not putting the integrity of the election in jeopardy." He said he could not predict if or when the Senate would act but said it is “being very seriously considered.”

Still, it's truly astounding that there is any serious resistance to this, particularly for a state that rapidly went from limited absentee ballot use (excuse only), to full no-excuse usage + a pandemic causing a significant portion of the electorate to use this previously unavailable service. The rational thing to do is to give election workers as much time to prepare as possible.

[Virginiá]

While the GOP in general seems to be using "voter fraud" and "election integrity" as a way to suppress the vote, there is a slice of the GOP that I believe is genuinely paranoid about voter fraud and cheating in big cities.  So to them, I think waiting a week for results is a totally fine tradeoff for even totally marginal election integrity.  The opportunists are also fine with this because it will make Trump look like he's ahead on election night.

Yeah, that's true. Still, it bothers me how little thought goes into this. Whenever the fraud angle is raised by paranoid activists, rarely does anyone actually mention how it's going to happen. The expectation from their point of view is that they yell fraud, and everyone is just supposed to concede. If you have a building full of Republican and Democrat poll workers/lawyers who are pre-processing absentee ballots so they can be quickly counted, then there isn't a whole lot of room for shenanigans. Even for people who are so irrationally afraid, you can mandate cameras, observers, whatever - the works. It is supremely irritating for these people to act like it's an unfixable "problem."

It's just like opposition to same-day voter registration. Most if not all these states require an ID to register same-day, probably proof of residency too. What more could you want? It's not all that different than just registering at the DMV, and the requirements are really too steep for any serious effort to cheat. But people still whine about it.

The whole debate on election law from Republicans has become nothing but an endless stream of bad faith agitators and bona fide morons who have no business weighing in at all. Even long-time Republican lawyer who litigated the 2000 FL debacle has come out against his people:

https://twitter.com/katyetc/status/1303501896196526080

/rant

[Virginiá]

Not that I don't support the idea of straight ticket voting, but shouldn't changing election rules as meaningful as straight ticket voting this close to an election be blocked under the purcell principle? We're just a bit over a month from election day. If there was a reasonable argument to block the repeal of straight ticket by the legislature, either a lawsuit or ruling should have been filed or issued sooner. Like, the repeal didn't just happen months ago. It was passed 3 years ago!

[Virginiá]

Went to vote today, was pleasantly shocked to see a massive line at what is normally a sleepy early voting site in Indian River County, FL. I vote on the first day every election, and there has never been more than a 3-4 minute wait when I went. I waited over 45 minutes to vote this time. Line wrapped into parking lot. The volunteer there said she's been doing this for nearly 15 years and has never seen anything like it.

[Virginiá]

New thread: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=407463.0