Democrats block Coronovirus bill

[Carsman]

mrs biggie bought some masks from amazon, not knowing they would come straight from china customs and all. we are afraid to touch them...

It's written right on the front of the bag plain as day, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

[cannongal]

mrs biggie bought some masks from amazon, not knowing they would come straight from china customs and all. we are afraid to touch them...

Tell mrs. Biggie that the masks she is sewing are much better than anything coming from China right now.    At least you can sanitize the homemade masks.

[Duchess]

The Dems are holding up much needed money to hospitals and businesses. Don't they know that people are dying every day. They are being obstructionist. It's terrible and they need to stop this stupidity.

Good news! I found out what the hold up was. There was a clerical error. No kidding! *snort* The agreed upon (both sides) provision that would have prevented trump & his family from profiteering, and the one requiring transparency as to who was getting benefits, just happened to be left out of the draft. Golly gee! Good thing Democrats caught it in time, huh.

[Maggot]

None of the Senators or representatives can profit it's not just Trump.

[cannongal]

None of the Senators or representatives can profit it's not just Trump.

Yeah right.    You ever wonder how many back door deals go down in politics?

[Duchess]

I don't want Democrats signing on to any more bills unless it includes a provision for voting by mail. I'm firm on that and I hope leadership will be too.

I say that even after reading that the White House won't give the USPS emergency aid. What kind of fuckery is that?

[Rootilda]

I remember seeing someone *ahem* complaining about a mail-in ballot provision being unnecessary pork when it was urgent this bill go through and that dems were being obstructive. My eyes rolled down the hall and out the door on that one.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't want Democrats signing on to any more bills unless it includes a provision for voting by mail. I'm firm on that and I hope leadership will be too.

I say that even after reading that the White House won't give the USPS emergency aid. What kind of fuckery is that?

I know we discussed voter suppression efforts at length in the VOTING RIGHTS thread a while back.................so many messed up ways that partisan State Attorney Generals can make it very difficult for large swaths of citizens to exercise their rights to vote.  

I hope vote by mail expansion and funding is part of the next bill as well.  It's particularly important now with the coronavirus pandemic threatening the public's ability to vote safely in-person, but it should have been in the works for years.

If Republicans, like President Trump, are so concerned that "Republicans will never win an election again" if the ability to vote is made much easier for everyone.......they should focus on policies / messages / candidates that can appeal to a broader percentage of people across the country (and enhancement of election security).

Also hoping to see Infrastructure Improvement funding included in the next bill -- another long overdue project which has contributed to some of the difficulties experienced during this pandemic.  Pelosi's been pushing for it and Trump seems to be on board with it as a way of creating new jobs post-pandemic, so maybe it'll finally get off the ground.

[Maggot]

How do you tell if a person is a legal resident from this application and who double checks the credibility of it? A drivers licence number should be on it or a gov I.D. to make sure it is correct. 

voter reg pdf

I don't mind mail ins but they need to have some security not just "Yup, that's who I am"

[HairOfTheDog]

ID and citizenship verification are provided when the person registers to vote, Mags.

Then the absentee ballot is mailed to the person (automatically in some states and by-request in others).

Most states allow 'no-excuse needed' absentee ballots, but some states still require the person to provide a reason why he/she can't vote in-person in order to be granted an absentee ballot.   

In any case, there's an affidavit page at the end the ballot for the voter's legal signature which is compared to the signature obtained during registration. If there's a discrepancy, the ballot is put aside.  In some locations, election officials attempt to contact the voter if the signature is questionable, in others the votes don't get counted. 

There's room for problems and corruption with the signature verification process (and my signature isn't always the same).  I think attention to the number of votes not counted due to signature discrepancies should be audited/monitored closely by election officials.

Anyway, moving to 'no excuse needed' and automatically-mailed absentee ballots across all 50 states is the way to go, in my opinion.  But, as Duchess pointed out, it would require additional funding and resources for the U.S. Post Office.

[cannongal]

I don't see them comparing individual signatures.    Even if only ¹⁄₃ of the country voted by mail,  that's over 100 million signatures to compare.

Wouldn't it also take away the privacy of who you voted for?

[HairOfTheDog]

It's already being done with mail-in / absentee ballots across the country, with mail-in ballots estimated to hit 50% for the November general (assuming no change in current voting processes).

What's being proposed is that mail-in / absentee ballots be made more accessible (with no excuse required) to every registered voter in every state.

If that happens, I imagine there would be fewer election workers needed at polling stations and more needed to count and verify ballots which were mailed in; shifting of resources, along with additional postal funding and staff during election cycles.

[BigMark]

I vote absentee it's very convenient.

[Duchess]

One of the last thing republicans want is for it to be an easy process.

[cannongal]

Well,  at least with mail in voting,  Florida wouldn't have to deal with hanging and dimpled chads.  (I know they probably don't use that system anymore).

On the other hand,   my neighbor's mail ends up in my mailbox 5 days a week.     Hell,  we still get mail for my husband's ex, who hasn't lived here in 20 years.  I  wonder how many dead people are going to get to vote if ballots are sent automatically. ....

[Duchess]

Mail in voting is already happening successfully in some states.

[HairOfTheDog]

Mail in voting is already happening successfully in some states.

Yeah, there are models/processes in some states which can be leveraged to expand vote-by-mail options across the country.

Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Utah are already all-mail voting states (with a very limited number of polling stations for those who prefer in-person voting).  Hawaii is also moving to all-mail this year.  

I thought this recent article about the current state of voting in the context of expanding vote-by-mail options was a good read.  https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...mp/609799/

[Duchess]

It was a good read. I'm very interested in this right now. My state has mail in voting but one needs an excuse. I expect that to change before November and it's my hope it's something that's being discussed right now.

[Rootilda]

Funny how Trump is so focused on shutting down USPS now, isn't it.

[cannongal]

Mail in voting is already happening successfully in some states.

Yeah, there are models/processes in some states which can be leveraged to expand vote-by-mail options across the country.

Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Utah are already all-mail voting states (with a very limited number of polling stations for those who prefer in-person voting).  Hawaii is also moving to all-mail this year.  

I thought this recent article about the current state of voting in the context of expanding vote-by-mail options was a good read.  https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...mp/609799/

I didn't realize that there were states with all mail voting.    I'll have to do some reading.