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[GrotesqueBeauty]

They should have never extended the hours in the first place, especially when you don't have everyone on board. Make your policies and stick to them.

Or just change them whenever is stands to benefit your party:

Early voting the Sunday before Election Day used to be allowed. But it was eliminated by the GOP-controlled state Legislature and Republican Gov. Rick Scott last year after Barack Obama used early voting to help him win Florida in 2008 — and therefore the presidency.

 

[FyreWulff]

To be fair, the US always seems more like a big 'sandbox' model of a western nation to me. You can only do so much with the huge population and limited resources.

If you have enough people for a city then you have enough people to run elections. We need to get away from the idea that it all needs to happen within 12 hours on a single day.

As soon as candidates are finalized, you should be able to vote on them for that election. In person or by mail.

 

[Arksy]

If you have enough people for a city then you have enough people to run elections. We need to get away from the idea that it all needs to happen within 12 hours on a single day.

As soon as candidates are finalized, you should be able to vote on them for that election. In person or by mail.

Australia has mandatory voting and they do it within 12 hours just fine. There is a pretty robust postal voting system in place however.

Edit: Sorry for bringing Australia into this a second time but I'd like to consider the way we do it as a model for the rest of the world. The UN certainly thinks so and routinely uses the Australian Electoral Commission to oversee elections in other parts of the world.

 

[Necrovex]

Man, I feel lucky that I only had to wait 30 minutes to vote in my town in Florida. I probably wouldn't have stand in a line for two hours.

 

[phosphor112]

If Ohio loses, I call bullshit. Just plain and simple. The lines being so long and Tagg Romney owning Ballot machines (or w/e they're called). I'm not letting a "Florida" happening again.

 

[RobotHaus]

Rick Scott is a penis, this has been established many times before. I'm just glad I voted on Halloween and only had to wait about 10 minutes.

Early voting is a very nice thing due to the nature of voting being on a Tuesday, which is ridiculous as is. They should just make election day a national holiday so people won't have to worry about all this junk though. That or move election day to a weekend. Or just about anything else, there is a notoriously large amount of people who don't vote compared to the amount of people who complain about how the elections go.

 

[luxarific]

I can't tell you the number of Republicans at my job that tell me that Early Voting is a violation of the constitution...

Violation of the constitution? Hadn't heard that one before. How so? Because it's not specifically written into the document?

Man, I feel lucky that I only had to wait 30 minutes to vote in my town in Florida. I probably wouldn't have stand in a line for two hours.

That's exactly what they're counting on. Only one party makes it more difficult for people to vote. Only one. Lincoln would weep if he could see what the Republican party has become.

 

[Omegasquash]

If Ohio loses, I call bullshit. Just plain and simple.

This. All the indicators of Ohio going Obama, and then all of a sudden it's not thanks to folks making it difficult to vote, AND the conflict of interest from the voting machine ownership?

When something smells rotten, it usually is.

 

[phosphor112]

This. All the indicators of Ohio going Obama, and then all of a sudden it's not thanks to folks making it difficult to vote, AND the conflict of interest from the voting machine ownership?

When something smells rotten, it usually is.

There is no way he will lose Ohio, unless someone fucking robs them of the vote.

 

[Rebel Leader]

I know it's our dick but can we just cut Florida off so we don't have to deal with them?

NO D_D

 

[Trokil]

Can somebody explain me, why it is not possible to vote early?

In Switzerland I am getting my ballots about 6 weeks early and if I don't want to go to the municipal office I can just send them the ballots in a letter, they provide. I don't even have to pay anything.

 

[Omegasquash]

There is no way he will lose Ohio, unless someone fucking robs them of the vote.

There's always a way, but from what I see it's becoming more and more narrow. I'd like to see Obama take FLA and OH, and just put this in the bag. I'll be partying tomorrow night through it all (or making a new home at the bottom of a bottle), so there's that.

 

[Rebel Leader]

I think Florida's reputation ship has sailed as far as GAF goes...

no I have no credibility what so ever?


T_T

 

[powersurge]

You guys know pretty much anyone in Florida can vote absentee right? Fill it out and put it in a mailbox. With that said this guy is shady as hell.

 

[Trokil]

You guys know pretty much anyone in Florida can vote absentee right? Fill it out and put it in a mailbox.

So why are people not doing that?

 

[Sqorgar]

Rick Scott is a penis, this has been established many times before.

Rick Scott is a mustache-twirling super villain. One of the first thing he did in office was give all state employees a 3% pay cut. He isn't getting reelected.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

Rick Scott is a mustache-twirling super villain. One of the first thing he did in office was give all state employees a 3% pay cut. He isn't getting reelected.

I still can't believe he got elected.

 

[Rebel Leader]

Rick Scott is a mustache-twirling super villain. One of the first thing he did in office was give all state employees a 3% pay cut. He isn't getting reelected.

I still wonder what the fuck happened to that fraud case against him.

Also thanks to this fucker my mom has to drive 100 miles aday just to keep her job which translates to about $100 a week

 

[GoldenEye 007]

I've actually never voted in person. Absentee all the way. And you can check your status on it too.

 

[Zoe]

Can somebody explain me, why it is not possible to vote early?

In Switzerland I am getting my ballots about 6 weeks early and if I don't want to go to the municipal office I can just send them the ballots in a letter, they provide. I don't even have to pay anything.

What? It is possible to vote early. People in Florida had 8 days to vote early (9 with the added day). In Texas we had 12 days.

 

[Sqorgar]

Can somebody explain me, why it is not possible to vote early?

It IS possible to vote early, but it isn't nearly as easy or obvious as it should be.

Basically, Republicans benefit greatly by making it more difficult to vote. Sunday early voting is a time when a lot of black churches will take their entire congregations down to a polling center to vote, and since black churches tend to vote Democrat, the Republicans have decided that there would be no more early voting on Sunday in Florida. That's it.

Personally, I think that there are fewer Republican voters out there than it initially appears, but due to things like gerrymandering and voting manipulation, they have a lot more power than their numbers otherwise would.

You guys know pretty much anyone in Florida can vote absentee right? Fill it out and put it in a mailbox. With that said this guy is shady as hell.

"Yet votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show."

 

[Imbarkus]

I know it's our dick but can we just cut Florida off so we don't have to deal with them?

Sometimes I feel this way about my own dick.

 

[NH Apache]

If I understand this correctly, the town went against the state law and permitted voting on the Sunday before the election? Wouldn't that be illegal (ignoring the moral/ethical implications of banning the Sunday vote) ?

 

[Zoe]

It IS possible to vote early, but it isn't nearly as easy or obvious as it should be.

Basically, Republicans benefit greatly by making it more difficult to vote. Sunday early voting is a time when a lot of black churches will take their entire congregations down to a polling center to vote, and since black churches tend to vote Democrat, the Republicans have decided that there would be no more early voting on Sunday in Florida. That's it.

But the polls were open on the 28th.

 

[TheOMan]

If I understand this correctly, the town went against the state law and permitted voting on the Sunday before the election? Wouldn't that be illegal (ignoring the moral/ethical implications of banning the Sunday vote) ?

If that's true, it'll be very interesting to see if those votes actually get counted. smh.

America...your elections...you need to fix them. And by fix, I don't mean "fix".

But the polls were open on the 28th.

Interesting - so why didn't the congregations vote on that day instead?

 

[Vicetrailia]

You know I work with some pretty smart people, but they turn into these morons whenever politics are brought up.

They are convinced that it's okay to take off work to vote in place of early voting. No holiday, but take off work.They make up any excuse possible not to make voting more convenient for more people.

 

[richiek]

This. All the indicators of Ohio going Obama, and then all of a sudden it's not thanks to folks making it difficult to vote, AND the conflict of interest from the voting machine ownership?

When something smells rotten, it usually is.

The only way the GOP can use their voter fraud techniques is if the race is extremely close. The polls in Ohio show Obama with a decisive lead so any Republican shenanigans will get smacked down.

Spoiler

I hope.

 

[Meier]

Rick Scott is a terrible, terrible human being.

 

[Parallax]

we just need the rules to lax for like 8 hours, we can turn this ship around with one good latina ass thread, you'll see

related: north florida can go fuck itself in its flat ass

Hmm, I await this thread...

 

[FyreWulff]

Australia has mandatory voting and they do it within 12 hours just fine. There is a pretty robust postal voting system in place however.

Edit: Sorry for bringing Australia into this a second time but I'd like to consider the way we do it as a model for the rest of the world. The UN certainly thinks so and routinely uses the Australian Electoral Commission to oversee elections in other parts of the world.

One of our states, Oregon, does their voting entirely by mail.

 

[Lkr]

Why hasn't Scott been recalled yet? People are embarrassed to have voted for him from what I've seen. I voted absentee but I won't be surprised if my vote is accidentally misplaced.

I'm digging that the voter suppression isn't having the results the GOP wanted. From what I've seen, people are determined and waiting in the lines. I hope the state says fuck you to the GOP and carries Obama

 

[Gr1mLock]

I cannot wait for this election to end and hope obama kicks the shit out of romney just so i can see republicans literally eat themselves alive.

 

[Piecake]

I eagerly wait the day we can simply vote online

Go to website, enter SS number, vote. So simple, so effecctive

Course, polls should be open to people who dont have access to internet, cant remember their SS number, or whatever, but the lines should be practically non-existent

Not sure why we dont do that now... Id imagine it would save us a good chunk of change

 

[Necrovex]

"Yet votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show."

This is why I decided to forgo the absentee route and actually participate in early voting.

 

[Amir0x]

Violation of the constitution? Hadn't heard that one before. How so? Because it's not specifically written into the document?

I've been failing to find an adequate answer to that statement time after time. Every single time I'm so flabbergasted by someone saying this that I usually just glare and say "uh, no... no it's not." Because that really is the answer. It's not against the constitution!

They go on a tangent about how the founding fathers made it ONE SINGLE ELECTION DAY because they wanted people who were truly motivated and informed to go to the polls, and making it easy subverts their intentions because then even the "laziest, disconnected individual can vote for any tom, dick or harry."

What I interpret this to mean is "if we make the voting process less painful, minorities might pick someone they like!"

 

[Alligatorjandro]

Why hasn't Scott been recalled yet? People are embarrassed to have voted for him from what I've seen. I voted absentee but I won't be surprised if my vote is accidentally misplaced.

I'm digging that the voter suppression isn't having the results the GOP wanted. From what I've seen, people are determined and waiting in the lines. I hope the state says fuck you to the GOP and carries Obama

I hope Obama wins all of North Florida.

 

[Kusagari]

Why hasn't Scott been recalled yet? People are embarrassed to have voted for him from what I've seen. I voted absentee but I won't be surprised if my vote is accidentally misplaced.

I'm digging that the voter suppression isn't having the results the GOP wanted. From what I've seen, people are determined and waiting in the lines. I hope the state says fuck you to the GOP and carries Obama

He can't. Florida has no recall method in place and the only way to be impeached is for more than half the house, which is dominated by Republicans, to do it.

 

[Unknown One]

I cannot wait for this election to end and hope obama kicks the shit out of romney just so i can see republicans literally eat themselves alive.

They'll probably just repeat the same practices they have been for 4 years. Blocking everything Obama does to make him look bad. Like who cares for the country? Obama must go down!

 

[Korey]

I eagerly wait the day we can simply vote online

Go to website, enter SS number, vote. So simple, so effecctive

Course, polls should be open to people who dont have access to internet, cant remember their SS number, or whatever, but the lines should be practically non-existent

Not sure why we dont do that now... Id imagine it would save us a good chunk of change

Because the internet isn't secure, and you need a paper trail i guess. there's tons of articles out there with why there still isn't online voting

 

[Kettch]

“I’m upset at this change, but at the end, when you have 200, 300 voters out there ready to go, you really can’t disenfranchise them,” Gimenez said. Of the whole situation, he added: “I’m certainly embarrassed.”

You did your best Gimenez. I'm sure the party brass will forgive you.

 

[Zzoram]

Canada has great elections. I don't think I've ever waited more than 5 minutes to vote in Municipal, Provincial or Federal elections on election day.

What is the US doing that makes lines so long?

 

[Cubsfan23]

they can do whatever they want, it still won't be enough for romney to win

 

[devilhawk]

I can't tell you the number of Republicans at my job that tell me that Early Voting is a violation of the constitution...

Actually, that may or may not be true. It just would be the state's constitution.

 

[alstein]

As far as I can tell most Western countries put the US to shame when it comes to elections. In what civilized (and rich) country do people have to wait for hours just so they can vote ?

Most states you don't have to. It's mostly just the Deep South where it's a problem, and Indiana (which is practically the same thing these days)

Early voting is a great idea.

 

[cametall]

So why are people not doing that?

Because people are stupid and like to wait in 7+ hour long lines. You can even hand your absentee ballot in physically (skipping the post office) if you want down here.

I vote on election day because the wait in my precinct is no more than 20 minutes long.

 

[Xzeon]

One of our states, Oregon, does their voting entirely by mail.

So does Washington.

I voted by mail like 2 weeks ago.

just fill out a form, stick it in the envelope they give you and mail it out, done.

no waiting in line or hassle.

 

[commedieu]

Well if you can't beat em..

break the voting system so the GOP can win.

 

[luxarific]

I've been failing to find an adequate answer to that statement time after time. Every single time I'm so flabbergasted by someone saying this that I usually just glare and say "uh, no... no it's not." Because that really is the answer. It's not against the constitution!

They go on a tangent about how the founding fathers made it ONE SINGLE ELECTION DAY because they wanted people who were truly motivated and informed to go to the polls, and making it easy subverts their intentions because then even the "laziest, disconnected individual can vote for any tom, dick or harry."

What I interpret this to mean is "if we make the voting process less painful, minorities might pick someone they like!"

Wow, really they live in a different reality. Actually I was wrong though - the right to vote is explicitly mentioned in several Amendments. Even if you disregard the Amendments, the States are explicitly empowered to select the electors that do the voting. How they chose to select those electors is left up to them.


Article II, Section I (superseded by the 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, when the majority of the Founding Fathers were still alive and active in politics).

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

12th Amendment, ratified 1804

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; -- the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; -- The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. --]* The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

14th Amendment, ratified 1868

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

15th Amendment, ratified 1870

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

17th Amendment, ratified 1913

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

19th Amendment (my favorite), ratified 1920

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

24th Amendment, ratified 1964

The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.

26th Amendment, ratified 1971

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

Also, hadn't realized that the last Amendment ratified (the 27th) was actually in 1992! That's so recent.

 

[Deified Data]

How do honest, principled Republicans come to terms with belonging to the party of institutionalized voter disenfranchisement? Because they admit it openly - the less people vote, the better off they'll be, it isn't a secret to anyone involved. How does one proclaim to love our republic and then go on and fuck it up the ass? The ends justify the means?

 

[Deified Data]

This. All the indicators of Ohio going Obama, and then all of a sudden it's not thanks to folks making it difficult to vote, AND the conflict of interest from the voting machine ownership?

When something smells rotten, it usually is.

Can't let another Florida 2000 happen. If something looks, smells, and acts rotten, challenge it and don't stop challenging it until the truth comes to light. Al Gore didn't.