Author Topic: Elections in the United States  (Read 2251 times)

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Offline Super Colin Blow

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Elections in the United States
« on: October 29, 2022, 02:02:01 pm »
For a first-world country, and the most powerful democracy on the planet, we have more problems with our elections than we ought to have.

For example, Maryland has an acute shortage of election judges. They are getting harassing telephone calls. Some people have tried to "watch" ballot drop-boxes in some states (to make sure no improprieties take place, I'm quite sure  ::) )

Maybe we should call in the UN to observe our elections FFS. It's humiliating that we have these problems. And they should not be tolerated.

Different states have different voting methods. When I started voting, there were four different systems present in this state. Some jurisdictions were using the old booths where you pulled levers, some were optical marks, some were punch cards. To make it uniform across the state they went to touch-screen computers (which were not on the internet). Then, they later decided these were expensive to store, more complicated to use for election judges, and some people--particularly the elderly I would hazard--didn't understand or like them.

Now, most people vote in person by paper optical marks ballots. Fill in the circle with the ballpoint pen provided to you. I believe hand-counting the ballots would take too long.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

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Online Spike The Hike Shady

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2022, 02:39:53 pm »
I don’t believe there should be any drop boxes.  They’re too insecure.  There should be two ways to vote.  Request an absentee ballot or show up on Election Day.  There should be no early voting save for about a week before an election to allow for absentee ballots to come in via mail.
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Online Spike The Hike Shady

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2022, 03:12:42 pm »
Speaking of elections, it looks like the mid term is going to be a complete repudiation of Democrat/woke policies.  Republicans are going to have a majority in the house, senate and pick up legislatures and governors in several states.
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Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2022, 04:04:20 pm »
Speaking of elections, it looks like the mid term is going to be a complete repudiation of Democrat/woke policies.  Republicans are going to have a majority in the house, senate and pick up legislatures and governors in several states.

Agreed. For anyone who's curious, this is what's up for grabs in my neck of the woods:
https://elections.carrollcountymd.gov/docs/sample%20ballots/Carroll_Part48.pdf?x=1667076105582

I agree also that it's going to be a repudiation of woke politics. But more so a repudiation of President Biden. We may have to wait four years to replace a president, but at least two years into his term, you can clip his wings by electing a hostile Congress.

And I do not think it'll be a complete repudiation of either Biden or Wokeness, since the Senate can sometimes lag a little behind public opinion. It's possible the GOP will sweep both houses, but it could also be a GOP House of Representatives and a Democratic Senate. Right now the Senate is equally divided, 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans; but that is technically a Democratic Majority.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Online Spike The Hike Shady

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2022, 04:14:36 pm »
Agreed. For anyone who's curious, this is what's up for grabs in my neck of the woods:
https://elections.carrollcountymd.gov/docs/sample%20ballots/Carroll_Part48.pdf?x=1667076105582

I agree also that it's going to be a repudiation of woke politics. But more so a repudiation of President Biden. We may have to wait four years to replace a president, but at least two years into his term, you can clip his wings by electing a hostile Congress.

And I do not think it'll be a complete repudiation of either Biden or Wokeness, since the Senate can sometimes lag a little behind public opinion. It's possible the GOP will sweep both houses, but it could also be a GOP House of Representatives and a Democratic Senate. Right now the Senate is equally divided, 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans; but that is technically a Democratic Majority.
I like your governor.  I’m not a big fan of your senators though, and I don’t know much about your house representatives.

Offline Black Dog

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2022, 02:30:05 pm »
Quote
Hinting at his plans to overhaul how elections are run, the Republican running for governor of Wisconsin this week said his party would permanently control the state if he wins.

“Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor,” construction executive Tim Michels told supporters Monday at a campaign stop.

link

Wisconsin is already one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. This is the playbook for the whole country.

Offline Black Dog

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2022, 02:33:56 pm »
I don’t believe there should be any drop boxes.  They’re too insecure.  There should be two ways to vote.  Request an absentee ballot or show up on Election Day.  There should be no early voting save for about a week before an election to allow for absentee ballots to come in via mail.

Pure coincidence that all of these changes favour Republicans I'm sure.

Offline segnosaur

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2022, 11:40:57 am »
I agree also that it's going to be a repudiation of woke politics. But more so a repudiation of President Biden.
I don't think its a repudiation of "woke politics" or of Biden. I think its a reaction to the current economic situation in the united states (high inflation/high gas prices). The problem is, the factors contributing to those issues are out of the control of Biden, or of ANY president for that matter. (The republicans don't seem to have any economic plans that don't involve giving tax cuts to millionaires, or "drill baby drill".) So people are going to make election choices based on faulty assumptions, and end up making choices that will harm them in the long run.

If you look at some of the things the Democrats and Biden have been done, they are popular with the majority of voters.
- At least 56% like his infrastructure plan (which the GOP largely voted against). (https://www.npr.org/2021/04/15/987444602/biden-claims-gop-voters-support-his-infrastructure-plan-poll-shows-they-dont)
- Most Americans (62%) disagree with the republican forced-birthers, so you would assume they agree with Biden's willingness to bring in abortion legislation
- Roughly 2/3rds of Americans like the inflation reduction act (https://michigandems.com/poll-democrats-inflation-reduction-act-is-popular/)

But voters seem willing to give up things that they like in order to bring in an obstuctionist Republican congress (at which point they will complain about how "government isn't working".)

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Offline segnosaur

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2022, 12:03:44 pm »
Minor point: The U.S. is no longer considered a 'full democracy' by a group related to The Economist magazine. It is considered a 'flawed democracy', and has constantly been dropping in rankings for well over a decade.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index


Online Spike The Hike Shady

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2022, 06:48:52 pm »
I don't think its a repudiation of "woke politics" or of Biden. I think its a reaction to the current economic situation in the united states (high inflation/high gas prices). The problem is, the factors contributing to those issues are out of the control of Biden
Complete nonsense.  Biden is directly responsible for inflation and high energy prices.  He came into office vowing to put an end to fossil fuels and on day one issued several executive orders restricting the oil and gas industry.  He was also warned about what his covid relief bill that he pushed into law in the middle of 2021 would do to inflation, but he went through it anyways.  Then, he pushed more massive new spending a few months ago in a bill he dubbed the inflation reduction act.  Which has only gone on to contribute to even higher inflation.  Even our government isn’t that stupid as to think spending and printing even more money would lower inflation. He’s doubled down on failed policies and has been relegated to an old man screaming get off my lawn.

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2022, 06:55:21 pm »
Is the Conservative government in the U.K. responsible for the even worse inflation there? Probably to a degree. But it's their conservative policies that made it worse.

Primarily, it's the fault of COVID for messing up the supply chain and Putin for starting a war that created an energy crisis.

But I know you will always try to deflect blame from Putin for everything. That's your raison d'etre.

Offline Black Dog

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #11 on: November 03, 2022, 07:05:26 pm »
Complete nonsense.  Biden is directly responsible for inflation and high energy prices.  He came into office vowing to put an end to fossil fuels and on day one issued several executive orders restricting the oil and gas industry.  He was also warned about what his covid relief bill that he pushed into law in the middle of 2021 would do to inflation, but he went through it anyways.  Then, he pushed more massive new spending a few months ago in a bill he dubbed the inflation reduction act.  Which has only gone on to contribute to even higher inflation. Even our government isn’t that stupid as to think spending and printing even more money would lower inflation. He’s doubled down on failed policies and has been relegated to an old man screaming get off my lawn.

The annual inflation rate in the US slowed for the third month running to 8.2% in September of 2022, the lowest in seven months. Thank you Brandon.

Offline Queefer Sutherland

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #12 on: November 03, 2022, 08:34:27 pm »
Primarily, it's the fault of COVID for messing up the supply chain and Putin for starting a war that created an energy crisis.

Agree.
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Offline Black Dog

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2022, 12:42:39 pm »

Primarily, it's the fault of COVID for messing up the supply chain and Putin for starting a war that created an energy crisis.


No no, President Brandon has a dial that says "inflation" on it another that says "gas prices" and he spends all day turning them up or down as the mood strikes him.
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Online Spike The Hike Shady

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Re: Elections in the United States
« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2022, 12:46:08 pm »
What a metaphor for the Democrats, all of Fetterman’s flags fall down behind him at his rally! 😂
https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1588922266074873856?s=46&t=X_d2U4BERx1UeeGuPKd-xQ