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I know you were replying to another poster, but voting absentee is different than early voting. The biggest issue I have with early voting is what if you cast your vote very early, then find out something afterwards that could change your mind?
Granted one party zealots like "Yellow Dog Democrats" would not care what might come out about someone with a (D) after their name, but many would.
Also, I seriously doubt voting early is as secure as voting in person to where you must show valid ID, and have your signature verified on the spot.
In Harris County, where Houston is, the procedure for early voting is identical to election day procedures. I show up at the early voting location, give the desk person my drivers license that has my picture on it. The desk person scans the DL, verifies I am at the same address where I am registered to vote, then has me sign on the tablet they use. I then get a printed slip and paper for the ballot and go to a free voting machine. I enter the number on the slip and am presented with my ballot on the screen. I make all my choices on the machine, click that I am done. I then enter the paper into the machine and my ballot is printed. I review that, then take it to a scanner, which records the vote and drops the paper into a bin for use in recounts, it that's necessary.
Early voting here is as secure as it is on election day.
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"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vector1
I know you were replying to another poster, but voting absentee is different than early voting. The biggest issue I have with early voting is what if you cast your vote very early, then find out something afterwards that could change your mind? Granted one party zealots like "Yellow Dog Democrats" would not care what might come out about someone with a (D) after their name, but many would.
Also, I seriously doubt voting early is as secure as voting in person to where you must show valid ID, and have your signature verified on the spot.
Apparently, most people in both parties do that. Vote straight ticket.
I didn't know it was so common. I would ever vote "straight party", especially in an election with a lot of offices to vote for. Seems pretty shallow.
1. Mail in ballots only by request and you have to (within a period of several months prior to the election) schedule and complete a video call in which an election worker asks you a short series of questions to verify that you are unable to vote in person but are of sound enough mind to vote (what year is it? what state are you voting in? who is the current President?), and you have to show your photo ID to the camera, and you must also sign your name while being recorded doing so and show that to the camera. It is all recorded and kept on file for any future audits or challenges. You will get a ballot in the mail to be returned by mail and your signature on it will be compared to the image from your interview.
For seniors who wish to vote but who do not have the tech savvy for this and are too physically infirm to go to a polling place, I would have election workers be able to go do a scheduled visit with them, but the entire thing would be recorded with a similar process to what I describe above. Then the training for the worker would be to angle the camera so that the voting senior's actual ballot cannot be seen while they fill it out, but it can be seen and heard that no one is influencing their vote.
Military would be exempt from the need to do the video call, so long as their ballot is being sent to a residence on record with the DOD. We tend to keep pretty good track of our soldiers.
Everyone else needs to show up physically.
2. I would not have one single election day, but a period of time for early in person voting, so as to reduce long waits. And adequate locations open on various days of the week. Yes, ID required.
3. Ranked choice voting. Third parties should have more of a shot, this is the only reasonable way for that to happen.
4. "Mandatory" voting. Where the only penalty for not doing it is a small fine. But also, if a person does not vote who is registered to vote, then the charging of a fine is a way to verify if they are still alive/eligible...failure to pay the fine and verify eligibility would mean being removed from the voter rolls and not being allowed to vote until the fine is paid and the person re-registers with ID and all.
So in general...make it easy for citizens who are eligible to actually vote, but also, make it highly secure and "use it or lose it." As to whether felons can vote, I think that should be up to the states. But I do NOT believe in literacy tests or restricting those who earn less, pay less taxes (thought ya'll were against taxation, make up your mind!) or own property of any sort. I am OK with homeless people voting with no permanent address so long as they can prove their identity and legal eligibility to do so.
5. No reporting of ballot counts until ALL valid and timely ballots are counted, with a strict cutoff for when counting must be finished and a specified and synchronized point when all states shall report their results. No leaking of information ahead of that. No more watching this thing like a horse race, we all wait and we all find out at the same time what the result is, no more "drops" or "mirages." Just tell us at the end.
6. Any candidate may request a recount, by an independent auditor of their choice, recorded and observed as they please, within a certain timeframe after an election...but if the recount shows the same end result of who won/lost as the original count, then they are required to accept the outcome. Attempts to hinder the lawful transition after that point should be prosecuted, to include failure to cooperate to ensure a smooth transition of staff and responsibilities.
Ah, we could do that now, with more than sufficient security precautions, but we lack the political will to do so.
Many people fear things that don't exist. So it won't work until enough people feel secure.
Cheating exists. It has since the beginning of time. It will work when people believe there is enough security in place. The penalty for cheating/abuse would have to be severe and you would lose your right to vote.
I know you were replying to another poster, but voting absentee is different than early voting. The biggest issue I have with early voting is what if you cast your vote very early, then find out something afterwards that could change your mind?
Granted one party zealots like "Yellow Dog Democrats" would not care what might come out about someone with a (D) after their name, but many would.
Also, I seriously doubt voting early is as secure as voting in person to where you must show valid ID, and have your signature verified on the spot.
Why would they not require showing ID and verifying a signature for early in person voting in states where that is the process on election day? That makes no sense. I'm pretty sure that the same procedure is followed.
In states where I've lived, where they send out ballots in the mail to everybody (CO, AZ both have voting by mail) if you change your mind after casting a vote by mail and you want to change your vote, you are allowed to "spoil" your previous ballot by showing up in person and telling them so, they can invalidate your original ballot in the system and you can cast a new one on election day if you want.
So that thing about getting more information...yeah, there are ways to handle that.
Why would they not require showing ID and verifying a signature for early in person voting in states where that is the process on election day? That makes no sense. I'm pretty sure that the same procedure is followed.
I've never lived anywhere that required I showed ID to vote
Cheating exists. It has since the beginning of time. It will work when people believe there is enough security in place. The penalty for cheating/abuse would have to be severe and you would lose your right to vote.
Yes, cheating does exist, but nowhere near as much as many people believe. With strong security and severe penalties and strict enforcement for abuse, the system would work.
But even that wouldn't fix the bigger problems we face.
Yes, cheating does exist, but nowhere near as much as many people believe. With strong security and severe penalties and strict enforcement for abuse, the system would work.
But even that wouldn't fix the bigger problems we face.
Amen.
somehow we need to take some of the gerrymandering out of the system. the parties control the aparatus of voting rather thand the aparatus of voting being agnostic to the positions being voted on. It is very hard because party affiliation is what it is, a partisan kind of deal.
Maybe make larger districts from the current ones encompassing 3 to 5 districts. The size would depend on the state. Each party can put up the number of seats available in candidates. It would give us a much different looking congress.
somehow we need to take some of the gerrymandering out of the system. the parties control the aparatus of voting rather thand the aparatus of voting being agnostic to the positions being voted on. It is very hard because party affiliation is what it is, a partisan kind of deal.
Maybe make larger districts from the current ones encompassing 3 to 5 districts. The size would depend on the state. Each party can put up the number of seats available in candidates. It would give us a much different looking congress.
I like your ideas on this.
Would be nice if every district elected someone who would represent ( and look after the interests of ) all the people in that district ( and all Americans ) and not just the ones who vote for them.
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