Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This (bolded) is the problem for most voters in American politics. They go about their sleepy oblivious lives until the press wakes them up for election windup time. Then the sirens sound and they're off to the races, full of....Emotion, not knowledge, nor facts, no real in depth reading, nor attending any valid informational events, no, just going with their party affiliations much like they view sports teams or any competition for that matter.
And it doesn't help in the slightest when you have the PACs on both sides spending millions upon millions of dollars for advertising that amounts to nothing more than a pack of lies.
"Oh, So-and-So voted to wipe out Medicare for seniors."
It may have just the tiniest fragment of truth in that the representative in question may have voted one way or another on a particular Bill, but the *real* fact of the matter was that one item was just a small part of a budget with 1,000 other line-items. The representative was voting on the totality of the Bill, not on any singular line-item within it, and the statement, as presented, is a lie.
There is a whole lot of deal-making that goes on day in and day out- "You vote this way here, and we'll make sure that the vote goes 'that way' on this other thing over there."
But the public doesn't see that stuff and they have absolutely no idea how thing work in Washington (or even on more local levels). All they see is "So-andSo did 'this' and this is bad for you, and they did it because they hate you."
The whole thing is a lie designed to generate an emotional response, and its success relies on not being subject to rational though, logic, and an appropriate decision based on those things.
It's bad enough when candidates' own campaigns participate in that kind of thing, but it's even worse when these other groups are buying advertising time and are not subject to the scrutiny of the candidates' campaigns. The advertisements are run with neither the endorsement or consent of the individual candidates- you see the small print and the fast-talking disclaimer (at lower volume) of "This advertisement was paid for by SNMP" or whichever of the myriad of groups was promoting it.
And, it's not just on a national level- there are a boatload of outside groups attempting to influence local/state elections as well...and that is even *more* wrong.
It's complete and total hogwash, and it should be banned. But the media isn't going to say jack because they're making a crap-ton of money off it.
Will the 'government' step in and protect us from this sort of thing? Not bloody likely.
It doesn't matter which 'side' you're on, none of these groups are doing the general public any favors. They all lie and obfuscate the truth. And if no one else is going to do anything about it, maybe it's high-time the citizens rose up and put an end to it.
And, thinking big picture, who exactly is the money and power behind the orchestration of this illogical mess? And what exactly is the final goal?
When you spend too much time examining the trees you forget to see the forest. Republican/Democrat conflict is a distraction. Both sides claiming the other keeps them from attaining their goals. And yet enormous change is taking place.
What about those with dementia exercising their right to vote?
Some with advanced dementia might not be able to comprehend the act of voting, they don't even know their own name nor recognize their family members. How they suppose to understand who is who they are voting for? Since they have people helping them to vote, there is big probability their vote might actually represent the views of those assisting them. If an individual cannot express a voting preference, then any vote by that person is not really a vote by that person. That will also include any adults with diagnosed profound mental retardation ...
Maybe that explains my beloved Chicago, which really has been slow to get the lead out of the pipes.
I should vote, it's important.
Gets in line and votes
While leaving, for the bus stop, see's an election line and thinks
What about those with dementia exercising their right to vote?
Some with advanced dementia might not be able to comprehend the act of voting, they don't even know their own name nor recognize their family members. How they suppose to understand who is who they are voting for? Since they have people helping them to vote, there is big probability their vote might actually represent the views of those assisting them. If an individual cannot express a voting preference, then any vote by that person is not really a vote by that person. That will also include any adults with diagnosed profound mental retardation ...
Indeed
On a personal level one of my elderly neighbors is a hardcore Democrat. She recently had another fall, and her daughter brought her to the hospital where she was admitted. Next thing you know, the daughter put out a Trump sign in my neighbors from lawn. Though a Democrat, my neighbor has never put out political signs, and neither do I.
But I am pretty certain my neighbor would not have put out Trump sign, unless the blow to her head caused a personality change.
I know my neighbor receives an absentee ballot by mail, because she doesn't drive anymore, and has health issues.
So it is certainly conceivable that the daughter received the ballot in the mail, and might decide to vote for her mom.
Frankly, that would make me regardless of the fact I intend on voting for Trump. That is because our freedom to vote for whom we choose in this country is paramount, and should not be infringed upon. When my Mom was elderly and needed help voting, my Dad or I would help her by reading and marking her choices. Even if she voted in opposition of a candidate or issue that I did, that was her right, and I didn't think twice about marking down whatever she wanted.
So I really hope my neighbor didn't vote for her mom while she is in the hospital.
Also I hope she takes down that sign before her mom comes home, rather than give her a heart attack by seeing a Trump sign in her yard.
I would just add that this is another reason why we have an electoral college instead of a popular vote. If any one district wants to let 400% of the population vote, the damage they can inflict is limited to the number of the delegates in any given state. So if California wants to give the right to vote to all of the illegal immigrants while they receive covid benefits and health insurance assistance, it doesn't matter as much because they still only have a fixed % of the say.
I would just add that this is another reason why we have an electoral college instead of a popular vote. If any one district wants to let 400% of the population vote, the damage they can inflict is limited to the number of the delegates in any given state. So if California wants to give the right to vote to all of the illegal immigrants while they receive covid benefits and health insurance assistance, it doesn't matter as much because they still only have a fixed % of the say.
"400%"? Pardon?
And why would you imagine that California would want to (or even need to) give the vote to illegal immigrants?
Actually, it's only since the beginning of the 20th century that the United States started requiring citizenship in order to vote. Prior to the 20th century, non-citizens residing in the U.S. ("legal" or otherwise) were permitted to vote. The last state to end non-citizen voting rights was Arkansas, and that was in 1926.
And perhaps we ought not to forget that, to Native Americans, the rest of us are ALL "illegal immigrants."
I live in a "vote by mail" state (Colorado) and my problem is not with mail-in voting itself, but rather with the states that are RUSHING to implement it without taking the steps that Colorado took in order to prepare for it, like cleaning up voter rolls. That's why, at least in my mind, studies that show how great mail-in systems are in Washington, Colorado, or any of the other states don't really mean much to me, because those states took steps to prepare for all-mail elections.
I do feel concerned about the integrity of elections in states that are RUSHING to implement all-mail voting for this year, or some variant like "we're sending everyone an absentee ballot whether they asked for it or not!". We saw what a disaster the primary was in Detroit (for example) and now there are rumblings about other states either not wanting to compare signatures on ballots, or wanting to accept ballots postmarked up to X number of days AFTER the election, etc, and it just seems like a hot mess waiting to happen.
www.heritage.org
1,285 verifiable examples of vote fraud in last four years of study conducted by Kaitlynn Samalis-Aldrich and Hans A Von Spakovsky.
"The easiest way to commit vote fraud, was mail in voting, where ballots can be "lost in the mail", arbitrarily disqualified, and even stolen."
1) Lost
2) Arbitrarily Disqualified
3) Stolen
All three of your examples sound more like voter suppression than voter fraud. I think that voter suppression is of far great concern and happens far more frequently.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
regardless of the fact I intend on voting for Trump. That is because our freedom to vote for whom we choose in this country is paramount, and should not be infringed upon. When my Mom was elderly and needed help voting, my Dad or I would help her by reading and marking her choices. Even if she voted in opposition of a candidate or issue that I did, that was her right, and I didn't think twice about marking down whatever she wanted.
