Vote

[Revoltingest]

Are the long queues we see of US polling stations not normal?

They're uncommon where I live.

 

[Stevicus]

Are the long queues we see of US polling stations not normal?

Not if you show up at 6am, as I did.

 

[Altfish]

Not if you show up at 6am, as I did.

Ours don't open until 7

 

[Subduction Zone]

Which people are the wrong ones?

Not that race has anything to do with it, but it seems that the Republicans are judging people on how much easier it is to see them in the dark when they smile.

As for voting, I already did several days ago. Mail in voting where I live, and that allows them to project turnout early. According to today's local paper we are on track for a 75% voter turnout. That is huge! Republican candidates tend to do poorly when there are high turnouts

 

[Sunstone]

P.S. - I voted. Have you?

Yup. Colorado mails out ballots to all active voters. I'm am active voter. It was easy to fill out my ballot and put it back in the mail. Every state should do that.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Yup. Colorado mails out ballots to all active voters. I'm am active voter. It was easy to fill out my ballot and put it back in the mail. Every state should do that.

I'm probably one of the few that actually enjoys going out to vote, though it's not as fun since they stopped people from soliciting votes by handing out flyers at the door of the polling place. I used to take a flyer and say, "I've spent months following the candidates' campaign trails and planned on voting based on that, but since you handed me this piece of paper, I've changed my mind. Thanks!"

I suppose for whatever demented reason it's fun for me to people watch at the polling places as they mill around like lost sheep and exchange awkward gab and banter.

 

[Shadow Link]

 

[Watchmen]

I struggle to believe how difficult it is to vote in the US compared to the UK.

In the UK...
Annually, all houses / properties receive a form from the local council asking you to confirm/change who lives at the property. You are then put on the voting register. You will then receive a polling card automatically about a fortnight before all elections..
We can request postal votes.
Most polling stations in urban areas are in walking distance of everyone, less so in rural areas. Last time I voted, I left my house, walked about 300-yds, confirmed who I was, put a 'x' on the form and was back home in less than 10-minutes
The only time we have queues is when the polls are shutting and people have miscalculated the timing of being on the last moment.

It's harder to not be on the voting register.

I think the difficulties in ththe US are usually overstated by one party or another to cast aspersions in the process and the result.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I'm probably one of the few that actually enjoys going out to vote, though it's not as fun since they stopped people from soliciting votes by handing out flyers at the door of the polling place. I used to take a flyer and say, "I've spent months following the candidates' campaign trails and planned on voting based on that, but since you handed me this piece of paper, I've changed my mind. Thanks!"

I suppose for whatever demented reason it's fun for me to people watch at the polling places as they mill around like lost sheep and exchange awkward gab and banter.

I used to like to vote in person, but when I moved to where I live now I was always working until it was dark. And it would be raining. And the polling place took me forever to find at night. I voted, but that took a lot of the joy out of it. Then I found out that one could vote "absentee" even if one was not absent and I registered for that. No more social experience, but it made voting so much easier.

And now my entire state is mail in ballot. For once I was a trend setter rather than a follower.

 

[Cacotopia]

Voting isn't a right, it's a privilege. Since it can be taken away.

 

[Aupmanyav]

You ain't seen it all if you have not seen voting in India.
long queues for vote in India - Google Search

"According to the Election Commission of India, 814.5 million people were eligible to vote, with an increase of 100 million voters since the last general election in 2009, making it the largest ever election in the world."
Indian general election, 2014 - Wikipedia

Come April/May, 2019, and at least 914 million people in India will be eligible to vote.
Electronic voting in India - Wikipedia, Voter-verified paper audit trail - Wikipedia

 

[Stevicus]

Ours don't open until 7

In the 2016 election, I got to the polling place at 6:20am, and there was already a pretty long line. This time, it wasn't as long, as a higher percentage turned in early ballots than in the last election.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Voting isn't a right, it's a privilege. Since it can be taken away.

It is a right in India (as far as I know) and cannot be taken away except in these cases:

"The Indian Constitution has laid down the following rules regarding disqualification of voters from the election process:
- Individuals who are convicted of offences committed under Section 171E (which deals with bribery) and Section 171F (which deals with personation or undue influence at an election) of the Indian Penal Code are disqualified from participating in elections.
- Those convicted of offences under Section 125 (which deals with various electoral offences), Section 135 and Section 136 of the Representation of People’s Act face disqualification from elections.
- If an individual votes in more than one constituency, his vote is disqualified."
Voting Rights in India | Right to Vote in India - 2018

 

[Cacotopia]

It is a right in India (as far as I know) and cannot be taken away except in these cases:

"The Indian Constitution has laid down the following rules regarding disqualification of voters from the election process:
- Individuals who are convicted of offences committed under Section 171E (which deals with bribery) and Section 171F (which deals with personation or undue influence at an election) of the Indian Penal Code are disqualified from participating in elections.
- Those convicted of offences under Section 125 (which deals with various electoral offences), Section 135 and Section 136 of the Representation of People’s Act face disqualification from elections.
- If an individual votes in more than one constituency, his vote is disqualified."
Voting Rights in India | Right to Vote in India - 2018

those "exceptions" make it a privilege.

 

[Subduction Zone]

those "exceptions" make it a privilege.

In the U.S. more and more states are returning voting rights to felons once they serve out their term automatically. Surprisingly Florida just voted hugely to do just that. Watch for a huge blue shift in Florida's next election. Over 1 million voters will be reenfranchised. Ex-felons tend to vote blue when they can.

 

[AManCalledHorse]

In the U.S. more and more states are returning voting rights to felons once they serve out their term automatically. Surprisingly Florida just voted hugely to do just that. Watch for a huge blue shift in Florida's next election. Over 1 million voters will be reenfranchised. Ex-felons tend to vote blue when they can.

There is nothing wrong with returning their voting rights. In our society if a man pays his debt in prison time, he has paid his dues and hopefully learned with that time and he should get those rights back. If he keeps repeat offending, then he isn't learning and there should be a time when he doesn't get them back.

 

[Subduction Zone]

There is nothing wrong with returning their voting rights. In our society if a man pays his debt in prison time, he has paid his dues and hopefully learned with that time and he should get those rights back. If he keeps repeat offending, then he isn't learning and there should be a time when he doesn't get them back.

I agree. I did not imply that this was an incorrect idea. The point was that Florida is thought to be a fairly conservative state and yet this passed with a rather sizable majority. This was an act of altruism by many conservatives since it is likely to shift the state into the solid blue rather than red territory.

If interested you can read a bit more here:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...orida-amendment-4-felon-voting-rights-results

 

[Aupmanyav]

those "exceptions" make it a privilege.

What I meant was that even a criminal in jail has the right to vote. The restrictions are only for those persons who are engaged in illegal voting practices, trying to subvert the election process.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Are the long queues we see of US polling stations not normal?

Depends on where you're at. Here in California most of my time at the polling place was spent figuring the differences out here (such as a massive sized ballot and weird machine thingy to put the ballots in), and it didn't take long. Back at Indiana, when they still had the one church a few miles away there was never a wait but when they shut that down as a polling place and moved it to the court house I waited about 30 minutes, and when I lived in a town I had to wait about an hour.
The very long waits I suspect are rare outside of very large cities and rural precincts that have been forced to take on extra loads due to closures.

 

[Sunstone]

Watch for a huge blue shift in Florida's next election.

I agree that this will tend to turn Florida blue, but I expect the Republican leadership to put up a fight in the form of voter suppression laws, just as they have in so many other states.