6 ms·

I've seen this conspiracy theory many times, but no one has yet explained how a day or two delay will stop mailin voting. People also somehow think that the po

by ars 6y ago

I've seen this conspiracy theory many times, but no one has yet explained how a day or two delay will stop mailin voting. People also somehow think that the post office won't be able to deliver so much mail. Which also doesn't make sense, it's a single envelope per house, they deliver more junk mail than that. Edit: I should add I'm 100% in favor of mailin votes always, not just now. I simply do not believe that this postal slowdown is in any way connected to those who oppose it. And that's for the simple reason that it can't accomplish that.

Avicebron 6y ago
From what I understand this is coupled with a delay in counting of mail in votes.
- Tagbert 6y ago
  And with states having a cutoff period after which the undelivered votes will not be counts. If you can delay a significant number of votes beyond that period, you’ve managed to block someone’s votes.
  - Avicebron 6y ago
    Especially pernicious is that many vulnerable people who previously would be unable to vote (no car, no real social contact, etc) now theoretically would be able to vote, which could be cut off.
rhcom2 6y ago
https://fortune.com/2020/07/24/usps-mail-delivery-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-us-postal-service/?mc_cid=41c4bd09f7&mc_eid=9f88eec838 https://fortune.com/2020/07/24/usps-mail-delivery-postmaster...
ianleeclark 6y ago
There's no conspiracy theory. It's historical record the lengths this country has gone to disenfranchise votes: 3/5ths personhood, poll taxes, literacy tests, multiple hour-long queues, shuttering most poll stations for large populations, warehouses left full of voting machines, and, seriously, just go look at Dan Crenshaw's district. You don't have to "stop mailin voting," you just have to make it unreliable and burdensome. There's no conspiracy here, it's out in the public for all to see.
- andor 6y ago
  For comparison, it takes me about 15 minutes to go voting in Germany. That includes walking to the polling station, someone checking my id and me checking a few boxes on a paper ballot. There is usually no queue and we don't have voting machines because they can be easily manipulated, as has been demonstrated a number of times. Elections are held on Sundays, when most shops are closed, so that everyone can participate.
  - adingus 6y ago
    This is my experience in the US, other than elections not being held on Sunday.
  - amanaplanacanal 6y ago
    In the US, elections are held by the states, not the national government. So it is up to the states where and how many polling stations there are. Depending on the party in charge at the state level, this has been used to make it more difficult for certain sectors of the population to vote.
    - ars 6y ago
      > this has been used to make it more difficult for certain sectors of the population to vote. Yes, it has happened. But based on the Media usually only finding a story or two with that, it's very rare, and not the normal experience. i.e. if it was more prevalent there would be more articles, but usually I only notice 1 or 2 in an election cycle.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
    - addicted 6y ago
      In times of COVID, however, mail only voting is the best alternative. And the USPS has informed states that it may take up to 2 weeks to deliver mailed ballots. What that means is for mail in votes to count (which again, will be more popular considering COVID) on Nov 4th, you will need to mail your vote by Oct 20th to guarantee it reaches assuming USPS is correct in its 2 week estimate. The current administration is already laying down the foundation for votes that reach after Nov 4, even if they were postmarked before (which I believe is all that is needed) to be rejected. He tweeted today that the votes must be counted by the end of Nov 4 otherwise they would be illegitimate.

by ars 6y ago

Avicebron 6y ago

From what I understand this is coupled with a delay in counting of mail in votes.

Tagbert 6y ago
And with states having a cutoff period after which the undelivered votes will not be counts. If you can delay a significant number of votes beyond that period, you’ve managed to block someone’s votes.
- Avicebron 6y ago
  Especially pernicious is that many vulnerable people who previously would be unable to vote (no car, no real social contact, etc) now theoretically would be able to vote, which could be cut off.

rhcom2 6y ago

https://fortune.com/2020/07/24/usps-mail-delivery-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-us-postal-service/?mc_cid=41c4bd09f7&mc_eid=9f88eec838 https://fortune.com/2020/07/24/usps-mail-delivery-postmaster...

ianleeclark 6y ago

There's no conspiracy theory. It's historical record the lengths this country has gone to disenfranchise votes: 3/5ths personhood, poll taxes, literacy tests, multiple hour-long queues, shuttering most poll stations for large populations, warehouses left full of voting machines, and, seriously, just go look at Dan Crenshaw's district. You don't have to "stop mailin voting," you just have to make it unreliable and burdensome. There's no conspiracy here, it's out in the public for all to see.

andor 6y ago
For comparison, it takes me about 15 minutes to go voting in Germany. That includes walking to the polling station, someone checking my id and me checking a few boxes on a paper ballot. There is usually no queue and we don't have voting machines because they can be easily manipulated, as has been demonstrated a number of times. Elections are held on Sundays, when most shops are closed, so that everyone can participate.
- adingus 6y ago
  This is my experience in the US, other than elections not being held on Sunday.
- amanaplanacanal 6y ago
  In the US, elections are held by the states, not the national government. So it is up to the states where and how many polling stations there are. Depending on the party in charge at the state level, this has been used to make it more difficult for certain sectors of the population to vote.
  - ars 6y ago
    > this has been used to make it more difficult for certain sectors of the population to vote. Yes, it has happened. But based on the Media usually only finding a story or two with that, it's very rare, and not the normal experience. i.e. if it was more prevalent there would be more articles, but usually I only notice 1 or 2 in an election cycle.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - addicted 6y ago
    In times of COVID, however, mail only voting is the best alternative. And the USPS has informed states that it may take up to 2 weeks to deliver mailed ballots. What that means is for mail in votes to count (which again, will be more popular considering COVID) on Nov 4th, you will need to mail your vote by Oct 20th to guarantee it reaches assuming USPS is correct in its 2 week estimate. The current administration is already laying down the foundation for votes that reach after Nov 4, even if they were postmarked before (which I believe is all that is needed) to be rejected. He tweeted today that the votes must be counted by the end of Nov 4 otherwise they would be illegitimate.