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I have no idea why state election officials would say that these are illegal when they allow people to in person collect other peoples ballots. Edit: That it s

I have no idea why state election officials would say that these are illegal when they allow people to in person collect other peoples ballots. Edit: That it says "official" but is not official government is questionable.

jedberg 6y ago
It's unclear whether the law only applies to collecting them in person or if these unofficial boxes are ok too.
- threatofrain 6y ago
  > unofficial boxes are ok too. These boxes are labeled as Official and fashioned as if from government. Nobody should be allowed to pose as government.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
weaksauce 6y ago
There's a difference in someone giving their ballot to a trusted person that will drop it off (and having signed the ballot over to that person to execute it) and having unofficial ballot boxes that the persons running can wholesale tamper with by say cross referencing the names with some other demographic information to disenfranchise some parts of society. these particular boxes might be operated without ill intent but that's not to say this practice should be allowed... especially since you can just put it in the mail now.
threatofrain 6y ago
These boxes are labeled as Official and fashioned as if administered by some relevant level of government. That's already a huge problem, especially because these boxes have nobody responsible guarding them. I could steal them and nobody would be responsible for the negligence. Nobody should be allowed to pose as government.
- gremlinsinc 6y ago
  Better yet, buy a voter registry, cross reference GOP/Democrats, and depending on your affiliation, toss the ones from people who are not your party leanings... who would know? (sarcasm, don't do this, cause it's effed up!)
  - onecommentman 6y ago
    Please leave the profanity in Reddit, it doesn’t serve you well in this audience. What you bring up is one of the elephants in the room regarding any mail-in ballet scheme. Manageable as a small out-of-band exception process, problematic for broad implementation. A lot of COVID risk avoidance is reasonable, if annoying. In-person voting, however, may be a hill worth dying on, metaphorically speaking of course...
    - gremlinsinc 6y ago
      Sure (on profanity, and edited). Sometimes forget my audience and who I'm talking to. Mail-in-ballots are basically the norm where I'm from (Utah), we get a ballot, and drop it off at the city building. It's nice. Nobody complains on either side of the aisle here, it just works. If we were a swing state, I'm sure someone would complain if it meant more/less votes for 'their side'. I lean left, the state leans right, it is what it is, but why can't the rest of America have such an easy system of voting?
      - macjohnmcc 6y ago
        The state of Texas won't give you a mail in ballot except under verify specific an restrictive rules. Then the governor has restricted ballot drop offs to one per county including very large counties with millions of people. Anything to restrict the number of voters that may not vote in their favor.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> I have no idea why state election officials would say that these are illegal when they allow people to in person collect other peoples ballots. Because it is, in fact, illegal; there is a significant difference between each of these things, with a descending degree of voter knowledge and ability to make an informed choice about the security of their ballot: A voter electing to entrust their ballot to a specific person. A voter placing their ballot in a a known-unofficial collection box operated by an unknown person. A voter placing their ballot in a fraudulently-labeled-as-official ballot box. Allowing the first does not imply that the second should be legitimate, much less the third.

jedberg 6y ago

It's unclear whether the law only applies to collecting them in person or if these unofficial boxes are ok too.

threatofrain 6y ago
> unofficial boxes are ok too. These boxes are labeled as Official and fashioned as if from government. Nobody should be allowed to pose as government.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

weaksauce 6y ago

There's a difference in someone giving their ballot to a trusted person that will drop it off (and having signed the ballot over to that person to execute it) and having unofficial ballot boxes that the persons running can wholesale tamper with by say cross referencing the names with some other demographic information to disenfranchise some parts of society. these particular boxes might be operated without ill intent but that's not to say this practice should be allowed... especially since you can just put it in the mail now.

threatofrain 6y ago

These boxes are labeled as Official and fashioned as if administered by some relevant level of government. That's already a huge problem, especially because these boxes have nobody responsible guarding them. I could steal them and nobody would be responsible for the negligence. Nobody should be allowed to pose as government.

gremlinsinc 6y ago
Better yet, buy a voter registry, cross reference GOP/Democrats, and depending on your affiliation, toss the ones from people who are not your party leanings... who would know? (sarcasm, don't do this, cause it's effed up!)
- onecommentman 6y ago
  Please leave the profanity in Reddit, it doesn’t serve you well in this audience. What you bring up is one of the elephants in the room regarding any mail-in ballet scheme. Manageable as a small out-of-band exception process, problematic for broad implementation. A lot of COVID risk avoidance is reasonable, if annoying. In-person voting, however, may be a hill worth dying on, metaphorically speaking of course...
  - gremlinsinc 6y ago
    Sure (on profanity, and edited). Sometimes forget my audience and who I'm talking to. Mail-in-ballots are basically the norm where I'm from (Utah), we get a ballot, and drop it off at the city building. It's nice. Nobody complains on either side of the aisle here, it just works. If we were a swing state, I'm sure someone would complain if it meant more/less votes for 'their side'. I lean left, the state leans right, it is what it is, but why can't the rest of America have such an easy system of voting?
    - macjohnmcc 6y ago
      The state of Texas won't give you a mail in ballot except under verify specific an restrictive rules. Then the governor has restricted ballot drop offs to one per county including very large counties with millions of people. Anything to restrict the number of voters that may not vote in their favor.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> I have no idea why state election officials would say that these are illegal when they allow people to in person collect other peoples ballots. Because it is, in fact, illegal; there is a significant difference between each of these things, with a descending degree of voter knowledge and ability to make an informed choice about the security of their ballot: A voter electing to entrust their ballot to a specific person. A voter placing their ballot in a a known-unofficial collection box operated by an unknown person. A voter placing their ballot in a fraudulently-labeled-as-official ballot box. Allowing the first does not imply that the second should be legitimate, much less the third.