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Whenever the obvious drawbacks of mail-in voting are brought to light, the massive cope machine comes out in full force. Many of the flaws are self-imposed. T

Whenever the obvious drawbacks of mail-in voting are brought to light, the massive cope machine comes out in full force. Many of the flaws are self-imposed. The requirement for ballots to merely be postmarked by election day is insane. If my credit card bill is due on June 5, it's due on the 5th, not postmarked by. I will pay penalties if it arrives past that date. If you have the privilege of voting by mail then be an adult and mail it promptly so it arrives by election day when all ballots should be counted. Ballots arriving after should be summarily rejected. California also allows same-day registration, another insane innovation ripe for irregularities. A compromise would be vote-from-home but dropoff-in-person (where ID is checked). I would argue most states allow ample time for early voting, sometimes weeks ahead of time, allowing just about anybody to fit it into their schedule to vote in person. The arguments for default vote by mail (barring some verified hardship) simply don't hold up enough to offset the potential negatives.

asdff 4mo ago
Why does it matter at all if the ballot arrives a few days late or you register day of or the week before? Seems like the only people who are hurt by this are people betting on polymarket.
- 866-RON-0-FEZ 4mo ago
  Because if they find out your registration was fraudulent a day later, how are they supposed to dig your anonymous ballot out from the barrel? It's for the same reason most insurance policies have a waiting period. To prevent the most low-hanging fruit of fraud. I've actually seen this happen in big cities where they have same-day popup registration tents in the middle of skid row, signing up random homeless people who don't even have stable addresses. No verification, nothing, we'll worry about that later here take a ballot. I'm sure everything was on the up-and-up there.
  - something98 4mo ago
    Don’t spread lies. Several states also allow same day registration. And all of them set the ballot aside until the registration is verified. This means it isn’t even counted until verified. And, no, I’m not going to “trust me, I’ve seen it before. [I just have no evidence.”
  - toast0 4mo ago
    I'm not sure I believe your example occured, but where exactly are homeless people supposed to be voting? How are they supposed to get whatever form of ID you think they should present in order to vote? California does count ballots slowly, but it has for decades, why is it such a big issue, all of a sudden? California does lots of things slowly, is this the one we should focus on?
  - singleshot_ 4mo ago
    That’s why it’s important to have a deadline, but it’s a pretty poor answer to my question. ducking this question is an indication your point - bolstered by an ad hominem attack and an appeal to authority - is meaningless.
  - UncleMeat 4mo ago
    I’m curious why you are hanging out in the hood on Election Day.
kelseyfrog 4mo ago
> If you have the privilege of voting by mail then be an adult and mail it promptly so it arrives by election day when all ballots should be counted. Disenfranchisement - the inability to participate in our most sacred institution - shouldn't be based on the variation of mail delivery speeds. It encourages all the wrong incentives. Responsibility rhetoric makes people feel good, but rule clarity is more important that the good feels. We picked a clear deadline - postmark. It prioritizes participation. No one should be disenfranchised because we want fast election results.
- 866-RON-0-FEZ 4mo ago
  The disenfranchisement bit is such a tired, worn out trope. They mail them a month ahead of time. Developing countries where people struggle with food and sanitation have this figured out and California rightfully deserves to be mocked by them. Voting is for adults and we don't need to cripple the system to cater to people so irresponsible they can't drop a piece of paper in a box on time. If that's too hard you don't deserve to vote or there is something more nefarious at play.
  - pesus 4mo ago
    You seem to be taking this personally rather than showing any actual problems that exist. Just because you assume something nefarious must be going on with absolutely no evidence to back that up doesn't mean it's true.
    - 866-RON-0-FEZ 4mo ago
      Because every time basic fraud prevention measures are brought up, everyone acts all cutesy saying show me proof it's ever happened as if the world is somehow honest by default when it comes to elections. Do you leave your servers wide open with all ports exposed? Do you ask "prove to me we've been owned before" when you're told to put a firewall in place? I wouldn't want to disenfranchise people sending ICMP traffic my way.
      - deleted 4mo ago
singleshot_ 4mo ago
> The requirement for ballots to merely be postmarked by election day is insane. If my credit card bill is due on June 5, it's due on the 5th, not postmarked What do you reckon your credit card bill (private obligation, governed by contract law) has to do with your ballot (civil right, governed by constitution)? I have to return my rental car on a certain day and my milk expires on a certain day, but I wouldn’t think to compare either to a mail-in ballot. That would be “insane,” to use your preferred terminology.
defterGoose 4mo ago
You mail in your credit card payments? My bullshit detector is absolutely pegged right now.

asdff 4mo ago

Why does it matter at all if the ballot arrives a few days late or you register day of or the week before? Seems like the only people who are hurt by this are people betting on polymarket.

866-RON-0-FEZ 4mo ago
Because if they find out your registration was fraudulent a day later, how are they supposed to dig your anonymous ballot out from the barrel? It's for the same reason most insurance policies have a waiting period. To prevent the most low-hanging fruit of fraud. I've actually seen this happen in big cities where they have same-day popup registration tents in the middle of skid row, signing up random homeless people who don't even have stable addresses. No verification, nothing, we'll worry about that later here take a ballot. I'm sure everything was on the up-and-up there.
- something98 4mo ago
  Don’t spread lies. Several states also allow same day registration. And all of them set the ballot aside until the registration is verified. This means it isn’t even counted until verified. And, no, I’m not going to “trust me, I’ve seen it before. [I just have no evidence.”
- toast0 4mo ago
  I'm not sure I believe your example occured, but where exactly are homeless people supposed to be voting? How are they supposed to get whatever form of ID you think they should present in order to vote? California does count ballots slowly, but it has for decades, why is it such a big issue, all of a sudden? California does lots of things slowly, is this the one we should focus on?
- singleshot_ 4mo ago
  That’s why it’s important to have a deadline, but it’s a pretty poor answer to my question. ducking this question is an indication your point - bolstered by an ad hominem attack and an appeal to authority - is meaningless.
- UncleMeat 4mo ago
  I’m curious why you are hanging out in the hood on Election Day.

kelseyfrog 4mo ago

> If you have the privilege of voting by mail then be an adult and mail it promptly so it arrives by election day when all ballots should be counted. Disenfranchisement - the inability to participate in our most sacred institution - shouldn't be based on the variation of mail delivery speeds. It encourages all the wrong incentives. Responsibility rhetoric makes people feel good, but rule clarity is more important that the good feels. We picked a clear deadline - postmark. It prioritizes participation. No one should be disenfranchised because we want fast election results.

866-RON-0-FEZ 4mo ago
The disenfranchisement bit is such a tired, worn out trope. They mail them a month ahead of time. Developing countries where people struggle with food and sanitation have this figured out and California rightfully deserves to be mocked by them. Voting is for adults and we don't need to cripple the system to cater to people so irresponsible they can't drop a piece of paper in a box on time. If that's too hard you don't deserve to vote or there is something more nefarious at play.
- pesus 4mo ago
  You seem to be taking this personally rather than showing any actual problems that exist. Just because you assume something nefarious must be going on with absolutely no evidence to back that up doesn't mean it's true.
  - 866-RON-0-FEZ 4mo ago
    Because every time basic fraud prevention measures are brought up, everyone acts all cutesy saying show me proof it's ever happened as if the world is somehow honest by default when it comes to elections. Do you leave your servers wide open with all ports exposed? Do you ask "prove to me we've been owned before" when you're told to put a firewall in place? I wouldn't want to disenfranchise people sending ICMP traffic my way.
    - deleted 4mo ago

singleshot_ 4mo ago

> The requirement for ballots to merely be postmarked by election day is insane. If my credit card bill is due on June 5, it's due on the 5th, not postmarked What do you reckon your credit card bill (private obligation, governed by contract law) has to do with your ballot (civil right, governed by constitution)? I have to return my rental car on a certain day and my milk expires on a certain day, but I wouldn’t think to compare either to a mail-in ballot. That would be “insane,” to use your preferred terminology.

defterGoose 4mo ago

You mail in your credit card payments? My bullshit detector is absolutely pegged right now.