First politics discussion in the Tank. Let's see if civility reigns.

Terrible idea. The amount of fraud would be incredible and there's no way to guarantee it won't get lost. Look at what happened in elections it's been implemented in. I heard a story about some dude getting a ballot for his dead cat. It's just a logistical nightmare and will/is being exploited for fraud.

Yes!

Agreed

What i'm not understanding is why not just allow those who don't want to go to a polling place apply for absentee ballot rather than just assume and send ballots to every registered voter without verifying first off if they are still living, still residing at the address and verifying secure return of ballots.

Yeah, it would be a much better system where actual registration is involved. There could still be a logistical problem with lots of absentee ballots, but since it would be more spread out over time instead of just election day it could work.

haha when there is a tiny chance of getting infected and killed by COVID-19 and conservatives don't give a shit, but when there is a tiny chance of fraud, you're freaking out

Oh it isn't just a tiny chance of fraud. Maybe you should go read about the elections that have used it this year.

Actually, you’re wrong

https://nypost.com/2020/08/05/84000-mail-in-ballots-disqualified-in-nyc-primary-election/

"Actually, you're wrong"

Yes at least I have tried to provide proof while you and your conservatives have not provided a single bit of proof.

what part of that wasn't proof?

Yes, I might be wrong. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/minuscule-number-of-potentially-fraudulent-ballots-in-states-with-universal-mail-voting-undercuts-trump-claims-about-election-risks/2020/06/08/1e78aa26-a5c5-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html

why not send the link why just just the screenshot...?

here you go https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/minuscule-number-of-potentially-fraudulent-ballots-in-states-with-universal-mail-voting-undercuts-trump-claims-about-election-risks/2020/06/08/1e78aa26-a5c5-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html

thanks

So stop whining about voter fraud and deal with serious stuff like COVID-19

CORRECT, and it's obvious to any sane person.

Yeah, too bad so many people CHOOSE ignorance

You know what they say..."ignorance is bliss"...and this may be true, but it is irresponsible and is for people who the world would be better off without! That's very harsh, but it's f**king true.

PS - that bite of steak looks marvelous!

Yeah, I'd rather know than be ignorant

That guy is the worst

hE SURE IS. hE NEARLY SCREWED UP THE WHOLE MOVIE, LOL!

Oops, sorry for all caps. Was doing something in database that required all caps.

Lol

I'd like to see documentation of that dead cat story. Ballots like that should be easy to eliminate, if decent records are kept.

Don't have it and I'm not very interested in finding it right now. But if you're sending ballots to everyone, you would end up sending them to dead people who haven't been removed from the voter registration data base.

My opinion is the same as Scars!

Some mail-in voting but not mass

Stream MODS are willing to allow political discussions in the Tank provided the atmosphere remains respectful of differing political parties, current and past presidents and discussions stay on topic. This is a trial only. Please let us know if you would like to see more political discussions in the future.

I think it would be cool to see more. Maybe not about people or very specific events but general ideas.

Good idea, I think general questions about how governments (not necessarily just the USA) makes for great discussion topics.

How governments work

Agreed

At least there's a paper trail, unlike with electronic voting machines.

I don't know who posted it or where I even saw it, but I saw a meme a few days ago that encouraged people to mail $5000 cash to themselves. If you aren't confident enough in the mail system to do that, then you shouldn't be confident enough to mail in your vote either. That's pretty much how I feel about it. I'll be going in person this year...

Possibly, mail-in or online voting could be made to work someday. We file, for example, tax returns and census forms online. But not THIS election. There isn't enough time to devise a system that can count the votes promptly and accurately. And sometimes systems that took several years and millions of dollars to develop still stumble out of the starting gate and/or get hacked. People who say we need to do it this election are, at this time, either ignorant or have nefarious intent.

scar just went took dos words out my mouth.

It's a terrible idea. See: Paterson, NJ. That's all anyone needs to know.

National elections are enormous logistical undertakings involving thousands of local election authorities. The Covid pandemic makes this logistical feat even trickier. We take elections for granted and don’t really think about what it takes to pull them off, but we are sleepwalking into a crisis this November.

Mail-in ballots would take pressure off of the polling sites on Election Day. And effectively restore the franchise to old, disabled, and otherwise immunocomprised citizens who likely would not otherwise turn up to vote on Election Day since they’d be risking their lives to do so.

We’ve done mail-in ballots for decades without issue. They’re called absentee ballots. No President has ever called this process into question until now.

Yet Trump is cutting USPS funding, installed an incompetent crony as Postmaster General, and is insistently downtalking the idea of mail-in voting.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/26/opinion/louis-dejoy-must-resign-now/%3foutputType=amp

Trump’s using his office to cast serious doubt upon the integrity of this upcoming election. And being a hypocrite to boot, because he and the First Lady requested mail-in ballots in Florida. (Florida of “hanging-chad“ fame for those who remember the narrow 2000 election.)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/criticizing-voting-mail-trump-lady-request-mail-ballots/story%3fid=72371423

Simply put, if mail-in voting is good enough for Trump and Melania, it’s good enough for every citizen in the U.S.

The peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of any real democracy, and it’s currently being threatened like never before in my lifetime.

Trump *won* the 2016 election and still self-servingly tweeted about winning the popular vote if 3 million(!) illegal votes were deducted. That claim has yet to be substantiated. And never will, because even if voter fraud happens, it’s at nowhere near that scale.

What is Trump prepared to say if he loses?

Biden better win by a large enough margin that there can’t be any serious doubt about the outcome.

Or, Trump wins by a thumping margin, although polls don’t suggest there’s any chance of that happening.

A super-close election could tear our deeply polarized country apart.