The final presidential...
The final presidential debate last week in the US prompted a substantial increase of people asking the question of “Can I change my vote?” in the popular internet search engine Google.
To me that’s one of the most ridiculous question a person could ask on Google. Everyone knows, or should know, that you can in fact change your vote for president but involves a little time delay; four years. Has the public education system gotten so bad in teaching about elections, government, and civic duties that people have to ask that question?
Well actually what I said up till now in this Dash isn’t entirely true.
It’s true that more people are asking that question; and in 46 of the states it is true you can’t change your vote once it has been cast. Four states actually will allow you to cancel your vote but only if you voted “absentee’ with a mail in ballot. That original ballot is deemed “spoiled” and the voter can be sent a new ballot to cast as long as it is received within the time limits.
Evidently that last....
Evidently that last presidential debate has people wanting to change their vote in some cases. The questions that people should be asking is why in the hell are debates even being conducted once the first vote is cast in the presidential election. I have my own thoughts on that which I’d like to share with you.
First of all...
First of all my thoughts are that we have totally screwed up the election process in this country by having such lengthy time periods for “early voting”. Anyone care to guess just how long that time period is before I tell you?
The amount of time varies from state to state but the maximum amount of time allowed for early voting is 55 days prior to Election Day. Folks that is just too much time in my opinion, no matter what the reasoning is for it.
A whole hell of lot can happen in 55 days leading up to an election day, not to mention that those cast votes need to kept secure until Election Day before those votes are to be counted.
I can think of plenty of things that could happen in that time period that could lead to those votes being lost or destroyed; maybe even changed by some hacking of the computer system.
Not all states...
Not all states offer early voting in the United States, it has to do with something called “state rights”. The citizens of the states decide by voting on whether or not a state will offer early voting and what that time period will be.
Another problem with....
Another problem with the debates are the citizens themselves. Attention span is lacking in people and seems to be decreasing year after year and I don’t mean with the elderly folks.
If the debates were all held prior to the first vote being cast in this country I’d guess that most people couldn’t even recall what month the debates were held in let alone what the substance of the debate was about.
Here in Texas...
Here in Texas I have a feeling that some people who voted early experienced a rude awakening and others will on Election Day.
In years past a person could vote a “straight party ticket” but that option no longer exists. Voters have to cast a vote in each separate race which can take some time to go through the entire ballot depending on how many local elections there are. It would be interesting to know how many ballots are left blank once the vote is cast in the presidential race.
That scenario could lead to some vote fraud in itself if someone was to fill in some votes during the counting of the ballots, couldn’t it?
Local elections have...
Local elections have and do play an important role in your everyday life more than the national elections in my opinion. I think this COVID19 lock down we’ve experienced this year is proof enough for that statement I made.
I think I’ve expressed enough for one day; I don’t desire to test your attention span any longer than needed.
Have a great week friend and thank you for taking the time to read this Dash.
Until next time,
Sult
Don't forget; if you want your very own ‘Vote Guzbuck in 2020" t shirt or your own “Guzbuck..I’m good.” coffee mug then check out the guzbuck_shop here.
Well, I have voted. Much earlier than normal for me, but as I was basically voting to throw the bastards out nothing much could change in the 10 days I allowed for my ballot to make the torturous 20 mile journey to the County Recorder's office. 2 miles per day? I could walk it there and back in time to get the election results pretty easy.
Early voting is a travesty, partially necessitated by the fact that election day is not a holiday. Here in AZ if everybody voted in person it would result in LONG lines due to the closing of 80% of the poling places in a 'cost cutting' measure. Urrrrrgggghhhh.
I wonder what the % of people will use 'I forgot' on Novemeber 4th? Another can of worms that I probably don't need to open.
That can of worms probably should be opened which would help strengthen my point on attention span. Closing 80% of the poling locations in a cost "cutting measure" sounds like a move to suppress the vote or to increase the mail in ballots which would be easier to manipulate the outcome. Sounds pretty "fishy" to me. The county couldn't find somewhere else in the budget to cut expenses? Might be time to look into local finances?
The results of this election may not be known until after the turkey is carved so you could have walked in your vote and took a three week vacation and be back in time for the results.
Thanks for the read, support and comment. Most of all thanks for exercising the vote,
Sult
It's state wide, and no question in my mind an effort to restrict the vote. Yuma actually is not too bad because at the same time as the precincts were closed they made voting at any poling place legal and if there is a long line at the Library I can go 5 miles to the next poling place. Maricopa county (Phoenix) is just awful, and Pinal (Tucson) isn't much better.
I'll check tomorrow to see if my ballot is in. The early ballots in AZ are counted day of the election so we should at least have a 'trend line' within an hour of the polls closing.
With the amount of heavy absentee voting taking place around different states some news is saying that they might be able declare states won or lost in a matter of an hour or two of the poles closing and not just getting a trend line. I guess there is quite a bit of interest in this election for sure, especially the so called battleground states.
I heard on NPR today that as of 0800 this morning Arizona had a 34% voter turnout. That's 8 days before the election! If it just doubles by the end of election day it will be considered a significantly large turnout. And over half the votes will be counted by the time the polls close.