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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 6, 2023 16:58:30 GMT -5
But still.... it was a bad time to try to grab my phone and photograph the early/absentee voting location this afternoon. I have never seen so many signs per square inch in my en-tar life. If you haven't heard; The local politics here are as absolutely bonkers as the idiots running for office. There were once again fake sample ballots being handed out at the Mr. Ignoratio has been removed from eligibility, yet there they are, ready to bombard you with bullshit in the flesh.
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Post by minx on Oct 7, 2023 11:31:38 GMT -5
Well, it worked for his buddy Nick Frietas - won on write-in ballots, so why should Ignorance be any different. As I recall, Frietas and his followers sat at the polls and handed out pieces of paper explaining how to write his name in and had the spelling in all caps so you couldn't accidentally misspell it. I honestly wish we could ban campaigners from standing outside the polls entirely - maybe allow them to set up tables and thank people for coming in to vote and that's it. The law says that they only have to stay 40 feet away from the door and not chase down or otherwise harass voters. So they can call out to you asking if you want what they're peddling, but they can't block your path, follow you or insult you in you say no. There should be some sort of regulation giving people a clear and unobstructed path into the polling station so they can be completely avoided. Mind you, this in no way is related to poll observers - the people who come inside and watch the process to make sure the poll workers are doing their jobs properly. As long as they follow the rules and law while inside, there can be 50 or more of them as far as I'm concerned - let people see that we're not ripping up their ballots or stuffing the machine when it's slow. In the time I've been a poll worker, I've never seen a poll observer who has to be kicked out (and yes, the chief and assistant chief have the right to kick you out, and you have to be cleared to come in - you can't just walk in and decide to observe - in Stafford you have to be on the registrar's list as approved). All of them have been very quiet and polite. And most of them leave before we close the doors at 7. I guess their afraid of being trapped for hours while we close up That's one of the reasons why I get so pissed off at people who say that they aren't about to take time off of work to run the polls, but feel free to complain about how corrupt the poll workers are - at least in VA, you can come in for as little as 15 minutes to observe, and you are allowed in to observe us set up in the morning and tear down at the end of the day. So anyone who says they can't spare a few minutes to sit and watch can go fuck themselves.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 7, 2023 11:45:17 GMT -5
Here's something I find wrong with the world in general when you apply the principle of it- If you show up to the polling place and you don't know who you are voting for, you are the problem. That said, no number of red signs, blue signs, red tents, blue tents, or lunatic in a clown suit peddling his circus is going to be anyone's deciding factor.
I just do not understand why anyone feels it necessary to install ridiculous, redundant, and in my opinion downright antagonizing signage at every intersection.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 7, 2023 12:23:06 GMT -5
Should have worded that differently as what I meant was that if political signs influence your vote.... just like tv commercials for the candidates that just lie and lie and lie. Come on down to Purvis Ford pur sales team is CRAAAAAZY!
All credit applications Will. Be. Accepted.
Se habla Espanol.
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Post by minx on Oct 8, 2023 9:49:15 GMT -5
I've seen a lot of weird shit since I've been working the polls.
A woman coming in asking if she can vote again because she had the 'wrong' ballot. Republican one rather than Democrat - she was completely voting the sample she was handed 5 minutes before walking in. A man coming in with a Republican sample ballot and bitching because it didn't indicate who to vote for in the county supervisor race - which one was the damn Republican? When we told him that both candidates had not listed a party affiliation, he went batshit crazy - how was he supposed to know who to vote for dammit? And during primaries, the amount of people who freak when we ask what ballot they want to vote on is ridiculous. Are we demanding to know their party affiliation? What are we going to do with this information? Who will see it? The people during the 2020 primaries who were demanding to know why Trump wasn't on the ballot - he's running unopposed - no need for a republican primary. 'What kind of bullshit is this?'
Some people just should not be allowed to vote. Maybe a basic literacy test - can you say your ABCs and count to 10? What is the name of the animal that has four legs and barks? Answer those and we'll let you in. Probably 40% of the population would be eliminated right away.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 8, 2023 12:12:47 GMT -5
God forbid minimally competent adults would bother to have a clue. So, I would actually raise that standard to a basic civics test (pass, you get a voter card. fail, you get all the chances you want to try again) though I can assure you that one side would call it racist, and the other would call it communist. No matter which category you might fall under the facts will all remain when it comes to being mindful when you cast your vote.
As far as the people that vote only for one party but have no idea who their party candidate is, well, that's exactly what VBNMW means, right? I have absolutely shown up at the polls not completely informed and sometimes not at all, about a candidate other than the D by their name, and voted for them. It's easier to justify in this day and age given the establishment extremes in ideology IMO. So no matter what that name is I know that the D represents that ideology. On the other end the guy before me knows it too and may be there only to put a check by all the Rs.
Yes it's a shame, I know.
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Post by k9krap on Oct 8, 2023 16:39:08 GMT -5
And a civics test should be mandatory for anyone running for ANY office, with the results made public.
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Post by minx on Oct 9, 2023 9:07:24 GMT -5
I disagree - the US citizenship test should be mandatory if you want to run - that shit is HARD!
The only reason I'm against civics/literacy tests at the polls is the way they were used in the South during Jim Crow. Whites could get away with reciting the first three letters of the alphabet, while Blacks were told to recite the entire Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. I can see literacy tests easily being distorted again in that manner - less 'educated' areas of the country being forced to recite all the presidents in order, while more affluent people get to say the primary colors.
I say that to vote you have to name at least 2 candidates running on the ballot and the office they want - you don't have to name one from each party, but you do have to name at least two if not three.
So you can say that Twigg is running for school board and Jett is running for county clerk. But you have to say it without visiting the campaign table first!
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 10, 2023 12:07:56 GMT -5
The way something was used should have little to no bearing on how it should be used now. Once upon a time your deed to your property could exempt future buyers based on those same crow laws but we didn't throw out deeds. We made it illegal to have that clause and we carried on.
Remember that my suggestion clearly states "basic" so I'm talking about things we would take from 8th grade textbooks that deal explicitly with non argumentative non controversial subject matter. Political policy questions would not apply, law would. It's really just a step to weed out people with no interest in how democratic societies ours in particular, are operated.
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Post by minx on Oct 10, 2023 12:17:50 GMT -5
I'd agree with, but can't because of gerrymandering and the Republican party as it currently sits at the moment.
If both parties were being fair, then yes it would work. But I can easily see states like Texas or Florida rigging a civics test in an attempt to suppress the vote.
And let's face it. If we required the test before you could check-in, it would be chaos. If we require it at registration, 90% of the people would forget the information the moment they walked out the door with their registration card. Or like most, they still wouldn't give a shit and just show up to vote for whatever they were told to vote for.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 10, 2023 13:12:39 GMT -5
It would be unconstitutional anyway so this is all pie in the sky to begin with. We can make it whatever we want it to be without concern for what the parties would do to fuck it up. 100% both would be interested in tailoring such a qualification to fit their own interests, which is almost always our lack of those qualifications. Since we're just talking smack anyway, I'd be more on-board with making people pass a test before having children. And YES INDEED they would both want a piece of that action too!
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Post by minx on Oct 10, 2023 13:33:40 GMT -5
Hahaha - I totally would have never passed that test!
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 10, 2023 13:52:13 GMT -5
What if it was open book? Work with me, damn.
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Post by minx on Oct 11, 2023 9:26:01 GMT -5
My kids would say open book with the instructor handing me the answers wouldn't have been enough!
Seriously though, I think a mandatory parenting class before getting pregnant would be great, but too many people get pregnant unexpectedly. And you know those unborn lives are more important than any other life on Earth...
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 11, 2023 9:28:28 GMT -5
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Post by minx on Oct 11, 2023 9:38:44 GMT -5
Too little, too late if you ask me.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Oct 11, 2023 11:09:28 GMT -5
Maybe so. I've not attended any of the book burnings.
At least the GOP in VA appears to be rejecting the trumpanzees, which is who runs that scam cited in the article. They pulled their endorsements of some and falt out kicked others out of the party. It's not enough to change my mind about the party, not even a scratch really, but it's nice to see there's enough liberal constituency in the state where they want to keep extremists and trumpanzees off the ballot or they risk turning the state bright blue again. That wave at least appears to be leveling out.
I can disagree with the person on policy but I wholly reject every person that works off the big lie, and extremist ideology that runs counter to liberty for all.
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Post by minx on Oct 13, 2023 10:32:15 GMT -5
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