Poe Dameron Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 And it turns out to be only close by Montana standards. I've never liked the concept of early voting. It doesn't seem to increase turnout, but does allow parties to target the most obviously partisan voters (if you're not on either a Democrat or Republican list of likely voting for them, they don't try as hard to get you out there). Mostly, I don't believe it's fair that voters turn in their ballot before election day. The whole point of running an election is to actually, y'know, try to convince people to vote for you. Well, how can you do that if the person's already voted and even if you do persuade them, it doesn't matter anymore. Here we've got one heck of an "October surprise" in Montana where you can only describe the situation as the guy snapping over what seems a mild annoyance, but it was too late for the two-thirds of voters who already cast their ballot for someone who is so bad at handling pressure that he self-sabotages the night before the biggest day of his professional life. Not that any of this matters. Anymore, early voting and voter registration laws can only go in one direction, more permissive. Any restrictions end up in court and lose more than half the time because minorities, disparate impact, something or other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc DuQuesne Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 I'm not convinced early voting made any difference. Body slamming reporters is the new baby kissing in Montana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Even if there was no early voting, I don't know that it would have made a difference at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 Their ads were hilarious. Montana... I like early voting until they can come up with a better way to vote. I don't wanna stand in line on the one and only election day for a billion hours because of all the voters in my county showing up at the library that is the only polling place available and my twenty pieces of voter ID are checked. It's bad enough that there are signs EVERYwhere screaming the names of unknown candidates for Justice of the Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted May 26, 2017 Share Posted May 26, 2017 I don't see how this one incident, no matter how fucked up it was, should ruin it for everyone. I don't know if early voting was meant to increase turn out more than it was meant to take pressure off of voting sites on election day. Besides as has been said already I don't think it would have made a difference. If you're voting early, you probably already have your mind made up and aren't going to change it because of something like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest El Chalupacabra Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 Agreed. If anything, i think this is a case for moving to online voting, where you can change your vote up until the polls close on voting day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poe Dameron Posted May 27, 2017 Author Share Posted May 27, 2017 I don't see how this one incident, no matter how ****ed up it was, should ruin it for everyone. It's an extreme case that demonstrates the basic problem. If people vote before the campaign is over, then you can't, by definition, have a completely informed electorate. Last year voting literally began before the presidential debates even happened in several states. At the very least, you always owe it to the candidate to try and persuade you, even if you can't be persuaded. It's not a matter of "ruin it for everyone". Things are already ruined by virtue of having early voting at all. The Montana situation simply shines a light that 2/3 of voters in that state were unaware that one of the candidates was to random rage even though if they had been forced to wait as they should, they could have been informed. Perhaps it wouldn't have made a difference. Frankly, I do not believe it. It takes less than you think for leads to disappear. The margin of victory in this case was only 3 in 100 voters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 Agreed. If anything, i think this is a case for moving to online voting, where you can change your vote up until the polls close on voting day.Your just asking for Russian hacking aren't you lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 I don't see how this one incident, no matter how ****ed up it was, should ruin it for everyone. It's an extreme case that demonstrates the basic problem. If people vote before the campaign is over, then you can't, by definition, have a completely informed electorate. Last year voting literally began before the presidential debates even happened in several states. At the very least, you always owe it to the candidate to try and persuade you, even if you can't be persuaded. It's not a matter of "ruin it for everyone". Things are already ruined by virtue of having early voting at all. The Montana situation simply shines a light that 2/3 of voters in that state were unaware that one of the candidates was to random rage even though if they had been forced to wait as they should, they could have been informed. Perhaps it wouldn't have made a difference. Frankly, I do not believe it. It takes less than you think for leads to disappear. The margin of victory in this case was only 3 in 100 voters.Early voting here was Oct 24- Nov 5. The election was May 8th. Most people have their minds made up. If you don't, then go on election day and wait in line for over an hour, two hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryn Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 I like the convenience. If shit goes down with a candidate, I own up to the early mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest El Chalupacabra Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Agreed. If anything, i think this is a case for moving to online voting, where you can change your vote up until the polls close on voting day.Your just asking for Russian hacking aren't you lol. I mean if survey monkey can figure it out, why can't the government. LOL! And let's be real. It's not as if voting machines aren't already hacked, people don't use fake IDs to vote, or most importantly, mail in ballots aren't susceptible to fraud (or are counted for that matter). Instead of mailing ballots, it's possible to mail a code to log in with to vote online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poe Dameron Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 It's not as if voting machines aren't already hacked, people don't use fake IDs to vote Emphasis mine. Pfft, you tell that to any Democrat these days and they go into seizures about how it absolutely doesn't happen and any contrary view is a racist conspiracy to deny black people the vote because the woke avengers insist black people don't understand the concept of ID or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Jesus. What dude with a fake ID wants to vote? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts