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Post by willowgirl on Oct 11, 2020 13:01:05 GMT
This one slipped past me in the news cycle ... TIL that PA county election officials will not be able to challenge mail-in ballots whose signatures don't match the ones on file. This is in accordance with guidance issued by the PA Dept. of State in September.
Unfortunately, under the old rules, there was no provisionary ballot procedure giving people a chance to rectify the discrepany and have their vote counted. The questionable ballots were simply thrown out.
However, under the new rules, there are no safeguards to prevent fraud! Every ballot is presumed to be valid even if the signatures don't match, so if you can get your hands on someone else's ballot, you can use it to vote for the candidate of your choice, with little fear of reprisal.
I think the old rules may have posed something of a deterrent. Say you're a group home operator and you fraudulently cast ballots for all of the people in your care. If all were red-flagged, an election official might have noticed the discrepancy (multiple ballots from the same address with questionable signatures) and launched a fraud investigation. Under the new rules, that would be unlikely.
So ... game on!
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Post by Jolly on Oct 11, 2020 13:07:20 GMT
Can't see this holding up in court.
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Post by Thtwudbeme on Oct 11, 2020 13:11:36 GMT
Soon I expect to see an argument made for accepting a ballot with no signature.
It will be along the lines of "requiring a signature implies that the voter just happens to have a pen lying around the house waiting to be used. This discriminatory belief will no longer be tolerated."
And the MSM will all too quickly agree...
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 11, 2020 13:18:33 GMT
Can't see this holding up in court. I'm not sure there is any legal challenge to it.
Several entities had sought to have better guidelines, but dropped their lawsuits after this ruling came out.
I'll have to Google further to see if anyone is challenging it ...
Having Googled, it seems both parties are much more preoccupied with a state supreme court ruling that would in effect allow people to cast ballots for three days following election day. No one seems too worried about the change outlined above.
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Post by Jolly on Oct 11, 2020 13:19:04 GMT
And yet, we worry about election fraud in other countries, making sure they use paper ballots with no mail-in ballots, as we closely monitor the polling places and provide indelible ink to dye voter's thumbs.
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 11, 2020 13:27:55 GMT
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Post by DEKE on Oct 12, 2020 0:14:14 GMT
I have difficulty holding a pen, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. My sig is never the same twice, so I wouldn't want my vote taken away because my handwriting was particularly bad that day. However, there's a solution. Go to the precinct, show state issued ID, vote. Problem solved.
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Post by sawmilljim on Oct 12, 2020 0:22:16 GMT
I have difficulty holding a pen, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. My sig is never the same twice, so I wouldn't want my vote taken away because my handwriting was particularly bad that day. However, there's a solution. Go to the precinct, show state issued ID, vote. Problem solved. Here to combat and further hinder voting they are consolidating the voting places. What was once a short wait will become long and slow for many. Those with ailments most likely just not wait in bad weather especially. |
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 12, 2020 1:25:54 GMT
I don't like these tactics either but I think the best way to defeat them is to NOT LET THEM WORK! When they fail to suppress the vote, maybe they'll be abandoned.
I remember reading how the state of GA some years ago adopted some tactics intended to suppress the black vote (I believe it was a voter I.D. measure). Well, SURPRISE, SURPRISE -- the number of black voters actually increased in the next election! Evidently people were angry enough that they made an extra effort to get to the polls. That's the way to fight this nonsense IMO.
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 12, 2020 1:28:53 GMT
I have difficulty holding a pen, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. My sig is never the same twice, so I wouldn't want my vote taken away because my handwriting was particularly bad that day. However, there's a solution. Go to the precinct, show state issued ID, vote. Problem solved. In some places, if signatures don't match, the vote is considered provisional and the voter is given a chance to come in and confirm their identity. (And of course, that's only necessary if there are enough provisional votes to swing the outcome of the election, which I'd guess doesn't happen in most cases.)
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Post by themotherhen on Oct 12, 2020 3:03:28 GMT
What if Trump wins by a landslide, a la Reagan? 49/50 states?
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 12, 2020 12:03:06 GMT
I doubt that's going to happen. I'm seeing MANY more Biden signs this year than I EVER saw for Hillary, and this is in an area where fracking (which Biden has stated he'll end) is crucial to the region's future. If Trump is struggling here in western PA, he's gonna have an even harder time elsewhere.
I don't like to be a pessimist but I think the odds are better than 50/50 that we'll have a Democratic administration soon. Just be glad it's not Warren or Sanders!
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Post by Thtwudbeme on Oct 12, 2020 12:32:15 GMT
And you don't think that Warren and Sanders will not being pulling Biden by his tallywag into whatever political direction they want him to go?
If Biden kicks the bucket they will have a ready and willing partner in Harris. No need for pulling, pushing or prodding.
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 20, 2020 12:56:16 GMT
SCOTUS upheld a PA Supreme Court ruling that requires ballots received up to 3 days after election day to be counted. This includes ballots that aren't postmarked or have an illegible postmark.
Live in PA? Forgot to vote? Didn't like the outcome of the election? You can still vote to swing it providing you drive to your county clerk's office and throw your ballot on the counter with the rest of the mail ...
SMH.
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Oct 20, 2020 13:43:11 GMT
willowgirl , I read yesterday 334,000 ballot requests were thrown out for being duplicates in PA. Is that correct?
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