The GOP just won their case in the PA Supreme Court to not count “naked” ballots, that is, ballots returned in the mailing envelope that has the voter’s identification instead of first being placed in the “security” envelope. So it is a near certainty that some ballots will be set aside for that reason. That is what the GOP wanted, hoping that most uncounted ballots would be for Biden. If as was suggested, the electons staff inadvertently opened a ballot thinking it was an application and found an unsecured ballot, they would be obligated to set it aside as being invalid (but not to put it in a dumpster). It is inconceivable that having opened a ballot envelope in error, that they would then open the security envelope as well to reveal the ballot. That is why I think they were “naked” (and thus uncountable) ballots. I would hope that the protocol was to sequester such ballots in a secured location, keep a record, and to inform the voter of the uncounted status of their ballot and why.
As a side note, every election, we receive quite a few mail in ballots from the PREVIOUS election. I am in fact, 99% sure there will be ballots received here from the 2016 election as well
Voters do strange things.
I voted by mail in Pennsylvania’s primary. The instructions for how to use the “security envelope” were clear and easy to follow. I was then able to follow the process and journey of my ballot online.
If the voter did not follow the instructions (though, we do not know if that happened in this case), I have no problem believing that the voter was a Trump supporter.
The first thing I thought of when reading this was how was there even time for this to happen? I wasn’t aware the ballots had even been mailed out. I thought that PA Supreme court ruling that booted the Green Party off the ballot happened not that long ago, so are the ballots even ready to go out? I applied for a mail in ballot and I know it hasn’t been mailed out. I can understand military getting them first, but I think they released this fraud too soon. whoopsies.
Dat possible too. “We’ll have to see what happens.”
Even if these are real discarded ballots, this is still not proof in any way that the Democratic Party is responsible.
The expression on that unicorn’s face is surprise, as in “I thought the COVID swab was nasal”
I’m thinking Thermopylae is a good example of that.
Our inherent weaknesses are also putting us at risk. I’ll stick with the analogies from antiquity and ask, what is our most obvious Achilles Heel, do you suppose?
As much of a student of ancient histories and the human condition as I am…I find it very hard to draw corrolaries.
We just didn’t have as many people, we didn’t have the size issues (geography) or masses of bodies, and the biggie…means of mass communication and mass disinformation/brainwashing. I don’t even mean actively trying to condition people for one team or another…I think our mass media is most guilty of just plain malaise. Indifference. Not Knowing is Better! Let’s just watch Seinfeld! Everything is OK and here are the hot new products/bands/Kardashians blah blah that you should pay attention to…
I know there have been big empires before…but the challenge was being able to communicate well enough to keep the Admin and Army informed while dealing with real, natural obstacles. We now face an opposite dilemma…mass coast-to-coast instant disinformation to the people…with the ability to warp/hide/alter reality.
Humans can deal with warlords, brute force, monarchies. We are basically cave-men. But our lives are way-too dominated by work, vast issues, global problems, colossal forces of commerce using media subjugation…we have pole-vaulted way past all our old shortcomings into a techno-morass that just defies description and that none of us are built to deal with.
But to answer your question about our Achilles Heel? Brainwashed, brain-dead, mind-controlled citizenry who will light themselves on fire for the dumbest reasons and the worst masters. NFL teams and Chump? Not gonna look good on our resume. I said something about 1 Traitor is all it takes, we have 65 million who will appear ANYWHERE in the blink of an eye, to erase evidence, to shoot bullets at kids, hide ballots, destroy ballots, help Rs break every law and make sure no consequences happen to the guilty. What can you do, when so many people are bent on their own destruction in the name of destroying YOU?
This is completely different from the hogwash postcard the USPS sent out to millions of people. I received one of those here in Idaho and it was wrong on at least two points re: absentee/VBM voting in Idaho. Straight up misinformation. Is it possible that charges could be brought for that?
Glad to see CA doing it right…
Don’t send a “naked ballot”!
The top election official in Philadelphia is warning that a minor technicality in a new state Supreme Court ruling could cause as many as 100,000 mailed ballots to be rejected statewide in the November election, a potentially significant statistic for a state that President Trump won by about 44,000 votes in 2016.
Lisa Deeley, the Democratic chairwoman of Philadelphia’s election board, warned in a letter to lawmakers this week that the court’s requirement of an additional envelope for voters to mail back with their ballots could disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters in her city and many more statewide.
At issue is the use of “secrecy envelopes,” which are designed to protect the privacy of the voter. A voter returning an absentee ballot must insert the ballot into the secrecy envelope, and then insert that envelope into a larger envelope that carries the mailing address and postage.
There used to be more uncertainty about the reliability of overseas mail delivery overseas. So they got extra time.
It bothers me no end that if a person decides they don’t care about the secrecy (or simply screw up and don’t use it), that it should automatically invalidate their vote. That’s fucking ludicrous…
Why they would invalidate ballots on that basis is beyond me. It’s stupid.
Other states have similar rules, according to this website:
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vopp-table-13-states-that-are-required-to-provide-secrecy-sleeves-for-absentee-mail-ballots.aspx
Alaska
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Kentucky
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Texas
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Here’s a fine example:
“Because we can”…?
Yep. That’s f’n terrifying. A man who first agitates, then kills two protestors in cold blood, is praised as some kind of hero. Malkin is pure venom. Her hashtags are curious. “#Fightback”? Wait, if you are the one starting the fight, what are you fighting back against exactly…?
These people have gone beyond Orwell and sunk into a kind of mass insanity… down isn’t even up anymore. Down is Cheeseburger, and Up is Mickey Mouse and Blue is Sahara Sand and… just keep adding randomly generated associations…
Ludicrous, but terrifying how many people are embracing this, and QAnon, and OMG, wtf? Seriously…
So, I’m assuming that thing works by sticking one lead in your mouth and the other one in your keyboard?