Voting By Mail and Boaty McBoatface

Does anyone recall the online poll for the naming of a research ship that went viral. Instead of being something inspiring the top name ended up being Boaty McBoatface. Think they threw out the name but still, all it took was a bunch of people goofing off to screw up the process.

I started thinking about this recent topic of vote by mail and I could totally see something like this happening. Millions of disgruntled voters or, voters who just don't care but since voting is so easy they converge on social media and decide to write in someone ridiculous. Maybe they all agree to write in TIm and Eric and Tim and Eric play along. Say they get 10 million votes or something stupid. They don't win but they end up getting Federal Funding for a new party and end up screwing up the whole process.

I know this sounds impossible but I'm not so certain. In this day and age of millionaires being made of people doing nothing but making trick shot videos I could totally see it. Just think of all the exposure, clicks. The money would start piling up. They go viral and people start sending in their mail ballots in the millions just to screw the system.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

Voting by mail worries me for many reasons including stuffing envelopes. Everyone knows the federal presidential election is held on the first Tuesday after November 1st, and if you do not, then you should not be allowed to vote because you are completely uninformed. There is absolutely no reason you cannot plan around the election that happens once every 4 years on a very specific day unless you are in the military serving overseas. I had this discussion with a friend recently who brought up that people could be traveling for business. To that I repeat that they have 4 years to plan a business trip around one specific day, and the number of votes for those traveling overseas for business would be largely insignificant, but if they must they could vote at the consulate, in person. In short, absentee ballots as they already exist are very accommodating for those who cannot vote in person. Vote by mail is proposed under the auspices of protecting against the spread of a not particularly deadly virus but in reality is likely a scheme for more voter fraud.

We've been voting by mail for years in Colorado and there hasn't been any voting related issues around it.

Political fraud and malfeasance in some of the chuckle heads we elect? Sure, but not in the system.

That said, getting the other 48 states who don't currently do online only voting geared up in time for this election, even if there wasn't any opposition? Impossible (given the timeline involved).

It concerns me. Not only fraud, but as you stated, people who really should not be voting period because they don't take it serious. In Broward county they had something like 50K plus sham ballots with stuff written in there like Mickey Mouse.

It makes a mockery out of voting and it's expensive mailing out that many ballots and then trying to verify them which can't be done other than a small fraction. It leaves the risk of fraud wide open. Anyone advocating for mail in exclusively has other nefarious reasons other than a virus.

Start asking questions like last time and look what happened. They refused to look into real concerns when irregularities started to surface they shutdown the whole verifying operation and refused to cooperate anymore.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

They could do the same thing by voting at a polling place. How does voting by mail change this at all?

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Can't write in Mickey Mouse on the ballot maybe like Broward County. And thousands of voters don't show up to the polling station after it closes. See this all the time with ballots. Forgotten boxes showing up after the polls close. Those ballots should have been counted beforehand. After the fact gives the ability to change the results.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

They could, but most won't bother to show up for that.

a reply to: ketsuko

And you think the people that wouldn't show up to vote in person will request a mail-in ballot?

That would be epic.... I want vote by mail if that is a real possible outcome.

When people die they aren't auto removed from anything. My father died recently and we had to manually show state agencies the death certificate to have him removed from DL records, tax records and voting records.

If I don't do that nothing is stopping me from filling out an ballot in his name. If people can't see that as a problem they don't want to see it as a problem.

I have been voting by mail in/absentee ballot for the past 20 years. Being able to look up all the judge choices while with the ballet makes it convenient.

People act like this hasn't been happening for a long time. I know ballot fraud happens from both sides. Leslie McCrae Dowless was the latest one I heard about doing it and shocker he wasn't a DEM. Thing is, all those complaining about it now when we are dealing with a pandemic and it makes sense to avoid crowds have me puzzled when it wasn't a problem before.

Whole shipment of votes from a Conservative district? Ooops we lost those and found them two days after the election. Sorry your votes don't count and your candidate lost by a few thousand.

Storage unit full of Democrat votes was found just before the deadline, what a miracle!

After what happened in Broward county there is no way under the current process I would ever want that as the norm. Boxes and boxes showing up late, left in cars, hallways. I think they thought they had it but was not expecting it to be that close and panicked at the end. Last I read it was 50K plus fraud ballots. That is massive fraud. Glad they got busted.

I do believe there is a way to do it but it will involve fingerprints. Prints are taken online and entered in the national database then a ballot is sent. It would eliminate much of the fraud.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Have you talked with people on social media? Of course they would, this is a minimum effort sort of thing. Set up a small social media campaign with some backing and congrats you have quite a few folks voting for an I.P. Freely, or some other ridiculous made up name.

originally posted by: Stupidsecrets
They don't win but they end up getting Federal Funding for a new party and end up screwing up the whole process.

You say this like it's a bad thing.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

Considering the USPS is under serious threat of going under, it may be UPS or Fedex handling all the ballots...and they don't have any oversight. They can do what they want with the parcels they handle.

a reply to: MotherMayEye

Why would anyone want a bankrupt agency in charge of our election process. Forget Russia. We would be interfering in our own election. Self inflicted.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

It's not a problem in Colorado. Voter rolls are cross reff'ed against the national change of address database and the DMV. They are examined against the social security index to check for dead voters and the signature is checked against the signature in the state voting database by a team of bipartisan judges.

It can be done right and be secure. None of these systems can be put into place in states that don't already do it before the election so the point is moot.

www.5280.com...

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

They don't win but they end up getting Federal Funding for a new party and end up screwing up the whole process.

and as a Libertarian,

I would welcome another party, federally funded just like the R and Ds.

I always vote absentee by mail. Some of us have to work for a living and it's very inconvenient or impossible to get time off to vote especially when working out of state. I pay a lot of taxes to have my voting privileges taken away.

a reply to: 0zzymand0s

There has been voter fraud in colorado in the past 6 years on several occasions which people are serving senteces for at this time. There is a new and current investigation of fraud in colorado. Both instances involve the GOP. It doesnt matter which party commits the fraud -- i am against it. The mail system is ripe for abuse. It could be stuffing envelopes for voters who did not submit a ballot. It could be shredding ballots or simply not delivering the mail cuz the carrier saw a political sign in their yard. It can occur in processing the balllots or in the mail delivery system. I prefer to vote in person. That is the only way to be certain your vote is counted.