I voted yesterday... No Political statements just asking about the method you chose on casting your ballot.

[JimMIA]

As far as checking to make sure you haven't messed it up well they can't do that in my area. There's a sealed privacy flap......for a reason. I wouldn't want them to unseal it right then and there. They stay sealed, and then are transported to a locked room where they are only opened when they are processing them.

Here they check to see that you have signed the envelope, and that you have put your contact info on the envelope in case there is a problem with signature verification.

If you are dropping off your own ballot, they check ID as they would if you were voting in person, and stamp "SELF" on the envelope, verifying that your identity was confirmed.

As I said above, the envelope is NOT opened. They examine the envelope only, not the actual ballot.

 

[EACarlson]

It should be a national holiday. Period.

Why? Less than half of eligible voters vote, most states require employers to give employees time off to vote. In my state it is three hours. Making it a national holiday would mean that there is no mail service, so absentee ballots couldn't get to the polling places. Many polling places are in government buildings, which would be closed and holiday pay would have to be given to all workers necessary for the function of the election.

 

[easyas123]

Why? Less than half of eligible voters vote, most states require employers to give employees time off to vote. In my state it is three hours. Making it a national holiday would mean that there is no mail service, so absentee ballots couldn't get to the polling places. Many polling places are in government buildings, which would be closed and holiday pay would have to be given to all workers necessary for the function of the election.

Plus, with the early voting and mail in voting these days, no one NEEDS a half of a day or more to go thru the process.
I've always just voted on my way home from work or at lunch, although I'm fortunate in that I live in a rural area and I don't usually have to wait. If I did live in a more urban area with long wait times I'd adjust how I do it.

 

[Moliphino]

Here they check to see that you have signed the envelope, and that you have put your contact info on the envelope in case there is a problem with signature verification.

If you are dropping off your own ballot, they check ID as they would if you were voting in person, and stamp "SELF" on the envelope, verifying that your identity was confirmed.

As I said above, the envelope is NOT opened. They examine the envelope only, not the actual ballot.

They don't even check ID for in person voting here. Give your name and address and they check you off a list.

 

[JimMIA]

It should be a national holiday. Period.

I think there are a variety of ways to make voting easier and more accessible.

To me, early voting is the easiest and most comprehensive way. In my county, we have two weeks -- seven days per week, 7A-7P, of early voting. AND mail voting. AND dropping off mail ballots at early voting sites.

Anybody in my county who doesn't vote simply chooses not to vote, which is their right. But there are no impediments to anyone voting.

A few states have 100% mail voting. No excuses there.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Here they check to see that you have signed the envelope, and that you have put your contact info on the envelope in case there is a problem with signature verification.

If you are dropping off your own ballot, they check ID as they would if you were voting in person, and stamp "SELF" on the envelope, verifying that your identity was confirmed.

As I said above, the envelope is NOT opened. They examine the envelope only, not the actual ballot.

The signed part is under the privacy flap in my area. You write your address as well. As far as contact information I do remember putting in my e-mail address but that was on the application for mailed ballot.

Like I said the other day in my comment: "we have to tear off the privacy flap on each one of these envelopes. That is a manual, one by one process, Then it goes into data entry where it has to be looked up one at a time. To compare the signature and everything on the envelope.”

 

[bcla]

An unattended ballot drop box should be no different than an unattended USPS drop box, either were acceptable for submitting my mail in ballot. My drop box was at town hall, right next to the fire department. I hope nobody would be dumb enough to start a fire there.

There have been some reports of someone tossing a flaming object into the boxes. At least here in California, best practices (maybe even a requirement) are for a rigid, narrow slot. I suppose it makes it harder to toss in a larger object that's on fire or maybe a Molotov cocktail. So no repurposing surplus USPS mailboxes.

Some are at indoor locations with limited hours. Not sure if they would have a fire extinguisher nearby. I've heard that some of the 24/7 drop boxes have automated fire suppression systems. It might create a mess, but they would likely stop them before the ballot are damaged beyond recognition.

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article246582763.html​

In Ada County, ballot drop boxes have a fire-suppression system designed to prevent exactly that kind of problem. They’re also monitored by cameras 24 hours a day, Chelsea Carattini, spokesperson for the Ada County elections office, told the Statesman.​

​

“We have installed two fire suppression devices in each drop box,” she said. “The device triggers a fuse that suppresses fire when it comes into contact with a flame.”​

That article references this one:

https://crosscut.com/2019/10/these-ballot-boxes-keep-your-vote-safe-fire-rain-and-rampaging-suvs​

Yet even some counties that employ different types of ballot boxes have borrowed other security ideas from Pierce County. One of those was using chemical fire suppressants inside the drop boxes to ensure ballots don’t go up in flames.​

​

Anderson said firefighters in Pierce County helped put the fire suppression system to the test, tossing lit cigarettes inside, as well as pouring in gasoline and lighting a match. While a couple of the test ballots got singed in the process, they were still legible.​

​

Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire said he initially tried to crawl inside the county’s ballot boxes to install the fire-suppression system, but had to find another, smaller volunteer to do the job. (“Drop boxes are not designed for full-sized human beings to climb inside,” he recently said of that effort.)​

 

[bcla]

I think it's a multi-faceted problem. Yes, there are morons and criminals who would like to interfere with voting -- but why enable them? Why set up unattended drop-boxes?

In my county, we have 33 early voting sites, and each one of those has an attended drop box. You go up and hand your sealed mail ballot to the poll worker. They check to be sure you haven't messed things up, and deposit the envelope (unopened) into the box. At the end of the day, the box is taken inside (most of our early voting sites are libraries), the ballots are removed and secured.

Facilitating mail voting and early voting ain't rocket science!

Like almost anything, there's a balance between convenience and security. USPS mailboxes can certainly be tampered with, but that doesn't stop people from using them to mail payments. Heck - someone could even set indoor drop location on fire - maybe with a timing delay to reduce the chance of detection.

 

[Disney and the Dude]

Florida here. The wife and I voted after work on Friday last week. Took us all of 10 minutes. Crazy, the paper was saying about how there were long lines and hour plus waits. We got off our shift (both of us nurses) drove over and walked in and right back out with no line. So relieving! haha Didn't have to worry about getting the kids late from school.

 

[jrmasm]

Voted early this morning with overcast skies and a chill in the air. Only took 30 minutes which was a big difference from the long lines over the weekend when early voting began.

Philly residents have been having fun with the voting process and I thank them for keeping it joyous

A how to stuff the voting envelopes for mail in ad:

On point entertainment to vote by:

that’s great! Thanks for sharing!

 

[wvjules]

I voted, provisional ballot, today in person. Wait time on the app was 5 minutes. It was NOT 5 minutes. The line was around the building. But we were still in and out in about an hour. I felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself. <3

 

[Minnesota!]

Not a fan of either candidate so sitting this one out.

Hate both candidates, myself. Took a quiz online "who should I vote for". Matched nowhere near either one. Picked the one who had closer to my views. It wasn't close, but I wanted my vote to go towards someone who had a shot. Sorry, Howie Hawkins, it wasn't you this year.

They don't even check ID for in person voting here. Give your name and address and they check you off a list.

Same.

 

[JimMIA]

Like almost anything, there's a balance between convenience and security.

And COST is also a consideration. It costs money to have poll workers watching a drop box. I'm sure they can buy a box and maintain it on a street corner somewhere cheaper than they can staff drop-boxes at polling sites.

And politicians can always find other things they'd rather spend money on than election security, lol.

 

[NotUrsula]

Interesting thread but honestly somewhat unfathomable to those of us outside the US. Question: presuming everything goes exactly as planned with no extenuating circumstances, when will you know who won? Is it all wrapped up on election night (like ours is) or is there a period of days and weeks after the election to tabulate all the various forms of ballots?

Official results usually are submitted about a week after Election Day. (That's something that even the majority of Americans don't know, btw.) Technically, national results could easily change up until that point. In most elections, the press "calls" an apparent winner in the wee hours of election night, but those results are not official.


For anyone who wants answers to "I wonder why ..." questions, I recommend the information posted by the nonprofit https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page

PS: Marketwatch is reporting that the US total early vote count broke 60 million at around noon today (Monday). In some areas the number of early votes cast is now approaching the total turnout from the 2016 election. This is going to be a LONG election night, folks.

 

[JimMIA]

The man who set the ballot dropbox on fire has been arrested by Boston police.

His name is Worldy Armand and he's 39 and from Boston. He has been charged with a couple of arson charges and also had an outstanding warrant for possession of stolen property in an unrelated case.

https://whdh.com/news/boston-man-arrested-for-burning-of-back-bay-ballot-drop-box/
And, not surprisingly perhaps, he's got some other issues.

The Boston DA said: “I do not believe that this individual is plotting against our democracy,” Rollins told reporters in Roxbury, according to audio provided by her office. “I think he is emotionally disturbed, is what I am told."

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/26/metro/man-charged-burning-ballot-box-boston-police-say/

 

[bcla]

And COST is also a consideration. It costs money to have poll workers watching a drop box. I'm sure they can buy a box and maintain it on a street corner somewhere cheaper than they can staff drop-boxes at polling sites.

And politicians can always find other things they'd rather spend money on than election security, lol.

Still depends. Quite a few locations are a indoor locations where there's going to be eyes on it all the time, like a city hall lobby or a library. Sometimes even in a police station.

But the 24/7 locations are universally outdoors. I've heard of a few creative ways this has been done, including at libraries where ballots are dropped in the book return chute.

 

[bcla]

The man who set the ballot dropbox on fire has been arrested by Boston police.

His name is Worldy Armand and he's 39 and from Boston. He has been charged with a couple of arson charges and also had an outstanding warrant for possession of stolen property in an unrelated case.

https://whdh.com/news/boston-man-arrested-for-burning-of-back-bay-ballot-drop-box/
And, not surprisingly perhaps, he's got some other issues.

The Boston DA said: “I do not believe that this individual is plotting against our democracy,” Rollins told reporters in Roxbury, according to audio provided by her office. “I think he is emotionally disturbed, is what I am told."

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/26/metro/man-charged-burning-ballot-box-boston-police-say/

This sounds like a guy who might consider setting a USPS mailbox on fire.

 

[KBoopaloo]

The man who set the ballot dropbox on fire has been arrested by Boston police.

His name is Worldy Armand and he's 39 and from Boston. He has been charged with a couple of arson charges and also had an outstanding warrant for possession of stolen property in an unrelated case.

https://whdh.com/news/boston-man-arrested-for-burning-of-back-bay-ballot-drop-box/
And, not surprisingly perhaps, he's got some other issues.

The Boston DA said: “I do not believe that this individual is plotting against our democracy,” Rollins told reporters in Roxbury, according to audio provided by her office. “I think he is emotionally disturbed, is what I am told."

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/26/metro/man-charged-burning-ballot-box-boston-police-say/

Boston is a small enough city that if you work/commute long enough you become familiar with some of the faces you see around a lot. This is someone I’ve seen around and can confirm he seems to be someone with a lot of struggles. I noticed some other people on Twitter also recognized him right away when the surveillance video was first posted. I definitely don’t think this was politically motivated in any way.

 

[summerlyangel]

DH and I went to vote one day last week in the afternoon. The line was over an hour and we were short on time so we left. Planning to run over tomorrow and will take as much time as needed to get it done.

We're across the state line into South Carolina, the Charlotte Metro region. There are only 3 early voting locations in our entire county of almost 300K people. I'm thrilled to see the lines to vote and hope that we have a record breaking turnout, but they definitely could have used a few more locations or extended hours. I really hope this is a thing that is here to stay, though.

 

[Southernmiss]

Plus, with the early voting and mail in voting these days, no one NEEDS a half of a day or more to go thru the process.
I've always just voted on my way home from work or at lunch, although I'm fortunate in that I live in a rural area and I don't usually have to wait. If I did live in a more urban area with long wait times I'd adjust how I do it.

Absentee voting in our state is limited to those over 65 and those who will be out of town for work or college. Someone like me, does not get to vote absentee or early.

We have to wait in lines on election day.

I hope to either take part of the day off or duck out of work at an off time to vote.