#we do a majority of our voting via mail in ballot here

[darkwood-sleddog]

working with the public or as i like to call it "baby boomer babysitter club"

#not dogs #i'm sorry but i am TIRED of handholding people 65 and older through basic tasks they've been doing my whole life #like paying their taxes BY CHECK #or voting!!! #we do a majority of our voting via mail in ballot here #but that's not something done at a federal level #and the second they can't receive it automatically in their mailbox without making a request #they're like ?????? how??? like um...we've only been voting by mail for 4 years and you're 70 #all you need to do is tell me you want it mailed to you and i got u boo #like please just CALL and ask me if you have a question i'm begging #instead of circulating mass confusion and misinformation in your group of friends as if i don't post at least once a week #direct instructions for what you're looking for

[royaidaydreams]

Double check your state and county’s voting policies

Please, please, please double check your state and county’s voting policies if you live in the U.S. Even if you think you know them, read them again. Lots of political fuckery is occurring to make voting as difficult as possible.

Here’s what happened to me.

Two weeks ago my husband and I, Americans living overseas, requested an absentee ballot to vote in the November midterms. His ballot came back via email immediately, no problem.  Mine ... did not.

Two weeks and TWO absentee ballot requests later, my ballot was also emailed to me. However, my voter registration had been canceled for having “moved out of county.”

This didn’t happen to my husband! He still had his voter registration! Now, I can’t prove why, but I know for a fact the only differences in our paperwork were his (masculine) name and party alignment. He said Independent because his ideology leans farther left than Democratic candidates are willing to vote. I recorded my party as Democrat because I still trusted the integrity of the system wouldn’t try to fuck me over for not voting Republican. I was wrong...

My family disputed the cancellation with the county auditor. I am now re-registered to vote. BUT the auditor informed us our state’s absentee voting laws changed this year and no longer accept emailed ballots from overseas. All civilian ballots must be physically mailed and received before November 2nd.

Our electronic votes would have been ignored without us ever knowing.

So fuck us Americans working on the opposite side of the world, I guess. My husband and I thought we knew what we needed to do in order to vote, but the laws changed since the 2020 election, making it more difficult, almost impossible for us to vote without dropping major money to ship documents across the world.

Moral of the story, triple check your state and county’s voting policies and be vague about your party alignment.

Also, fuck you to the state of Iowa. And the U.S. for limiting its citizens’ right to vote.

[coochiequeens]

Ladies heading off to college, university or study abroad programs: Your vote matters

College students can vote in their home state or in the state they attend college.

Students experiencing homelessness can still cast a ballot.

If you feel your voting rights have been violated, reach out to the Department of Justice.

Be prepared to vote in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections this November.

Today, U.S. colleges and universities enroll around 17 million undergraduates. This population has the power to cast deciding votes in the upcoming 2022 midterm election. Unfortunately, college students often face significant challenges when attempting to vote.

In this guide, we help you navigate the student voting process, going over how to register and cast your vote. You'll also learn how to navigate special voting circumstances, what to do if you feel your voting rights have been violated, and how U.S. midterm and presidential elections work.

How to Vote in College: An Overview

Taking time to register and vote may seem challenging when you're busy attending class and doing homework. However, participating in our country's democratic process is always worth the effort.

To make it easier for students to vote, the government allows learners to submit absentee ballots (also called mail-in and vote-by-mail ballots) if they're registered in their home state and are attending school out of state. This means you don't need to travel to your hometown polling location in order to vote.

Alternatively, if you maintain a permanent or temporary residence in the state where you attend college, you can change your voter registration to that state so you can vote in person. You can update your voter registration via mail, online, at a government facility, or, in some states, over the phone.

Note that registering to vote in more than one state is illegal. You must register in your home state (i.e., where your permanent home is located) or the state where you attend school.

If you're voting in person, make sure you find your designated polling location before Election Day. That way you'll know where to go and won't risk missing the voting deadline due to getting lost. To find your polling place, visit your state's election office website.

You should also familiarize yourself with the candidates running for office and key issues. Many states mail out voter information pamphlets, which provide overviews of all the measures and candidates — including their stances on current issues — that will appear on the ballot.

You can also look up voting information online. Many newspapers offer voting guides ahead of major elections as well.

How to Vote in College When You Have Special Circumstances

Some students have special circumstances that may make voting or registering to vote trickier. Here, we offer guidance on how to navigate a variety of situations so you can participate in elections without issues.

Voting When You're Homeless or Housing Insecure

People experiencing homelessness have the same right to vote as everyone else.

If you don't have a permanent home address, you'll need to put down the address of a homeless shelter, street intersection, or public park as your residence. Some statesmay also require a government-issued photo ID or affidavits certifying your U.S. citizenship.

Voting as a Survivor of Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault

Voter registration data is generally public. In some states, however, only political parties, academic researchers, and journalists can access voters' information.

Many states operate special programs for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors to help keep their residency information private.

Voting With a Disability

Both the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Voting Rights Act (VRA) require polling locations to provide accommodations for voters with disabilities. Specifically, the VRA allows voters with disabilities to select a person to assist them with voting, with some restrictions on who can be selected.

If a polling location does not have adequate access to ramps and accommodations for voters with physical disabilities and mobility impairments, election workers must work to offer alternative means for voting.

For additional information on state policies and laws related to disabilities, refer to the voting resource guides from Nonprofit VOTE and the Election Assistance Commission.

Voting While Under a Conservatorship

In some states, you can still vote even if you're under a legal guardianship or conservatorship, in which someone makes decisions for you. In other states, if you wish to retain your right to vote, you must go to court to have your conservatorship agreement amended.

Often, you can still vote if your conservator is in charge of only certain facets of your care, such as your finances or living arrangements.

Voting While in the Military

Voting while serving abroad works just like voting in college while you're studying abroad. You'll need to fill out a Federal Post Card Application, send it to your local election office, and then cast your vote using your state's absentee or mail-in voting system.

Voting as a Formerly Incarcerated Person

Formerly incarcerated people with misdemeanor convictions retain their right to vote. Different laws apply in regard to felony convictions depending on the state. In Vermont, Maine, and Washington, D.C., you may vote even with a felony conviction.

In some states, you're able to vote as soon as you're released. In other states, you might have to complete a term of probation or parole before you are eligible to vote again.

Finally, in nine states — Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wyoming — convicted felons risk permanently losing their right to vote.

What to Do If Your Voting Rights Have Been Violated

Student voting rights are important. If you think your voting rights have been violated, you can advocate for yourself with the help of voting rights organizations and government officials.

Those who feel they've been unfairly disenfranchised should contact their county clerk's office and the Department of Justice.

If you have a disability, the county clerk will be able to provide voting accommodations for you. They can also give information on how to ensure your vote gets cast and counted.

Advocacy organizations, such as those listed below, can further protect your voting rights and help you find remedies if your rights have been violated.

CountyOffice.org: This website maintains an easy-to-use tool for finding the contact information for your county clerk's office and other relevant government offices.

American Civil Liberties Union: The ACLU is the premier civil rights advocacy organization in the U.S. This group can help you fight for your legal rights as a voter, especially if you've been unjustly disenfranchised.

Election Protection: This site provides in-depth information about what steps to take and whom to contact if your voting rights have been violated.

DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Readers of this website should contact an attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter.

#Election 2022 #voting while in college #Voting while in university

[miggylol]

Ways to help during the election

I’ve seen people wanting to do something more specific and tangible than “spreading awareness.” Here are some targeted things you can do to help as the election approaches. With the exception of #3 in the first section, all of these should be completely free to you.

Democratic Organizing

Text potential Democratic voters to make sure they are registered to vote (and intend to do so) - After you go through an hour-long Zoom training session, you’ll be able to conduct voter outreach via text. Sometimes, you’ll be able to motivate the people yourself. Sometimes, you’ll identify potential voters who need to be targeted again for further outreach. Either way, it really helps. The most reliable strategy for success isn’t “changing people’s minds,” it’s “making sure the people in our corner actually get their votes in”

Call voters, especially in battleground states - Same deal as above, but I put the texting option first because I know the Tumblr audience

Write postcards to voters, especially in battleground states - Same deal as above, but with an even more personal touch because it’s hand-written. Anecdotal evidence, but I’ve heard some people say this did a uniquely good job of motivating them to vote

Reach out to a local organizer to see if there’s anything specific you can do in your area - In case the options above don’t appeal!

Election Process

Volunteer to be a poll worker - We know they’ll try to limit the number of polling stations, to increase the time certain neighborhoods need to wait in line. Considering that the vast majority of poll worker volunteers are seniors (a.k.a.: at highest covid risk), chances are high that there will be a shortage of poll workers, which could sadly justify closing down some polling locations if there simply aren’t trained workers to be there. Worst case scenario! But if younger people volunteer, those are more eyes and more hands that can keep polling stations open, with plenty of help in case any issues arise

Confirm your registration early - Self-explanatory.

Request an absentee ballot early, drop it off by hand if you can - This page lets you check the absentee and early-voting rules for your state. Ideally, you want a paper ballot. However, given the reports of Post Office fuckery, the best option is to take your absentee ballot and then drop it off by hand to a designated election drop box. Google “__my state__ ballot drop boxes.”

This page also lets you request an absentee ballot and check all of the rules for your state, but as it’s a private org I couldn’t verify that they wouldn’t sell your email or something. Or, you can always google “absentee ballot rules ____my state____” and find the applicable link.

A mail (paper) ballot, plus using a drop-off box by hand before election day, is really the best of both worlds. There’s the physical paper record, but you know it’s safely arrived the second you drop it in the box.

Be sure to follow the rules precisely, such as signing where it tells you to on the envelope. Plenty of absentee ballots get rejected for that.

Verify that your ballot has arrived and been processed - This site tells you when states start processing early ballots. As you can see, some of them have huge lead times. Getting your ballot in early to allow for processing = fewer election day bottlenecks.

To look up your individual ballot’s status, google “absentee ballot status ____my state____”

Another option (a necessary one if your state limits absentee voting) is to vote in-person but early. Many states have early voting, some of which stretches several weeks before Election Day. This is another way to handle any anticipated long lines on 11/3.

Election Fairness

This is all about creating a sense of accountability. If there are numerous calls on a specific topic, someone with good intentions will think “Oh, I should verify this for them.” Someone with bad intentions will go, “Damn, I guess they’re paying attention.” Either way, it’s a positive for election fairness.

If possible, you really want to call (far far far superior to email) some combo of the following nine people, or the whole list:

Your House Representative

Your Senator

And your other Senator

Your state’s Secretary of State (pick your state from the drop-down to be redirected to the Secretary’s website, and then find the contact page there)

Your local representative in the state capitol (Google “find my __mystate___ state representative”)

The ABC station for your local market 

The NBC station for your local market

The CBS station for your local market

Your local newspaper  (find your paper, go to their site, and look for “Contact Us”)

What to say when you call, and feel free to tweak it into your own words:

1-5: “Hi, I’m __your name__ and I live in __zip code__. Given what I hear on the news, I am very concerned about fair elections in November. I’m especially concerned about making sure that all voters are able to be registered, get through the polls quickly, and have their vote counted. What is __the official you’re calling__ doing to guarantee election fairness for everyone in __your state__?” 

6-9: “Hi, I’m __your name__ and I live in __town__. I am very concerned about fair elections in November. I’m especially worried about making sure that all voters are able to be registered, get through the polls quickly, and have their vote counted. Do you have any plans to investigate whether our state is really ready to run a fair election this November?”

You can call more than once (but, you know, space them out a bit). The squeaky wheel gets the grease. For the media, calling multiple times demonstrates community interest in the story. For the politicians, calling multiple times demonstrates that you are the sort of highly engaged voter who will either support them in the future, or make their life very annoying if you’re not acknowledged. Along these lines: recruit friends and family to make more of these calls. Make them short, follow the script, don’t invest too much time in any single call. The volume of calls matters more than anything.

FYI, if you need to zero in on specific people, your best option is to go local: #4 and #5 on the list above. They usually get less attention than national roles, and so your voice will weigh more as they’re less used to receiving scrutiny. And the states do oversee their own election process, so you’re not diluting the impact by focusing on your own state.

And, y’know... be sure to vote.

#politics #us election #us election 2020

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

Hello. I am, as you know, an American. I turned eighteen in 2014, voted in my first presidential election in 2016, and voted in my second presidential election last week via early voting in the state of Texas. 

I’m reflecting right now on the difference between those experiences. This is going to be a very self-indulgent essay. 

The 2016 election was in my third and final year of undergrad at Texas A&M University. At the time, I was living with a roommate who grew up in a town of 2,000, all of them members of her church. I loved her very much, but she was the most sheltered person I’ve ever met. 

I was only a few years ahead of her. My home growing up was deeply liberal about many of the things that counted, but deeply conservative on equally important things. For me, leaving for college was a radicalization speed-run.

I, a good Memphis girl, moved to Texas and encountered for the first time in my life white homogeny and everything that comes with it. I made most of my friends at A&M through a Christian orientation camp that I attended, then worked at. I went to school at a history department that was overwhelmingly male and war-obsessed. 

My second semester, I was randomly sorted into a writing seminar on the American Civil War and Reconstruction. There were eight other students in that class, all of them Texans. By day two I had gotten into a open fight with one of my classmates after he used the phrases “one of the humane parts of slavery” and “the secession declarations are moving and beautiful appeals, if you read them,” and “well I’m not going to criticize my own state.”

We got into at least one yelling match per week from that point forward. It was a formative experience for me-- not just him but the seven other students that took his side every time because they just couldn’t conceptualize anything outside of their own experiences, and frankly, I couldn’t either. 

It rocked my world to be surrounded by people who told me, among other things, that their high schools flew the Confederate battle flag or Lee was their all time role-model (because he actually didn’t want to secede! He didn’t believe in it, but Virginia did, so he put his own qualms aside and served his country, and that’s what we all have to do). I ran a survey once by knocking on every door in a dorm hall and asking the two people inside why the Civil War happened. 

I feel like you can guess the most common answer I got. Only two said slavery. Six didn’t know what the Civil War was. 

The last week of the semester, my class read a collection of recorded oral accounts of freed slaves during Reconstruction. My nemesis told me that he “didn’t realize black people actually had it bad.” At the same time, I was struggling with my sexuality, my relationship to my religion, my relationship with my parents, and a handful of newly-diagnosed but long-existing mental illnesses. I wasn’t having fun. 

Over the next three years, I tried my hardest to humanize the people that said disgusting things about minorities, poverty, and me personally. I barely won on that one, and I’m actually really proud that I did, even if it took me a few years. I can trace the biggest change in me directly to my nemesis from the history department, the kid that made me so mad that I started arguing back. I was too scared to do that before. 

By 2016, I was in full existential spin-out-- a very suddenly liberal kid fighting my whole family, all of my classmates, and most of my friends in an explosive political climate, the first I had ever participated in. 

I voted by Tennessee absentee ballot in 2016. On election night, I ordered takeout for me and my roommate, who I knew had voted red. Confident, like pretty much everybody, that Clinton would win, I was trying to show her that I didn’t hate her. She went to bed after dinner, also so certain that Clinton would win that she didn’t bother to stay up. 

I sat in front of my laptop sewing a birthday present for a friend (Kenza, actually), while the votes came in. I wasn’t super alarmed when the map turned red. I just figured the blue states hadn’t finished counting yet. 

The map didn’t get any bluer. By 1am, I knew what was about to happen. They called it an hour later, while I was sobbing on my floor. I threw up in the bathroom out of pure anxiety. I got two anonymous messages telling me the asker was going to commit suicide. Neither of them responded to my replies. I don’t actually know what happened to them. 

I remember riding the bus to class the next morning and distinctly seeing that most of the racial minorities there had swollen eyes from crying. The girl with the pride stickers all over her laptop didn’t show up that day, and I’m kind of glad she didn’t, considering the way some of our classmates in the back were loudly talking about “the gays.” Hope she’s okay.

My roommate came home completely unaware that Clinton lost. I was crying in my room when that happened. I remember showing her a demographic map of who voted which way. She got visibly upset when she figured out what races how. I think she really did feel guilty. 

That Thanksgiving, one of my cousins tweeted, “I can’t wait to go argue with my liberal cousin today. The wins. Keep. Coming,” an hour before he walked into my house. Inauguration day was January 20, 2017. I decided to go to law school a week later, the day the president signed the Muslim ban. That’s when I figured out for the first time just how much power the courts have. The last three years have only enforced that. 

I got angrier and angrier during law school, egged on by a few friends but more than anything just... finally conscious of exactly how the American system works and exactly who’s behind it. I still live in Texas, farther west now, and I’m working my first legal job. I’m going to be a licensed attorney next week. 

I went back and forth for months about how this election was going to shake out. I knew there wasn’t going to be an overwhelming red majority this time, but my big fear was an election close enough that the Supreme Court could take it. That fear doubled last month, at RBG’s death. 

I was hoping for a blue enough victory on election night that there wouldn’t be a week of uncertainty, but that was unlikely, and it didn’t happen. I obsessively refreshed my election map all of Wednesday and Thursday, aware that at least some states would flip after mail-in ballots came in, but unsure which would. 

Again, my great fear was a blue victory held down by only one state. Given (I would say “any” chance here, but I don’t mean “any” chance because genuinely jurisdiction or facts or legal merit don’t matter to the Supreme Court) an opportunity to make one (1) decision that hands over a red election, please know that a conservative supermajority would take it. I cannot emphasize enough how true that is and how important it is for all of us to grasp that. 

Watching Georgia flip was one of the best experiences of my life, and it’s a little hard for me to articulate why, but I’m going to give it a shot here. I’m southern. I’m from the South, and for this conversation it’s really important that I’m from Memphis, a black city and a center of black music and culture. 

When people think about the South, they think of the white South, and on some level, they should. It is absolutely essential to understand the white South in order to understand American history. Let me be 100% clear here. That is not a good thing. American majority history is not good. We are not a good country. 

It’s near-impossible to understand why that’s true without knowing exactly what happened in the white South and exactly what is still happening there now. With that, however, is another truth that most folks don’t get. 

The SouthTM is white and needs to die. The South as it actually exists is partially white yes, but it is also everyone else that lives here, particularly black folks. Southern culture is black, not white. Georgia flipped because the people that have always, always been there finally got to crack apart the conservative machine holding the South hostage. 

That’s amazing. It’s fucking mind-blowing. I watched it happen at 3:30 in the morning days after Election Day, and holy shit holy shit, Georgia flipped. Atlanta won. Holy fucking shit. 

I would be terrified right now if only Georgia flipped, because SCOTUS would have found a way to throw out a few thousand votes. Inevitable. Absolutely certain on that one. 

With a few states of buffer, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I really do think it’s over. 

I came home after work on Friday and immediately went to sleep because I hadn’t really done that since Tuesday. I woke up at noon today, checked the map, checked my messages, and saw what happened while I was gone. After that, I went back to bed until 5:30pm. I’m really just getting up now, after most of 24 hours asleep. 

I don’t know if I would say that I’m happy right now, but I am overwhelmingly relieved. I’m under no illusions that a Biden victory will solve everything, but I also do think this is a real thing to celebrate. I’ll take suggestions on how to celebrate right now, actually, since I’m finally awake. 

I’ll be angry forever, I think, but this is a good thing, and I’d like to enjoy it. If you’re happy right now, hey, tell me about it. I’ll be thrilled with you. I want to hear it. Congrats to all of us. Love y’all. 

#that's me rambling thanks and gig em #there are some things to tag here huh #uspol #politics #suicide #this would be a good time to remind everybody that i am white #so take that into account re: Georgia #personal i guess #not comics sorry

[qqueenofhades]

I was already distressed about the political and social situation in the US, and then this happens. Are there any examples of societies that fought back against fascism and won, without civil or international war breaking out? Surely there must be some success stories in history. How did other societies overcome fascism, are there lessons to be applied to our current situation? Please tell me we're not doomed, because I have no hope for the future.

Sigh.

Okay.

I’ve been through... a lot of the stages of grief by now. That is, rageposting on tumblr, venting to my friends via text, drinking, crying while drinking, lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling, feeling the crushing weight of certainty that we’re all screwed and nothing matters, crying while talking to my sister, crying generally, lying in bed some more, and am currently still in bed while writing this, but am struggling to put on my internet historian aunt hat and offer some comfort to the stricken masses.

First off: This is bad. I’m not even going to pretend this isn’t bad. We all knew RBG had cancer again, but it was pretty fixed in our minds that she would somehow manage to hang on until after the election. 45 days before the biggest presidential election of all time, in the middle of this year, when names including Ted “Zodiac Killer” Cruz and Tom “Time for Roe vs. Wade to go, block federal funding from being used to teach about slavery, send in the military to crush the BLM protesters” Cotton have already been floated as some of her possible replacements? With Trump and McConnell determined to work as fast as possible to steal this seat as brazenly as they can, because they are literal fascists who don’t care about their own example (Merrick Garland was nominated in FEBRUARY of an election year and McConnell held it up for being “too close to the election?”)

Ugh. Anyone who doesn’t get that this is bad or acting like people are overreacting doesn’t get what’s at stake. And when, as we’ve said before and are saying again now, the future of everyone who isn’t a white straight rich Republican man in this country depends on an 87-year-old woman with cancer for the fourth time? Something’s wrong here. RBG’s death did not have to leave us in this total existential panic, and oh yeah, maybe this could have ALL BEEN AVOIDED AND WE COULD HAVE ALSO HAD THREE (3) NEW LIBERAL JUSTICES SECURING PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION FOR A GENERATION IF SOME OF YOU HAD JUST FUCKING VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON IN TWO THOUSAND AND FUCKING SIXTEEN.

(Why yes I am still mad about that, I will be bitter until the end of time that we were consigned to four years and counting of this completely avoidable nightmare because of apathy, misogyny, and Leftist Moral Purity TM, but we’re talking about the future and what can still be done here, not what’s in the past.)

Anyway. Here’s the bright side, which admittedly sucks right now, but it’s been the answer all long:

VOTE.

You have to fucking vote, and you have to fucking vote for Biden/Harris. Everything that we’ve been talking about is no longer a hypothetical; it’s happening right now. This is not just some Awful Worst Case scenario, and it’s not somehow being spouted by privileged white liberals ignoring the struggles of the masses. (Viz: that awful fucking text post with its simpering self-righteousness: “are you punching nazis or just telling oppressed people to vote blue?” I hate that text post with a fiery passion and it’s the exact kind of morally holier than thou leftist propaganda that wouldn’t surprise me if it was generated by a troll farm in Krasnoyarsk.) My dad is disabled and lives on Social Security. Trump’s second-term plan to end the payroll tax takes SSID out by mid-2021, so... I guess that’s my dad fucked then. I’m a gay woman with long-term mental illness, no healthcare, no savings, no current job, and a lot of student debt. My sister has complex health problems and relies intensely on publicly funded healthcare programs. All my family have underlying conditions that would put them at worse risk for COVID (age, asthma, immune issues.) These are just the people IN MY HOUSEHOLD who would be at risk from a second Trump presidency. It says NOTHING about my friends, about all the people far less fortunate than us, and everyone else who IS ALREADY DYING as this nation lurches into full-blown fascism. That is real. It is happening.

Here’s the good news and what you can do:

Democrats are fired up and mad as hell, and they’ve already donated $31 million between the announcement of RBG’s death last night and today, and that number is climbing every second.

You can help by donating to Get Mitch or Die Trying, which splits your donation 13 ways between the Democrats challenging the most vulnerable Republican seats in the Senate. That also has raised EIGHT MILLION BUCKS in the less-than-twenty-four hours.

You can donate RIGHT NOW to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, vote if your state offers early voting, request your mail-in ballot, or hound everyone you know to ensure that they’re registered.

You can call your US Senators (look up who they are for your state, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE REPUBLICAN OR YOU LIVE IN A SWING STATE OR ARE UP FOR RE-ELECTION IN 2020) and phone the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 to voice your insistence that they respect RBG’s last wishes and refuse to vote on any Trump nominee until after January 2021.

The other good-ish news is that I woke up to an email from the Biden campaign this morning about how they’re well aware of this and they’re already on it. BUT WE CANNOT COUNT ON EITHER THEM OR THE SENATE DEMOCRATS TO BE ABLE TO STOP IT. Because Joe Biden is not president and the Senate Democrats do not have a majority, if the Republicans manage to rush a nominee and a vote and all 52 GOP senators vote for that nominee, hey presto, tyranny by majority, a SECOND stolen Supreme Court seat, and a 6-3 hard conservative majority for the next generation. Even if Roberts or Gorsuch sometimes defect on procedural grounds, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer (who is also 82 and thus ALSO might soon be replaceable, thus resulting in an EVEN WORSE ideological swing) would be outnumbered on everything. This is terrible. I’m not even gonna pretend it wouldn’t be.

BUT:

If Joe Biden is elected with a Democratic Senate and House, IT MATTERS. It gets us off the fascism track, it gives us the ability to make progressive law and have it enacted without going to die in Mitch McConnell’s Kill Stack, it gives Biden the executive authority to nominate liberal judges and change Trump’s worst outrages on day 1, it stands as a huge example of a nation managing to reject fascism by democratic process, and while yes, we’d still have a terribly rigged Supreme Court, Democrats would control all the other branches of government and be able to put safeguards in place. The other option is outright fascism and the end of American democracy for good. This may sound alarmist. It’s not. It’s literally what the situation has ended up as, as all of us who were begging people to vote for HRC in 2016 saw coming all along.

So yes. That’s what you need to do, and what WE need to do. We need to make as much goddamn noise as possible, protest, contact elected representatives, make sure everybody pulls their weight and ferociously fights the promised attempt to ram through a new justice before Election Day, all that. But even if that does happen, THEN WE NEED TO FUCKING DONATE, ORGANIZE, AND VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT. ALL OF US. NO EXCUSES. NO MORE TWITTER LEFTIST ECHO CHAMBERS. NO MORE. THEN, EVEN WITH A RIGGED SUPREME COURT, WE WILL ALL BE SAFER ON NOVEMBER 4TH AND CAN TRY TO FIX WHAT’S BROKEN.

The stakes are just too high to do anything else.

May her memory be a blessing, and a revolution.

#politics for ts #bury me in a mountain of salt #then vote #the end #humoristhefirstcasualty #ask

[ricardotomasz]

Such is life! Behold, a new Post published on Greater And Grander about Top 5 Reasons #RecallGavinNewsom Would be a Disaster for California

See into my soul, as a new Post has been published on http://greaterandgrander.com/top-5-reasons-recallgavinnewsom-would-be-a-disaster-for-california

Top 5 Reasons #RecallGavinNewsom Would be a Disaster for California

According to latest polls, most California Democrats are unaware of, or not planning to vote in the Governor recall election on Sept 14. So, here’s the top 5 reasons you should vote no on the recall.

1. If Newsom is recalled, the leading candidate to replace him is Larry Elder, a corrupt Republican radio host with no experience in government, and who assaulted his ex fiancee with a gun during a drug induced haze.  

2.  Elder has stated he will risk the lives of millions of Californians, including California’s children, by eliminating mask and vaccine mandates.   

3. If Elder IS elected, he could reverse California’s most progressive policies, with the ability to nominate literally thousands of people to the various Committee and Board assignments.  He could destroy California utilities, California education, LGBTQ rights, and even California’s strong pro-choice support for women’s rights, and we don’t want California to turn into Texas.  

3.  If any Republican wins the Governorship, they would have the ability to nominate a replacement for 88 year old Diane Feinstein, if she passed away or resigned, and Elder has stated he would nominate a hard-right replacement, who would serve until 2024.

4. If Elder were to appoint Feinstein’s replacement, that would mean the Democrats would lose their 1-vote Senate majority, halting all Progressive legislation.  That means no climate legislation bill, no voting rights act, and no democrat to replace Stephen Bryer.    

5. The last time a Republican was elected via a recall, it resulted in a massive record-setting debt for the state that bordered on bankruptcy; record deficits that could not have been paid back in even the best economic times; striking a backroom deal to suspend constitutionally guaranteed K–12 school funding, depriving our children of their right to an education; suspending the promise, for the first time in forty years, that every eligible California high school graduate would have a place at a UC or CSU; depriving millennials of a better future; and failures so great that he couldn’t even get the support of his own party, and blamed the California GOP for “dying at the box office.”

Vote No on the Recall ballot.

Look for your mail-in ballot, or vote at the polls on September 14.  

Find Out How To Vote Now

Do you have your own thoughts? Let us know in the comments!

Subscribe, Like, Follow!

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[zumpietoo]

All 538 electors voted Monday in the Electoral College, formalizing President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Their votes will next be sent to Washington to be counted by Congress on January 6. Hawaii's four electors voted shortly after 7 p.m. to make the final tally 306 Electoral College votes for Mr. Biden to 232 for President Trump. At 5:30 p.m. ET, California's electors cast their state's 55 Electoral College votes for Mr. Biden, putting him over the 270 needed to win. Mr. Biden spoke Monday night after the count had concluded, urging Americans to move forward after the election. While he struck a unifying tone toward the end of his speech, he also highlighted some of Mr. Trump's many legal challenges and his refusal to concede, calling it an "assault on democracy." Mr. Trump's last-ditch legal attempts to overturn the results have been quashed in the courts. On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that sought to stop electors in four key battleground states from voting Monday. What happened prior to December 14? Election Day is set by law as the Tuesday that follows the first Monday in November, which in 2020 fell on November 3. When people cast their ballots, they are actually voting for an elector committed to supporting their choice for president and vice president. After the polls close, the states count and, eventually, certify the votes. All states have certified their results. California was the last to do it, on December 11. The U.S. Code says that if any state has enacted procedures to settle any controversies over electors before Election Day and if the results have been determined six days before the electors meet, they qualify for "safe harbor." Congress is required to consider those results as "conclusive." This date is known as the "Safe Harbor" deadline. What exactly happened on Monday? Federal law dictates the electors meet on the Monday in December that follows the second Wednesday, which in 2020 falls on December 14. There are 538 electors. The number from each state is based on population and is equal to the number of members of Congress the state has in the House and Senate, meaning the minimum any state can have is three. The state with the most electors is California, with 55. Washington D.C. has three electors even though it is not a state. New York Electoral College members, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, vote for President and Vice President in the Assembly Chamber at the state Capitol in Albany, New York, on Monday, December 14, 2020. / Credit: Hans Pennink / AP New York Electoral College members, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, vote for President and Vice President in the Assembly Chamber at the state Capitol in Albany, New York, on Monday, December 14, 2020. / Credit: Hans Pennink / AP All but two states, Maine and Nebraska, give all their Electoral College votes to the candidate who got the most votes in the state. Maine awards two of its four electoral votes to the statewide winner but also allocates an electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each of its two congressional districts. Nebraska gives two of its five electoral votes to the statewide winner, with the remaining three going to the popular vote winner in each of its three congressional districts. Based on the outcome of the November election, 306 electors will vote for Mr. Biden and 232 will vote for Mr. Trump. The electors will cast ballots, individually and on paper, for president and vice president. The electors count the votes and then sign six certificates, known as the Certificates of the Vote. The certificates are paired with the Certificates of Ascertainment provided by states' governors and are signed, sealed and certified. The six copies are then sent via registered mail to the president of the Senate (aka Vice President Mike Pence); two are sent to the secretary of state of the state in which the electors met; two are sent to the archivist and one is sent to judge of the U.S. district court of the district in which the electors met. The votes will take place at different times throughout the day, starting at 10 a.m. ET and concluding with Hawaii at 7 p.m. ET. In Michigan, state House and Senate offices are closed because of "credible threats of violence" — not because of "anticipated protests" — and as a result, electors will have police escorts from their cars to the capitol building, according to a spokesperson for state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey. Michigan's Electoral College members cast their ballots for Mr. Biden, who won the state despite Mr. Trump's efforts to challenge it in court. Electors are not necessarily bound by law to vote according to the state's results, and there were 10 "faithless electors" in 2016. But most states have laws that nullify the votes of "faithless electors," and the Supreme Court ruled in July that states can punish them. FairVote found that since the founding of the Electoral College, there have been 167 faithless electors. Who are the electors? Sometime between May and August, states' political parties and independent candidates nominate electors for each ticket. The Constitution doesn't state how states must pick electors, so most candidates are nominated by state party committees or at a state party convention. Electors may not be U.S. senators, members of Congress or anyone holding an "Office of Trust or Profit under the United States." Most of the electors are not famous, but there are a few big names this year. Former President Bill Clinton, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are all Democratic electors for New York, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was set to be an elector for South Dakota but bowed out last week. Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is a Georgia elector. She was selected to preside over the meeting that backed Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield issued a statement Monday saying that the state House will not be choosing a new slate of electors. A GOP lawmaker had indicated he was part of a group that supported choosing new electors, according to the Detroit Free Press. Michigan Representative Gary Eisen also would not rule out the possibility of violence. Chatfield said he "fought hard" for Mr. Trump, but he "can't fathom risking our norms, traditions to pass a resolution retroactively changing the electors for Trump simply because some think there may have been widespread fraud to give him a win." Can Mr. Trump still challenge the results after the electors vote? It is possible for Congress to challenge the results in a state that did not meet the December 8 deadline. Congressman Mo Brooks, of Alabama, has said that he plans to challenge electoral votes for Mr. Biden when Congress reconvenes on January 6. He would need to be joined by one senator and present his objection in writing, and then both houses of Congress would debate the objections and vote on whether to sustain them, according to The Associated Press. In a statement last week, attorneys for the Trump campaign quoted the dissenting opinion in the 2000 Supreme Court Bush v. Gore ruling that January 6 is the date of "ultimate significance." "Despite the media trying desperately to proclaim that the fight is over, we will continue to champion election integrity until legal vote is counted fairly and accurately," attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis said. What are the next major dates?December 23: All copies of the electors' votes must be delivered to the recipients.January 6: Congress will count the votes of the electors. Procedure calls for Pence to open each state's "certificate of ascertainment" — documents prepared by the state after it has completed its vote count and ascertained the official results. He will then present the certificate to four "tellers" who announce result tallies. Once a candidate reaches 270 electoral college votes, Pence will declare the winner.January 20: Mr. Biden will be inaugurated.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/presidential-electors-voting-monday-heres-084828382.html

Except the legal opinion on Bush v. Gore had nothing to do with any of this. It was entirely to stop the recount in ONE state (Florida) and was issued as NON-precedent setting.

Rudy and Jenna are the two worst attorneys on the planet.

And even if the objection is debated, it still passes.

Bye

Otherwise, again, this is literally removing the people’s will

[patriotsnet]

Can Republicans Vote On Super Tuesday

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/can-republicans-vote-on-super-tuesday/

Can Republicans Vote On Super Tuesday

Voters Can Still Register At Their Polling Location On March 3 In California Colorado Maine Minnesota North Carolina And Vermont

It’s Super Tuesday eve! Californians, please don’t forget that same-day voter registration is a thing. #vote2020#GetOutTheVotehttps://t.co/88eMCEjaDi

— Bonnibelle Chukwuneta March 2, 2020

Voters in California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina and Vermont can register to vote on the same day as the Super Tuesday primary election.

California offers what’s called Conditional Voter Registration to Californians who “miss the deadline to register to vote or update their voter registration information for an election,”according to California state law. Minnesota allows voters to register on the same day as the primary with a valid ID that shows proof of residency. But it also allows what’s called “vouching.”

“A registered voter from your precinct can go with you to the polling place to sign an oath confirming your address,”according to Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. “A registered voter can vouch for up to eight voters. You cannot vouch for others if someone vouched for you.”

Colorado allows same-day voter registration. In Maine, “there is no cut-off date for registering to vote in person at your town office or city hall,”according to the state’s government website. North Carolina also offers same-day registration “by completing a Voter Registration Application and affixing her signature under penalty of a Class I felony.”

In 2017, Vermont began allowing residents to vote on election day, according to the Vermont Secretary of State website.

Texas Is An Open Primary State Heres What That Means For How Republicans Democrats And Others Can Vote On Super Tuesday

Texas is one of 17 states with open primaries, which means regardless of which party voters identify with, they can choose from year to year which party’s nominees they’d like to select in a primary election.

Texas is one of 17 states with open primaries. Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

“Texas is an open primary state. Here’s what that means for how Republicans, Democrats and others can vote on Super Tuesday.” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Unlike voters in most other states, Texans don’t sign up with a political party when they register to vote.

That’s because Texas is one of 17 states with open primaries, which means regardless of which party voters identify with, they can choose from year to year which party’s nominees they’d like to select in the primary election.

Why Are There Separate Lines For Democrat And Republican Voters On Super Tuesday In Texas

DALLAS — Is it normal for poll workers to split up Democrats and Republicans into separate lines to vote? 

That’s a question many voters had Tuesday morning.

The simple answer is yes.

It’s not uncommon for that to be the case during primaries in Texas, because voters must select which party primary they want to vote in and then get a ballot for that race.

They then often have to use a machine that has already been dedicated to one party or the other, as the ballots are inside the machines some counties use. 

There might be longer lines for Democrats this year than Republicans due to the fact that there are bigger races in contention for that party, like the presidential nomination and the race for U.S. Senate in Texas.

RELATED: Know before you go: 2020 voter guide for Super Tuesday in Texas

Some voters were reporting a higher number of machines being dedicated to Republican voters than Democrats. 

That could be due to poor management by the county or because a county has a higher number of Republican voters overall.

Joe Williams, the presiding judge of the Mansfield Subcourthouse polling place, told WFAA the number of machines they have is based on population data from the 2010 U.S. Census.

He said they have seven booths for Republican voters and five booths for Democratic voters.

The U.S. Census does not, however, ask respondents for their political affiliation. 

It’s important to remember that in Texas, the parties put on the primaries using county-owned voting equipment.

Mainers To Cast Ballots In Super Tuesday Presidential Primaries Vaccinations Referendum

Maine is one of 14 states participating in the Super Tuesday primaries but has received relatively little attention from candidates aside from campaign advertising.

207-791-6312

Maine voters will participate in the largest, most consequential primary day of the 2020 presidential elections on Tuesday and also decide whether to keep or reject a law on mandatory childhood vaccinations.

This will be the first presidential primary election since Maine dropped the more complicated and time-consuming caucus system. And while the state hasn’t received much in-person attention from the candidates, Maine’s participation in the Super Tuesday primaries means registered Democrats will be casting their ballots at at time when their party’s nomination contest is still wide open.

States And The Us Territory Of American Samoa Are Holding Primaries On Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday is this week, and delegates from 14 states and one US territory are at stake:

Alabama

— CNN March 2, 2020

The term Super Tuesday dates as far back as 1976, according to TIME magazine. It became widely used in the 1980 presidential election when Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy focused his efforts on eight states that voted in primaries on the same day in his unsuccessful campaign to unseat then-President Jimmy Carter.

Fourteen states and the U.S. territory of American Samoa are holding primaries for the 2020 presidential election on March 3. They include Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Vermont.

Three of the states that are voting on Super Tuesday are represented by presidential hopefuls who serve in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Amy Klobuchar represents Minnesota, but dropped out of the race the day before Super Tuesday and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden. Sen. Elizabeth Warren represents Massachusetts and Sen. Bernie Sanders represents Vermont.

Presidential Primary Voting Starts In Minnesota Today Here’s How You Can Vote Early

As of Friday morning you can now cast your votes in the Minnesota 2020 Presidential Primaries.

While Minnesota’s polling day isn’t until Super Tuesday on Mar. 3, absentee voting is open now, and is available to all eligible voters across Minnesota.

There are several political events happening on Friday to coincide with the launch of early voting, including presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar holding a rally at First Avenue at 7 p.m.

So how do you vote? Well there are two choices, with the option most convenient for most Minnesotans being via the mail.

Is It Common For Democrats To Participate In The Republican Primary And Vice Versa

In short, no. According to Elizabeth Simas, a political science professor at the University of Houston who spoke about this with Texas Standard, cases of strategic voting don’t happen much in primary elections. “Certainly, there are people who do it … but we just don’t see it happening as much as there’s potentially this fear for it to happen,” Simas said.

In areas dominated by one party, especially rural areas, voters might cross party lines in the primary to have more of a say in their local races.

“In my county, all the local races are Republican. Judges, sheriff, district attorney,” Martha Mims, a Democratic voter who lives Williamson County, wrote in The Texas Tribune’s Facebook group, This is Your Texas. “If I want to have a say in local government, I have to vote in the Republican primary.”

Voters like Mims can do that, thanks to Texas’ open primary. Do you have more questions about voting in Texas? Submit them to our Texplainer series.

Disclosure: The University of Houston has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

A Record Number Of Texans Are Registered To Vote But Will They And Why Should You

Lise Olsen

Ahead of the March primaries, the number of registered voters in Texas hit a record 16 million—a million more than 2018 and almost 2 million more than the 2016 presidential race. This week, we’ll find out if they will actually make it to the polls. 

Austin attorney Chad Dunn has participated in major legal battles over voting rights in Texas, including successful court challenges of the state voter ID law and attempted purges of tens of thousands of voters in several Texas counties. Dunn, who once worked as a policy intern for Republican U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and later became general counsel for the Texas Democratic Party, sat down with the Observer to discuss issues on voters’ minds as Super Tuesday approaches. 

Texas Observer: We’ve seen a boom in voter registration statewide in Texas. Why has registration increased so much this year, especially in counties like Travis, Brazos, and Harris? 

I think there are several factors that play into this. The biggest factor is that Texas is the biggest swing state now. So, all these resources are being invested to solve its under-registration problem. are well-coordinated and they’re nonpartisan in many cases. 

Beto ’s success in nearly winning the Texas U.S. Senate seat is part of what spurred investment in addressing Texas gaps: The young are not registered at a high rate here, people of color are not registered at a high rate. 

What should you do if you experience any problem voting on Super Tuesday?

  Of The 14 States Voting On Super Tuesday Six Have No Voter Id Requirement

Of the March 3 #SuperTuesday primary states, CA, MA, ME, MD, MN, NJ, and NC have NO voter id requirements. https://t.co/ro5YRmgjNF

— Tom Fitton March 2, 2020

Six of the 14 states that vote in primaries on Super Tuesday do not require an identification card to vote. The six states are California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and Vermont, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“Proponents see increasing requirements for identification as a way to prevent in-person voter impersonation and increase public confidence in the election process,” the National Conference of State Legislatures website says. “Opponents say there is little fraud of this kind, and the burden on voters unduly restricts the right to vote and imposes unnecessary costs and administrative burdens on elections administrators.”

Which States Voted On Super Tuesday And How Many Delegates Are At Stake

SuperTuesday

THE WASHINGTON POST

Fourteen states and one U.S. territory held nominating contests on Super Tuesday, to award a total of 1,357 delegates. To put that in perspective, you need 1,991 delegates to win the nomination.

The states are across the country — literally from California to Maine — and include heavily Democratic Massachusetts, traditionally Republican Texas and Oklahoma, and more in-between states like Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia. Democrats who live in American Samoa will also caucus on Super Tuesday, and Democrats who live abroad will begin casting ballots.

It’s the delegate total, not the sheer number of votes, that counts when figuring out who wins a party’s presidential nomination. Each state is allotted a certain number of delegates based on a formula of population and weight in the Democratic Party. The state parties then award delegates to the candidates based on the votes they receive. The first candidate to get a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates wins the nomination.

No one can win the nomination on Super Tuesday alone, but doing well can get you a long way. Thirty-four percent of delegates are offered on Tuesday. That’s more than any other single day in the nominating contest.

3,979 total delegates

0

THE WASHINGTON POST

Before Super Tuesday, less than 5 percent of delegates will have been allotted. After, when California’s are finally all counted: 38 percent.

Sanders Trump Lead Pack In Mainers Donations To Presidential Candidates

Registered Democrats will have their choice of six candidates on Tuesday’s ballot who are still actively campaigning for the party’s nomination: Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Tom Steyer and Pete Buttigieg dropped out over the weekend following the primary in South Carolina. Biden’s campaign appeared to be re-energized after his landslide win there, giving his supporters more hope headed into Super Tuesday.

Republicans will also technically hold a presidential primary but with only one contender in Maine: President Trump.

Fourteen states along with American Samoa and Democrats living abroad will participate in Super Tuesday. Those states account for roughly one-third of the Democratic delegates up for grabs in the nominating process thanks, in large part, to the involvement of such populous states as California, Texas and North Carolina.

Maine is running “closed primaries” this year, meaning that only individuals registered as a Democrat or Republican can cast ballots in those respective party contests. Unenrolled voters can join a party at the polls, as can individuals registering to vote for the first time on Election Day. But registered Democrats, Republicans or Green Independent voters cannot change their party affiliation at the polls in order to participate in another primary.

QUESTION 1

But there is another issue on the statewide ballot in which all registered voters can participate.

Related

Who Is Eligible To Vote On Super Tuesday The States Have Varying Rules

Mara Flanagan

It’s almost time for Super Tuesday: a day of primaries and caucuses that has the potential to significantly alter the prospects of every presidential candidate. As candidates scramble to do last-minute interviews and debates, voters across the country preparep to vote in one of the country’s most complicated and entertaining primaries. Who is eligible to vote on Super Tuesday? The rules depend on the state.

Twelve states vote on Super Tuesday in both the Democratic and Republican races, according to the BBC. Though the Republican party plans to host events in American Samoa, Colorado, Guam, North Dakota, and Wyoming, no votes will be associated with those events; instead, delegates will be assigned by the party later in those areas.

Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia hold open primaries, according to Ballotpedia. This means that voters in these states can decide which primary to vote in regardless of party affiliation. Arkansas and Oklahoma both have closed primaries. Arkansas voters choose to participate in a party primary or to vote in nonpartisan races, but the secretary of state’s website indicates that each individual can only choose one if those two.

How Many Delegates Do The 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates Have

Sanders is the heavy favorite here, despite losing to Hillary Clinton in 2016. He has spent about $7 million on ads , according to data as of Feb. 27 from Advertising Analytics provided to NPR.

Biden has spent zero on California TV ads, and just $4,000 on digital. A ray of hope for Biden is also that even though early voting started a month ago, fewer ballots have been returned than in past elections.

Bloomberg, in contrast, has spent more than $71 million and is currently polling below the 15% threshold required to get any delegates in all of these contests.

With Joe Biden Surging Bernie Sanders Searches For Support And Cash

Following months of nationally televised debates and a handful of early caucuses and primaries, Super Tuesday is where the rubber meets the road for the remaining Democratic candidates.

A total of 1,357 delegates will be up for grabs, with 1,338 of them in 14 states holding their primaries on March 3.

Another six delegates will be in play in American Samoa, as well as 13 among Democrats living abroad, who vote beginning Tuesday through March 10.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders jumped out to an early lead in the pre-Super Tuesday contests, nearly besting former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the Iowa caucuses, then in the New Hampshire primary and winning the Nevada caucuses in a blowout.

But just when his campaign appeared sunk, former Vice President Joe Biden captured the South Carolina primary to catapult back into relevance.

Buttigieg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race on Sunday and Monday, respectively, with each indicating they would throw their support behind Biden, setting the stage for a fierce fight on Super Tuesday.

Here’s what you need to know:

What states vote on Super Tuesday?

California , Texas , North Carolina , Virginia , Massachusetts , Minnesota , Colorado , Tennessee , Alabama , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Utah , Maine and Vermont .

Who’s on the Super Tuesday ballot for the Democrats?

Do Republicans vote on Super Tuesday?

Super Tuesday Was Created To Nominate Someone Moderate It Backfired

There’s a lot on the line, especially for Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Vice President Joe Biden. Sanders is the front-runner. He’s built a strong organization in these states that’s been buoyed by a multimillion-dollar ad campaign. Biden is lagging but hopes to ride a wave of momentum from his big win in South Carolina on Saturday.

And then there’s Mike Bloomberg. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars, Bloomberg will be on the ballot for the first time. Does he surprise and emerge as an alternative to Sanders, or will he siphon votes from Biden? And what impact might remaining candidates, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have?

Here’s what to watch for and what you should know about each of the Super Tuesday states, in order of most pledged delegates.

Trump Says ‘markets Will Take Care Of Themselves’ After Stock Sell

Clinton won almost two-thirds of white women, who were 36% of the electorate, in addition to blowing out the margins with black voters. She won 84% of African Americans, and they were about a quarter of the electorate.

There haven’t been many good polls in Virginia. The last best one was a Monmouth poll from Feb. 18, which is a lifetime in a presidential primary race. It showed essentially a three-way tie for Sanders , Bloomberg and Biden — and it was conducted before Bloomberg’s first debate in Las Vegas, which was a spotty performance.

Vaccine Vote Exposes A Collision Of Individual Community Rights

Last year after a contentious legislative battle, Gov. Janet Mills signed into law a bill that eliminates those religious and philosophical exemptions to mandatory vaccinations. Supporters said closing the exemptions was a necessary step to reverse an alarming drop in the number of children who enter schools without receiving vaccinations against pertussis, measles and other preventable diseases. Maintaining the “herd immunity” created by high vaccination rates also helps to protect children with weakened immune systems.

But opponents of the law collected enough signatures to send the issue to voters, arguing the mandate violates parental rights.

As with other “people’s veto” campaigns, groups on both sides having been battling voter confusion about the question’s wording headed into Tuesday.

A “yes” vote on Question 1 would overturn the law and allow parents to opt out of vaccinating their children for religious or philosophical reasons. A “no” vote would keep the law on the books, thereby requiring vaccinations before children can attend school except when a doctor grants a medical exemption.

PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS

With just 24 Democratic delegates up for grabs, Maine is the third-smallest prize for presidential hopefuls on Super Tuesday after Vermont and American Samoa. California, by comparison, has 415 delegates at play while Massachusetts has 91 delegates.

On Saturday, Klobuchar addressed a crowd of several hundred people in Portland.

The Role Of Unenrolled Voters In Massachusetts On Super Tuesday

SOUTHWICK, Mass. – Voters in a Massachusetts primary who are registered as a Democrat or Republican can only vote for a candidate in their party. Unenrolled voters who have not chosen either side can pick up whichever ballot they want on Super Tuesday.

In Southwick there are more than 1,500 registered Republicans, and more than 1,300 registered Democrats, making it one of only seven towns in western Massachusetts with more registered Republicans. There are nearly 4,000 unenrolled voters in Southwick as well, and political experts say those voters could have a big affect on the election this year.

Historically when Massachusetts voters head to the polls on Super Tuesday it’s a Democratic candidate that walks away with the win. There are 19 towns here in Massachusetts that have more registered Republicans than registered democrats. Again, seven being in western Massachusetts : Tolland, Granville, Southwick, Blandford, Hampden, Russell and Montgomery.

“While Massachusetts does tend to be a blue state there are more voters registered as unenrolled than there are registered as Republican or Democrat,” former Agawam Town Clerk Richard Theroux said. “Political experts say those unenrolled voters could vote republican this election cycle.”

American International College Political Professor Julie Walsh said she also believes unenrolled voters could sway toward the Republican side this year.

What Happens To Delegates Allocated To Candidates Who Withdraw

The Delegate Selection Rules for the 2020 Democratic National Convention included two provisions regarding the binding of delegates to the candidates they supported at the time of their selection.

“ No delegate at any level of the delegate selection process shall be mandated by law or Party rule to vote contrary to that person’s presidential choice as expressed at the time the delegate is elected. ” —Rule 13.I

“ Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them. ” —Rule 13.J

What happens to delegates allocated to candidates who withdraw? State

‘we Sent A Message’: Buttigieg Ends Historic Presidential Bid

Warren is teetering around the delegate threshold percentage, too, with most polls conducted before South Carolina. Does she get above 15%? Does she pull from Sanders? Does Biden gain momentum from South Carolina?

A wild card is black voters. There were no exit polls in 2016; 2008 exit polls showed black voters were only 7% of the electorate. But the California Democratic Party estimates that African Americans are about 16% of the party. Do they turn out? Depending on which estimate winds up being correct could determine if Biden makes a dent in the state.

This will also be the first significant measure of Asian Americans in this election. They were 8% of the electorate in 2008, and the California Democratic Party estimates they are 10% now.

My State Is Voting On Super Tuesday Where Is My Polling Place

Voters can confirm polling station locations and times on their state’s election website by clicking on their state below. Registered voters can also verify on the election sites their voter status, whether their state allows same-day registration, election deadlines and if their primary is open — doesn’t require voters to be affiliated with a political party — closed or semi-closed.

Minnesotas Presidential Primary: Everything You Need To Know

Minnesota is joining Super Tuesday this year — joining 13 other states, including Texas and California, in perhaps the most consequential day of the presidential primary season.

Election 2020Everything you need to know to be prepared

It can be a confusing political ritual for some, and it’s new in Minnesota. It’s our first presidential primary since 1992 and only the fourth in state history. Here are some of the basic rules.

You can vote in the primary no matter your party affiliation. However, you will have to select one major party in whose primary you’ll vote. Minnesota has four major parties: the Democratic-Farmer-Labor, Republican, Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis and Legal Marijuana Now parties. Only the DFL and GOP will host presidential primaries in 2020; the weed parties are sitting out this year.

How you vote will be secret, sort of … But not really. Only the candidate you vote for will be secret — the chair of all four major parties will get a list of who voted in the primary and the party with which they voted.

Same-day registration is still OK for primaries. While early registration has closed for the primaries, voters may register on March 3.

You must be 18 years old on primary day to vote. That differs from the rules of Minnesota’s old presidential caucuses, which allowed 17 year olds to vote if they’d be 18 by Election Day.

Only presidential candidates will be on the ballot. Primaries for other races are in August.

[orbemnews]

Saudi Aramco Sells Oil Pipeline Stake for $12.4 Billion Here’s what you need to know: Lee Delaney joined BJ’s in 2016 as executive vice president and chief growth officer, and he became chief executive last year.Credit…Gretchen Ertl/Associated Press Lee Delaney, the president and chief executive of BJ’s Wholesale Club, died unexpectedly on Thursday of “presumed natural causes,” according to a statement released Friday by the company. He was 49. “We are shocked and profoundly saddened by the passing of Lee Delaney,” said Christopher J. Baldwin, the company’s executive chairman, said in a statement. “Lee was a brilliant and humble leader who cared deeply for his colleagues, his family and his community.” Mr. Delaney joined BJ’s in 2016 as executive vice president and chief growth officer. He was promoted to president in 2019 and became chief executive last year. Before joining BJ’s, he was a partner in the Boston office of Bain & Company from 1996 to 2016. Mr. Delaney earned a master’s in business administration from Carnegie Mellon University, and attended the University of Massachusetts, where he pursued a double major in computer science and mathematics. Mr. Delaney led the company through the unexpected changes in consumer demand spurred by the pandemic, with many customers stockpiling wholesale goods as they hunkered down at home. “2020 was a remarkable, transformative and challenging year that structurally changed our business for the better,” Mr. Delaney said in the company’s last quarterly earnings report. The BJ’s board appointed Bob Eddy, the chief administrative and financial officer, to serve as the company’s interim chief executive. Mr. Eddy joined the company in 2007 and became the chief financial officer in 2011, adding the job of chief administrative officer in 2018. “Bob partnered closely with Lee and has played an integral role in transforming and growing BJ’s Wholesale Club,” Mr. Baldwin said. He said that the company would announce decisions about its permanent executive leadership in a “reasonably short timeframe.” BJ’s, based in Westborough, Mass., operates 221 clubs and 151 BJ’s Gas locations in 17 states. Revolut’s office in London in 2018. The banking start-up is offering its workers the opportunity to work abroad for up to two months a year.Credit…Tom Jamieson for The New York Times Before the pandemic, companies used to lure top talent with lavish perks like subsidized massages, Pilates classes and free gourmet meals. Now, the hottest enticement is permission to work not just from home, but from anywhere — even, say, from the French Alps or a Caribbean island. Revolut, a banking start-up based in London, said Thursday that it would allow its more than 2,000 employees to work abroad for up to two months a year in response to requests to visit overseas family for longer periods. “Our employees asked for flexibility, and that’s what we’re giving them as part of our ongoing focus on employee experience and choice,” said Jim MacDougall, Revolut’s vice president of human resources. Georgia Pacquette-Bramble, a communications manager for Revolut, said she was planning to trade the winter in London for Spain or somewhere in the Caribbean. Other colleagues have talked about spending time with family abroad. Revolut has been valued at $5.5 billion, making it one of Europe’s most valuable financial technology firms. It joins a number of companies that will allow more flexible working arrangements to continue after the pandemic ends. JPMorgan Chase, Salesforce, Ford Motor and Target have said they are giving up office space as they expect workers to spend less time in the office, and Spotify has told employees they can work from anywhere. Not all companies, however, are shifting away from the office. Tech companies, including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple, have added office space in New York over the last year. Amazon told employees it would “return to an office-centric culture as our baseline.” Dr. Dan Wang, an associate professor at Columbia Business School, said he did not expect office-centric companies to lose top talent to companies that allow flexible working, in part because many employees prefer to work from the office. Furthermore, when employees are not in the same space, there are fewer spontaneous interactions, and spontaneity is critical for developing ideas and collaborating, Dr. Wang said. “There is a cost,” he said. “Yes, we can interact via email, via Slack, via Zoom — we’ve all gotten used to that. But part of it is that we’ve lowered our expectations for what social interaction actually entails.” Revolut said it studied tax laws and regulations before introducing its policy, and that each request to work from abroad was subject to an internal review and approval process. But for some companies looking to put a similar policy in place, a hefty tax bill, or at least a complicated tax return, could be a drawback. After its initial public offering imploded, WeWork went public through a SPAC deal.Credit…Kate Munsch/Reuters After weeks of wading into the debate over how to regulate SPACS, the popular blank-check deals that provide companies a back door to public markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission is sending its first shot across the bow. John Coates, the acting director of the corporate finance division at the S.E.C., issued a lengthy statement on Thursday about how securities laws apply to blank-check firms, the DealBook newsletter reports. “With the unprecedented surge has come unprecedented scrutiny,” Mr. Coates wrote of the recent boom in blank-check deals. In particular, he is interested in a crucial (and controversial) difference between SPACs and traditional initial public offerings: blank-check firms are allowed to publish often-rosy financial forecasts when merging with an acquisition target, while companies going public in an I.P.O. are not. Regulators consider such forecasts too risky for firms as yet untested by the public markets. Investors raise money for SPACs via an I.P.O. of a shell company, and those funds are used within two years to merge with an unspecified company, which then also becomes a publicly traded company. Because the deal is technically a merger, it’s given the same “safe harbor” legal protections for its financial forecasts as a typical M.& A. deal. And that’s why there are flying-taxi companies with little revenue going public via a SPAC while promising billions in sales far in the future. The S.E.C. thinks allowing financial forecasts for these deals might be a problem. They can be “untested, speculative, misleading or even fraudulent,” Mr. Coates wrote. And he concludes his statement by suggesting a major rethink of how the “full panoply” of securities laws applies to SPACs, which could upend the blank-check business model. If the S.E.C. does not treat SPAC deals as the I.P.Os they effectively are, he writes, “potentially problematic forward-looking information may be disseminated without appropriate safeguards.” The letter serves as a warning, but perhaps not much else — yet. Unless the S.E.C. issues new rules (as it did for penny stocks) or Congress passes legislation, SPAC projections will continue. But this strongly worded statement could moderate or even mute them. “The S.E.C. has now put them on notice,” Lynn Turner, a former chief accountant of the agency, said. Amazon Warehouse Unionization Votes Either side needed 1,521 votes to win. A total of 505 ballots were challenged; 76 were void.·Source: National Labor Relations Board Amazon beat back the unionization drive at its warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., the counting of ballots in the closely watched effort showed on Friday. A total of 738 workers voted “Yes” to unionize and 1,798 voted “No.” There were 76 ballots marked as void and 505 votes were challenged, according to the National Labor Relations Board. The union leading the drive to organize, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said most of the challenges were from Amazon. About 50 percent of the 5,805 eligible voters at the warehouse cast ballots in the election. Either side needed to receive more than 50 percent of all cast ballots to prevail. The ballots were counted in random order in the National Labor Relations Board’s office in Birmingham, Ala., and the process was broadcast via Zoom to more than 200 journalists, lawyers and other observers. The voting was conducted by mail from early February until the end of last month. A handful of workers from the labor board called out the results of each vote — “Yes” for a union or “No” — for nearly four hours on Thursday. Sophia June and Miles McKinley contributed to this report. A screenshot of a “vax cards” page on Facebook.  Online stores offering counterfeit or stolen vaccine cards have mushroomed in recent weeks, according to Saoud Khalifah, the founder of FakeSpot, which offers tools to detect fake listings and reviews online. The efforts are far from hidden, with Facebook pages named “vax-cards” and eBay listings with “blank vaccine cards” openly hawking the items, Sheera Frenkel reports for The New York Times. Last week, 45 state attorneys general banded together to call on Twitter, Shopify and eBay to stop the sale of false and stolen vaccine cards. Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Shopify and Etsy said that the sale of fake vaccine cards violated their rules and that they were removing posts that advertised the items. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced the vaccination cards in December, describing them as the “simplest” way to keep track of Covid-19 shots. By January, sales of false vaccine cards started picking up, Mr. Khalifah said. Many people found the cards were easy to forge from samples available online. Authentic cards were also stolen by pharmacists from their workplaces and put up for sale, he said. Many people who bought the cards were opposed to the Covid-19 vaccines, Mr. Khalifah said. In some anti-vaccine groups on Facebook, people have publicly boasted about getting the cards. Other buyers want to use the cards to trick pharmacists into giving them a vaccine, Mr. Khalifah said. Because some of the vaccines are two-shot regimens, people can enter a false date for a first inoculation on the card, which makes it appear as if they need a second dose soon. Some pharmacies and state vaccination sites have prioritized people due for their second shots. An empty conference room in New York, which is among the cities with the lowest rate of workers returning to offices.Credit…George Etheredge for The New York Times In only a year, the market value of office towers in Manhattan has plummeted 25 percent, according to city projections released on Wednesday. Across the country, the vacancy rate for office buildings in city centers has steadily climbed over the past year to reach 16.4 percent, according to Cushman & Wakefield, the highest in about a decade. That number could climb further if companies keep giving up office space because of hybrid or fully remote work, Peter Eavis and Matthew Haag report for The New York Times. So far, landlords like Boston Properties and SL Green have not suffered huge financial losses, having survived the past year by collecting rent from tenants locked into long leases — the average contract for office space runs about seven years. But as leases come up for renewal, property owners could be left with scores of empty floors. At the same time, many new office buildings are under construction — 124 million square feet nationwide, or enough for roughly 700,000 workers. Those changes could drive down rents, which were touching new highs before the pandemic. And rents help determine assessments that are the basis for property tax bills. Many big employers have already given notice to the owners of some prestigious buildings that they are leaving when their leases end. JPMorgan Chase, Ford Motor, Salesforce, Target and more are giving up expensive office space and others are considering doing so. The stock prices of the big landlords, which are often structured as real estate investment trusts that pass almost all of their profit to investors, trade well below their previous highs. Shares of Boston Properties, one of the largest office landlords, are down 29 percent from the prepandemic high. SL Green, a major New York landlord, is 26 percent lower. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris during a White House appearance on Thursday.Credit…Amr Alfiky/The New York Times President Biden proposed a vast expansion of federal spending on Friday, calling for a 16 percent increase in domestic programs as he tries to harness the government’s power to reverse what officials called a decade of underinvestment in the nation’s most pressing issues. The proposed $1.52 trillion in spending on discretionary programs would significantly bolster education, health research and fighting climate change. It comes on top of Mr. Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package and a separate plan to spend $2.3 trillion on the nation’s infrastructure. Mr. Biden’s first spending request to Congress showcases his belief that expanding, not shrinking, the federal government is crucial to economic growth and prosperity. It would direct billions of dollars toward reducing inequities in housing and education, as well as making sure every government agency puts climate change at the front of its agenda. It does not include tax proposals, economic projections or so-called mandatory programs like Social Security, which will all be included in a formal budget request the White House will release this spring. Among its major new spending initiatives, the plan would dedicate an additional $20 billion to help schools that serve low-income children and provide more money to students who have experienced racial or economic barriers to higher education. It would create a multi-billion-dollar program for researching diseases like cancer and add $14 billion to fight and adapt to the damages of climate change. It would also seek to lift the economies of Central American countries, where rampant poverty, corruption and devastating hurricanes have fueled migration toward the southwestern border and a variety of initiatives to address homelessness and housing affordability, including on tribal lands. And it asks for an increase of about 2 percent in spending on national defense. The request represents a sharp break with the policies of President Donald J. Trump, whose budget proposals prioritized military spending and border security, while seeking to cut funding in areas like environmental protection. All told, the proposal calls for a $118 billion increase in discretionary spending in the 2022 fiscal year, when compared with the base spending allocations this year. It seeks to capitalize on the expiration of a decade of caps on spending growth, which lawmakers agreed to in 2010 but frequently breached in subsequent years. Administration officials would not specify on Friday whether that increase would result in higher federal deficits in their coming budget proposal, but promised its full budget would “address the overlapping challenges we face in a fiscally and economically responsible way.” As part of that effort, the request seeks $1 billion in new funding for the Internal Revenue Service to enforce tax laws, including “increased oversight of high-income and corporate tax returns.” That is clearly aimed at raising tax receipts by cracking down on tax avoidance by companies and the wealthy. Officials said the proposals did not reflect the spending called for in Mr. Biden’s infrastructure plan, which he introduced last week, or for a second plan he has yet to roll out, which will focus on what officials call “human infrastructure” like education and child care. Congress, which is responsible for approving government spending, is under no requirement to adhere to White House requests. In recent years, lawmakers rejected many of the Trump administration’s efforts to gut domestic programs. But Mr. Biden’s plan, while incomplete as a budget, could provide a blueprint for Democrats who narrowly control the House and Senate and are anxious to reassert their spending priorities after four years of a Republican White House. Stocks on Wall Street climbed further into record territory on Friday: The S&P 500 index rose 0.8 percent, bringing its gain for the week to 2.7 percent. Shares of Amazon rose 2.2 percent after the company prevailed against a unionization drive at a warehouse in Alabama. The relatively steady gains in the stock market have sent the VIX index, a measure of volatility, to its lowest level since February 2020. The index was below 17 points on Friday. In mid-March, as the pandemic shut down parts of the global economy, the VIX had spiked above 80. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes jumped 4 basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 1.66 percent. The yield on 10-year government bonds rose across Europe, too. On Thursday, Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, reiterated his intention to keep supporting the economic recovery The rollout of vaccinations meant the United States economy could probably reopen soon, but the recovery was still “uneven and incomplete,” Mr. Powell said at the International Monetary Fund annual conference. European stock indexes were mixed on Friday, though the Stoxx Europe 600 notched its sixth straight week of gains. The DAX index in Germany rose 0.2 percent after data showed an unexpected drop in industrial production. The FTSE 100 in London fell 0.4 percent. Oil prices fell slightly with futures of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, 0.4 percent lower to $59.38 a barrel. Just months after returning to the skies, Boeing’s troubled 737 Max jet is facing another setback. Boeing said Friday that it had notified 16 airlines and other customers of a potential electrical problem with the Max and recommended that they temporarily stop flying some planes. The company refused to say how many planes were affected, but four U.S. airlines said they would stop using nearly 70 Max jets. Boeing would not say how long the planes would be sidelined. The statement comes just months after companies resumed flying the jet, which had been grounded for nearly two years because of a pair of accidents that killed nearly 350 people. Load new posts Part of Saudi Aramco’s giant Ras Tanura oil terminal. The company said it would raise $12.4 billion from selling a minority stake in its oil pipeline business.Credit…Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, has reached a deal to raise $12.4 billion from the sale of a 49 percent stake in a pipeline-rights company. The money will come from a consortium led by EIG Global Energy Partners, a Washington-based investor in pipelines and other energy infrastructure. Under the arrangement announced on Friday, the investor group will buy 49 percent of a new company called Aramco Oil Pipelines, which will have the rights to 25 years of payments from Aramco for transporting oil through Saudi Arabia’s pipeline networks. Aramco is under pressure from its main owner, the Saudi government, to generate cash to finance state operations as well as investments like new cities to diversify the economy away from oil. The company has pledged to pay $75 billion in annual dividends, nearly all to the government, as well as other taxes. Last year, the dividends came to well in excess of the company’s net income of $49 billion. Recently, Aramco was tapped by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s main policymaker, to lead a new domestic investment drive to build up the Saudi economy. The pipeline sale “reinforces Aramco’s role as a catalyst for attracting significant foreign investment into the Kingdom,” Aramco said in a statement. From Saudi Arabia’s perspective, the deal has the virtue of raising money up front without giving up control. Aramco will own a 51 percent majority share in the pipeline company and “retain full ownership and operational control” of the pipes the company said. Aramco said Saudi Arabia would retain control over how much oil the company produces. Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich neighbor, has struck similar oil and gas deals with outside investors. Source link Orbem News #Aramco #Billion #oil #Pipeline #Saudi #sells #stake

[wyldwon]

A friend sent this to me and said to share it...

“Ok we had another Zoom call last night with retired Generals, Colonels and also Lin Wood. Here's what they covered: (don't be alarmed this one is pretty heavy but ends well)

Everyone is upset and impatient that no trigger has been pulled yet. But make no mistake, the President will do what is necessary to defend the constitution. Much is being done out of public view...

- 25,000 troops are now in DC, under the guise of riot control for the inauguration.

- More troops across the country - all major Democrat cities - are on standby which is 1hr recall.

- POTUS just designated Cuba as a terrorist state (relating to election interference)

- POTUS just delisted a number of Chinese companies from having business being done with them.

- The recent blackouts in Italy (Vatican), Pakistan & Iran were from our Space Force - they temporarily took out parts of their power grid from up there. This was in preparation for war with China and Iran. Don't panic! This isn't conventional war with tanks and bombs and bullets - it's cyber warfare including satellites that can knock out communications and data centers. If you ever wondered why the Space Force was instituted by POTUS a while back, it wasn't just about going to Mars. It was for this. Other countries have satellites up there that can do stuff to us - we have them now too and they work.

- There are now 250,000 Chinese troops surrounding us, 75,000 in Canada and the rest in Mexico. The generals said if they set foot in this country they will be wiped out swiftly as they are ready. (I know, this is scary but hang on everything will be fine)

- POTUS at the Wall in Texas yesterday was a signal to let China know he means business as a sign and that he is in charge.

- POTUS will be getting in front of the people to produce evidence so the people know he is the real elected President. He may have to use the Emergency Alert System to do this in 2-3 days. When I give you a timeline or dates they can be disinformation given to us on purpose, so we will not be told the real dates as our calls are being listened into.

- The Mayor of Oklahoma City was informed by POTUS on Monday via email that the Insurrection Act has been enacted and arrests will begin in that city. This is the first of many cities this will happen in. So we now have confirmation that the Insurrection Act is in place!

- DON'T BELIEVE THE MEDIA! It's all optics. One Colonel noted that in war, it's important to draw your enemy out in the open. POTUS has been doing EXACTLY that. Look at all the rats that have been revealing their true identity. POTUS has been separating the wheat from the chaff, especially these past 2 weeks.

- This election was cyber warfare on our country. A paper was sent to the White House on the voting in 4 states that showed Chinese cyber attacks moving votes from Trump to Biden. They have proof of this now. This is a foreign country involved in our elections so this has been escalated from a domestic issue to an attack from a foreign enemy. This has moved from a constitutional voting issue to a national security issue now.

- Covid was a biological attack on our country to shut down our economy and push the Mail-in Ballots Nationwide in order to pull off the steal along with the Dominion Machines.

The virus was a man made Bio-weapon created in a Wuhan Lab to take out as many of our elderly and the weak as possible to incite more fear globally. They needed the death counts to rise to continue their plan to take over our country. This is why every death was marked as a Cov19 death regardless if they had it or not.

The Generals and Gen Flynn encouraged us all as Patriots to RESIST all across this country and yes Canada too. Take off your Mask. Go to Church and Open your businesses. They can't stop us when we all RESIST! There aren't enough jail cells to hold everyone. Those were our orders to get the message out to the masses. There is no mandate in our Constitution Law to keep people from seeing each other or close their business. - The Capitol Building attack was Antifa and BLM driven - all tactical deception as they call it in the military. It's common practice.

Ok.... no one is getting nuked and you don't need to take this at its worst. But you need to be prepared. There could be blackouts, internet down, cell phones down for short periods. Make sure you have ways to keep your food cold etc. if the power goes out, and don't panic! Democrat controlled and big cities may be hit the worst because BLM & Antifa will riot and loot when Biden isn't seated. That's why the military is on standby. I know the number of Chinese troops around us is a scary thing but they are only coming in if Biden was seated. Then they would start the move on changing our country - it's not a pretty thought. But that's not happening. I know the Joint Chiefs put out a letter they are supporting the new President Biden on the 20th - what else

#trump2020 #socialmedia #fbmessenger

[dailynewswebsite]

In its troubled hour, polling could use an irreverent figure to reset expectations

Pollsters predicted a a lot greater vote for Joe Biden, together with in Florida, the place employees on the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Workplace in Largo course of voters' ballots on Nov. 3. Octavio Jones/Getty Photos

Polling is hardly a flamboyant area that draws lots of colourful characters. It’s a quite reserved career that now finds itself below siege within the aftermath of yet one more polling shock in a nationwide election.

The sector is buffeted by intense criticism – by even excessive claims that it could be doomed – following mischaracterizations in nationwide polls that former Vice President Joe Biden was sure for a blowout victory.

Many preelection polls prompt it was to be a “blue wave” election by which Biden would simply take over the White Home, whereas fellow Democrats would sweep to manage within the Senate and fortify their majority within the Home of Representatives.

The 2020 election was nearer and extra advanced than most nationwide polls indicated, and it marked the second successive polling shock in a U.S. presidential election. In 2016, polls in key Nice Lakes states underestimated help for Donald Trump, states that had been essential to his profitable the White Home.

In its troubled hour, polling might use a outstanding, outspoken and irreverent character who is aware of the career’s intricacies and whose default isn’t to defensiveness. Such a determine might place polling’s newest misstep in helpful and believable perspective, and achieve this candidly, with out seeming too haughty or arcane about it.

The reply is ‘No’ to the query posed in a Nov. Three Wall Road Journal story. Wall Road Journal

‘To show we’re not yellow’

Polling has no such colourful, outspoken character now. It did as soon as, in Burns (“Bud”) Roper, the Iowa-born son of a pioneer in fashionable survey analysis, Elmo Roper. Bud Roper was disarming sufficient to inform a newspaper reporter within the 1950s: “I suppose the primary motive we do these election polls in any respect is to show we’re not yellow,” or cowardly.

Roper, who died in 2003, was in polling a lot of his grownup life, getting into his father’s market analysis agency after World Struggle II. He retired as the corporate’s chairman in 1994. He was round when the Roper ballot dramatically miscalled the 1948 presidential election, predicting that Thomas E. Dewey would defeat President Harry Truman by 15 share factors.

Truman received reelection by 4.5 factors, which meant Roper’s polling error was a staggering 19.5 share factors – virtually as dreadful because the Literary Digest failure in 1936, when the venerable journal’s mail-in survey erroneously pegged Alf Landon to unseat President Franklin D. Roosevelt by a large margin.

The 1936 debacle occurred on the daybreak of contemporary opinion analysis and, as I write in my newest guide, “Misplaced in a Gallup: Polling Failure in U.S. Presidential Elections,” it left a legacy of nagging doubt in regards to the effectiveness of polling in estimating election outcomes.

Nonetheless, it’s also true that journalists, and the general public, inevitably flip to polls – and the phantasm of precision they provide – in searching for readability in regards to the dynamics of a presidential marketing campaign. Even after the back-to-back embarrassments in 2016 and 2020, election polling is unquestionably not destined for collapse or dissolution. Polling could also be an unglamorous career; it is also a hardy one.

Bud Roper was keen to criticize his career. Screenshot, The Roper Middle for Public Opinion Analysis

Bud Roper’s lengthy profession traced pretty nicely polling’s entrenchment in American politics and tradition. He as soon as mentioned that he entered the sphere when it was someplace between “a kooky off-the-wall and a longtime business.”

In some methods, Roper’s most noteworthy contribution was candor and a refreshing disinclination to take survey analysis all that critically. In that sense, he was like his father, who started conducting preelection polls in 1936 however got here to doubt their worth.

Within the run-up to the 1948 election, for instance, Elmo Roper equated polling to “a stunt, like balancing cocktail glasses on prime of one another or tearing a phone guide in two. It’s spectacular. It has a sure fascination. However it tells us little or no that we wouldn’t discover out even when poll-taking had by no means been invented.”

Bud Roper equally tended towards colourful outspokenness. He was not hesitant to name out his career for its shortcomings and flaws.

Related Press journalists within the Washington bureau tabulate election returns Nov. 5, 1940, retaining the rating on each electoral and fashionable votes for the nation. AP Photograph

‘Largely artwork’

In 1984, at a time when election polling was going via one other tough patch, Bud Roper mentioned in a speech to the American Affiliation for the Development of Science, “Our polling strategies have gotten increasingly more refined, but we appear to be lacking increasingly more elections.”

Roper was frank about a few of polling’s unresolved complications, equivalent to differentiating between seemingly and unlikely voters – a willpower essential to a survey’s accuracy.

“One of many trickiest elements of an election ballot is to find out who’s prone to vote and who just isn’t,” Roper as soon as mentioned, including with attribute frankness, “I can guarantee you that this willpower is basically artwork.”

The likely-voter conundrum stays a defiant and protracted downside. It additionally is a crucial motive that election polling is a mix of artwork and science, which Roper favored to emphasise. In actual fact, he mentioned it tended to be extra artwork than science.

“I’ve heard it mentioned that opinion analysis is half artwork and half science,” Roper acknowledged in an tackle to members of the American Affiliation for Public Opinion Analysis on the shut of his yearlong presidential time period in 1983. “I might say {that a} whole lot greater than half is artwork and correspondingly lower than half is science.”

Roper held some out-of-the-mainstream concepts about polling. He was not enamored with surveys carried out by phone, noting they too typically interrupted respondents and disrupted their routines. Roper argued, considerably vaguely, an answer to the sharp decline in response charges to phone surveys was to “return to non-public interviews. Phone received’t do it, web received’t do it, e mail received’t do it,” he mentioned late in his life.

He added: “I don’t have all of the solutions as to how, but when [the problem of declining response rates] just isn’t solved, I believe the business as we’ve recognized it’ll be – oh, it’ll survive, however it’s going to outlive with worse and worse outcomes each time we go up.”

Taking accountability for a foul ballot

Roper was not one to sidestep controversy. He conceded error with out hesitation when, in 1993, his firm carried out a survey for the American Jewish Committee that prompt 22% of People doubted the Holocaust had occurred.

It was a stunning, controversial and off-target discovering that Roper quickly questioned, noting the query’s wording included a double detrimental and may have been rephrased. When the query was revised and posed in a separate survey, only one.1% of the respondents mentioned they doubted the Holocaust.

[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]

Roper mentioned he regretted that the unique ballot’s discovering “served to misinform the general public, to scare the Jewish group needlessly and to provide assist and luxury to the neo-Nazis who’ve a dedication to Holocaust denial.”

In saying so, Roper confirmed he might rise up and take accountability for a foul ballot. It’s a lesson that has enduring relevance.

W. Joseph Campbell doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that may profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/in-its-troubled-hour-polling-could-use-an-irreverent-figure-to-reset-expectations/ via https://growthnews.in

#Growth News