Tag Archives: voters

Day 40: The President Comes Out as the Enemy of the People

24 Sep 2020 By in Candidates and Campaigns Tags: , , , , 3 Comments

Yesterday, September 23, was one of the worst days in American political history. On this day, the incumbent president, Donald Trump, came out as an enemy of the people, showing resentment and matter-of-fact impatience with the election and voting. “Get rid of the ballots,” Trump said on camera yesterday, during a White House briefing.  Even as evidence mounts that voters have had it with this president, he keeps ratcheting up his assault on their democratic sovereignty. 

“I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots. And the ballots are a disaster. We want to have — get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very trans- — we’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly; there’ll be a continuation. The ballots are out of control.”

The suits and skirts blandly analyzing what will happen “if Trump doesn’t leave” have forgotten the lead actor in this story: the voting public, especially the majority who for fours years has had to sit by as this despicable man has corrupted and upended the constitutional order on which the nation’s prosperity and dignity depend.

What will happen if Trump disregards the wishes of the people for whom the government exists?  Trump strikes at what he can’t control: The people will not tolerate a subversion of their will.

RELATED:
Andrew Feinberg, “Trump claiming he’ll ‘get rid of ballots’ may have just lost him the Latin American votes he desperately needed” (Independent)

Day 51: Plan Your Vote

13 Sep 2020 By in Candidates and Campaigns Tags: , , , , , , ,

Click on the image to go to NBC’s “Plan Your Vote” page.

NBC News has come out with a great interactive map that makes it easier for each of us to make a plan to vote.  Voting procedures vary from state to state, but, by summarizing the answers to four time-sensitive questions, this map (which is actually 4 clickable maps) supplies nearly all the information voters need to commit to a workable, personal plan.

The map’s creators have done us a service by zeroing in on four crucial questions:

    • Can I vote by mail without an excuse?
    • Can I register to vote and cast my ballot on the same day?
    • Can I vote in person before Election Day?
    • After I vote by mail, can I track my ballot?

The different policies of the states with respect to these questions is somewhat shocking.  Only some states allow mail-in voting without a reason, and a small number do not allow voting by mail merely on account of COVID-19.  A handful of states still firmly in Trump’s column (such as South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana) have the most conservative policies.

Overall, though, I’m struck with how many states have greatly streamlined the voting process and made voting more convenient.  (This goes hand in hand with enhanced election security in many states, a topic I hope to cover at a later date.)  For example, over half the states offer a mail-in voting option with no strings attached (including several states which have gone over exclusively to mail-in voting).  Several other states have recently modified their laws to accommodate voters’ legitimate fears over having to vote in person, while the risk of illness or death from COVID19 is still top of mind.

Only a minority of states allow residents to register and cast a ballot on the same day.  As a prerequisite to voting, registration still demands that would-be voters think ahead and exercise initiative and responsibility.  Happily, the NBC map includes a state-level voting guide with all the state-specific deadlines for registering in time.

The fourth question the map addresses (“After I vote by mail, can I track my ballot?”) may be decisive for many worried about the reliability of the Postal Service under the weasely Louis DeJoy.  Most states offer tracking, so that you can be sure that your mail-in ballot arrived.  Illinois doesn’t offer such a service, unfortunately.

Please take a moment to check out NBC’s wonderful “Plan Your Vote” map.   I found it truly helpful.  I hope you do, too.

 

Day 54: Turning Purple Blue

10 Sep 2020 By in Candidates and Campaigns Tags: , , , , ,

The tradition of going out to canvass in an area other than one’s own runs deep in American politics. At least as far back as the 1850s, political friends coordinated across state lines to help deliver the vote for their party, going to stump in other states and in some cases giving money to facilitate distant campaigns. These customs have not merely persisted but burgeoned with American mobility, high-tech modes of connectivity, and detailed tracking of local voting patterns.

If I were to canvass for Biden in my home county, it would be a waste of time. I’d be preaching to the choir: Cook County, Illinois, is as blue as they come. Conditions are more promising in Berrien County, Michigan, where I’m living temporarily. Berrien leans Republican but may be in flux. Population-wise, it’s a mix of former Illinoisans (mainly from Chicagoland) who are affluent and older, and native Michiganders who, whether farmers, small-business owners, tradesmen, or unskilled workers, have probably had their fill of economic upheavals and uncertainty. The wealthy areas along Lake Michigan’s shoreline, which forms Berrien County’s western boundary, shade off into eastern expanses of rural and semi-rural poverty, interspersed with thriving farms. Except for the New Buffalo area, which has grown dramatically, the population of the county has shrunk.

Counties such as this will matter as Biden strives to improve upon Hillary Clinton’s dismal Michigan showing in 2016. While Obama won Michigan handily in 2012, garnering 54.2% of the popular vote, Clinton lost the state to Trump by a margin of just 0.2%. Votes cast for third-party candidates exceeded the margin of her loss to Trump. Will Biden have more success appealing to the types of people who inhabit Berrien county? It would be exciting to see purplish Berrien turn blue.

Image: Detail from a Princeton Election Consortium map.
The fuchsia blob on the east side of Lake Michigan is the congressional district encompassing Berrien County, MI.