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Thursday, August 20, 2020

#VoteByMail - The odd, 2020 political issue that nobody could've predicted last year would arouse so much anger and passion. But it's also the issue that, like the weather, everyone feels they're an expert on, even when they aren't. To say nothing of being in the dark about how the finances of the USPS, and why it's so in the red


#VoteByMail - The odd, 2020 political issue that nobody could've predicted last year would arouse so much anger and passion. But it's also the issue that, like the weather, everyone feels they're an expert on, even when they aren't. To say nothing of being in the dark about how the finances of the USPS, and why it's so in the red.

Today's blog post serves as a bit of a follow-up to my previous comments here of July 12th regarding the realities of #VoteByMail, with some links to some interesting articles and columns on an surprising political divide in the U.S. that almost no reasonable person could have imagined last year would cause anger among some Americans: Where do you stand on the issue of local and state governments deciding to send out election ballots to all registered voters regardless of whether or not they requested them, and the potential for abuse.

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020
#VoteByMail - A word or two or three about the reliability of absentee ballots, via Wisconsin's recent very negative experience; Friends don't let friends vote for #JenniferGottlieb
https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/votebymail-word-or-two-or-three-about.html

Here's a Washington Post story that's likely to be driving much of the #VoteByMail media conversation for a while, despite very few people in America really knowing all the very gruesome financial details regarding the US Postal Service and how it got that way.

It's worth remembering that U.S. Senators from more rural states -including some I know- will always be forced by virtue of public pressure to insist that their constituents not receive any less service than residents in urban areas, i.e. Saturday mail, the one thing that most urbanites are willing to do without in order to reduce costs, both institutional and long-term.

The Washington Post
Postal Service tells 46 states that mail-in ballots may not arrive in time to be counted
The warnings point to a grim possibility: Even if people voting by mail follow all the election rules, the pace of delivery may disqualify their votes.
By Erin Cox, Elise Viebeck, Jacob Bogage and Christopher Ingraham
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/usps-states-delayed-mail-in-ballots/2020/08/14/64bf3c3c-dcc7-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html


FoxNews Channel
Tucker Carlson: Media go all-in on mailbox conspiracy
Uploaded August 17, 2020
No one is stealing mailboxes. #FoxNews #Tucker
https://youtu.be/KGvpaejsrkU






















🗳 Fueled by mail ballots, Florida voters showed up this summer in remarkable numbers, turning out amid a pandemic at the highest rate seen in a presidential-year August primary since 1992. More than 3.8 million voters participated in Tuesday’s election, according to data posted late Tuesday by the Florida Division of Elections. In South Florida, more than 900,000 ballots were cast — more than two-thirds of them by mail. The increased participation generated expectations of a high-turnout presidential election between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden this November. And if Florida is expected to once again be a key electoral battlefield, mail ballots — one of Trump’s most controversial foils this year — will almost certainly play an unprecedented role. In Miami-Dade, where the number of votes in Tuesday’s election surpassed the number cast in the 2018 midterms by about 100,000, voter participation was up across the board this summer. But Democrats emerged from Tuesday’s election especially enthusiastic about mail voting, which helped boost turnout among voters between the ages of 18 and 34 and among voters who’d never before participated in an August election. Statewide, Democrats voted overwhelmingly by mail, casting more than 1.1 million mail ballots before Election Day began. Republicans, who once used absentee voting to build up pre-Election Day leads over Democrats, submitted at least 766,000 mail ballots, with results still being tallied Tuesday night. You can read more at the link in our bio // ✍️: David Smiley, 📸: @pportalphoto
A post shared by Miami Herald (@miamiherald) on   

South Florida Sun Sentinel
Editorial Board 
Big changes in Broward: Record turnout and a culture change in criminal justice  August 19th, 2020
Broward voters made history Tuesday, both in how we vote, and in who will likely lead the criminal justice system in this Democratic-rich, majority-minority county.
Contrary to elections of yore, when Broward became a national laughingstock for its untimely election results, appointed Elections Supervisor Pete Antonacci delivered a seemingly seamless election under the most trying of pandemic conditions.
Nothing speaks louder on election night than numbers. People want the results, quickly and accurately. And Antonacci's office delivered the rolling tallies without delays, far before Palm Beach County did. It also live-streamed its vote-counting and canvassing board's work. 
Also for the history books, almost 75% of Broward voters made clear that they prefer to vote by mail, which could lead to a record turnout in November's presidential election. This election proves that when government makes it easier and safer for people to vote, and people take sensible precautions, a lot more people will vote. About 25% of Broward voters turned out for this primary, up from 16% four years ago. That's a healthy sign for democracy.
And what's that about not trusting the Postal Service? The USPS delivered.
See the rest of the editorial at:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-edit-florida-election-takeaways-20200819-27r4kt27ljddxe6qahmxtc5qwi-story.html






President Trump has already offered $10 billion to fix Postal as part of a COVID relief package. Democrats have said no. They’re holding up a relief bill (including stimulus checks and small business relief) until they get more of their policy wishlist demands included.
— Mark Meadows (@MarkMeadows) August 16, 2020





























Latest new re #VoteByMail at: https://twitter.com/hashtag/votebymail?f=live



Dave 
David B. Smith 

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