As we continue to watch the on- going efforts of the Trump regime to suppress mail- in balloting and short- circuit the November 3 vote, please read this and share it:
Voters concerned about the current crisis facing the USPS and what it could mean for their ballot arriving by Election Day have several options:
1. Vote early in person. Early voting allows voters to vote in person without waiting in crowded or long lines. Forty-one states have some form of early voting in place and may start as early as 45 days before Election Day. Many states also have weekend early voting options. Make sure to check with your local election office to see if they extended early voting due to the pandemic.
2. Use a ballot drop box. Many states and counties provide ballot drop boxes as a secure and convenient option for voters to return their sealed and signed mail ballot. Drop boxes skip the mail process entirely, allowing voters to drop off their mail ballots and have them be taken directly to county offices. Boxes are placed in many convenient locations such as outside community centers, near public transit routes or on college campuses. Check with your local election office to see if there are ballot drop boxes in your community.
3. Drop off your ballot at an election office or polling location. Almost all states permit voters to return a delivered ballot in person at their local election office, but not everyone lives close to their election office. That is why many states allow voters to drop off their signed and sealed ballots at any in-person voting location in the county. Check with your local election office to see if you can drop off your ballot at a polling location closer to your home.
4. Organize community ballot collection. Many states allow designated organizations, election officials or family members to collect a voter’s signed and sealed ballot and submit the ballot on behalf of the voter. This option is vital for high-risk voters who are unable to leave their home to cast a ballot. Check who can collect your ballot in your state.
We can’t let the current crisis facing USPS lock millions of Americans out of our voting process. With the current absentee ballot rejection rate reaching as high as 8-10%, how we cast our ballots this year matters. To beat Donald Trump and the Republicans in November, especially in battleground states, we must make a plan to vote and look to other available methods of voting—like the ones listed above—to ensure every ballot counts.As we've noted earlier, our personal choice is #1, depending on circumstances at the time. Our state (Maryland) is not going to be in play for Trump, but it's important wherever you vote that, if you feel comfortable casting your ballot in person, it could blow up the Trump plan to challenge or halt the counting of mail ballots in multiple states in order to declare a fraudulent victory. There's time before deadlines arrive to decide what your strategy should be. The more votes, and the more votes that are counted on Election Day, the less likelihood the malignant menace in the White (Supremacist) House will be able to claim a fraudulent win.
BONUS I: Princeton Election Consortium has a good write up on how hard it would be to steal an election by mail. Interesting. Modestly hopeful.
BONUS II: We're Hackwhackers and we approve this message --
If you're in a state where you have the option to vote early, do that now. The more votes in early, the less likely you're going to see a last minute crunch, both at polling places and in states where mail-in ballots are permitted. Then tell everyone you know.— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 14, 2020
(h/t LGM)
