SCOTUS Decision On Mail-In Ballots Nearing

 

A key decision is expected this week from the Republican-dominated Supreme Court on the corrupt and unhinged Malignant Fascist's attempt to suppress voting in the upcoming mid-term elections.  The MF is asking the Court to permit the Postal Service to regulate who receives mail-in ballots and who doesn't.  Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, writing in her Substack, reports:

"Last Monday, the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to let the Trump administration implement Trump’s executive order that would allow, among other things, federal control over who can and can’t receive a ballot in the mail. A district judge in Massachusetts enjoined the EO from going into effect for now. The Solicitor General is asking the Supreme Court to stay that injunction, which would permit the Trump administration to move forward with the EO while the cases challenging it move through the courts. [snip]

A response is due from the states that oppose the EO by 4 p.m. ET on Monday. They are: California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania (through its governor, Josh Shapiro). The formal issue before the Court is whether it should stay the lower court’s injunction barring federal agencies from fully implementing Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting.

One important issue when a party seeks an injunction, like the blue states did in the lower court, is showing the irreparable injury is imminent without one. Here that was challenging. The EO was in place, but the question was whether the federal government was taking sufficiently malicious steps towards implementing it to merit an injunction. Not what might happen in the future, but what was happening now. So the administration, and the red states, present everything in the most benign terms possible and the government has made careful efforts to hold off on steps that would clearly trigger court action for now. The concern is that they will act as we get closer to the midterm elections, that they are preparing now to take steps, perhaps too close to the election for state AGs and the courts to effectively counter them." (our emphasis)

The MF will do anything to rig the mid-terms in his favor, knowing that he and his party are facing an angry public eager to vote them out.  If, as Vance suggests, the MF's regime acts on the mail-in ballot issue too late for States to stop them through the courts before the mid-terms, the damage done to our elections will be lasting, and the MF will escape accountability once again.  We're not expecting the MAGAfied Supreme Court to do the right thing and uphold the injunction.  Stay tuned.

 

Trump's Hard At Work... Trying To Rig The Midterms

 

The backfiring gerrymandering gambit wasn't enough. From the "mind" of the Malignant Fascist, who's the ultimate arbiter of law and morality (click to enlarge):

That's a lot of manic distraction in one paragraph, with assertions that are pulled right out of his large ass.  "Inaccurate" voting machines? "Massive voter fraud"?  Receipts, please, dumbass.  The elimination of mail-in ballots (a state-by-state decision not his) would be a hard sell in many red states, especially with the Republican- skewing senior citizen demographic.  Prescribing a particular voting machine -- also not his call. Courts have stopped him, for now, from intruding into election processes and systems.

The basic issue with this deranged, scatterbrained screed is that the MF has no knowledge of, or care for, the U.S. Constitution, which clearly states in Article I, Section 4:

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of choosing Senators.

There's no mention of the role of the President, much less that States "must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY, to do." That's the language of a deranged and very stupid tyrant who thinks there's nothing limiting his power other than his "morality" (none) and "mind" (gone).  He's gotten away with way more than he should have up until now by bluffing and threatening, and by the sheer volume of norm-busting words and actions that he's ramped up, especially after he was ordered to produce the Epstein files.  It's up to all of us collectively and individually to see to it that this most unfit, un-American of all Presidents doesn't get away with this strike at the heart of our democracy.

"Four Ways To Safely Cast Your Ballot"

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)

Defeating Trump's Plan For Election Night Sabotage

Being the intemperate dolt that he is, Mango Mussolini Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump has made his election sabotage plan very transparent:  bollixing up mail- in voting in the midst of his pandemic. Here's Jamelle Bouie on "How to foil Trump's election night strategy":

If Trump is leading on election night, in other words, there’s a good chance he’ll try to disrupt and delegitimize the counting process. That way, if Joe Biden pulls ahead in the days (or weeks) after voting ends — if we experience a “blue shift” like the one in 2018, in which the Democratic majority in the House grew as votes came in — the president will have given himself grounds to reject the outcome as “fake news.”

The only way to prevent this scenario, or at least, rob it of the oxygen it needs to burn, is to deliver an election night lead to Biden. This means voting in person. No, not everyone will be able to do that. But if you plan to vote against Trump and can take appropriate precautions, then some kind of hand delivery — going to the polls or bringing your mail-in ballot to a “drop box” — will be the best way to protect your vote from the president’s concerted attempt to undermine the election for his benefit.

Bouie offers a number of variations on this defensive strategy, and the entire article is a thought- provoking read.

Our state has early voting starting about 10 days before the election.  Due to the loss and likely non- replacement of election judges, the state is moving toward "voting centers" statewide in all of the high schools rather than in local precincts, where you can vote in any center that's within your county. Right now, that's the option I plan to follow, though by the time requests for absentee ballots start showing up, there may be new considerations in play that would change the calculation.

But Trump and his regime have made it very clear they will do everything they can to short- circuit election results after November 3.  That's why we need a Biden-Harris landslide to forestall any premptive claims of victory by the neo- fascists.  As Bouie concludes,

... To head off the worst outcomes, Trump must go down in a decisive defeat. He’s on that path already. The task for his opponents is to sustain that momentum and work to make his defeat as obvious as possible, as early as possible. The pandemic makes that a risk, but it’s a risk many of us may have to take.

Please give thought, as we will, to the best, safest way you can help achieve that end.

BONUS: Vote.org has specifics on each State's procedures, etc. Check it out and pass along to family and friends. GOTV!