April 3, 2020

"How do you hold an election in the middle of a pandemic? You don’t. And yet Wisconsin’s political leaders, from both parties, say we must."

"There are many reasons this is a bad idea but let’s start with the most important: It’s not safe to expect voters to go to the polls next Tuesday as coronavirus tears across the state.... And aside from this obvious risk to public health, there is a real risk to electoral credibility. If the election is held, turnout is likely to be abysmal, which may disenfranchise large blocs of voters and call into question the results. A federal judge this week invited those who brought lawsuits challenging the election to return to court afterward if they believe large numbers of people were disenfranchised...."

So says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, insisting on cancellation of all in-person voting and the substitution of mail-in voting only.
[Governor Tony] Evers has called out the state National Guard to act as poll workers and help at precincts but it won’t be enough. Milwaukee, a city with 180 polling locations, may be down to fewer than a dozen for this election. All of which means that even with a low turnout, far too many people will feel the need to congregate too close to one another on Tuesday to exercise their right to vote....
I have a big problem with the absentee-voting mechanism the state is using, as discussed in my previous post. The website is awful — confusing and intimidating — and I don't think it allows you to shift to absentee voting only for April 7th. I believe you're forced to give up your right to vote in person for the rest of the year. And you are required to upload a photograph of your photo ID, which is off-putting to some people, including me.

53 comments:

MadisonMan said...

The Journal-Sentinel expects the Government to keep you safe.

D. said...

Drive by voting at the banks(banks closed for the day) using paper ballots and photo id.

Big Mike said...

That guy Evers, he’s not very good, is he?

Gahrie said...

and the substitution of mail-in voting only.

You might as well just save the money and just cancel the elections and give everything to the Democrats.

BJK said...

I early voted (in-person absentee) voted over 2 weeks ago, when I realized the people who are usually volunteer poll workers are the same retirement-age folk for whom coronavirus is a high-risk proposition.

So much easier than dealing with requesting a ballot by mail.

LYNNDH said...

We have mail in balloting here in CO. You can go in and do it in person, few do.

Gusty Winds said...

The only reason Madison liberals are freaking out is because without the contested Democrat primary, Justice Kelly has a good chance of winning. Liberals thought everything would fall into place and they could pick up the seat.

They weren't too concerned with GOP turnout a month ago. The primary was supposed to give them a turnout advantage.

But now, students have left campus. Same thing in La Crosse. Milwaukee is a ghost town.

The W.O.W. counties will go to the polls. Just like they are going to the grocery stores, their essential jobs, and risking their lives….

How does “mail in only” ad validity to the outcome?

Gahrie said...

To vote you should have to show up in person, and show a photo id. Then you dip a finger in ink. The only people who get absentee ballots are military serving overseas. Anyone else... oh well, there's always next time.

narciso said...

curious no

hombre said...

Democrats and the mediaswine love non-ID and mail-in voting because FRAUD.

rcocean said...

I agree, people should show up to vote. At the very least, only ballots received by election day should be counted. This would mean a deadline to mail your ballot 3 days BEFORE The election. Letting people register and vote by mail ON election day is insane, and is done for only one reason: to encourage voter fraud.

rcocean said...

I agree, people should show up to vote. At the very least, only ballots received by election day should be counted. This would mean a deadline to mail your ballot 3 days BEFORE The election. Letting people register and vote by mail ON election day is insane, and is done for only one reason: to encourage voter fraud.

rcocean said...

Poll Workers can be protected by various means. The alternatives are not death or vote by mail.

bagoh20 said...

They should add a bed of hot coals you need to cross barefoot. We need dedicated voters who really care.

JAORE said...

Better to just let the DNC provide voting data based on counts sent to their server... post bleach bit.

bagoh20 said...

The voting process doesn't really require contact. You just need be creative. You pick a ballot at one drive up kiosk, do the name and address thing at another via microphone and speaker, then slip the completed ballot into a third. Kinda like ordering food at a drive through but if properly setup would involve no way for any transmission. Decontaminate the ballot box before opening. I know what Dems will say, becuase they always do no matter what: VOTER SUPPRESSION! Alternative would be a voting website built by the experienced team that did the Obamacare one.

wild chicken said...

Poll Workers can be protected by various means.

By erecting plexiglass booths all over the gym floor?

Sorry, I've done election judge work and it's terribly exposed to the public. I was signed up for the refresher courses everyone has to take but withdrew as they were to be held all through March. I honestly don't know who wants to do this now.

Thing is, even with a mail-in election, the core election judge crew tests the machines and processes the ballots behind the scenes, and they're usually cheek-by-jowl in closed spaces. Really, just as risky as the other.

And they're paid help that usually need the extra money.

bagoh20 said...

I thought the DNC just picked the person they wanted anyway, and the rest was election theater.

bagoh20 said...

My local supermarket has installed Plexiglas between the checkers and customers just yesterday. A lot of these measure might stay, and maybe that's a good thing. Some of them need to go away now.

curt said...

Has California finished counting primary ballots yet?

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

from both parties

Who is the governor again? Oh yeah, that Cadaver guy.

Dems are panicking because the absentee ballot return rate is being reported as being much higher than expected in the WOW counties. Combine this with a general distaste African Americans have for voting absentee and you have the makings of a Dem SC defeat. File this under things that just started to dawn on Democrats.

gerry said...

NEVER LET A CRISIS GO TO WASTE.

Well, the Republic had a good run. There is that.

D.D. Driver said...

"I believe you're forced to give up your right to vote in person for the rest of the year."

Then stop believing things that aren't true. Just because you get an absentee ballot in the mail doesn't mean you can't vote in person. In fact one of the ways of turning in your absentee ballot is to hand deliver it to your clerk on election day. And, I'm 99.9% sure that if you spoil your absentee ballot the clerk will even give you a normal looking ballot if that is something that is important to you.

Ann, before you spread misinformation and add to public anxiety you should ask yourself: am I helping?

Michael The Magnificent said...

The W.O.W. counties will go to the polls.

Ozaukee resident, and I already voted by mail. I've always voted in person previously.

Yancey Ward said...

The pressure is on to get Biden over the delegate majority. This may backfire on the DNC- Sanders does much better than Biden in mail in/early voting. It is when actual voters go to the polls that Biden outshone Sanders.

Leland said...

If grocery stores can handle social distancing, so can elections. With schools closed, you should have plenty of room in gymnasiums to both keep each voting booths far apart yet within visible line of sight.

Gracelea said...

Milwaukee voter here; I had the same experience as Ann described trying to register for absentee ballot. I was told there was no photo on file and that I would have to upload. I have owned/lived and voted at the same address under the same name since 1992.

I (shocking I know) choose not to have a smart phone. I'm sure there are numerous old/poor people in my 53212 zip code who will be disenfranchised because they fear going to vote in person next week, and that's assuming the local polling place is even open.

Dude1394 said...

NO. Our politicians can not be trusted with virtual voting. They continue to show themselves only interested in taking the system. Either not vote or we just allow the time who are brave enough to elect our reps. I know for damn sure I will be there with mask and gloves on.

elkh1 said...

Wear masks, keep 6' distancing, be test subjects of the low dosage experiment. We don't get a vaccine for at least 12 months. May as well immunize ourselves with a low dosage.

Of course, this advice is not for me. I hate to get sick! If 75% of you are immune, I will be fine.

Birkel said...

Totalitarians always want to postpone elections. Fuck that.

Gracelea said...

Update- I just looked on the Milwaukee city website to find my (new/temporary) polling place. It's a good 2 miles away; by bus it's 2 transfers and a 6 block walk. Think many old folks with mobility issues are going to choose this (assuming they're even savvy enough to FIND the new polling place) or just give up?

Also, my recollection is that there's usually info on the city's voting info page re. getting a ride to the polls. No such thing as of right now. The League of Women Voters used to be big in this area, nothing on their website either.

Original Mike said...

"I have a big problem with the absentee-voting mechanism the state is using, as discussed in my previous post. The website is awful — confusing and intimidating — and I don't think it allows you to shift to absentee voting only for April 7th. I believe you're forced to give up your right to vote in person for the rest of the year."

I'm puzzled. The website I used was very simple. I understand that may be in the eye of the beholder but you input your name, and I think birth date, and it came back with your address and asked if that was you. Then you chose whether you wanted an absentee ballot for only this election of for future elections as well. It was very explicit on this point. Is it possible we were looking at different websites?

Achilles said...

So says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, insisting on cancellation of all in-person voting and the substitution of mail-in voting only.

Why don't we just forgo voting altogether and put democrats in charge.

This is all being done for a reason.

People are doing their damnedest work to start a civil war.

Achilles said...

bagoh20 said...
They should add a bed of hot coals you need to cross barefoot. We need dedicated voters who really care.

A requirement that you pay net positive amounts of income tax would be sufficient for me.

Unknown said...

I read "How do you hold an election in the middle of a pandemic?" as "How do you hold an election in the middle of a panic?

Will said...

"I believe you're forced to give up your right to vote in person for the rest of the year."


So voters in a key battleground state, which both sides NEED to win, will not be able to vote in person in November and leave their electronic vote open to all kinds of shenanigans.

You also have to compromise your identity by providing your license with key info on it...

If true, this is straight up voter fraud in action...

Dems might not even need to send all those buses full of paid "voters" from Chicago up to Kenosha to vote this year!

Nichevo said...

Roombas, you idiots! Robots can do much of this contact stuff. Roombas with baskets of pens. Roombas with manipulator arms to hand you your ballots one at a time.

Is there any material on which virii cannot live? I wouldn't mind having some kind of stylus on hand to push buttons, work doors, etc, to avoid physical contact, which then wouldn't by contact infect me or my pocket.

If copper kills virii faster than stainless steel, is there something in turn that kills them instantly/very quickly, so I can draw it, press the elevator button, then pocket it again, without having to run through Happy Birthday twice over?

Greg the class traitor said...

Milwaukee? That's the city where the "vote counters" "discovered" any additional 40,000+ votes on election night, votes that were more heavily for Evers than the other votes they counted were?

Yeah, no wonder the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wants to make it even easier for people to make up votes.

No

We're not going to cancel or delay the Presidential election in November, and this one shouldn't be cancelled, either. Wear a mask, wear gloves (either disposable, so something you can clean). Hold your breath while you pull down your mask so they can see your face and validate you are the person you claim to be.

You face a bigger risk from your travel to / from the voting booth (car accident, etc.) than you do from catching Chinese Coronavirus while voting if you follow those simple steps

rcocean said...

"By erecting plexiglass booths all over the gym floor?"

If need be. Change of Topic. The deliberate "playing dumb" (not by the person who made the above comment), but by the Democrats is amazing. People can't show an ID to vote. Its too hard. As opposed to buying a pack of cigarettes.

People can't show up in person to vote. As opposed to buying groceries and other crap in person, banking in person, taking classes in person, working at their job, and doing pretty much everything else in person.

How people know that the great Democrat NEXT agenda item is to let non-citizens vote. I mean they do now, but the D's want to make it legal. They also want 16-17 y/o's to vote. They already did in the Scotland independence referendum. The whole Democrat agenda is to expand the voters rolls and the opportunity for voter fraud.

rcocean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
walter said...

Gahrie said...To vote you should have to show up in person, and show a photo id. Then you dip a finger in ink.
--
Wow. Not the time for that.

Nichevo said..Roombas, you idiots! Robots can do much of this contact stuff. Roombas with baskets of pens.
-
Good grief.
BYOFP!
I do that as a habit so I can decline the offer when signing a CC slip etc.
I'm surprised so many people are surprised I carry one on me.

WhoKnew said...

I'm with Original Mike. I voted absentee for the first time in my life for this election and getting through the website was easy-peasy. Like Ann, I wasn't thrilled with having to send a photo of my DL but it's not like that isn't public information. And I'm still morally and practically opposed t anything other than in-person voting (military excepted). I accepted a bit of hypocrisy under the circumstances in an effort to make it a bit easier on the town and it's poll workers. But never again. Come November I will be standing in line as usual

walter said...

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
· 1h
Highly respected Justice Daniel Kelly is running for the Supreme Court in the Great State of Wisconsin. Justice Kelly has been doing a terrific job upholding the Rule of Law and defending your #2A. Tough on Crime, Loves our Military and our Vets. He has my Complete Endorsement!

paminwi said...

I’m with Original Mike, too!
The website was easy to navigate and I chose to only vote absentee for this election only.
It wasn’t hard.

Re: Gracelea comments on League of Women Voters not giving rides. Tell those liberal women to suck it up for the good of the Dem party! You need to elect Democrats at all cost-even trying to change the law via lawsuit. Tell them to wear masks and gloves for the good of the party. This is power at stake here!

D.D. Driver said...

"Totalitarians always want to postpone elections. Fuck that."

This is also a really important point. We have already ceded to the government to power to cancel religion if its really, really, really important. That is a terrible precedent. I am not ready to break the seal on permitting the government to postpone elections. Every single power you give to the government (every single power with zero exceptions) will be misused and abused eventually. It's just a matter of when. And, "postponing" elections until they are "safe" is right out the the playbook for a Banana Republic thug. Maybe its not such a hot idea.

Let's make our elections as safe as possible, but let's not stop holding elections.

BillieBob Thorton said...

Looks like you're going to get your mail in ballet after all.

William50 said...

My wife and I voted absentee for the first time. I went to the Cottage Grove village web page and down loaded the PDF of the absentee application and them printed 2 copies. We filled them out then I copied our drivers licenses put the applications in an envelope wrote absentee ballot request on the outside and put the envelope in the drop slot at the village hall. We received our ballots in the mail about 3 days later. You do have the option on the application to select just a single election. You just check a box and write in the date of the election you want the ballot for. Very easy.

bagoh20 said...

I would take this risk to vote. I'd shower first, wear a mask, I wouldn't touch anybody, and I'd sanitize the whole time. The odds are very low even without all that, but for the right to vote, they can hose me down while I write my vote on a wall in crayon.

caplight45 said...

Oh boy. The President just weighed in on it at the daily briefing. It’s gonna get ugly.

brylun said...

One hour ago: Tony Evers calls in Legislature on Saturday to enact all mail-in spring election, GOP leaders reject proposal

If you really feel strongly about the election, show up. If not, stay home. Elections are for terms of years, not for life. You'll have another chance if you choose not to vote this time.

Voter ID has consistently been rejected by Democrats. Why? Vote harvesting, no secret ballot, paying for votes. Abuses of the democratic process.

brylun said...

Ever heard of walking around money? Here's an article from Atlantic, offered even with the leftie spin.

Inga said...

“I’m with Original Mike, too!
The website was easy to navigate and I chose to only vote absentee for this election only.
It wasn’t hard”

I’m in Waukesha County. I had no problems at all.

Derve Swanson said...

Cancelling public school
Cancelling elections
Cancelling worship services
Cancelling public sports leagues
Instructions on how to walk on public pathways
Voluntary compliance to mask your face
Strong state encouragement to hide inside

Damnit the boomers have sold us out to China before they leave us...

The United States will rise again!