How are we supposed to trust the voting?
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smudges (
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1 month ago
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Oh, just listen to the media and Harris, smoke some pot, drink some bourbon…only crazy conservatives could possibly believe we have a problem with our elections.
No one cares if you trust or not. Guess what that means.
I just tracked my ballot and it was processed and counted. If it had not shown counted by the end of the week I would have voted a provisional ballot.
We are going to have to trust that the checks and procedures put in place produce an honest count.
At polling centers both Democrats and Republicans work together, everything is done with two sets of eyes or even a third set of eyes. If you are uneasy maybe volunteer or work at a polling center, most people say it makes them feel better when they see the process.
Only 37% of Americans believe the 2024 elections will be honest and open per pac.org.
Only 22% trust the government to do what’s right. Pewresearch.org.
Pathetic that it’s come to this.
It’s a deliberate attempt to generate excuses to have the GOP-controlled House of Representatives replace the electoral college vote with their own vote.
The “stable genius” and “constitutional expert” (Trumps HATES the Constitution) forgot the House that votes is the “New” House after January 3rd . . .vote against GOP House of Representatives; there will be a new Speaker of the House and more Democrats than GOP !
Maybe he’ll move to Venezuela or Russia !
I assume it’s the same elsewhere but we can check online to see if our ballot has been received and counted. If not, even at this late date one can still get a provisional ballot. It’s sort of like the idiots stealing signs. Doesn’t mean that person ultimately can’t vote.
@Tropical_Willie I start to say the same thing you said in your second comment but I’m glad you realized it first. Hopefully, they will not have control of the house and Mike Johnson will no longer be speaker. Which is why we need to vote blue down the ballot!
As long as the person checks their ballot status.
I got so busy responding to somebody’s comment that I forgot to give my answer, which is this.
Yes, some of the news is disturbing but I refuse to go down the rabbit hole of not trusting anything anymore. Too many people, even those who are not right wing, have now taken the attitude that they don’t trust anything anymore. My question is, how can you live like that? There are people now that scoff at weather people I follow, reputable meteorologists, because they just don’t trust anything they hear. So then are you just going to ignore the weather forecast and maybe get killed because of some severe weather event? You can’t live your life mistrusting everything there is. Read, research, inform yourself, and although you won’t be able to discern the truth behind everything, develop your critical thinking skills so that you can as much as possible figure out what you can trust.
My daughter who volunteers every election has a solution for people who distrust the voting process. Volunteer, then you will learn that it’s a bunch of made-up garbage to dissuade voters from voting. Except for people who are setting ballot boxes on fire, there is nothing else going on. Just conspiracy crap to make sure you stay home and do nothing or so Trumpers can feel justified in attacking Washington or worse a second time.
So go ahead and play into the conspiracy. Let them pull your puppet strings. Or vote this time and hope for the best and volunteer next year, so you can tell all your friends that it’s a load of crap when you see all the checks and balances that go into voting. Its probably more secure than your social security number.
^I would think that would be a big part of voting. Hoping that things are done fairly/correctly.
The act of voting, says one trusts the entire process.
Is it not funny that the side that crowed about “voter fraud” is now burning ballot boxes to destroy people’s votes?
O. That IS crazy.
Republicans do so much projecting.
I have voted and checked my ballot and it’s been received. It’s not mine I’m worried about. Do all states have a way of checking to see if your vote made it through?
@LifeQuestioner Too many people, even those who are not right wing, have now taken the attitude that they don’t trust anything anymore.
I don’t distrust everything I hear. But also I don’t blindly trust everything I hear. In this case, there was an event and I examined what happened and looked at the ramifications. I also remember the last election and the ballot tampering. This election has me worried; any logical person should be. The ramifications of trump being president are beyond out beliefs.
@smudges oh, believe me I am worried. I just meant that I didn’t go around doubting everything I heard. You may not do that but I see a lot of that happening in general. And yes, just the thought of Trump getting reelected or cheating his way into winning is so horrifying I can’t even truly process it. Although that’s a bit of a blessing in a way because I think I would just stop functioning if I really could fully process it.
One thing I had worried about was that he would try to have Mike Johnson refused to certify any electoral votes that were for Harris. Mike Johnson has already said before that he would do what Pence would not. But one thing I learned that I hadn’t known before, was that the new members of Congress gets sworn in three days before the certification of the presidential vote, so hopefully Mike Johnson won’t even be speaker anymore. I really hope that we can turn the House blue!
The system has many built in checks. Even if ballots were burned – by desperate losers – anyone who is concerned about their vote being lost can check or just go to the polling place and vote again. They polling system will know if their vote was already cast and will ignore the second one – or give them the option of ignoring the first.
I work on those machines and they know within a few milliseconds whether someone is trying to vote twice. Tallies are calculated continuously and are transmitted to the Board of Elections. Also there are tallies stored locally in the machines. Also the paper ballots are saved and stored in the machine if a hand count is required.
Bank ballots are counted at the beginning of the day. (a bipartisan team does the counting)
At the end of the day remaining blank ballots are counted. That difference is the number of votes cast minus any spoiled ballots (mistakes made by voters requiring a new ballot).
The number of ballots cast is compared with the machine count, the Board of Election count, the ballots used count, and the memory card counts. They ALWAYS match.
Any person saying the system is rigged is either ignorant or lying.
They are trying to do anything possible to reduce your confidence in the system. The only way they will agree the election is fair is if they win. Don’t believe their BS.
Vote!
Thanks, @LuckyGuy, your explanation helped a lot.
I really hope that we can turn the House blue! HEAR HEAR!
Thanks, @LuckyGuy, I did not know all that and that has helped with my mind at ease quite a bit!
One more thing: Be prepared for election deniers to cry fraud near the end of the day when the votes are still being counted. There is a well known phenomenon called “Red Mirage” and “Blue Shift.” Earlier in the night you can have an apparent Red win. But later in the evening the numbers turn Blue. This is not new. It happens every year.
Small communities, mostly Republican, get their votes counted quickly since there are small numbers. It takes a little longer to tally all the districts in large communities. Conspiracy theorists – or people intentionally trying to discredit the process- will state that they won – even before all the votes are counted.
Be looking for it. That is one of his favorite tactics.
As the old commercial used to say: “Wait! There’s more!”
Every operation, from plugging in the machines and starting them up at 5:00in the morning, to tallying the ballots and closing down the machines at 10 pm, is performed by bipartisan teams. One party does not do the work. Both parties are involved. The representatives initial and sign a checklist at every step in the process. Also the machines and ballots are secured with special, colored and numbered sticker seals and special zip ties that are recorded at the Board of Elections. When the seals are cut to open the machines, both parties are present and the seal numbers are recorded. When the machines are closed reps from both parties are involved and the seals are installed.
In the morning new ballots are counted by both parties and signed off on the checklist. At the end of the day, the unused ballots are counted, again by both parties, and signed off. The ballots are placed in special bags or containers and sealed with the numbered seals.
There are many checks along the way.
Don’t let an ignorant, manipulative sore loser try to tell you otherwise.
Feel free to pass this along to your friends.
What makes these lies so easy is the fact that there is some fraud, such as non-eligible people voting, but if 10 or 15 people cheat (or let’s be generous 100) out of millions of votes, it won’t hurt, but scare mongers will say LOOK FRAUD.
@ragingloli But it only goes one way, don’tcha know? (jk)
In the U.S., by tracking our own ballots, and by researching the number of times voter fraud has been accused and disproven. Also, reading the cases in which voter fraud has been proven and taking note of any common characteristics in those cases. Trust requires our own individual action, investigation, research, and due diligence. e pluribus unum.
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