Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/17/dnc-warns-states-delay-primar.html
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This is some crazy bullshit, but it’s nothing compared to the crisis the country will face this November if much of the country is still in lockdown during the general election.
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This is not important, but good god what are those dentures made out of!? Old piano keys?
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Brilliant. Maybe for 2024 we can take this a step better - candidates will ask their primary voters to just go stab other folks randomly.
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Does that mean young, stupid, right-wing, or some menu containing all three?
There’s also some factor involving the availability of mail ballots. I know that when I lived in Arizona I voted by mail in the primaries and was on the permanent VBM list so I didn’t have to request a ballot every year.
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DNC warns states: delay primaries to June and we’ll cut your delegates
Gosh, that sounds terrible! Given such a strong headline, I assume the quotations from the memo must be similarly strongly worded.
We are working with state parties that need to make adjustments as needed to their delegate selection processes so they can continue without major interruptions.
Hmm. Well, I guess it must be somewhere else in the memo.
The regulations allow technical changes to be approved by the co-chairs.
GET THE PITCHFORKS! … wait.
Several states have taken steps to change the date of their first determining step. The Delegate Selection Rules provide that each state’s first determining step must take place by 9 June. If a state violates the rule on timing, or any other rule, they could be subject to penalties as prescribed in Rule 21, including at least a 50% reduction in delegates, which will need to be reviewed by the RBC.
The deadline to elect convention participants is 20 June, so state parties should have plenty of time to elect their delegates, alternates and standing committee members.
Oh, there it is. Huh. “Guys, we have some deadlines and as you know, there are penalties for blowing them, though of course those penalties are subject to review” somehow doesn’t seem as dire as “DELAY PRIMARIES TO JUNE AND WE’LL CUT YOUR DELEGATES,” but maybe it’s in the delivery.
[F]ollow the recommendations of local health officials and prioritize health and safety of all individuals. We acknowledge the situation is very different in every state and want to give state parties flexibility to adjust their plans to address their own situations and local guidance.
Those dastardly DNC folks! Always trying to … prioritize the health and safety of voters and poll workers.
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Some parts will be unaffected (e.g. Colorado and Oregon) due to universal mail ballots. Some of the red States that are depending on voter suppression may be disappointed since the old folk who are a disproportionate share of the Republican base will have either learnt to stay home or died of incaution. Most of the incautious youngsters will have already learnt the consequences of it and become wholly or partly immune, and quite likely either reinforced their animus against the Republicans or learnt it the hard way.
All in all I rather expect that it may be whirlwind time. But I’m an optimist.
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Of course all that is based on the assumption that Trump will allow the election to take place at all.
I certainly wouldn’t put it past him to call off (or at least delay) the election in the name of national security.
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Maybe you might want to be a little careful how you phrase such things. The people who have died and have yet to die from this, are just as likely to die from the incaution of those around them, as from their own lack of caution. While a lot of young folks are going to be able to frolick around blissfully unaware of the chaos and misery they spread without themselves feeling so much as a sniffle.
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Ya think? This is seriously cutting into my “frolicking” – like for instance one of my sons’ wedding, currently planned for Ireland. Or the time I can spend with the other “kids,” and in particular my grandchildren.
For that matter, the students in the university physics lab I teach.
My time with them is precious, although not as precious as they are themselves, to me. As, also, are my colleagues my age or older and the very limited time I have left with them.
As you might guess, I’m one of those “old folk,” although I profoundly hope to count as one who has learnt caution, either way I won’t be counted as one of the Republican base.
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That one nutso sheriff who likes to wear lots of flair has already suggested this. Personally, I will risk Covid 19 to be able to vote. Though for some things, they could do a ballot that is given out in cars, people don’t go IN. But it would require special ballots and more workers.
Might be a good time to remind people to go volunteer to be an election judge. I did it once. Maybe I should do it again.
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My state just relaxed the “you must prove you have a valid reason” requirement for mail-in voting, so I hope most people take that option instead.
That said, I don’t think my state is prepared for a large percentage of the people to mail in ballots so it will likely cause a delay in counting.
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Even the Roberts Court might be a bit cautious in “interpreting” the date for Presidential elections to be an Executive decision rather than a Congressional one as the Constitution explicitly places it. And, no, it would be a … moral hazard … for a Presidential declaration of a state of emergency to transfer that power from to himself from Congress.
Either way, he and Pence are Constitutionally bound to leave office come the 21st of January unless the Electoral College votes otherwise and Congress certifies the election.
And, yes, given that the current occupant of the Oval Office has declared the vote by the House of Representatives to bring a Bill of Impeachment against him to be a “coup,” it would not be too terribly much of a stretch to suggest that cancelling an election contrary to the will of Congress and remaining in office despite the unambiguous terms of the 22nd Amendment, and the Court’s collaboration therein, would constitute a “coup” as well.
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i dont have any idea how long it would take to setup statewide mail-in ballot systems - and it’s not like states don’t already have some other important thing to deal with right now - but getting mail-in ballots going for november sure seems like a good idea to me.
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His pal Netanyahu managed to postpone the trial against himself using Covid as an excuse.
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Watch this: Biden declared the winner of Illinois primary - THE DAY BEFORE ELECTION!
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As always it’s not really about what the Constitution says the President can do, it’s about what the legislature is willing and able to do about it.
Make no mistake, if Trump did decide to issue an executive order delaying the election he would have plenty of allies in both chambers of Congress willing to back him up no matter how suspect the legality of the order was. Even if the Supreme Court ordered him to vacate the Oval Office there’s no guarantee he’d actually do it.
This could very well turn into a legitimate Constitutional crisis.
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ACLU and the Texas Democratic Party (among others) are trying to allow 100% mail-in elections for the runoffs and be prepared to do it in the general.
Currently a voter must apply each election cycle, and qualify due to age or disability to do a mail-in ballot.
To be eligible to vote early by mail in Texas, you must:
- be 65 years or older;
- be disabled;
- be out of the county on election day and during the period for early voting by personal appearance; or
- be confined in jail, but otherwise eligible.
Source Texas Secretary of State
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Probably older and more centrist/conservative than progressive (probably more religious also) – likely Biden voters. For example, I just got word that my 85-year-old aunt is still acting as if nothing is happening because she considers the reports of the crisis “overblown” and she’s “seen worse in her life”. I’ve also seen several articles like this over the past week:
It isn’t an across-the-board phenomenon, of course. I know plenty of olds who take it very seriously, and of course teenagers and young children think they’re immortal. But I haven’t seen many people between age 25 and 55 (besides the usual far-right nutters and misanthropic Libertarians) who aren’t now taking precautions or self-quarantining (if their employer allows it), even though they’re less susceptible.
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“There is no logical reason for this.”
Then goes on to show logical explanations.
“Yeah but then it airs accidentally.”
What part about “accidentally” don’t you understand?
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