Do we really need instant election returns? (About voting, not politics.)

[rickybobby]

I think you have your states confused, unless we're no longer talking about Florida.

But still a valid point.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Valid.... REALLY!!!!!
In ANY state?
To care about one's own race, at the expense of others, based solely on the color of ones skin, is EVER supposed to be valid and okay?
I am calling this out for what it is....
It is not valid or okay...
It is RACIST.

 

[rickybobby]

Valid.... REALLY!!!!!
In ANY state?
To care about one's own race, at the expense of others, based solely on the color of ones skin, is EVER supposed to be valid and okay?
I am calling this out for what it is....
It is not valid or okay...
It is RACIST.

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying, but I promise you, black voters did indeed vote for the black candidates based on their race. They have admitted numerous times to this. For me to mention it is not racist.

 

[kdonnel]

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying, but I promise you, black voters did indeed vote for the black candidates based on their race.

I am reasonably sure that many white men vote specifically for white men, many white women vote specifically for white women, many black men vote for black men, many black women vote for black women, etc.

A large percentage of the voting public really has no idea where the candidate they vote for stands on issues and chooses who they vote for based on non political characteristics.

 

[tvguy]

Double voting was minimal. Most of the problems were: votes were not counted in the assigned time in either the election or the recount. Updates were not given as required. The number of votes still outstanding were not given as required. Neutral observers were not allowed in to oversee the after hours counting until forced to do so by authorities.

Over 30,000 no votes and double votes in races with 5,000 or less votes between candidates seems to be a much much much much bigger issue than you think.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...2fdbf9d4fed_story.html?utm_term=.dcdecb0bb69e

 

[Colleen27]

I do think that every voter in Florida should be required to take a class on how to cast a ballot.

One of the reasons we always hear these problems from FL more than anywhere else is that the FL Constitution leaves issues like ballot design to each county. So unlike many (most?) states, there is no one uniform ballot design or marking style in use. So you'd have to go county-by-county to design a curriculum for that class.

Could it also be possible that many of the voters were highly motivated by the prospect of a black Governor and voted for that reason, who otherwise may not have been likely to vote? They might then leave the other race blank, cause they don't care.
I know in my local election, I left many of the amendments blank, because I didn't know for sure what they were for.

If that were the case, logic would suggest the phenomenon should be relatively widespread among areas with similar racial/ethnic demographics, not limited to specific counties with specific types of ballots in use.

 

[MrsPete]

We’ve had two instances where we were notified our ballots were rejected.

Interesting. I am really amazed that -- in this day and age -- our voting practices are not identical. Since we just voted a few weeks ago, I feel 100% confident in saying that we do not sign our ballots in our state.

Who is checking to make sure the voting is legitimate? You can post anything you want BUT who is checking legitimate votes and cross referencing voting? (Example-if someone gets a license from a state who is not a legal citizen and goes and applies for a voting card and marks they are a legal citizen and they go and vote, do you think anyone is checking these votes??? ) Everyone here dismisses that people are voting that should not be BUT who is checking it??? If someone can answer this for me, I would love to know.

And I would like to know too. I do not feel sure that every person is getting one vote /one vote only. I want to KNOW that things are fair, and ID for voters is one step towards being sure things are fair.

I know, right? I really wish it wasn't just one party fighting for the rights of voters who have been disenfranchised due to lack of access to polls, voter ID requirements, etc.

For what it's worth, I am a registered Independent, and I thoroughly despise both of the major political parties. I've always thought it was ridiculous to believe that all -- or even most -- American's political beliefs can be summed up in one of two words. I don't think either of the parties cares at all about the American people; rather, they just care about perpetuating themselves and their power.

I believe BOTH parties want people to vote, BUT both parties should make sure the votes are legitimate and legal. Nobody wants to limit access to the polls, that is a myth, we all want to make sure person voting is supposed to be voting and they are who they claim to be. Right now where I live in NJ, ANYONE could go and vote for me, just by signing my name and NO the people at the polls are not checking signatures. VOTER ID should be required. That is my humble opinion and seeing the political climate these days, I do believe it is a necessity. It is not hard to obtain an ID. Everyone should have a valid ID.

Makes sense to me.

Are you sure about that? I am pretty sure I saw a story floating around this week about a specific senator saying that making voting difficult for people that her party does not want to vote would be advantageous. That story was reported by many news outlets.

Well, they can't put it on the news if it isn't true. Seriously, between media bias and sloppy journalism, it's hard to know what to believe -- and since I have no idea which senator or which party you're tiptoeing around, I don't have an opinion on the specifics, but I definitely have a general distrust of mainstream media.

Could it also be possible that many of the voters were highly motivated by the prospect of a black Governor and voted for that reason, who otherwise may not have been likely to vote? They might then leave the other race blank, cause they don't care.

I have definitely heard people say, "I'm voting for Hillary because it'll be cool to have voted for the first ever female president!" Or same thing for Obama. I find it hard to believe anyone votes based upon superficial traits or soundbytes, but I think it's pretty common: I will vote for this person because I perceive he or she is like me; therefore, he or she must think like me.

I know in my local election, I left many of the amendments blank, because I didn't know for sure what they were for.

We had six amendments on our ballot this November. I read the proposals online, read up on them, and made up my mind before voting. Doesn't that just make sense?

 

[Disneychick75]

Well a place should know exactly how many absentee and mail-in ballots were sent out. Sure they don't know how many will be submitted back in but if you have candidate A who has 50,000 in person votes and candidate B that has 20,000 in person votes (just using a 2-party for example's sake) and you have a combined total of 10,000 mail-in and absentee ballots those mail-in and absentee ballots that have still not come in or been accounted for won't matter because even if all 10,000 of those mail-in and absentee ballots went to candidate B that would still leave a 20,000 vote difference thus giving the win to candidate A.

Exactly, I have friends who lived in Florida and moved back to our state and a neighboring state. They ALL got mail in ballots from FL even though they registered in their new state of residence. Once someone registers in a new state, a notification is sent to the former state of residence and they are supposed to be removed from that state's voter roll. In another case, the mother of a friend who lives in a 3rd state received a ballot. The mother died 2 years ago and never lived in FL.

 

[rickybobby]

Over 30,000 no votes and double votes in races with 5,000 or less votes between candidates seems to be a much much much much bigger issue than you think.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...2fdbf9d4fed_story.html?utm_term=.dcdecb0bb69e

I still don't see evidence of double votes after reading your sourced article. No votes, yes. But as discussed earlier, a vote for one candidate but a blank left on the ballot for another should be counted as just that, a vote for governor, but no vote placed for the senator race. Simple.

 

[Disneychick75]

All of this mess will lead to a national voting system which I think would be best. It's crazy that each state has its own way of casting votes.

 

[rickybobby]

I am reasonably sure that many white men vote specifically for white men, many white women vote specifically for white women, many black men vote for black men, many black women vote for black women, etc.

A large percentage of the voting public really has no idea where the candidate they vote for stands on issues and chooses who they vote for based on non political characteristics.

The 2008 and 2012 elections certainly bucked that trend.

 

[rickybobby]

If that were the case, logic would suggest the phenomenon should be relatively widespread among areas with similar racial/ethnic demographics, not limited to specific counties with specific types of ballots in use.[/QUOTE]
It very well may have been widespread, but we don't know because the other counties properly recorded the votes as they were, and also there was not nearly the scrutiny on those locales as their was on Broward.
(Correcting myself. It appears after a google search that there were actually more statewide votes cast in the senatorial election than there were for governor. Kind of weird, when the recount showed a lot of no votes in the senatorial election in Broward County, only governor votes placed)

 

[kdonnel]

The 2008 and 2012 elections certainly bucked that trend.

I did not say all. I did not say all political races.

Voters certainly do choose candidates based on non political characteristics such as race and gender.

 

[bcla]

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying, but I promise you, black voters did indeed vote for the black candidates based on their race. They have admitted numerous times to this. For me to mention it is not racist.

That wouldn't account for the massive differences in undervotes for the Senate race in Broward County compared to Miami-Dade County. The population in Broward is about 26% black, while Miami-Dade is about 15%. The logical conclusion is that some voters missed it because of where the selections were placed under the instructions.

 

[bcla]

I have definitely heard people say, "I'm voting for Hillary because it'll be cool to have voted for the first ever female president!" Or same thing for Obama. I find it hard to believe anyone votes based upon superficial traits or soundbytes, but I think it's pretty common: I will vote for this person because I perceive he or she is like me; therefore, he or she must think like me.

There are some really superficial reasons. I've heard some college students claimed that they voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger because they thought his name would look cool on their University of California or California State University diplomas.

 

[rickybobby]

All of this mess will lead to a national voting system which I think would be best. It's crazy that each state has its own way of casting votes.

Don't expect this to happen anytime soon. States rights still exist, and you would get a lot of pushback about federal intrusion.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying, but I promise you, black voters did indeed vote for the black candidates based on their race. They have admitted numerous times to this. For me to mention it is not racist.

Ohhh, I fully understand what you are saying...
What I am pointing out is that this is, indeed, racist... Whether one is the person doing it, or validating/condoning it.

I am just calling this behavior out for what it is.
And, that is racist.

Let's not accept any double standard here.

Would any other politician get away with not only making such statements, "We need to put a white (male) in office".... Not only being caught making such a statement, but openly employing this viewpoint as a part of their campaign strategy????

 

[LSUmiss]

The other party will start fighting the second they realize many of the disenfranchised vote for them.

So it seems they BOTH have an ulterior motive including conspiracy about wide spread voter fraud.

 

[LSUmiss]

I believe BOTH parties want people to vote, BUT both parties should make sure the votes are legitimate and legal. Nobody wants to limit access to the polls, that is a myth, we all want to make sure person voting is supposed to be voting and they are who they claim to be. Right now where I live in NJ, ANYONE could go and vote for me, just by signing my name and NO the people at the polls are not checking signatures. VOTER ID should be required. That is my humble opinion and seeing the political climate these days, I do believe it is a necessity. It is not hard to obtain an ID. Everyone should have a valid ID.

I see you say you live in NJ. Perhaps being from there you’re able to believe it’s a myth b/c you aren’t as familiar with the Jim Crow south. My parents & grandparents witnessed things firsthand here in Louisiana. Believe me, it’s no myth.

 

[LSUmiss]

And those tax breaks only for the rich. No, wait. I and all my co-workers got tax breaks. We even got pay raises that were explained as coming because of the strong economy.

Uhh the very rich got a waaaaaay bigger tax break that most of us will pay for later. So, that’s the tactic, give them a piece & they’ll be on your side. You fell for it.