I am getting more and more optimistic that this will be a very bad day for Trump. And consequently am looking forward more and more to the tweet-storm of delusional nonsense we can look forward to starting in 6 hours or so.
Hey, I’m pro voting but not voting being a moral failing is bull. Can you show me a cite in any major prominent moral code that states participation in a government activity is a moral imperative? You may have an imperative to oppose evil but the method of doing that in any moral codes I’ve encountered have never been so specifically defined in regards to governmental participation.
I’d go so far as to counter that voting without taking time to fully understand the candidates and their positions is a moral failing as you’re just throwing shit at the wall and hoping what sticks doesn’t smell that bad.
Without invoking Godwin?
Why? I’d be happy if it turned out that way, but why do you feel it already?
The numbers of voters seems high, so that’s a good sign. But I remember the last election we had around here, and I want to see some results start rolling in.
Polling place is the church directly across the street from my house. No line to vote. Easy peasy.
I have returned, civic duty fulfilled.
The polling place (the local middle school) was quite abustle, more so than previous years I daresay - and this despite some quite shitty weather. The parking lot was packed so I parked on the street and cut through the football field. Once inside I was heartened to see the place pretty much at capacity. All in all, I’d say I was in the building for about twenty minutes. There had to be at least 200 people in there, maybe more. If I recall the 2016 election, it was half as full under sunnier weather conditions.
The way it works here is they have a row of tables right when you walk in, separated alphabetically. You go to the row corresponding with your last name, they look you up and if you’re there they hand you a ballot (or in this case, three ballots (1 town ballot, 1 state ballot, and 1 state ballot for bonds/referendums)). If they don’t find you, they send you off to a separate room where you can same-day register, then I assume you get back in line and start the process over. Once you have your ballots, you choose from the banks and banks of desks - the ones I’m sure you’re familiar with - and fill in your little circles, just like the SAT test. When you’re done you take them to a row of volunteers manning machines and you feed your ballot in and you get a little “your vote has been registered” ding, and off you go, fresh “I Voted” sticker in hand.
There isn’t much riding on my votes outside of the governor’s race and I have no idea which way that’s going to swing. LePage is term limited out, thank the universe, and as usual there’s an R, a D and an I running to replace him so I won’t be shocked to get another Republican governor as the Dems and Indy’s will split their votes as usual. Chelly Pingree (D) is my current representative and I think she’ll be back in with no trouble. Angus King (I) is my Senator and he’ll waltz in whistling a happy tune (I voted for him, the only non-Dem vote I cast).
Interestingly, this election is the first election where we got to use ranked-choice voting, however, only for representative and senate races, not for the governor’s race.
Cheers.
Now, do the Americans have an equivalent of Antony Green? 
In the same way choosing to vote legitimizes, in a small way, the ultimate results of that vote. Not voting, if you have the choice to vote, legitimizes, in the same small way, the ultimate results of the election.
That’s a tough one. I know a bit about WWII but I don’t know exactly how clear it was when he took power how clear it was that he was totally evil. He came in promising things the people needed. I can’t pass judgement on people grasping at straws.
Still, I have to say no. It’s not a moral imperative to be able to make wise decisions especially when the answer isn’t cut and dry. As evil as I find some of what is being done now I have to understand that it’s not so cut and dry unless I’m willing to believe that almost half the country has become evil and if I do that, then what else am I morally required to do based on that knowledge?
Seems like we’ve seen what a few people have chosen to do with that knowledge lately.
You’re missing the point of his post. By voting, you aren’t legitimizing the result, you’re legitimizing the process. He thinks it’s a poor way to run a government (I believe; correct me if I’m wrong, EscAlaMike). If you participate in that process, you say with your participation that you agree to allow the process to be used. If you stay away, you register your discontent with the process as a whole, which legitimizes nothing about it.
It’s the same argument that opposition parties in other countries use when they know a vote will be rigged. By staying away from the polls, they hope to highlight how corrupt the process is. If they participate, then they lose some ability to disclaim the underlying process.
Any number of news outlets will be reporting breathlessly on results as they come in. 
The Washington Post has live coverage here, for example. I’m sure Reuters, the New York Times, The Hill have or will have similar.
Still, I’d say the closest equivalent would be Five Thirty Eight - they’ve got live coverage here. They tend to dive more deeply into the numbers.
Thank you DSYoungEsq, this is exactly what I meant.
People I know, nothing remotely scientific, no pretenses intended.
But there is a substantial size of the electorate that is extremely against letting themselves be polled, and try to be invisible or oposite…
And from hearing from those in my circle that are among them differentiating from election day '16 to today , they are still pissed, and they are now pissed off at Trump rather than Hillary.
I posted this in the other thread:
That was ~3 hours ago. Since then I’ve had a chance to talk to a few other students. Some are voting… many aren’t. It just boggles the mind. There’s even a ballot drop box on campus! But nope, they mostly didn’t vote for… reasons.
I don’t know if my ballot has been counted yet. The Oregon Sec of State webpage lets me access my current registration status, but not whether this election’s ballot was received and processed.
I find the strong opposition to the stickers on the part of some people here a bit shocking. In many countries of the world, where being able to vote is not something a person can take for granted, the inked finger that indicates you’ve already voted that day is a mark of pride, showing that you got to exercise this basic right. I see no reason that we shouldn’t be just as proud of the fact that we got to exercise that right.
Of course, in such countries, voter participation often leaves our own anemic efforts in the dust. :mad:
So what do you do if you feel both of your choices are equally morally corrupt? Then by voting you are legitimizing a corrupt administration that you did not want? How important is legitimizing the election if there literally isn’t a better choice? It would seem better to not vote so you can show your disapproval to both choices and disgust with the process.
See, this is another reason I can’t say it’s a moral duty to vote. In this example, I’d say it would be more immoral to vote than to abstain.
That’s weird. I verified mine had been “received” 2 days after I dropped it in a box. It’s indicated in the middle of the page under “Mailing Address,” where it says “My Ballot.”
Voting was pretty easy in my precinct today, at least for me. I heard two different women come in with changes of address while I was filling in circles on my optical-scan ballot.
That would be pretty damn hard to pull off, both of them being equally corrupt-I would suspect in that case that either someone is just looking for an excuse not to vote, or they are looking to promote a third candidate whose only attribute is that she/he is not those other candidates.