# Election Day \[Week\]\[Month\[s\]\] \[Year\] 2020 follow-along thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618 "2020-11-03T05:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 345
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6894 "2020-11-23T23:56:00Z")
Oh. Yes, that’s probably it. I was thinking it had to do with write in votes for people who weren’t running or something, but your guessplanation seems like what was probably intended. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6895 "2020-11-23T23:57:16Z")
Ha – another good theory. An autocorrect that removed the racism, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6896 "2020-11-23T23:59:14Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I wonder if Trump made a back room deal; “I’ll concede if you guys promise to keep me out of jail”. This has been a long theory. He obviously lost, but if he hypes it up enough, he creates enough confusion that he can negotiate a concession instead of just giving one like a normal human being. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6897 "2020-11-24T00:00:04Z")
Man, this is a fast-moving thread. Two observations before certain events recede too far back in the posting history: Regarding bribery: If I give an elected official money under the table for his or her personal gain (like, he can now afford to buy his mistress the yacht she always wanted), that’s bribery. If I publicly state I will or will not give money to a campaign fund based on the actions of a public official, that’s just the way the system works. Two key differences: first, one is secret while the other is public and transparent; two, one is for individual personal gain unrelated to the operations of the public sphere while the other is at least nominally related to keeping bonafide public processes functioning. Regarding Trump throwing Giuliani and the rest of his team under the bus: that’s classic Trump and was completely predictable. They are losing and looking ridiculous. It is impossible for this to be Trump’s fault, because NOTHING, ever, is Trump’s fault. Whose fault might it be, then? Hmm… ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6898 "2020-11-24T00:01:34Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > …he [trump] will spend the rest of his life searching for the real killers of his Presidency… Channeling O.J. Simpson. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6899 "2020-11-24T00:22:57Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Can anyone explain what “voting for unsuspecting people” means? I’m picturing two guys leaving the polls… “Hey, Ed, betcha can’t guess who I voted for… Biden? No… Trump? No… YOUR MOM!” “Y’know, the least you could do is tell her first. She was totally unsuspecting.” ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6900 "2020-11-24T00:53:14Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Well, giving some extreme benefit of the doubt, I would say filling out a mail-in ballot on someone’s behalf without them suspecting. Yes, this is correct. One of the pet theories is that Democrats would harvest up ballots of old senile people or folks that had a history of never voting and would then fill them out for Biden (but not the down-ticket candidates because that would take too long). Evidence of this theory is the handful of people that showed up having been told they had already voted. Every documented case so far is of someone that forgot that they sent in an absentee ballot, and the total number of folks thus rejected is in not over 4 digits, but, ya know, FRAUD!!! ETA: I should add that why they would do this if they had a computer voting system that could automatically make them win is unclear. Perhaps this is why they are avoiding the Dominion stuff in court - it sort of undercuts all the other angles. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6901 "2020-11-24T00:59:21Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Evidence of this theory is the handful of people that showed up having been told they had already voted. Every documented case so far is of someone that forgot that they sent in an absentee ballot, and the total number of folks thus rejected is in not over 4 digits, but, ya know, FRAUD!!! Not to mention (I say, mentioning it) that Trump told people to vote in person after having voted by mail, claiming they should do so in order to test the system. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6902 "2020-11-24T01:01:38Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Not to mention (I say, mentioning it) that Trump told people to vote in person after having voted by mail, claiming they should do so in order to test the system. Oh good point. I had totally forgot about that. Trump’s suggestion was one of the times when I actually had to point out to folks that in most states what Trump was suggesting wasn’t actually illegal (if it was perhaps a bit assholish). My wife actually did that in the primary because she hadn’t received confirmation her absentee ballot was received prior to election day. The system correctly flagged her as already voting and she went on with her day. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6903 "2020-11-24T01:07:53Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Not to mention (I say, mentioning it) that Trump told people to vote in person after having voted by mail, claiming they should do so in order to test the system. When did he say that? First I’ve heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6904 "2020-11-24T01:08:37Z")
I hope Gretchen Whitmer derives immense satisfaction that it was Michigan’s certification that seemed to finally put the nail in the coffin of this abomination of a campaign; and that even though Trump pressured state officials into throwing him their state’s votes, “that woman from Michigan”'s party prevailed. Suck it, Trump. Go Gretchen! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6905 "2020-11-24T01:16:06Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > When did he say that? First I’ve heard of it. He said it on September 2nd, specifically about North Carolina. It got quite a bit of press for a few days at that time. > [@](#): > > “So let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote,” Trump said when asked whether he has confidence in the mail-in system in North Carolina, a battleground state. > > “If it’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote. So that’s the way it is. And that’s what they should do,” he said. > **[Trump encourages North Carolina residents to vote twice to test mail-in system](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-encourages-north-carolina-residents-vote-twice-test-mail-system-n1239140)** > > The president said it would be a way to check whether anti-fraud efforts are "as good as they say." ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6906 "2020-11-24T01:19:59Z")
And then, when Trumpers actually DID that, they whine and complain because they were not allowed to vote in person after having previously voted by mail. And claim “OOHHHH Fraud!” Even though they were the ones trying to vote fraudulently and were caught. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6907 "2020-11-24T01:28:48Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > When did he say that? First I’ve heard of it. It was all over the place. Here’s three: > **[Trump Encourages Supporters to Try to Vote Twice, Sparking Uproar](https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2020-09-03/trump-says-north-carolina-voters-should-vote-twice-once-by-mail-once-in-person)** > > US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education. > **[Trump Urges Supporters To Go To Polls Even After Voting By Mail](https://www.npr.org/2020/09/03/909138371/trump-urges-supporters-in-n-c-to-illegally-vote-twice)** > > Facebook and Twitter have both flagged content about Trump's suggestion that supporters should visit polling stations to "make sure" their mailed ballots count. Voting twice is illegal. > **[Trump again suggests voting in person after mailing ballot, calling system...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/05/trump-voting-twice-north-carolina/)** > > The president doubled down on messaging that has alarmed election officials who scrambled this week to emphasize that voting twice is illegal. [ETA: whoops, 4 I guess with kenobi\_65’s cite.] ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6908 "2020-11-24T01:29:42Z")
I don’t know if this has been posted before – it’s so hard to keep up – but on top of the transition now being official, it looks like the farce is winding down: > **[Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejects Trump campaign's effort to block counting...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/23/politics/pennsylvania-supreme-court-trump-campaign-absentee-ballots/index.html)** > > Pennsylvania's Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump campaign's effort to block the counting of absentee ballots with missing dates or names, clearing the way for 10,000 votes to be counted in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties, in another... ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6909 "2020-11-24T01:42:05Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > farce is winding down I’d say so: > Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump campaign’s effort to block the counting of absentee ballots with missing dates or names, clearing the way for 10,000 votes to be counted in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties, in another defeat for President Donald Trump’s desperate legal battle. And also: > The court also overturned a lower court decision that rejected 2,349 ballots that were signed but had undated declarations, erasing one of the Trump campaign’s earlier wins. The state Supreme Court reinstated an earlier ruling that permitted those ballots to be counted. The judges found that since there was **no fraud or illegality** , the defects did not warrant invalidating ballots… Bolding mine. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6910 "2020-11-24T02:02:27Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > erasing one of the Trump campaign’s earlier wins So I thought he had 2 wins (against 30-some losses) in the courts. That number is now down to one. So. Much. Winning. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6911 "2020-11-24T02:53:57Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > He said it on September 2nd, specifically about North Carolina. It got quite a bit of press for a few days at that time. > > > [@](#): > > > > “So let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote,” Trump said when asked whether he has confidence in the mail-in system in North Carolina, a battleground state. Okay how is this NOT illegal? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6912 "2020-11-24T03:14:52Z")
It was absolutely illegal. The elections officials made a point of making a public statement about this, specifically noting that attempting to vote twice was a felony. And encouraging people to vote twice is also illegal. Someone should look into this. 🙄 I’m thinking the statute of limitations on this crime likely won’t have expired as of 12:01 p.m. on January 20, 2021. All of this is yet another example of Republicans being the only ones actually committing the crimes they accuse Democrats of. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2020, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6913 "2020-11-24T03:33:27Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > it looks like the farce is winding down: My father used to have a saying when a disaster unfolded - a business going bankrupt, the starting pitcher getting shelled in the first inning, an election going downhill, etc. “The ice is cracking all around him.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=344) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=346)