# 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:** 94
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1863 "2020-11-04T23:02:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Here, ballots postmarked before the polls close are accepted up to 21 days after Election Day. ISTM that under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment that PA voters should enjoy the same rights and privileges as voters in other states. If that were true, every state would have to run its elections like the most liberal (small L) state. Might be a good idea, but not required by the 14th Amendment. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1864 "2020-11-04T23:03:05Z")
Must be the undecided vote in Maine. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1865 "2020-11-04T23:03:58Z")
I wonder what will happen if they ever find those 300,000 ballots that disappeared inside Post Offices. including some in key swing states: > **[A judge threatens the postmaster general over slow execution of sweeps for...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/us/politics/usps-ballots.html)** > > The Postal Service says it has completed a court-ordered search for possible missing ballots in 12 districts. They did the search today, but turned up a grand total of about 13 - yes, THIRTEEN, misplaced ballots. Lemme see: Ballots expected to heavily favor the other guy, the postmaster is one of your toadies / buddies, I see absolutely no incentive whatsoever for someone to “lose” those ballots. Worry about them being lost in the mail is one of the reasons I did not vote by mail - though it turns out I could have taken the absentee ballot in and hand-delivered it as my husband did with his. On another tack: In-person voting heavily favored Trump supporters. Anyone else hoping that there actually IS a poll-related COVID spike? No, not seriously… entirely… poll workers would be affected too, as would any innocent people who had to be around the plague-carriers, but there would be a certain amount of deserved divine retribution. When waiting in line to vote last week, the one person I saw who was not adequately masked was a Chump supporter, handing out candy. I declined. ---
**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 4, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1866 "2020-11-04T23:04:04Z")
PA is at 300K vote difference. I hope he can close that gap. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1867 "2020-11-04T23:05:21Z")
Proud of my Michigan once again. Not only a Biden win, but we have our Peters out in front as well. I’d like Pennsylvania to turn blue tonight to drive the nail in the coffin, but it would be delicious irony if the final blow came from Arizona against a guy who just couldn’t resist taking cheap shots at McCain, whether dead or alive. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1868 "2020-11-04T23:05:52Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > If that were true, every state would have to run its elections like the most liberal (small L) state. > > Might be a good idea, but not required by the 14th Amendment. It would be nice, but that was not what I was suggesting. I think that under the EPC, votes in every state should be accepted a reasonable amount of time after Election Day. Personally, I’d mandate five business days. ---
**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 4, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1869 "2020-11-04T23:06:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It seems odd to me that ballots would have to be received by the time polls close on Election Day, as voters have no control over the Postal Service. And it seems odd to me that any state would go by postmark. In my state, all ballots have to be in by 8 pm on election day. Everyone knows that they are taking a chance by mailing their ballots, especially close to election day. People are also told about 5 days before election day that it’s too late to mail, and they need to use a drop box. They can process ballots before election day. We typically have results on election night. ---
**Author:** ![sweepkick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1870 "2020-11-04T23:07:44Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > > [@sweepkick](#): > > > > Kindly fuck off with your holier-than-thou bullshit. Trump was talking about imprisoning his political rivals since day-one. > > Moderating: Tone down such comments. No warning issued. Sorry about that… little tense around here last night. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1871 "2020-11-04T23:07:55Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > And it seems odd to me that any state would go by postmark. In my state, all ballots have to be in by 8 pm on election day. Everyone knows that they are taking a chance by mailing their ballots, especially close to election day. People are also told about 5 days before election day that it’s too late to mail, and they need to use a drop box. They can process ballots before election day. We typically have results on election night And that works just fine if, say, you don’t care about some people’s votes not being counted. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1872 "2020-11-04T23:08:16Z")
The AP, the holdout for Michigan, finally calls it for JRB. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1873 "2020-11-04T23:08:20Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Not only a Biden win, but we have our Peters out in front as well. Phrasing! ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1874 "2020-11-04T23:10:45Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > > [@BobLibDem](#): > > > > Not only a Biden win, but we have our Peters out in front as well. > > Phrasing!. Intentional? When I first read it, I didn’t know what he meant. I’m still just guessing. Heh. ---
**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 4, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1875 "2020-11-04T23:14:04Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > And that works just fine if, say, you don’t care about some people’s votes not being counted. Well, then, what about people who couldn’t get their ballot postmarked by election day, or whose ballot shows up 22 days after election day? ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1876 "2020-11-04T23:14:54Z")
Do you (or others here) think it would help to emphasize that while the Dem candidate, whoever that is at the time, believes the science that says we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, [the candidate] intends to allocate tons of money to help people retrain for better, more reliable jobs that will help the US compete favorably against other countries. Yada, yada, yada. Maybe come up with some catchy slogans to promote BETTER JOBS and “the other side” wants the US to remain dependent on oil from the Middle East and force our own people to work in the mines for slave wages etc whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1877 "2020-11-04T23:15:28Z")
Regarding the whole “postmarked by election day” requirement, does the USPS actually postmark, or cancel, mail any longer? Looking at the mail I receive, a lot of it doesn’t seem to have this. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1878 "2020-11-04T23:17:11Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > Do you (or others here) think it would help to emphasize that while the Dem candidate, whoever that is at the time, believes the science that says we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, [the candidate] intends to allocate tons of money to help people retrain for better, more reliable jobs that will help the US compete favorably against other countries. Yada, yada, yada. Maybe come up with some catchy slogans to promote BETTER JOBS and “the other side” wants the US to remain dependent on oil from the Middle East and force our own people to work in the mines for slave wages etc whatever. Hillary tried something like that in Kentucky and lost to Trump, even though Trump hasn’t done anything to get those thousands of Appalachian miners back to work. (For one thing, the industry is heavily mechanized today, and for another, a lot of the coal production has shifted to open-pit mines in the west.) ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1879 "2020-11-04T23:17:34Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Well, then, what about people who couldn’t get their ballot postmarked by election day, or whose ballot shows up 22 days after election day? You have to have some limit, and getting your ballots to the government by election day is the only fair one. If the mail system delays your delivery, that’s not your fault and shouldn’t disenfranchise you. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1880 "2020-11-04T23:18:29Z")
He should be convicted of whatever the appropriate crime is for tampering with mail and election results, assuming it is proven that he did so. But it sure is looking that way from over here. Possibly others have also been involved, but I doubt this is all an accident. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1881 "2020-11-04T23:20:59Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > On another tack: In-person voting heavily favored Trump supporters. Anyone else hoping that there actually IS a poll-related COVID spike? No, not seriously… entirely… poll workers would be affected too, as would any innocent people who had to be around the plague-carriers, but there would be a certain amount of deserved divine retribution. When waiting in line to vote last week, the one person I saw who was not adequately masked was a Chump supporter, handing out candy. I declined. For the record, no. Even at my evilest the most I can muster is the thought “if you were planning to kill yourself, couldn’t you have done it _before_ voting?” Okay, my actual evilist is probably like “The next election that matters isn’t for two years, so if you _want_ to off yourself you can take a little time to do it, no hurry…” ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/1882 "2020-11-04T23:23:08Z")
Oddly, to me anyway, ABC still doesn’t have AZ called. They do have WIS/MI for Biden, but not AZ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=93) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=95)