# "Georgia in Uproar Over Voting Meltdown" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 9, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328 "2020-06-09T22:52:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/21 "2020-06-10T22:07:37Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Do you have mail-in ballots? Sure. A bit under 10% of national votes are mailed Of more significance is the more recent and [increasingly popular option of pre-poll voting](https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2019/May/Trends_in_early_voting_in_federal_elections) and almost 20% of votes are cast pre-poll. In some electorates in 2016, over 50% of votes were cast early. Australians really do like to go to the polls, and do so in “best in class” numbers in no small part due to it being very easy to do. In my federal electorate with about 100k voters there were 38 polling stations, three of which are within a short stroll. And if I can’t get to one of them there are options to vote close to where I am. Using paper and pencils. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/22 "2020-06-10T23:43:35Z")
You have compulsory voting, too, don’t you, **penultima thule**? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/23 "2020-06-10T23:59:59Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I think John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch should be forced off the bench. They should be pressured to resign in disgrace, and if Democrats win the Senate, they should be threatened with impeachment. Or just pack the damn court. I know that it’s probably a pipe dream and that they’ll all resist, refuse, and squirm, but put the spotlight on their asses. Turn up the political heat. They wanted to be activists on the bench, so let’s make them feel the brunt of bad politics. > > The judiciary has become a farce, and it’s time to stop pretending like it’s apolitical. The best way to depoliticize is to call attention to the hacks and quacks, and rebalance the judiciary any way possible. I would have argued until fairly recently against packing and for the filibuster, but the Republicans have broken constitutional and political norms and it’s time to reset. I urge moderation: only impeach judges appointed by un-indicted co-conspirator Donald John Trump. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/24 "2020-06-11T00:30:05Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > You have compulsory voting, too, don’t you, **penultima thule**? Not **penultima thule** , but yes, there is compulsory voting in Australia. Pretty stringent rules, though I think fines are rare. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/25 "2020-06-11T01:19:53Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Same for ours. The electronic tabulator has the additional benefit of instantly rejecting any ballots with errors, so they can be immediately corrected by the voter, rather than adjudicated days later and potentially tossed out. The drawback to that is that you might want to spoil your ballot intentionally, but the machine won’t let you. Happened to a friend of mine, who didn’t like any of the candidates for his ward, but did want to vote on something else - mayor, maybe? So he intentionally left one section blank and voted in the section he wanted to, and the tabulator spit it out. The poll clerk explained to him that he hadn’t filled in the ballot. He said he knew, it was intentional. The poll clerk called over the poll officer, calling out “this man doesn’t want to ôté for one of the positions! What do we do?” I think there was a manual override, but so much for ballot secrecy! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/26 "2020-06-11T01:30:42Z")
Missed edit: “This man doesn’t want to [del]ôté[/del] vote …” This error was brought to you by my alleged iPhone spell-checker. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/27 "2020-06-11T01:43:29Z")
Red state America is the third world. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/28 "2020-06-11T01:56:34Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > “this man doesn’t want to ôté for one of the positions!: A moose once ate my ballot. [D&R] ---
**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:** [June 11, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/29 "2020-06-11T02:01:10Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > A moose once ate my ballot. > > [D&R] _claps_ ---
**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:** [June 11, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/30 "2020-06-11T02:18:05Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The drawback to that is that you might want to spoil your ballot intentionally, but the machine won’t let you.: That’s odd. Pretty sure all that’ll get you here is a warning that you undervoted and did you mean to do that? Also, here you can still do writeins. So your friend could have written in somebody; including the old classic, None Of The Above. So I don’t think it’s a problem just with the use of machines; it’s got to do either with the particular machines, or with how they’re programmed. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/31 "2020-06-11T22:44:39Z")
Could this be turned into a plus somehow? I see the chance to collect names for organizing purposes. Today’s angry voter is tomorrow’s campaign volunteer. Either that or lead the line in a chant of “This is BULL SHIT.” and see how long it takes to get things resolved. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/32 "2020-06-11T23:05:31Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I think John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch should be forced off the bench. They should be pressured to resign in disgrace, and if Democrats win the Senate, they should be threatened with impeachment. Or just pack the damn court. I know that it’s probably a pipe dream and that they’ll all resist, refuse, and squirm, but put the spotlight on their asses. Turn up the political heat. They wanted to be activists on the bench, so let’s make them feel the brunt of bad politics. > > The judiciary has become a farce, and it’s time to stop pretending like it’s apolitical. The best way to depoliticize is to call attention to the hacks and quacks, and rebalance the judiciary any way possible. I would have argued until fairly recently against packing and for the filibuster, but the Republicans have broken constitutional and political norms and it’s time to reset. Congratulations on such a rational post. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/33 "2020-06-12T05:25:32Z")
It’s just too easy to do this sort of thing if you’re in charge of the state voting system and have no shame. In a way, it’s brilliant. You may have people come out, show up, stand in line for hours to vote for their preferred primary candidate, but come general election time, those people will remember how long it took and what a hassle it was and just decide to sit it out because Trump will win this state anyway. In a way, and my wife is upset with me for expressing it, I’m disappointed in that Stacy Abrams, who is awesome, doesn’t seem to realize how big of a deal this is. Her whole image after the failed senate race was to fight to make sure GA voting was legit. Well, looks like the GA killed two birds with one stone on this one. Stacy Abrams is weak and you guys in dense districts, well, it takes a long time to vote so might as well just stay home. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/34 "2020-06-12T08:48:15Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I am amazed that there is no legal recourse to such lopsided conduct of an election. > > Honest question…is there no end to how bad a state can make it for one group versus another? Is there any line to be drawn here? Some of the many ways to cheat were outlawed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The important provisions of this Act were overturned a few years ago in a 5-4 decision by the Republican hack John Roberts and his gang of evil-doers. (It was not overturned due to constitutional issues. The court found that Southern states were no longer engaged in anti-black voting practices.) There was also a long-term injunction issued circa 1981 against the Republican Party prohibiting some of its malicious anti-voting practices. This injunction was allowed to expire very recently. Over twelve-score years ago, Americans (many of them slave-owners) rallied around the cry “No taxation without representation”; the right-wing whiners applaud those ancient “democrats.” The same right-wingers now encourage police to shoot at those protesting for democracy today. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/35 "2020-06-12T13:38:27Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Some of the many ways to cheat were outlawed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The important provisions of this Act were overturned a few years ago in a 5-4 decision by the Republican hack John Roberts and his gang of evil-doers. (It was not overturned due to constitutional issues. The court found that Southern states were no longer engaged in anti-black voting practices.) When conservatives talk about supporting Trump because of Supreme Court selections, this is precisely the kind of stuff they’re talking about. But in the long run, these decisions cost them public support. A few states are close enough that they can employ these tactics and win statewide elections but at some point the numbers become overwhelmingly against them. If Democrats don’t take advantage of their coming majorities to implement serious election reform that makes the process easier and more representative (FRA, Wyoming Rule, etc.), they’re making a huge moral and tactical mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/36 "2020-06-12T13:52:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Hari Seldon** : > > The supreme court has held that such questions are political and none of their business, so no, there is no remedy. Democracy in action! No remedy? Au contraire. The point of a political question is that there is a remedy, to vote out the politicians. So if you don’t like the fact that you can’t vote, all you need to do to fix it is vote. Simple, really. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/37 "2020-06-12T14:47:11Z")
It’s hard to use elections to fix an anti-democratic oppression when part of the oppression is to deny free and fair elections. If the Ds ever do regain control of the U.S., let’s hope they act quickly and thoroughly. As a minimum: Abolish Senate filibuster, statehood for PR and DC, pack the Supreme Court. Destruction of GOP power is more urgent than climate change mitigation, single-payer healthcare and subsidizing schools all added together. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/38 "2020-06-12T14:55:03Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Counting paper ballots _accurately_ is hard. Do not mistake the precision of the vote totals for accuracy. Different hand counting techniques have different error bars but the results reported can be off by up to 2%. The errors you speak of are likely to be _random_ — as likely to help a Blue-shirt as to help a Red-shirt. Focusing on these is a diversion. Far more worrisome are _deliberate_ “errors,” like the touchscreen voting machine programmed to give out-of-bounds touches to the Red-shirt. There are a wide variety of ways to cheat, and credible allegations that the GOP has tried several of these ways in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/39 "2020-06-12T17:10:17Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > It’s hard to use elections to fix an anti-democratic oppression when part of the oppression is to deny free and fair elections. > > If the Ds ever do regain control of the U.S., let’s hope they act quickly and thoroughly. As a minimum: Abolish Senate filibuster, statehood for PR and DC, \*\*pack the Supreme Court. \*\* You decry “anti-democratic” tactics but then immediately say…“pack the Supreme Court.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328/40 "2020-06-12T17:18:11Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > You decry “anti-democratic” tactics but then immediately say…“pack the Supreme Court.” :dubious: What? I propose that the will of the people be used to determine the composition of the Court. And whilst on that subject, write a brief essay on the democratic selection of Gorsuch for that Court. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-in-uproar-over-voting-meltdown/855328.md?page=3)