Sorry, what state?
NC (words for Discourse).
I wonder if Harris has any real shot there. That Republican candidate is going down for governor, I believe? I wonder what the odds are she can get that state.
I believe she can - the last time a Democrat won the presidential election in NC was Obama in 2008, and that’s also the last time I saw this much enthusiasm to vote in this state. I also believe there’s a connection.
There are more registered Democrats in this state than Republicans, but also a very large percentage of ‘independents,’ who tend to lean conservative. Basically what that means is that if Democrats and those who lean liberal don’t vote (or throw their vote away on some 3rd party candidate), we end up with a Republican candidate getting NC for the presidency. It looks to me like they just might be voting this time around in the significant numbers needed.
That said, voters here also aren’t afraid to split tickets. We’ve had plenty of Democrat governors, and Robinson is such a clown it’s going to be a cakewalk for Stein to the governor’s mansion.
Yeah, my hope is really just that this Robinson maniac drags Trump down with him.
It doesn’t work that way here. As I noted in my previous post, there’s plenty of times where NC went R in the presidential elections while going D in gubernatorial elections. It doesn’t flow backwards. Certainly part of that is that on both sides NC tends to put up fairly to spectacularly shitty candidates for governor on the regular, which pushes voters one way or the other.
The presidential candidate needs a ton of voter motivation to drive D-leaning voters to the polls. I think we may have that here for the first time since 2008 but we’ll see.
I just got the email telling me that my vote has been received and counted. I mailed it on the 14th and it’s counted on the 18th. Not bad.
North Carolina reports 353,166 ballots cast on the first day of voting, a new record.
“Yesterday’s turnout is a clear sign that voters are energized about this election, that they trust the elections process, and that a hurricane will not stop North Carolinians from exercising their right to vote,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “Let’s keep it rolling, North Carolina.”
I also saw some photos of people waiting in line in Black Mountain to vote, despite all the other issues those folks have had to worry about.
The mood in that Black Mountain line was very upbeat. I heard no one complaining. It is the longest I have ever waited in line to vote but we all wanted to be there.
Yaay!!!
That’s fantastic news! (I have two cousins who live in Black Mountain; they both had some property damage but they’re OK.)
Absentee ballots in Iowa were mailed on the 16th; I got mine the next day, and today (the 18th) I dropped it into the mail.
I voted today. My ballot arrived yesterday in the mail, as Washington State offers a full mail-in voting system (though there is the option to drop off your ballot in a box and not mail it back in).
I deliberated a while before placing my vote. Though I admit that 95% of that deliberation involved trying to find the right pen.
Pens (and postage stamps) are soooo 20th century. 
I voted today. Because I am American (and having some back and foot pain) I voted curbside. Because I am not getting out of my car unless I have to. Just drive up, let the nice ladies check your ID and bring you the ballot then come back and confirm that it was recorded.
The one thing that confused me was the signs saying “No casino at Tysons”. I have seen some lawn signs and they were outside the polling place with all the other signs. However, there was nothing about casinos on the ballot. A quick google showed that a proposal for local casinos that could have led to a referendum was tabled back in February and postponed until 2025. So I didn’t vote for the hypothetical local casinos that were not on the ballot.
There were I think 6 choices for President (including Green, Libertarian and two Independent).
Also, the stickers were fancy this year. Is this where my tax increase went?
I just got a message that my email has been received and counted. More than a week after I dropped it in a dropbox. I wonder what took so long? This is in the Bay Area, California.
Do you know when they begin counting in CA?
When I snail-mailed my ballot in to the elections folks here in FL, it arrived 2 weeks before the date that state law permits counting to begin. So there it sat. Once counting began, they had a couple-week backlog to work through, so it was about 4 days later before mine was counted.
You might have a similar situation. Or they may prioritize snail mail & drop-off paper ballots over email ballots or … ???
Likewise. I got the ballot from the mailbox about 3 pm on Saturday, and by 6 it was in the dropbox.
Confession: the Elder Ottlet dropped it off along with hers, which to some troglodytes constitutes “ballot harvesting.”
One interesting twist is that the same mail had a sample ballot from the local Republican organization showing their choices. Made a handy cheat sheet for nonpartisan elections and ballot issues: just vote the opposite. Thanks, GQP!
Sealed up our ballots yesterday here in Montana and @Tride will drop them off at the Clerks office tomorrow, as we are hesitant to trust the PO, even with a couple of weeks to go. I expect he’ll have to sign something to drop mine off but I’m not sure. I’ve got covid so don’t want to go spreading it around.
A couple of important state constitutional amendments on the ballots, back doors to ranked-choice voting (open primaries and majority wins), and enshrining abortion (which is currently legal but threatened). Two very important Supreme Court votes, as the MT SC has been the only thing saving us from an extreme and red supermajority and horrific governor/secretary of state/attorney general combo.
Felt good voting for a woman of color for President, on top of everything else!
My wife and I sat down at the kitchen table yesterday and reviewed our absentee ballots together. Read all the (pretty obvious) instructions and filled out the bubble sheet ballot forms. This was only the second time I have ever voted straight party ticket. Used to be I’d split my ballot depending on who was most qualified for their respective office. Sad thing is the GOP in Michigan has gone off the deep end and there’s simply no one from that party that I trust anymore to be in a position of responsibility or power.
A few minutes ago, I stuck our ballots into the absentee voting drop box in front of city hall. It is done.
Funny, but I just now noticed 3 weeks after I’d voted that I had not at the time thought at all about Harris being a woman or of color. I was voting for the D person who was/is a skillful Vice President. Those other features just never entered my mind.