# The "I've Voted" Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 1, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352 "2016-10-01T13:16:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/21 "2016-10-12T13:54:20Z")
Our ballots arrived in the mail yesterday. They ought to go out in today’s mail. This will be our first time voting in a major election since moving from 20 years spent in a hard red area to now a mildly blue one. Makes the whole process feel different it does. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/22 "2016-10-12T13:59:59Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I voted 17 days ago. Straight DFL (Democratic) except for a few incumbent Judges who were appointed by a Republican Governor. > > Here in Minnesota, the number of people requesting absentee ballots this year is 3 times that of 2012. And they are being returned – so far, those returned = 90% of the total from 2012, with almost a month more before election day. This. It was nice being able to do early voting here in Minnesota. The polling place even had the ballot box set up for taking selfies if you wanted to. I voted Clinton, Keith Ellison, and voted for funding the school district and removing lawmakers ability to set their own pay raises. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/23 "2016-10-12T18:28:41Z")
I’d been holding on to my mail-in ballot. Judges are elected here but I’m not sure party affiliation is the best way to, umm, judge a judge. So I needed to do some research. This morning I just said “fuck 'em” & picked Straight Democratic. The school district had a bond request–OK. Dropped the ballot in the mail at lunch… ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/24 "2016-10-14T15:45:52Z")
I went downtown to drop my mail-in ballot in a box at the U.S. Consulate. I could have just bought stamps instead, but the consulate sends it across the border in a diplomatic pouch, so that’s cool. I’m an emigrant, but frequent go back to California, so I voted for the federal and state level positions and initiatives. I left the county, city, and school board stuff blank. In what research I tried to do, everyone says the same things. ---
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/25 "2016-10-14T20:01:27Z")
I received my mail-in ballot yesterday afternoon and dropped it in the mail yesterday evening. I managed to wade through all 17 of California’s propositions. Now I just have to wait for the results. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/26 "2016-10-14T21:24:02Z")
> [@RollOutTheBarrel](#): > > I received my mail-in ballot yesterday afternoon and dropped it in the mail yesterday evening. I managed to wade through all 17 of California’s propositions. Now I just have to wait for the results. I got my ballot, but it’s gonna take me awhile to figure out those propositions. Let alone who to vote for in the non-partisan water board and hospital board races, etc. I have a mind-boggling 30 things to vote on. Otherwise my ballot would be in the mail already too. ---
**Author:** ![bubba001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f17d59/32.png) [@bubba001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubba001)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/27 "2016-10-15T02:24:10Z")
2 straight Democratic ballots mailed in yesterday. Unfortunately, a lot of the local offices only have republicans running. The most conservative county in Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/28 "2016-10-15T03:16:27Z")
Voted early today (in Minnesota). I have a legitimate “absentee” reason to vote (out of town during the week), but Minnesota now allows early voting with no reason required. Voted D for federal offices and all but one local offices. Our D candidate has been carpet bombing us with mailings since August, and his R opponent is our neighbor and has been a good bipartisan rep. In Minnesota you can revoke your vote up to a week before the election (they have you write your drivers’ license number on an outside envelope), so if anything major happens in the next two weeks I can change my mind. But for now it’s nice to watch election commercials and the news and know I could just ignore it all since I’ve made my decision. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/29 "2016-10-15T03:30:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > … **YES** to changing term limits to four years, and no quitting early. Would make it easier to vote for them… 😕 What office is that for? I’m guessing state legislator, but does the last mean they’ll no longer be allowed to resign from office? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/30 "2016-10-15T21:27:01Z")
I’ve voted. Straight-ticket Democratic, with the most Democratic candidates in non-partisan races and fairly Democratic on various ballot issues. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/31 "2016-10-15T21:28:34Z")
I voted, besides saying I voted for Hillary, the rest will remain private. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/32 "2016-10-15T21:47:53Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > 😕 What office is that for? I’m guessing state legislator, but does the last mean they’ll no longer be allowed to resign from office? Nope. More local than that. To quote [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Arkansas_Increase_in_Length_of_Term_in_Office_for_Some_County_Officials,_Issue_1_(2016)): [ul] [li]County judges[/li][li] County clerks[/li][li] Circuit clerks[/li][li] County surveyors[/li][li] Assessors[/li][li] Coroners[/li][li] Sheriffs[/li][li] Tax collectors[/li][li] Treasurers[/li][/ul] They can still resign. But they can’t hold a city office concurrently with their country office. It really does seem to be a measure to make sure that all these people get voted for, avoiding the lull in midterm elections. And, if they run unopposed, they don’t even get on the ballot at all. It passed in both state legislature houses near unanimously, with only two hold outs. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/33 "2016-10-15T22:43:29Z")
Mailed mine today. Voted for Hillary, and a few other random things I felt qualified to have an opinion on. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/34 "2016-10-16T01:53:47Z")
No early voting here. Whenever I had to vote absentee I always wondered if anyone ever counted my vote. I don’t know if I would ever get over that feeling to be able to vote early if it ever came here. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/35 "2016-10-16T11:46:59Z")
I think my town counts the number of absentee votes, and only opens them up to count HOW they voted if there is a race close enough that the absentee votes could have changed it. That means they usually open the ballots for local elections, and often don’t for state elections. (I’ve been in the room at Town Hall when the votes were counted. I forget why.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/36 "2016-10-16T15:20:13Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/37 "2016-10-16T16:14:25Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think my town counts the number of absentee votes, and only opens them up to count HOW they voted if there is a race close enough that the absentee votes could have changed it. That means they usually open the ballots for local elections, and often don’t for state elections. > > (I’ve been in the room at Town Hall when the votes were counted. I forget why.) That isn’t true in California. Here, all absentee ballots are always counted for all elections, whether or not they make a difference. The final official total includes all absentee ballots. Anyway, nowadays absentee ballots always make up a substantial number of the ballots, so they have to be counted. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/38 "2016-10-16T16:20:14Z")
This year we have expanded absentee voting, and I’m sure they will have to count them. It used to be hard to vote absentee and there typically weren’t many. ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/39 "2016-10-16T20:36:26Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > That isn’t true in California. Here, all absentee ballots are always counted for all elections, whether or not they make a difference. The final official total includes all absentee ballots. > > Anyway, nowadays absentee ballots always make up a substantial number of the ballots, so they have to be counted. I don’t know about anywhere else, but [Santa Clara County](https://eservices.sccgov.org/Rov/) has a tool that tells you when your ballot was received and if it’s been counted. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352/40 "2016-10-16T22:33:01Z")
Here in San Francisco, I had a mind-boggling 51 choices to make (and that’s only if you count things like Board of Education, where you can choose up to 4 candidates, as a single vote). I’m very glad that I’m a permanent absentee voter, because I can’t imagine what the lines are going to be like on election day. I’m surprised that everyone else has to pay to mail the ballot. Here in San Francisco, we get a postage-paid return envelope. Apparently we’re one of only two counties in California to pay the postage. For those who are having difficulty with folding the ballot – did you tear off your stub? San Francisco ballots have a tear off stub across the top. If you don’t remove it, the ballot won’t fit in the envelope. I never thought that I would be voting for Hillary Clinton, but I really had no choice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ive-voted-thread/767352.md?page=3)