I used the phrase “white privilege,” which was an assumption that didn’t need to be made. Nothing else said about privilege in this thread has been incorrect, though.
Reread the exchange there. You said that they wouldn’t know who you were going to vote for. That’s what you were told was privilege. Many groups (including black people) will be assumed to vote the “wrong” way.
Sure, these guys don’t plan on shooting anyone. But they’re riled up idiots with guns. Something can go wrong. And, if it does, it’s privilege to be sure you won’t be one of the people they see as a legitimate target.
Just because you aren’t scared doesn’t mean that their actual targets don’t have reason to be. This is intimidation–all you need to do is make the side you hate a bit more reluctant to come in and vote.
I disagree with the premise one chooses to be intimidated. This surely depends on the degree of intimidation and many other factors. It might be part of a victim-blaming narrative. It is not necessarily up to the intimidator to define what should and should not be acceptable. It is not unreasonable an intimidator would guess, rightly or wrongly, about intentions based on inadequate factors, such as demographic details.
What if this occurred in a developing country rather than the United States? Is the degree of intimidation the same for all groups and genders? Does it vary if one greets the alleged intimidator with enthusiasm? Can one say with confidence the intimidation is only through presence and not with added gestures, words, symbols or other things? As an example, if you were voting in a totalitarian country, could you say with confidence your behaviour would be the same regardless of whether you were voting for or against the current government representative?
Oregon also has vote by mail for all elections. Ballot comes in the mail, you fill it out and send it back, postage free, or ignore it as you choose.
And if you don’t want to sign up you can do a real-time check of the status of your ballot on the website. My vote was shown as received and counted within 3 days of mailing.
There’s now 7 or maybe 8 states that have All-Vote-by-Mail: Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Hawaii, Nevada, and Vermont. The “maybe” is California. Whenever I look into it, I always get confused about whether they have it or not.
I’ll also note that in Washington State, all ballots are received in the mail. You can return postage-free in the mail, or drop off in a ballot box. My wife usually drops our ballots in a box. (Don’t ask me why, I have no idea.)
@Mean_Mr.Mustard , how many of your ancestors were killed for attempting to vote? Given this thread, I’m pretty sure that the answer is “zero”. But that’s not the answer every American would give. And if you grew up with your grandparents telling you stories of they, or their friends, literally being shot at, or hanged, or subject to other acts of actual violence, for voting, and you go out to vote and see folks at the ballot box apparently making preparations to do exactly that, what would you think?
Fairly certain that all the All-Vote-by-Mail states have drop boxes at various places. Here in Oregon, they’re located at libraries, city halls, and of course, at the county Elections Office. Maybe other places in some counties, I don’t know.
Personally, I always drop mine off at the county Elections Office. It’s only a couple blocks off the route to Trader Joes.
I had hoped that was the case, but I have no firsthand experience. Also, for people who aren’t in a mail-by-vote state, it might seem like everything is literally “mail-in only”, as if you have to put your ballot in the USPS system for it to be counted.
I think CA is by request - you have to opt-in for a mail-in ballot. Otherwise its the same as other places: postage paid, or drop off at official locations (including the post office). IMHO it should be mail-in ballots by default - everyone gets one, and if you wish to vote in person, you bring the ballot you received in the mail to an official polling place. Of course there can be exceptions, but why make people jump thru any hoop to cast a ballot, right?
Back in 2004 (for the second Presidential election that Oregon had all-vote-by-mail), I was a temporary worker for the local Elections Office. My job was to man the drop box at the local library on Election Day, facilitating voters doing a drive-by drop-off. There were a few people apologetic about not having stamps on the envelopes. I told them, “not a problem, we’re not the post office”. I did the same work during a couple more recent elections and no one was apologetic that way. Everyone’s familiar with the process by now.
Massachusetts recently moved from absentee for good reason (not that intensely policed) to vote early by mail for everyone who asks to. You get mailed a notice to fill out and return by mail to indicate whether you want an absentee ballot; with plenty of time before the election you’re mailed your ballot, with clear instructions and an envelope to put it into; and you can drop it in the mail, put it in a dropoff box, or bring it back to your town/city hall. This time around there were four ballot questions, and being able to sit with the ballot and consider each question at your leisure was a definite plus.
I’m not sure what the state-wide rules are, but Los Angeles County mails every voter a ballot. You can mail it back (no stamp needed), drop it off in designated ballot boxes, or vote at one of the county election centers. There is no precinct voting anymore. Vote centers are open early and on election day. You check in, and they print your ballot on demand.
That is a mighty good question. I’m patiently awaiting their answer.
Can’t answer for her but I dropped mine off because, so long as that Trump minion is on the board, I want to make sure it arrives in a timely manner. In Arizona, the ballot being in the registrar’s hands is what counts, not the postmark.
Also, I haven’t heard anything specific, but I assume these intimidators are not showing up in random precincts. Rather, I assume, they’re showing up in heavily Democratic districts, where they intend to depress the vote, and particularly the vote of minorities. Their presence alone makes people think “I don’t want to be anywhere that shit,” particularly those who were on the fence about voting to begin with. They are not showing up in districts that go 70/30 for republicans.
Just back from voting. Better turnout than usual. I arrived at 7 am and there were 6 people in line as the doors unlocked. I cast ballot #13.
I tried intimidating the other voters but nobody looked at me.
I was at the polls at 7 am. About 25 people in line. But the poll workers were clearly ready for a large turnout and it went quickly and smoothly. Nobody with firearms nearby glaring at anybody. This is a fairly affluent area, so we’re probably not on their high-priority intimidation site list, but it’s also an educated area and tends to vote Democratic, so I thought there was an outside chance we’d see some yahoos. But luckily not.
One thing I found interesting, that I had not seen before, is when the doors officially opened, someone came out with a bell and called “Hear ye, hear ye, the polls are now opened for precincts 15, 16 and 17.” I did not realize that was an official required thing!
Voter intimidation and other BS will be likely in places that are expected to be close. In Philly the GOP is already trying to get 1000’s of ballots thrown out if people didn’t complete the information on the envelopes for early voting correctly or if it isn’t legible in their opinion. The PA Supreme Court is apparently refusing to do anything about this. I’m not sure if similar things are going on in WI, GA, AZ or NV but I wouldn’t be surprised.
ETA: I’m in Chicago and got my ballot in the mail several weeks ago and took it to one of the dreaded drop boxes. I got an email a couple of days later from the Board of Elections saying they got it. I typically vote in my building, a 550 unit high rise. I will peek in and see what turnout looks like later.