Is this the year Ga. flips?

[kadee79]

There’s a joke about Atlanta’s most popular sports teams and how they often fail to reach their potential. The Atlanta Hawks franchise has gone more than 60 years without an N.B.A. championship. In 2017, during Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons were up, 28-3, in the third quarter against the New England Patriots. You know what happened next.
Georgia Democrats, long a source of hope for the national party, are seeking to avoid a similar reputation. In 2016, prominent supporters of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign infamously crowed about a changing electoral map that made Georgia winnable for Democrats, only to lose the state and the election.
The following year, Democrats watched an expensive special congressional election slip through their fingers. And the year after that, Stacey Abrams, a former State House minority leader, captured national attention and drove record turnout but lost the race for governor to Brian Kemp, a Republican who has stuck close to President Trump since his election.

But now, with two Senate seats in play and Mr. Trump on the ballot in November, Georgia Democrats are telling anyone who will listen: This time, it’s real.

State elected officials are urging national Democrats, including Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive presidential nominee, to make a big investment in the state, pumping the type of staffing and advertising money into Georgia that is usually reserved for the Wisconsins and Michigans.

The dream scenario, which would include presidential and Senate victories but also wins in the state Legislature, could upend the balance of power in Washington and provide a road map for other Southern Democrats, who are seeking to make gains after years of being shut out.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/the-future-is-blue-not-purple-is-this-the-year-georgia-flips/ar-BB15ereB?ocid=spartandhp

[busymom]

Only if the voting is legit.  They're already reporting problems with the voting machines, and long lines in Georgia today.  

[djAdvocate]

yeah, I don't hold out a lot of hope for Georgia. they have the numbers if they can get the turnout, tho.

[kadee79]

Jun 9, 2020 11:10:56 GMT -5 busymom said:

Only if the voting is legit.  They're already reporting problems with the voting machines, and long lines in Georgia today.  

Vote absentee!  I did!

[kadee79]

DJ, as you predicted...here come the problems....this is the whole thing....

Georgia’s statewide primary elections on Tuesday were overwhelmed by a full-scale meltdown of new voting systems put in place after widespread claims of voter suppression during the state’s 2018 governor’s election.

With scores of the new voting machines ordered by the state missing or malfunctioning, according to voters, poll workers and voting rights organizations, hourslong lines materialized at schools and libraries across Georgia, and some people gave up and left before voting. Concerns quickly spread that the problems would disenfranchise untold numbers of voters, particularly African-Americans, as predominantly black areas experienced some of the worst problems.

With Republican-leaning Georgia emerging as a possible battleground in this year’s presidential election and home to two competitive Senate races, the voting mess rattled Democratic officials and voters, with some blaming the state’s Republican governor and secretary of state for hastily implementing a new voting system without enough provisional ballots in case the voting machines did not function.

“It is a disaster that was preventable,” Stacey Abrams, the Democrat who narrowly lost the disputed 2018 governor’s race, said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “It is emblematic of the deep systemic issues we have here in Georgia. One of the reasons we are so insistent upon better operations is that you can have good laws, but if you have incompetent management and malfeasance, voters get hurt, and that’s what we see happening in Georgia today.”

www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/us/politics/atlanta-voting-georgia-primary.html

[kadee79]

Here is another article with the GOP up in arms about problems in basically WHITE areas....


us.cnn.com/2020/06/09/politics/georgia-primary-election-delays/index.html

[happyhoix]

I’m like Charlie Brown when Lucy keeps snatching away the football.

GOP has proven their willingness to cheat their way to winning so many times I don’t want to get my hopes up and think this could be the time we win.

GA Secretary of State says he will investigate. Not holding my breath.

[kadee79]

They better have an abundance of paper ballots in Nov. or something is liable to hit the fan & there will be lawsuits from all kinds of places.

It's harder for the GOP to cheat now without everyone knowing about it with social media.  And we all need to keep reminding others that they are scum, cheating! 

[thyme4change]

Australia has mandatory voting. That would solve voter fraud and voter suppression.

[countrygirl2]

Georgia doesn't care. The minorities will eventually overwhelm the white voters but not yet.

They will keep it up till it could end up like S Africa.  And after the history down there, the minorities once in charge will likely be as bad as the white people now. They set the standard.  

I heard today the repubs plan on having 50k monitors at polls, like they said people intimidating them, folks will be driven off. Only way the repubs can win. And I imagine they will manipulate and destroy thousands of ballots. They have already removed hundreds of thousands of people from the voter rolls.
I agree with Joe Biden, gong to be a horrible election. And I think we will have to physically remove trump from the white house and that whole damn corrupt family.

[Opti]

Jun 11, 2020 12:44:02 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Australia has mandatory voting. That would solve voter fraud and voter suppression.

Interesting. How does it work?

[dondub]

Jun 11, 2020 12:44:02 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Australia has mandatory voting. That would solve voter fraud and voter suppression.

When I first heard that years ago I was in immediate support of that happening here. Repo-Cons are too Un and Anti-American to ever allow it.

[kadee79]

Jun 11, 2020 13:25:20 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

Georgia doesn't care. The minorities will eventually overwhelm the white voters but not yet.

They will keep it up till it could end up like S Africa.  And after the history down there, the minorities once in charge will likely be as bad as the white people now. They set the standard.  

I heard today the repubs plan on having 50k monitors at polls, like they said people intimidating them, folks will be driven off. Only way the repubs can win. And I imagine they will manipulate and destroy thousands of ballots. They have already removed hundreds of thousands of people from the voter rolls.
I agree with Joe Biden, gong to be a horrible election. And I think we will have to physically remove trump from the white house and that whole damn corrupt family.

Those that were still legitimate voters have since reregistered if Kemp knocked them off the rolls.  That is why they had to try something different this time.  So now we are aware of what they may try in Nov.  Will have to keep a close eye on them closing or moving polling places & Stacey is staying on top of all that & informing everyone possible in the state....even us way down here in the south of the state that don't always get the latest Atlanta news.

[djAdvocate]

Jun 11, 2020 13:25:20 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

Georgia doesn't care. The minorities will eventually overwhelm the white voters but not yet.

They will keep it up till it could end up like S Africa.  And after the history down there, the minorities once in charge will likely be as bad as the white people now. They set the standard.  

I heard today the repubs plan on having 50k monitors at polls, like they said people intimidating them, folks will be driven off. Only way the repubs can win. And I imagine they will manipulate and destroy thousands of ballots. They have already removed hundreds of thousands of people from the voter rolls.
I agree with Joe Biden, gong to be a horrible election. And I think we will have to physically remove trump from the white house and that whole damn corrupt family.

the South Africa analogy is a good one, imo- with one exception.

the black leadership in SA has been far better in terms of human rights.

and that is what we should hope for, here.

[Deleted]

2016 Georgia primary Democratic turnout 761,000

2020 Georgia primary Democratic turnout 948,000

The governor says five months is "plenty of time" to fix what's wrong with his voting machines/Raffensperger's eff-up.

He was warned that the eight months allowed wasn't enough time between the time the machines were ordered until they were delivered and installed and poll workers trained. Now he's saying it can all be fixed by November.

[kadee79]

Stacey is about to start with the lawsuits....

llowing Tuesday’s chaotic primary in Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight Action group is preparing a lawsuit to make changes to the state’s electoral system.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters in Atlanta his office was investigating Tuesday’s election process in two counties in the Atlanta-area to determine how to better prepare for the November election. Ms. Abrams, a failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate in 2018, does not appear content to sit by and wait for the results.

Fair Fight Action shared the news on Twitter that the group is readying legal action and intends to move quickly, as first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Fair Fight created a ‘Voter Protection Hotline’ for Georgians to call if they saw suspicious behavior at the polls and have also solicited voters’ stories via submission through a Google Doc.

“Voter suppression takes on multiple forms. Georgia excels in too many of them,” Ms. Abrams said in a tweet on Wednesday. “Even laws that should help the people — like absentee ballots — can be weaponized.”

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jun/10/stacey-abrams-group-pursuing-legal-action-after-tu/

[kadee79]

And this is how Stacey can handle herself....

On Monday, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) went on The View and promptly schooled Meghan McCain on the real meaning of “defund the police.” This morning, it was Stacey Abrams’ turn.

Abrams, who was promoting her latest book Our Time Is Now, spoke out against the voting disaster this week in her home state of Georgia. After Abrams blamed the Republican secretary of state for showing a “deliberate indifference to the needs of Georgia voters,” McCain tried to spin the situation on the ground in a different way.

 
“There’s a lot of finger pointing going on, and you seem to be implying it was Georgia’s secretary of state who was targeting communities of color,” McCain said. “But most of the counties that had issues this week were run by Democrats. Do you think we should be quick to blame Republicans when most of the problems like consolidated polling locations and older poll workers canceling over health concerns were a result of the coronavirus?”

“So I want to decouple a couple of things,” Abrams began. She calmly explained to McCain that in the state of Georgia, the secretary of state is in charge of elections, something she knows well from running for governor against former secretary of state Brian Kemp, who refused to recuse himself during his own election. “We allow counties to do the direct implementation, but it’s the responsibility of the secretary of state to make sure they know how to do it and that they have the resources to get it done.”

www.thedailybeast.com/stacey-abrams-repeatedly-shuts-down-meghan-mccain-on-the-view 

[countrygirl2]

The Georgia repubs will get exactly what they deserve eventually, you reap what you sow.

[thyme4change]

Jun 11, 2020 13:34:51 GMT -5 Opti said:

Jun 11, 2020 12:44:02 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Australia has mandatory voting. That would solve voter fraud and voter suppression.

Interesting. How does it work?

I heard someone on the radio describe it..I will tell you what I remember, but you may want to do some independent verification.

The lady said:

It takes place on a Saturday and is a national holiday.

They can vote by mail.

They have voting teams go to prisons, hospitals, shelters, etc. Where people have a barrier to voting.

There are penalties if you don't vote, but I'm not sure how well they are enforced. They send letters to people who don't vote, and are expected to answer why they didn't vote. I think you get fined.

But I think the key was to create the culture of voting, by making it a good experience. They throw parties near the polling station, and you can get food and hang out with your neighbors. They have adequate polling stations, so lines aren't long.

I'm not sure what identification requirements they have, nor do I know about how they make sure everyone's information is correct, as I think address changes and wrong polling locations is a problem for us. But I believe they have more passion about all things voting, so they maintain all of that.

Basically, they care that people vote and act accordingly. I'm not sure we care that much. Democrats kinda care about certain neighborhoods in urban areas, but you don't hear Democrats lobbying to go out to nursing homes or rural areas to make sure they all vote.

Can you imagine the upheaval if we even suggested it?

[countrygirl2]

They go to nursing homes around here and some people really don't like it, I have heard comments. They say family members end up voting, I'm sure that is true.

I told the voting people my disabled DD wants to vote. I also told them I took her one time and later heard comments about it, how I voted for her. She knew who she wanted but I had to help her physically do it. We have not been back again.  She is very passionate about it. At least at the court house they said let her vote absentee, that way she can at home, I will do that. Needless to say she wants to vote against trump, not that she has heard any anti trump rhetoric here, LOL!  

[kadee79]

Voter turnout in Ga. soared...despite all the problems.

Despite massive problems at the voting booth, Democratic turnout in Georgia's primaries skyrocketed — with three times as many votes cast in the Senate primary as in 2016.

With 91 percent of the vote in as of Friday, nearly 960,000 voters had cast ballots in the Democratic Senate primary race won by Jon Ossoff, compared to 310,000 who voted in the Senate primary in 2016.

The Democratic turnout was also higher than it was in the gubernatorial primary in 2018, which saw 550,000 ballots cast.

"This was extraordinarily high turnout for a primary — way beyond what we've seen in previous primary elections," Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Atlanta's Emory University, told NBC News.

"The bottom line is that, despite all of the problems at the polls on Tuesday, it appears that there was a big increase in turnout over 2018, especially on the Democratic side," Abramowitz said. "And over 900,000 votes cast in the Democratic Senate primary blows the 310,000 votes cast in the 2016 Democratic Senate primary out of the water."

www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/voter-turnout-soared-georgia-despite-massive-primary-day-problems-n1230806

A lot of folks are really, really pissed down here...if ya'al haven't figured that out yet.  Just keeping my fingers crossed that things change drastically in Nov.


And if you haven't read it, Kemp took off the "stay at home" thing on anyone over 65 either today of yesterday...like it mattered in the least.   We all have done what we needed to do & took precautions & still are.   Had a Dr. appt. Wed....got temp scanned, took my heart rate & oxygen number too before you could enter the building.

[djAdvocate]

this is exceptionally good news for Democrats./\