Election Day Blues

[gs11rmb]

Nov 5, 2020 10:48:33 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Nov 5, 2020 9:11:39 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

I can't imagine the 'little states' will ever agree to amend the constitution.  I think a compromise might be for all states to award electors based on the proportion of the votes.  At the same time staunchly Republican and staunchly Democratic states will refuse.

I was reading about the pitfalls of that.  It would encourage even more heavy gerrymandering to ensure, like in Nebraska for example, that red votes outnumber the blue so they maintain the majority. 

I was freaking floored when District 2 went blue this round.  Omaha is the majority of that district which has apparently become more liberal than I realized over time.  I could see the state trying to redraw things to give the rural areas of Sarpy and Douglas County more power to ensure it goes back to being red.

We'd have to do something like computers generate the boarders for districts based on a model that ensures as close to purple as possible.  We can't let legislators draw districts anymore nor could they be the ones to design the software.

You're absolutely right!  I believe that districts should be drawn by independent organizations and not by state legislatures.  I hold that opinion for places like New York and California as well as Iowa and Georgia.

[TheOtherMe]

Iowa has a commission that draws the districts.  Problem is the plan than goes to the state legislature for approval.  Since it went even redder, we could be in trouble when the districts are redrawn when the 2020 census comes out.

I am very concerned about the outcome of the election.  I have a lot of trepidations about what happens if someone is reelected.  

I did vote, but that is not the end of it.  I have to live with the consequences. 

I am ashamed of my town, my county and my state.  I'm hoping not to be ashamed of my country on top of it.

[Lizard Queen]

There is an independent commission that is to start redrawing districts in my state this time around--it was put on the ballot and passed in 2018. The Republicans in charge tried to block it as much as they could. Hopefully it helps the gerrymandering. I live in a blue spot in a sea of red. It's frustrating.

[Cookies Galore]

I really like Senator Casey. Things are looking good in Centre County, too.

[Deleted]

This is exactly what the previous article in the Atlantic talked about as one way Trump can legally steal this election. Faux News's Mark Levin tweeted this a few minutes ago.


Mark R. Levin
@marklevinshow
REMINDER TO THE REPUBLICAN STATE LEGISLATURES, YOU HAVE THE FINAL SAY OVER THE CHOOSING OF ELECTORS, NOT ANY BOARD OF ELECTIONS, SECRETARY OF STATE, GOVERNOR, OR EVEN COURT. YOU HAVE THE FINAL SAY -- ARTICLE II OF THE FED CONSTITUTION. SO, GET READY TO DO YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY

[swamp]

Aren't the electors already chosen? 

[oped]

I live in a very red part of PA... I wouldn’t be surprised if most people who voted by mail here were blue. The republicans here are all in for conspiracy theories and follow trump like he was the second coming. 

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2020 13:21:36 GMT -5 swamp said:

Aren't the electors already chosen? 

This article in the Atlantic explains why what Levin tweeted is legal.

Basically, a governor can reject the election because they decide it wasn't legit for some reason and then send their own electors and decide whom they vote for.

"We are accustomed to choosing electors by popular vote, but nothing in the Constitution says it has to be that way. Article II provides that each state shall appoint electors “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.” Since the late 19th century, every state has ceded the decision to its voters. Even so, the Supreme Court affirmed in Bush v. Gore that a state “can take back the power to appoint electors.” How and when a state might do so has not been tested for well over a century.

Trump may test this. According to sources in the Republican Party at the state and national levels, the Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results and appoint loyal electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority. With a justification based on claims of rampant fraud, Trump would ask state legislators to set aside the popular vote and exercise their power to choose a slate of electors directly. The longer Trump succeeds in keeping the vote count in doubt, the more pressure legislators will feel to act before the safe-harbor deadline expires.

To a modern democratic sensibility, discarding the popular vote for partisan gain looks uncomfortably like a coup, whatever license may be found for it in law."


www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/what-if-trump-refuses-concede/616424/

[billisonboard]

Nov 5, 2020 13:21:36 GMT -5 swamp said:

Aren't the electors already chosen? 

Choosing each State's electors is a two-part process. First, the political parties in each State choose slates of potential electors sometime before the general election. Second, during the general election, the voters in each State select their State's electors by casting their ballots. link

Only part one is done. Part two is done in some states and not others.

[Deleted]

I think there would be a civil war in this country if the governors bypassed their citizens' votes. 

Earlier in the article, it says that Trump has to concede and could refuse to.

There's apparently nothing in current law that describes what happens in this case.

[thyme4change]

Nov 5, 2020 9:11:39 GMT -5 gs11rmb said:

Nov 5, 2020 9:07:47 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

If this was based in popular vote as it should be, this would be over. But instead, we are going to have to argue six times over a small number of ballots.

Abolish the electoral college.

I can't imagine the 'little states' will ever agree to amend the constitution.  I think a compromise might be for all states to award electors based on the proportion of the votes.  At the same time staunchly Republican and staunchly Democratic states will refuse.

It won't be truly fair until every vote counts the same. Proportional won't fix anything. If you live in Wyoming your vote counts 3x+ more than if you live in California. I bet if you ran the numbers for the last 8 elections, going proportional won't change the outcome.

What really turks me is that people on both sides believe that the Republicans would have to go through some massive change to survive a move to popular vote. They may have to soften their stance on a couple of policies, but after you start wooing everyone and disenfranchised voters show up, you probably don't need that drastic of a change. Their core principles wouldn't have to change - just maybe their focus or the messaging around their policies.

[gs11rmb]

I agree with you thyme4change. I'm just skeptical that 2/3rds of the state legislatures would be willing to amend the constitution.

[justme]

States can do the run around. 15 states worth 196 electoral votes have bills that say once there's enough states where it's over 270 they will switch to giving their electors to the national popular vote. So once that happens it's a done deal.

Now, I have no idea what the likelihood is of getting another 74 electoral votes signed onto it. But it could happen. 

[thyme4change]

Nov 5, 2020 16:14:29 GMT -5 justme said:

States can do the run around. 15 states worth 196 electoral votes have bills that say once there's enough states where it's over 270 they will switch to giving their electors to the national popular vote. So once that happens it's a done deal.

Now, I have no idea what the likelihood is of getting another 74 electoral votes signed onto it. But it could happen. 

The chances are probably close to the same as a constitutional amendment.

[Deleted]

Yesterday my 26yo son and I were talking about the election. He said “If Biden wins, Trumps folks are gonna go crazy. A lot of them are evil just like he is”. I think he was considering maybe it would be better if Trump won, to avoid that. I told him that it would be so much worse if Trump wins. And most importantly, we can’t let fear of what evil people might do stop us from doing what’s right, we shouldn’t just hand them something so important, trying to appease them. He agreed.

[alabamagal]

Nov 5, 2020 14:03:36 GMT -5 @shastasnewlife said:

I think there would be a civil war in this country if the governors bypassed their citizens' votes. 

Earlier in the article, it says that Trump has to concede and could refuse to.

There's apparently nothing in current law that describes what happens in this case.

Trump doesn’t have to concede. Concession is just a courtesy to your opponent. What he does have to do is leave office on Jan 20 if the electoral college chooses someone else. That is the only legal requirement.

[TheOtherMe]

He will leave or be carried out.

I am of the opinion he will quit so Pence can start on the pardons.

[oped]

I hadn’t cried all day, then someone posted this...

[moon/Laura]

Nov 5, 2020 17:02:10 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

He will leave or be carried out.

I am of the opinion he will quit so Pence can start on the pardons.

The NY AG is coming for him. If they're smart, they'll have charges ready when he's tossed out on his ass, along with a judge's order to surrender his passport due to being a flight risk. Now, whether that's just a pipe dream or not I have no idea, but it'd be spectacular!

[TheOtherMe]

That's what I want to happen but I have this thought that he will take a private plane to Russia and we won't know about it until he is gone.  Sometime before January 20

[Cookies Galore]

From earlier today. Interesting numbers in Sharif Street's tweet.

[Deleted]

Surprised he went on TV to claim all votes for Biden are "illegal"?

The coup has started. It started a while ago.

I think they are too dumb to be successful, but the other Republicans better get their shit together soon and stand the hell up.

[TheOtherMe]

Biden now ahead in Georgia.  917 votes with votes still being tallied.


www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/biden-georgia-2020-election/

"Joe Biden edged ahead of President Trump in Georgia overnight as vote counting continued there and in the other critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina. According to elections data from Clayton County, which was part of the congressional district of the late civil rights icon John Lewis, Biden added 1602 votes and Mr. Trump 223, leaving Biden with a remarkably thin statewide lead of 917 votes."

[thyme4change]

Nov 6, 2020 8:24:56 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Biden now ahead in Georgia.  917 votes with votes still being tallied.


www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/biden-georgia-2020-election/

"Joe Biden edged ahead of President Trump in Georgia overnight as vote counting continued there and in the other critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina. According to elections data from Clayton County, which was part of the congressional district of the late civil rights icon John Lewis, Biden added 1602 votes and Mr. Trump 223, leaving Biden with a remarkably thin statewide lead of 917 votes."

Holy shit.

I hope AZ and NV come through for Biden.

We will hear about how unfair it was that he lost by thousands of votes, and our answer should always be that we have lost by having millions more votes than the winner - so suck it.

Also, once again, if the Dems are so good that they can cheat and fix an election, why are they so extremely bad at it? Dems cheated and Hillary lost. Dems cheated and it is still teetering. Dems cheated, but didn't bother taking the Senate - which could have been done on the same bogus ballots. 🙄

[chiver78]

PA has now turned blue! I'm watching rn, 5500 vote lead for Biden, per NBC. 

[Tennesseer]

Nov 6, 2020 8:45:03 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Nov 6, 2020 8:24:56 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Biden now ahead in Georgia.  917 votes with votes still being tallied.


www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/biden-georgia-2020-election/

"Joe Biden edged ahead of President Trump in Georgia overnight as vote counting continued there and in the other critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina. According to elections data from Clayton County, which was part of the congressional district of the late civil rights icon John Lewis, Biden added 1602 votes and Mr. Trump 223, leaving Biden with a remarkably thin statewide lead of 917 votes."

Holy shit.

I hope AZ and NV come through for Biden.

We will hear about how unfair it was that he lost by thousands of votes, and our answer should always be that we have lost by having millions more votes than the winner - so suck it.

Also, once again, if the Dems are so good that they can cheat and fix an election, why are they so extremely bad at it? Dems cheated and Hillary lost. Dems cheated and it is still teetering. Dems cheated, but didn't bother taking the Senate - which could have been done on the same bogus ballots. 🙄

Trump will surely claim today 10,693,482 illegal voters were bussed into New Hampshire from Massachusetts and voted against him.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Nov 6, 2020 8:57:47 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Nov 6, 2020 8:45:03 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Holy shit.

I hope AZ and NV come through for Biden.

We will hear about how unfair it was that he lost by thousands of votes, and our answer should always be that we have lost by having millions more votes than the winner - so suck it.

Also, once again, if the Dems are so good that they can cheat and fix an election, why are they so extremely bad at it? Dems cheated and Hillary lost. Dems cheated and it is still teetering. Dems cheated, but didn't bother taking the Senate - which could have been done on the same bogus ballots. 🙄

Trump will surely claim today 10,693,482 illegal voters were bussed into New Hampshire from Massachusetts and voted against him.

Yet despite all the news coverage and pretty much every person owning a cell phone with a camera not one single person has captured a photo of these bus loads of illegals.   I sure would notice if dozens of busses full of people I have never seen before were rolled into my voting district. 

[gs11rmb]

Nov 6, 2020 8:24:56 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Biden now ahead in Georgia.  917 votes with votes still being tallied.


www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/biden-georgia-2020-election/

"Joe Biden edged ahead of President Trump in Georgia overnight as vote counting continued there and in the other critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina. According to elections data from Clayton County, which was part of the congressional district of the late civil rights icon John Lewis, Biden added 1602 votes and Mr. Trump 223, leaving Biden with a remarkably thin statewide lead of 917 votes."

His district also covered parts of Fulton and DeKalb.  It's my district and I just checked and it looks like 85% of voters went for Biden.


tenor.com/view/happy-dance-john-lewis-dancing-groovy-gif-17840876

[gs11rmb]

Hmmm...how do you imbed a gift directly into a YMAM post?

[Deleted]

Decision Desk has called it for Biden.