this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2024
894 points (98.3% liked)

politics

19148 readers
1951 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

EDIT: See @AnimePhantasm comment below! My friend called the election board and they confirmed what @AnimePhantasm and @fmstrat commented! This was Virginia reusing last year’s envelopes.

OP I am an absentee voter in Blacksburg just next door. Shine a light on the blacked out part. I am 99% sure this is legit, they just crossed out the witness requirement. I can see the word witness under the sharpie in your picture. Virgina doesnt have to do that witness thing anymore. We did at the last general election, so I am guessing they just reused the same envelopes. You should call and ask your elections office before alerting the news. They are hardworking folks whose jobs are already 100 times harder then they used to be. Stirring up reports of election fraud where it isn't happening makes us just as bad as them.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

TBH idgaf who knows my vote history, I want the peace of mind that it was counted correctly.

[–] boydster 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I totally hear that, but at the same time it's really important for a functioning democracy that the vote be secret. For one, it empowers a suppressed class to vote against their suppressor's interests without fear of retaliation.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There is already a record of who voted for what, all of your fears could be taking place as things are now. Making it accessible to the person, even with hoops to jump through, would only be an improvement.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No, there's not. There's a record of who voted. There is a record of your political party in most states. There is no record of who you actually voted for.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

The majority of votes in the USA are electronically counted, and a ballot itself is a record of a vote as well. What there isn't is a searchable index of who voted for what, and I apologize for my unclear language.

But the likelihood of oppression based on availability of those vote records is still very much there even if the voter themself doesn't have access.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Back to school. Vote-buying breaks democracy. Not having proof of who you voted for makes vote-buying pointless. Yes, your vote could be miscounted. This is generally less of a problem than the general population being able to sell their votes and can be mitigated in a variety of ways which don't tie votes to voters.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You can still buy votes with absentee ballots, are you opposed to that as well?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What's to stop me from filling it out the way I said I would, going to the voting office and saying the ballot I had previously was lost/damaged/spoiled and then voting differently than how I was paid to vote?

The premise behind a secret ballot is it can't be proven how you vote. You can still sell your vote (illegally), you just can't prove you voted the way you said you would. As shown above, absentee ballots don't remove that distinction. I suppose the criminals could just trust each other...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If you submit multiple ballots its voter fraud. If your buyer drops off your ballot on election day then there is nothing you can do to stop it that you couldn't do in the other circumstance.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This topic has been discussed for a couple thousand years now, and you clearly have access to the internet. Feel free to search for the answers on your own.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You clearly need to read more theory.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well, all you've said is that you think it should be verifiable. What reasons do you have to support your argument? If you've read the theory, you should be able to point me in the right direction or give me an answer.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

I was mocking you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Now THAT is some privilege lol

Plenty of places in the US where you risk personal danger if people know how you voted.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

Then those individuals shouldn't share how they voted, but I want the freedom to see how my vote was counted.

[–] boydster 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

And they have the right to conceal their vote, as they should, but why should I not have the right to reveal mine even to myself, Necromancer?

[–] boydster 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

That's not how this started, moving the goalposts is pretty cheap. I was literally linking to an issue happening in this vary election that illustrates why secret ballots are so important. A position which, if you recall, you began by stating was invalid because you misunderstand (or, now more clearly, willfully misrepresent) how democracy in the US works, and your proposed "solution" only helps illustrate the easy ways vote buying and manipulation would be introduced without secret ballots. I'll block you, for obvious reasons. Good luck

There is already a record of who voted for what, all of your fears could be taking place as things are now. Making it accessible to the person, even with hoops to jump through, would only be an improvement.

Edit: additional context for added relevance

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

Good luck loser