I’m with @busdriver11 on this – with long and complex ballots here in California, including state and local proposositions and candidates for various local offices, it’s easier for me to take time over several days to do the research, including discussions with friends or family on some bits – and a lot easier to simply mark the ballot as I go along.
Back in the day when there was in-person voting only on election day, I’d arrive at the polls I wouldn’t have a clue on many of the local candidates – like how do I know who to select on the ballot for harbor commission? (It also was a lot harder, back in the day, without the internet — I’d have to rely on candidate statements included with the ballot, which could be very vague and sometimes not included at all). Now a Google search for a candidate’s name often reveals all sorts of information, both good and bad, that isn’t part of the official ballot.
I remember my sister voted for the guy who came to her door and gave her a refrigerator magnet with his name on it (years ago). She figured he deserved her vote as he took the time to campaign door to door. Now that is so old school as everything is online or by mail. I’ve even noticed most of the lawn signs in my area are for the third party candidates or the smaller races (school board, board of regents).
We vote to retain judges, and unless someone makes a big stink about one (the bar association is usually who comes out against a certain judge), they are all retained, but I like to vote ‘yes’ for them to give them an ego boost. I usually try to know how I want to vote on the constitutional amendments because if I try to read them in the booth, I get confused. They are full of double negatives or reverse language. “Shall the constitution be changed to not allow the…”
" he took the time to campaign door to door. Now that is so old school as everything is online or by mail"
Many local and statewide candidates will still knock door to door in my area. House parties are a big thing as well - even presidential candidates during primary season.
I talked to my ex-H today; he also moved to Washington state from MN a couple years ago. He agrees with me – intensely dislikes having only the mail in option, and feels that it is something lost to not have the opportunity to exercise this act of civic responsibily in person with others from our communities.
It’s pretty standard in Presidential campaigns to knock on doors and talk to voters face to face. I know that at least on of the candidates has volunteers who are doing that and will continue to do that. Knocking on doors is kind of fun. I like it better than phoning.
One week to go. TV ads are ramping up here in Central NY. I will probably be one of our first voters at my district since I have to be there at 5 am to help open up the polls. In two statewide races I do not intend to vote for either major party candidate due to the heavy mudslinging. That is a first for me.
Wow, TonyK, I go at 6 AM to open my site; voting starts at 7. I go over the night before to move all the tables and chairs and voting machines into the gym. Our US Senate race in PA is tight, there is a ton of outside money in ads and they are terrible, outright lies on both sides, but with Supreme Court nominations in the future, I feel it is important to vote that one.
I appreciate the ease of absentee voting by mail but postal workers aren’t vetted as poll workers. What keeps them from dumping your vote in the the back of the truck and not turning it in? If you have a political sign in your yard or on your car you’ve already broadcasted who you are voting for. Doesn’t take much. Not like you get a receipt that anybody at the polling place got it. Many postal employees these days are contract workers.
@mamabear1234, We have to setup tables and the machines before 5:30 am and an official stops by to inspect everything then. We’ve had a few cases where the long paper ballots aren’t being read properly so someone has to drive over asap to correct it. Polls open up in NY at 6 am on Nov. 8th. There are usually a handful of voters/candidates waiting to vote right at 6 am. Poll watchers from political parties don’t usually arrive until late morning and match up the names of voters with registered voter lists.
I imagine the poll watcher takes their copy of the voter lists back to HQ’s and hands them over to the next person. They can see who hasn’t voted yet in their party and give them a call. That’s what drove me away from my party years ago…I voted and came home and got calls every hour afterward reminding me to go out and vote. A few callers had obviously been drinking so it left a bad impression in my mind.
@gouf78, I would say wanting to keep their job is one big reason why a P. O. worker wouldn’t stash absentee ballots someplace and not turn them in. Say Johnny Anal contacts the election officials about his ballot, but they tell him they never received it. So Johnny tells his neighbor Sally Liberalator about it and she also voted absentee. She contacts the election officials and they tell her also that her absentee ballot was never received. Now if I’m a savvy election official who knows everybody in town, I am going to get to the bottom of this even if it takes me four more years. The ballots were put in their mailboxes but never got delivered…hmmm, the mail carrier is my first suspect. Carriers have been fired and fined for generations for interfering with mail deliveries or taking cash out of envelopes and pocketing it. It’s not worth the risk just for a few votes.
I don’t mind voting in person. It’s a pleasant walk to the local elementary school and there is never more than a five minute wait. I always see people I know. On non-presidential years I may run into my kids’ old teachers, though they close the school for presidential elections. OTOH for presidential elections the PTA usually runs a bakesale, so I plan to hit the polls at lunch time and see what they are offering.
I’ve been surprised once or twice by finding bond issues and the like on the ballot. I really hate voting for judges. They aren’t allowed to say what their positions are, so you just vote on who has the cuter family half the time.
Our poll workers need to arrive at the polling place by 5:15 a.m. It’s a long day!
The unofficial checkers can arrive at any time after the polls open at 6 a.m. Only one per party is permitted at a time.
I’m going to make a breakfast strata for my fellow poll workers. Thinking egg, cheese, and sausage. We usually have plenty of sweets…this will be a nice mid morning break food…and lucky for us, we have an oven in our break room to cook it in!
@thumper1, We used to have a nice kitchen in our old polling place, but we were evicted after the infamous “Broken Chair Incident” back in 2013. So now we wait for the radiant floor heating to kick on around 8 or 9 am. I might just bring some banana bread or dutch blueberry pie for dessert.