ChiGoose

That’s not how this works. It’s not how any of this works. The absolute dearth of civics education on this board is staggering.

Shhhh… you can’t let your facts get in the way of their feelings. It’ll make them very upset!

Oh no! The FBI infiltrated terrorist organizations! How dare they!

Some states tried to make changes before this election. Given their expected importance in this election, PA tried to pass a law to allow for counting of mail in ballots before Election Day but it failed to pass. Election officials are not all powerful, they have to follow the law. So even if they wanted to process the PA ballots when they came in, they were barred from doing so by law. Mail in ballots have never been considered a problem before 2020. Many states have traditionally used mail in ballots. I think Oregon is basically entirely mail in. And they don’t experience widespread fraud. In fact, many GOP campaign experts were angry at Trump for taking aim at mail in ballots because they considered them crucial for their success. If I recall correctly, the Florida GOP traditionally used mail in ballots extensively because it allowed them to bank votes early and reallocate the extra election resources to GOTV for Election Day. If I could wave a magic wand and “fix” the laws so that mail in ballots could be counted earlier, and there were paper copies of every ballot, and every election had at least a risk-limiting audit, if not a full recount before certification, I would. But even then, all of the ballots still wouldn’t be counted on Election Day and extremely close races would still take days to resolve. And the lies and misinformation would continue.

It is a cause for concern but the problem is education. 29% of Americans are either unsure if we landed on the moon or believe that we didn’t. 28% of Americans are either unsure if vaccinations implant microchips or believe that they do. 25% of Americans are either unsure if the Earth is billions of years old or believe that it isn’t. 19% of Americans are either unsure if the Earth is flat or believe that it is. (Source) Is the problem that we aren’t transparent enough about the moon landing?

One of the things I’ve learned taking to campaign people is that campaign staff on big elections hate yard signs because they are a waste of money. They can benefit for name recognition in down ballot races, but are not worth the investment in top races. Yet many people still base their expectations on elections on the prevalence of yard signs for a particular candidate. Which is even worse of a predictor due to our geographic polarization. In any case, now Lake and Trump are both free to run together since they don’t have to worry about doing the responsibilities of elected officials right now.

This stuff is hilarious. The FBI had an asset with some of the terrorists that did 9/11. Does that mean the FBI “was involved” with 9/11? I’m having trouble keeping up with the latest explanation for January 6th. If I have it right, it was a peaceful protest of pro-Trump antifa who attacked the Capitol because the FBI told them to do so. Is that right?

No state has counted every vote on Election Day in modern history. It hasn’t happened. Getting rid of early voting won’t change that. How unfortunate that B-Man’s misinfo posts are wildly believed on this site.

Correct. The Russians did not hack the 2016 elections. I think we can see what happens when party leaders push back on the crazies vs when they embrace them.

“Allowing more people to vote is really bad, you guys.” -People who don’t understand how voting works.

There are poll watchers and election judges overseeing the counts. You can be one if you want, I did it and it was fun! They are giving regular updates as they count the ballots. These are what are being called “drops”. All of the states are still counting. No elections have been decided yet. But some of the races were not very close so the media was able to project the winners based on the returns at hand. Others were much closer, so they needed more returns in before making a projection or call. A small number are razor close, so we have to wait until more votes are counted before the media outlets will call those election. In all three instances, races “called” on Election Day, those called shortly after, and those that have not been called, are all still being counted. In many of these states, the authorities will perform audits and recounts to verify the elections before certification. Sure, there are changes we can make to improve the process but it’s fairly robust and transparent as it is. Counting mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day would be a nice improvement, but other than that, I’m not sure what improvement to the process itself would prevent these concerns. What I see here is not a lack of transparency (if that’s the issue, what would you suggest as a solution?), but people who are ignorant of what is happening being taken advantage of by bad faith actors. And I don’t mean ignorant as a pejorative, people don’t tend to have the time or interest to learn these things. Some of them are falling for misleading information or outright lies (like the Maricopa County tabulation machines being broken). I’m not sure any change to the election process itself could fix that. It’s a much deeper problem.

Now this clearly cannot be correct. I was assured that the reason the counts were dragging out was because the Dems were cheating…

In that case, the problem isn’t with the elections themselves, but with an ignorant population easily moved by hucksters and bad faith actors. So how do you combat stupid? I ask honestly because I don’t know if there is a real solution.

When the whip count for Speaker is going well…

1. Are you saying that the rise in global inflation was caused by the USA’s COVID recovery package? 2. If corporations raised prices to meet the increased cost of production, the profit would stay them same. If it cost $1 to make a $10 widget, they pocket $9. If it now costs $2 to make it, and they raise the price by the same $1 increase to $11, they still make $9. But what we are seeing is they actually raise the price by more than the cost, up to $12 or $13, so they can now net $10 or more. Record profits are because they are raising the price by more than their increased costs.

“Why do gays support the Dems?”ask people who support the GOP as they make unending homophobic and transphobic posts

Nope.

Nah, they are able to string multiple sentences together without embarrassing themselves so they are way overqualified to be among Trump’s current attorneys.

We really do need better civics lessons in this country if this is how people understand what is happening.

I appreciate you joining me in the understanding that Musk doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

It should surprise nobody with two brain cells to rub together that this represents a gross misunderstanding of how elections work. No state has ever counted all of its ballots on election night. Yes, some states count faster than others and I think most people here would prefer that states counted mail in ballots before Election Day. But the biggest reason the media has called some races and not others is because some races just weren’t close. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing this, people are up in arms for the wrong reasons because they are either acting in bad faith or just ignorant. We need better civics lessons in this country because the ignorance is staggering.

Seems like half this board, at least, blames Biden for inflation.

Yes, though I’m not sure it’s the biggest driver. Inflation is up globally, so ascribing all of it to domestic policy would be wrong.

I don’t know if you’re just dense or an ####### but you keep proving my point either way, so carry on embarrassing yourself.

I take this issue VERY seriously. My wife has a condition that increases the likelihood of a miscarriage. Before she was diagnosed, she had had five miscarriages. And now, in states enacting GOP abortion laws, we are seeing women experiencing miscarriages sent home until they are so sick their life can be considered to be in danger and only then will they be treated. If such a law were to be passed nationally, we would likely have to stop trying to start a family. If you doubt this, try reading the 80+ cases linked at the start of this thread. All of this, because the GOP does not care about actually stopping abortions. Because the GOP cannot or will not look at the root causes of abortions and will instead pass poorly worded laws that legislate medical treatment that they do not understand, endangering women's lives. If YOU took this seriously, you would look at what ACTUALLY drives elective abortions and I bet you and I could come to agreement on policies to prevent them. But you are unserious, uneducated, and oblivious to the consequences of the half-baked policies you advocate for.