Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[Breccia]

many people often don't believe video evidence.

Watch again, it's two. And one said "maybe" a week ago. The video evidence is pretty weak sauce for what the headlines were. Funny story, Trump even tweeted about this and nobody cared because Trump lies all the time and also stacks the deck. It's a little late for Team Trump to say "hey, someone's not following the rules!" when he personally brought COVID-19 to a fucking debate.

Handwaved. Next actual issue, please.

[Edge-]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...s-b868920.html

Trump is out of the residence and in the West Wing, including the Oval Office.

Everyone in the West Wing is now at risk because Trump can't stay in his fucking room while he has a highly contagious virus in the middle of a pandemic.

Republicans are trying to infect as many people with the coronavirus as possible, and I will stand by this statement with their ever reckless and dangerous decision like this.

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I didn't say anything about softball questions. It has more to do with the people asking the question most likely not being genuine.

How can you know that if you don't know what they even asked?

You can take a "probably" however you like it.

I'll take it exactly in context: He said he was undecided. He was posed a hypothetical that the vote is TOMORROW and asked to give an answer. He gave a lukewarm answer, but remains undecided.

These people seemed to be hand picked by NBC, when town halls are supposed to be more fluid and ask random people within a crowd.

...do you think news outlets just grab random people off the street for town halls or something? Because they absolutely do know who these people are most of the time and get quite a bit of information about them.

That's like, how they can introduce "Bob, the welder from Townsville, Virginia who is currently unemployed and moving back in with his parents because his unemployment checks have stopped coming."

If two or three people were hand picked ahead of time how many others were?

Like almost every town hall, all of them.

You and conservative media are currently tilting at windmills on this, my dude. Back in reality, this is pretty routine shit and nobody much gives a fuck.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2020/1...st-foes-427389

For the sake of the country, will someone distract him with some slick graphics and Fox News logos and hide his phone?

Openly calling for political opponents to be jailed is authoritarian banana republic shit. I'm sick of these Banana Republicans.

[fwc577]

Just wanted to note something about the Rasmussen report today:

Hillary Clinton never eclipsed 45% or +6% against Trump.

FWIW, October 5, 6, and 9th reports I'm seeing in their history shows:

Clinton: 45%

Trump: 38%

The final poll before the election was:

Clinton: 45%

Trump: 43%

Their current poll?

Biden: 52%

Trump: 40%

[Redwyrm]

Just a word of caution concerning mail in voting. I received my mail in ballot this week and was all ready to fill it out and mail it back, but then started reading the fine print. If your signature on the ballot envelope does not match the signature election officials have on file, the ballot could and probably would be invalidated.

Now, I surely don't remember what my signature looked like when I first signed my voter registration. When I originally signed my name way back in my youth I made sure it was nice, cursive and readable. Now, it's just a "C" and a squibble.

So, I am not taking the chance that my state (Florida) will toss my ballot and will instead vote in-person early.

Your state mileage may vary.

[Edge-]

but you seem to have never actually attended a town hall.

Like, a nationally televised town hall with a presidential candidate? No, I haven't. Have you?

But I've attended plenty of local town halls with various representatives at locla/state/federal levels. Those are not as produced, and not nationally televised or run by a national network, so the same kind of production doesn't go into it. Including them opening up the town hall to all locals, as it's usually a largely local vs. national affair.

I wasn't tilting any windmills I said it makes NBC look bad

To you, maybe. But in reality, it really doesn't. The only people other than you that seem to think this are the same conservatives who argue that Biden is both a senile old man and a genius who can memorize 20+ questions and detailed responses to them in a "fake" town hall.

but I get you all always feel the need defend anything that might be perceived as a criticism for your dear leader.

Again, baselessly accusing us of mindlessly defending Biden and thinking he's perfect despite the fact that almost everyone in this thread is critical of him on various issues, and I've been critical of him since his campaign got off to a pathetic start.

You need to find a new angle, this "You're all mean to me and you all think Biden is perfect!" schtick is getting really threadbare.

[kaid]

Just a word of caution concerning mail in voting. I received my mail in ballot this week and was all ready to fill it out and mail it back, but then started reading the fine print. If your signature on the ballot envelope does not match the signature election officials have on file, the ballot could and probably would be invalidated.

Now, I surely don't remember what my signature looked like when I first signed my voter registration. When I originally signed my name way back in my youth I made sure it was nice, cursive and readable. Now, it's just a "C" and a squibble.

So, I am not taking the chance that my state (Florida) will toss my ballot and will instead vote in-person early.

Your state mileage may vary.

Yup the signature thing is annoying but if you check your drivers license and make it look basically like that you should be fine. My problem is my handwriting and signature is very erratic but I show on the website that my ballot was accepted so who knows.

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/FamousBL3/status...14127327997953

This is a good political ad.

[Redwyrm]

Yup the signature thing is annoying but if you check your drivers license and make it look basically like that you should be fine. My problem is my handwriting and signature is very erratic but I show on the website that my ballot was accepted so who knows.

I looked up the procedure for signatures in Florida and I am a little reassured.

A Supervisor of Elections is required to notify a voter as soon as it is practical if a voter's signature is missing or does not match the one on record. Once a voter learns about the missing or mismatched signature, the voter may complete and return a “Vote-by-Mail Ballot Cure” Affidavit (Form DS-DE 139 (English PDF / Español PDF) with a copy of identification. The documentation can be returned by mail, email, fax, or in person. The deadline to submit the form and the ID is no later than 5 p.m. (local time) on the 2nd day after an election. Failure to follow the instructions may cause the ballot not to be counted.

[Endus]

Just a word of caution concerning mail in voting. I received my mail in ballot this week and was all ready to fill it out and mail it back, but then started reading the fine print. If your signature on the ballot envelope does not match the signature election officials have on file, the ballot could and probably would be invalidated.

Now, I surely don't remember what my signature looked like when I first signed my voter registration. When I originally signed my name way back in my youth I made sure it was nice, cursive and readable. Now, it's just a "C" and a squibble.

So, I am not taking the chance that my state (Florida) will toss my ballot and will instead vote in-person early.

Your state mileage may vary.

It's asinine.

Banks aren't legally permitted to use signature variance to prevent a transaction. Literally all a signature exists for, in banking, is for you, the customer, to see it and go "oh, yeah, that was probably me then". They're too easy to forge to act as a measure against fraud, and there's too much variance in their use (not to mention if you have, say, a hand injury and can't write properly) to deny a transaction.

If banks won't use 'em because they're useless garbage, why the hell do you let election officials do so? The only reason is disenfranchisement.

[Benggaul]

Just a word of caution concerning mail in voting. I received my mail in ballot this week and was all ready to fill it out and mail it back, but then started reading the fine print. If your signature on the ballot envelope does not match the signature election officials have on file, the ballot could and probably would be invalidated.

Now, I surely don't remember what my signature looked like when I first signed my voter registration. When I originally signed my name way back in my youth I made sure it was nice, cursive and readable. Now, it's just a "C" and a squibble.

So, I am not taking the chance that my state (Florida) will toss my ballot and will instead vote in-person early.

Your state mileage may vary.

That's pretty much how it's always been done. The signature is compared to several past official signatures (past voter registration and possibly license/ID) and the people doing the checking have been trained to recognize when a signature is actually a different person or just a signature that's changed over time. Rarely does a person's signature stay the same their entire lifetime.

As long as you don't go from writing out your full name to one giant scribble or something equally as drastic you probably won't hear anything about it. If it DOES look too different, however, you will receive a notice from the local board of elections asking you to provide more samples of your signature/writing or other methods by which they can identify you. Your vote isn't thrown away at this point, it's just put in a "pending" pile while they await further info from you so they can verify you're you.

[Edge-]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-...them-to-covid/

On the same day President Trump acknowledged contracting the coronavirus, the White House quietly informed a veterans group that there was a COVID-19 risk stemming from a Sept. 27 event honoring the families of fallen U.S. service members, the head of that charitable organization told The Daily Beast.

The White House warning, which came on Oct. 2, is the earliest known outreach to visitors of the complex that there was a risk of coronavirus emerging from the grounds where the president, the first lady, and at least 17 of his aides, according to Politico, have now tested positive for the virus.

The Sept. 27 event to honor Gold Star families came the day after the White House hosted a celebration for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that appears to have been an early source of the White House outbreak, though West Wing officials have quietly disputed that linkage. It is unclear to the head of the veterans charity—the Greatest Generations Foundation—which participant's potential positive coronavirus test sparked the warning.

“The White House has been in daily contact with TGGF for contact-tracing purposes after alerting us on 10/2 of a possible COVID-positive person at the event so we could know there was a potential our attendees were exposed,” said the Greatest Generations Foundation’s president and CEO, Timothy Davis.

Pictures from the Gold Star family event, which Trump attended, show minimal mask wearing and social distancing. It took place indoors, though attendees said they were tested prior to attending. A Republican close to the White House also told The Daily Beast that others present at the event received outreach from a White House office—though not the medical office—late last week urging them to get coronavirus tests. The source described a chaotic scene in the White House as it tries to manage the internal outbreak.

“The communication breakdown during this is even worse than usual,” this source said. “Different departments and offices are not talking or communicating appropriately, people are doing different things, and officials are having trouble getting on the same page. The East Wing and the West Wing are dealing with this totally differently. It’s just a mess.”

Trump may have infected veterans with the virus.

[Benggaul]

It's asinine.

Banks aren't legally permitted to use signature variance to prevent a transaction. Literally all a signature exists for, in banking, is for you, the customer, to see it and go "oh, yeah, that was probably me then". They're too easy to forge to act as a measure against fraud, and there's too much variance in their use (not to mention if you have, say, a hand injury and can't write properly) to deny a transaction.

If banks won't use 'em because they're useless garbage, why the hell do you let election officials do so? The only reason is disenfranchisement.

There's a VERY wide allowance. I agree that matching signatures isn't the best of methods but it's really more lax than the procedure sounds. They look for things like what angle you're writing at (slanting left or right), whether you use cursive or block letters, whether you usually dot your "i"s and stuff like that.

[Rasulis]

It's asinine.

Banks aren't legally permitted to use signature variance to prevent a transaction. Literally all a signature exists for, in banking, is for you, the customer, to see it and go "oh, yeah, that was probably me then". They're too easy to forge to act as a measure against fraud, and there's too much variance in their use (not to mention if you have, say, a hand injury and can't write properly) to deny a transaction.

If banks won't use 'em because they're useless garbage, why the hell do you let election officials do so? The only reason is disenfranchisement.

For the most part that's what they do here also. The rejection rate due to non-matching signature is pretty low. From preliminary 2020 data, NC is the highest at around 1.3%. However, the majority of NC ballot rejections were due to incorrect witness information. The rest of the states that report rejection rate are close to zero. Unfortunately, FL does not report how many mailed ballots have been rejected. So I don't have any numbers.

[Felya]

You need to find a new angle, this "You're all mean to me and you all think Biden is perfect!" schtick is getting really threadbare.

I don’t know... he might be on to something... you do sound moist... lol

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Just a word of caution concerning mail in voting. I received my mail in ballot this week and was all ready to fill it out and mail it back, but then started reading the fine print. If your signature on the ballot envelope does not match the signature election officials have on file, the ballot could and probably would be invalidated.

Now, I surely don't remember what my signature looked like when I first signed my voter registration. When I originally signed my name way back in my youth I made sure it was nice, cursive and readable. Now, it's just a "C" and a squibble.

So, I am not taking the chance that my state (Florida) will toss my ballot and will instead vote in-person early.

Your state mileage may vary.

Yes, my gf had hers rejected several times for one election a few years ago... her vote counted in March. The only year we had a problem... Mine is a wavy line... My motive is speed...

[beanman12345]

Just a word of caution concerning mail in voting. I received my mail in ballot this week and was all ready to fill it out and mail it back, but then started reading the fine print. If your signature on the ballot envelope does not match the signature election officials have on file, the ballot could and probably would be invalidated.

Now, I surely don't remember what my signature looked like when I first signed my voter registration. When I originally signed my name way back in my youth I made sure it was nice, cursive and readable. Now, it's just a "C" and a squibble.

So, I am not taking the chance that my state (Florida) will toss my ballot and will instead vote in-person early.

Your state mileage may vary.

That's kinda how it's been for as long as I can remember, and I've never voted with mail, always with person. Sign your name, they compare based on when you registered and then you're good to go. No ID required, but the siggy has to match. I think it's actually the only thing were your signature has to match like it's not that way with checks at banks or anything, just elections. And people change their signatures, but yeah, always remember how you signed when you register. It's better then some of the alternatives though, like needing said ID.

[Thepersona]

So umm...

There's this:

"NEW: It’s not just Iowa and Ohio. Trump also has scaled back TV ads significantly in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota — signaling a retreat from the Midwest."

https://twitter.com/HenryJGomez/stat...28272011460616

Is he planning to lose? Do they not have any money left to spend in vital races? Any more option? Both/all of them?

[TigTone]

That's kinda how it's been for as long as I can remember, and I've never voted with mail, always with person. Sign your name, they compare based on when you registered and then you're good to go. No ID required, but the siggy has to match. I think it's actually the only thing were your signature has to match like it's not that way with checks at banks or anything, just elections. And people change their signatures, but yeah, always remember how you signed when you register. It's better then some of the alternatives though, like needing said ID.

I did not know that dang. So much to check up on before election.

[Antiganon]

Any reasonable poll will publish their methodology. If you see a problem with said methodology it would be more beneficial to site that the specific reasons other then any perceived bias because you don't like the outcome.

Rasmussen polls likely voters exclusively via landline telephones.

No cell phones, no online polling.

The vast majority of households that still answer unknown number calls on a landline are senior citizens, who trend conservative the vast majority of the time.

[Elegiac]

So umm...

There's this:

"NEW: It’s not just Iowa and Ohio. Trump also has scaled back TV ads significantly in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota — signaling a retreat from the Midwest."

https://twitter.com/HenryJGomez/stat...28272011460616

Is he planning to lose? Do they not have any money left to spend in vital races? Any more option? Both/all of them?

It would not surprise me if there was a significant amount of embezzlement of campaign funds, combined with declining revenue due to the shitty economy and Trump's unpopularity leading to an actual cash shortage.

That, and as mentioned previously, Trump is now on the defensive in states like Florida, Georgia, and Texas - so those now require funding to prop up.

[Thepersona]

Here we have a Poll that puts Biden 2 points behind... in Missouri.

https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...Memo_FINAL.pdf

for context, Hillary lost that state by 18 points.