Best Campaign Ad Ever

ml1 said:

I think there's enough evidence to suggest uncounted provisional ballots could have been enough to tip PA and WI. 

Not to dissuade you, but in the 2016 election in Wisconsin, the number of provisional ballots cast was “at least 750.” (Wisconsin has same-day registration, so provisional ballots are used only when a voter doesn’t have ID.)

I couldn’t find a 2016 total for Pennsylvania, but four years earlier, 20,258 provisional ballots were rejected. Give Clinton all of those in 2016 and she still loses the state by 24,000 votes.

ml1 said:

WI has been one of the most aggressive states in removing people from the registration lists. A lot of the people who cast provisionals don't have proof of registration because they were improperly removed from the list. 

To reiterate: Wisconsin has same-day registration.

joanne said:

This is fascinating. 
I’m aghast  that you’ve got people who could vote but don’t bother. (We have few people who don’t bother to enrol, although that number is beginning to grow). Once you’re enrolled there are few reasons you’re not required to have your name checked off as having attended a polling place; if you’ve attended, or got your name checked, you’re fine. Only a low percentage waste the opportunity to tell us how they feel re government - either formally (voting) or informally (crude doodles etc; invalid voting). So reading about deliberate vote-rigging going unchecked on top of dubious vote-weighting etc has me just shaking my head.

 I thought my idea to emulate your requirement of mandatory voting was so far-fetched a concept in this Country that I was reluctant to suggest it. However a very recent report from the  Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship has recommended it.

https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/recommendation-2-5

Voting is the core element of a democracy and should be officially recognized as such. The United States should adopt a version of the Australian system’s mandatory attendance at the polls. In Australia, eligible voters do not have to cast a vote for an individual or a party: they can vote for “none of the above,” sometimes called a “donkey ballot.” However, voters who fail to file a ballot on or prior to election day are subject to a fine that, in U.S. dollars, falls roughly between $15 and $60. This system has been in effect since 1924. Before the country implemented universal voting, Australia’s turnout was like ours, averaging around 50 percent. Since the reform, turnout in every election has been over 90 percent of enrolled voters.46 Australians now see voting as a civic duty, and as part of their civic culture. The government has to fine nonvoters relatively infrequently.

joanne said:

This is fascinating. 
I’m aghast  that you’ve got people who could vote but don’t bother. (We have few people who don’t bother to enrol, although that number is beginning to grow). Once you’re enrolled there are few reasons you’re not required to have your name checked off as having attended a polling place; if you’ve attended, or got your name checked, you’re fine. Only a low percentage waste the opportunity to tell us how they feel re government - either formally (voting) or informally (crude doodles etc; invalid voting). So reading about deliberate vote-rigging going unchecked on top of dubious vote-weighting etc has me just shaking my head.

 People missing an opportunity to voice their  opinion is maddening.

I'm curious. Is it easy to vote? Is it one day, perhaps a weekend or holiday? Are polling places convenient? 

Those of us here who want to increase turnout look at impediments. That said, there are people  who just don't vote. The excuses range from not liking either candidate, (you probably have seen those discussions right here), or the Electoral College system which boils down to an assumption that your state will go a certain way so why bother. If I remember correctly people believed if you voted you would be registered to be called for jury duty.

People do write in names but the obscene doodles are an intriguing idea. We don't have room for artwork.

Actually, they’ve got ‘donkey voting’  wrong: a donkey vote is when you number every candidate on the ballot 1, 2, 3, etc down the paper in order without caring who they are or what Party they represent (ie even a donkey could have voted instead of you). What was described in the excerpt above is called Invalid Voting - the vote doesn’t count. (Donkey votes are valid and are counted)

Today the Electoral Commission of Queensland announced some changes to the usual process that will take place in October for our State election, if there are still concerns re covid-19. (At one stage the election was going to be held entirely by postal ballot, but our Premier ruled that out) If all goes well, we’ll have in-person voting plus a two-week period for pistol and pre-polling, with extended hours and more polling places.

Usually elections are held on a Saturday, polling places open from 8am-6pm. Polling places are church halls, school halls, libraries, community health centres, sport centres, CWA halls, scout halls, RSL (veterans clubs) halls, auditorium in the local hospital or town hall, etc. The place needs to be fairly central with good parking and lighting, toilets, a kitchen, space for tallying at the end of the day.  Often there will be community fundraising outside (look up ‘democracy sausage sizzle’). Before Election Day, non-partisan officials visit hospitals, residential care homes etc to collect ballots from voters unable to attend in person on the day. 
Morganna’s right: people hate the inconvenience of being stung for ‘not voting’ more than they complain about having to turn up. When you enrol here, you don’t reveal what Party you favour, and there’s an option in some cases for being Silent (your name and address are not on public record). But if your name isn’t checked for that last Election, the Commissioner will issue a Summons and you have to answer - that’s tedious, confusing and complicated. 

i think our major issue this time, though, is that our post office now only delivers mail (not packages) twice a week, and in rural and remote areas possibly even less. We have fewer air services now, since airlines collapsed around Easter, so the delivery of voting papers to all voters and then getting them back again in time cannot be guaranteed at all AND NO-ONE WANTS TO DISCUSS THIS. 

You might be interested in looking at our enrolment forms; they’re pretty much the same all around Australia

https://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/enrol-to-vote/enrol-or-update-your-enrolment This tells you who can vote

https://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/1285/Enrolment-Form-Sept16.pdf
this is the enrolment form

I’m not saying we don’t have gerrymandering; but I think at present Qld is growing in a way which is making it hard to keep up with such practices anyway. (Apart from city/rural stuff) This page on electorate voter numbers is interesting

https://results.ecq.qld.gov.au/profiles/currentEnrolmentFigures.html

Comparisons are so interesting. Your ads are quite different from our too. (Digression over)

27 countries have mandatory voting: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voter-turnout/compulsory-voting

Basil, you also have to look at election frequency, integrity, and overall stability of government processes. (I haven’t looked at the current list of similar nations; when I was growing up there weren’t too many and most required UN supervision for their elections)

I wonder how many were influenced by former Australian peacekeepers or Commonwealth of Nations training? I know at one time we had formative influence in the rebuilding of Uganda and some other African nations; there were also close ties with some South American nations but they didn’t grab headlines. 

Also, for our last elections in March (local government level, held Statewide plus two State parliament seats in by-elections), over 90% of voters presented even though we were two weeks into isolation. 

This new Biden ad has gotta be in the discussion.

https://twitter.com/semperdiced/status/1274729331659386883?s=21

Smedley said:

This new Biden ad has gotta be in the discussion.

https://twitter.com/semperdiced/status/1274729331659386883?s=21

 This is friggin brilliant!

Unbelievable!

so does this mean the Graham ad is no longer the best EVAH?

The ramp is probably the closest thing Trump has to a war story.  He conquered it - despite an extreme case of bone spurs.

normally I'd say an ad making fun of Trump's West Point appearance is a trivial distraction.  But in the case of Trump, I think it's a really good ad because it goes right after Trump's obsession with calling his opponents "sleepy" or "low energy" or "lacking stamina."  It probably won't take those issues off the table for Trump and he'll still be slamming Biden and calling him impaired.  But it will probably hold Trump to a draw on this issue.

I'm now convinced there really is something about his health that Trump is hiding.  And the tell is when he accuses Biden the way he accused Clinton of having some ailment that leaves him impaired.  Because we all know by know that Trump's most frequent accusations of others are things he is himself guilty of.  So the more Trump tweets about "Sleepy Joe" being unfit for the presidency, the more it makes me sure it's Trump who is physically and/or mentally unfit.

ml1 said:

normally I'd say an ad making fun of Trump's West Point appearance is a trivial distraction.  But in the case of Trump, I think it's a really good ad because it goes right after Trump's obsession with calling his opponents "sleepy" or "low energy" or "lacking stamina."  It probably won't take those issues off the table for Trump and he'll still be slamming Biden and calling him impaired.  But it will probably hold Trump to a draw on this issue.

I'm now convinced there really is something about his health that Trump is hiding.  And the tell is when he accuses Biden the way he accused Clinton of having some ailment that leaves him impaired.  Because we all know by know that Trump's most frequent accusations of others are things he is himself guilty of.  So the more Trump tweets about "Sleepy Joe" being unfit for the presidency, the more it makes me sure it's Trump who is physically and/or mentally unfit.

He is always projecting, you are correct about that. Also, he is 74 years old, obese, and apparently eats 3 cheeseburgers and a pound of ice cream each day, so it would not be surprising if he has health problems. Having said that, I do not see any proof that he has real physical health problems (I see plenty of proof he has mental health problems, but that is a whole other story).