By no means should anyone be relying on the USPS with their vote, unless

[Sogo]

they absolutely have to.

We must bypass the opportunity that Trump and his henchmen are taking for screwing with our vote.

Drop boxes, taking your ballot into the elections office, designating someone to deliver it for you, early voting in person being thoroughly protected with a mask and shield (construction eye goggles work well) and gloves.....all these options are possible (check with the laws in your state). Contact your local Democratic office if you need help. I'm sure they will bend over backwards to help in any way needed....

The main thing....PLAN (and PROTECT) YOUR VOTE! EVERY VOTE IS PRECIOUS....



I

[Thekaspervote]

1. Absolutely!!

[liskddksil]

2. Yes sadly nt

[Tribetime]

3. Unless it's electronic with no paper trail

[Blue_true]

8. Was that a trite reply? The OP advised people to assess the voting situation they are exposed

to act prepare to act accordingly. If people are concerned about electronic voting machines, then voting absentee and MAKING SURE that their vote is recurved, accepted and counted would be a wise measure to take.

I will vote early in person, using the protective measures that the OP mentioned. I have the most confidence that my vote gets counted that way, since our state use paper ballots that are scanned to be counted and and then stored.

[maxrandb]

4. Fortunately, my state allows me to track my ballot

and will inform me that it's been received and accepted.

I can do that online.

I'm mailing early, and if it's not showing as being received and accepted, I'm going to my polling station and completing a provisional ballot.

There's NO WAY my vote is not being counted.

[Sogo]

5. I appreciate your plan

and it was the plan that I once had, but I've changed it and either I take it in to my elections office, so that I know it's there and not wait on the USPS, or I'm going to vote early in person. I'm not so familiar with provisional ballots, but I don't want my vote to be in anyway "provisional."

[Blue_true]

9. I have no understanding why people would sit on a November ballot.

What is there to know? Even if a presidential candidate dies before an election, the vote elects the VP candidate. So, there is no fucking reason to take more than two days to turn around a ballot.

I expect my Florida ballot to have initiatives on it, I can look ALL of those up online before early voting starts around October 20. Even if I had chosen to vote by mail, I could look up the initiatives in one day and decide how to vote on them. The rest of the ballot is simple, I will vote for Democrats and vote not to reappoint any State Judge that Rick Scott or DeSantis appointed.

I have no clue why someone would wait until the last two weeks or later to mail back a ballot in this critical election, that is outright foolish given what that new post master thug is doing to the postal service.

[qwlauren35]

14. Some people

are natural-born procrastinators.

And some people think of voting on Election Day as a tradition that they don't want to break.

Independents do not vote on party lines. They consider each candidate, so they may be waiting for more information.

Republicans may put it off 'til the last possible moment, hoping for a reason to vote for him, or debating not voting, or just not ready to make "the leap" to Biden.

Everyone is different.

Don't judge.

As soon as I get my ballot, as soon as there are drop boxes, as soon as the League of Women Voters posts the information about referendum questions, I will vote. Not sure what order those three things will happen in.

[SheltieLover]

6. K&R!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Unfortunately, some states require you mail in that ballot.

No dropping off possible. Some states don't have early voting.

I have the wonderful good fortune to live in a state with excellent early voting, and even though we will also have drop boxes, I've decided I'll early vote. I'll start on the very first day of early voting here, and if I deem the line at the polling place too long to comfortably stand in, I'll go to another polling place or come back the next day.

Thanks to our excellent early voting, I don't think there are long lines even on election day itself.

Oh, and I live in Santa Fe, NM. Aren't I the lucky one?

[Blue_true]

10. People that have to mail in ballots should get them done properly and back

into the mail within 2 days of receiving them. There is simply no rational reason for taking longer than that. I read people here bragging about mailing in or dropping off their ballots on Election Day in places like California, Oregon and Washington State and want to tear my damned hair out from rage, their utterly thoughtless procrastination is totally not comprehensible to me.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. You are right.

But a lot of people who get mail in ballots still don't fully understand exactly what they need to do. I expect that in states that do all mail-in, the entire process is vastly easier. Although it would be interesting to find out how many ballots in those states arrive too late to be counted.

Me, personally, I've decided to early vote in person, because I'm fortunate enough to live in New Mexico which has excellent early voting. My intention is to go to one of the several early voting places on the first day of early voting, and if I think the line is longer than I want to deal with, I'll go to another location or come back the next day. Fortunately, people here are scrupulous about wearing masks, which is very comforting.

[Blue_true]

12. I plan to early vote here in Florida. My county registrar runs a tight ship, so I trust the process

that he will have in place, along with security of my vote. The longest that I have had to wait to get an early vote ballot was a little less than 10 minutes. The longest I have taken to vote was 2 minutes, because the ballot had a lot of initiatives on it, I had studied them beforehand, but read them carefully before voting anyway.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. Good, glad to hear.

Don't know what it's like where you are, but here in New Mexico, whether you early vote or wait to Election Day, you can go to any of the polling places in your county. No bullshit about figuring out where in your precinct you need to show up. You give them your name and date of birth and they print up your ballot on the spot. No chance of running out of ballots, as has happened in other places.

Oh, and the place where I most typically vote, if a first time voter shows up, there's a round of applause for that person. Usually they are quite young, and I hope it makes them feel welcome and wanted among the gray haired old fogies that surround them.

[qwlauren35]

16. Let it go.

Some people procrastinate. That's just reality.

We have to help them see the importance of mailing in ballots 5-10 days early through massive information campaigns.

But don't rage.

[Blue_true]

17. In this election, given what is going on, anyone who does not ALREADY realize

that they must turn around their ballot properly very fast, is not worth talking to, IMO. Procrastination in this election is going to cause big problems, period.

[qwlauren35]

19. News blackout voters....

Some people do not pay attention to the news. If they don't, they won't know about the situation with the USPS.

We need every voter, not just the ones who are super informed.

But worry not - someone else will talk to them. It doesn't have to be you.

[frazzled]

13. If you want to get your ballot, you're going to need

the USPS. Just saying.

Let’s not denigrate the postal service. Until now, it’s always been great. It’s the people who Trump has recently installed who are handcuffing the postal service.

[Blue_true]

18. You write like any of the issues that you listed can't be over-comed.

The OP clearly stated methods that could be used. If you don’t get a ballot within two weeks of Election Day call the elections office about voting provisionally, or having them strike your mail ballot and allowing you to vote normally early or on Election Day.

[frazzled]

21. I know what the rules are in my state

I don’t need to call the Election Office if I don’t receive a ballot (though I will receive it, because I applied in July and they will begin sending them September 24). The rules are already clear. You can go to an early or regular voting site and they will automatically give you a provisional ballot. And if I do receive my ballot but change my mind and want to vote in person instead I can just cede my ballot to an election official who will spoil it and give me a regular ballot.

But NONE of this was the point of my post. The OP said not to use the post office. My point was to remark that simply to obtain your mail-in ballot you necessarily have to use the post office. They are sent through the mail. Everybody will have to depend on the post office if they want a mail-in ballot.

Honestly, I think early in-person voting is going to be easiest. It’s spread over about 20 days where I live. If I have to go into a site to drop off my ballot, and then keep waiting to see if it was (a) accepted, and (b) counted ... I might as well vote the regular way, feed my ballot into the machine, and see that it was counted right away (and will be included in the election nigh tally). Either way, I’m going to have to put on a mask and gloves, and then come home and scrub up.

[Sogo]

22. The OP (mine) said not to rely on the USPS for your VOTE.

That means AFTER you’ve gotten your ballot. Sure it has to come to you via USPS, but the point is you should avoid RETURNING it via USPS, if possible.

I have friends and relatives who’ve spent their entire careers at the USPS. I wasn’t bashing the USPS, just cautioning that we can’t trust what Trump and DeJoy have done to it in preparation for all the votes by mail. We won’t get a second chance to get this right!

[Sogo]

20. "Until now, it's always been great.

It's the people who Trump has recently installed who are handcuffing the postal service."

That's exactly the point I was making; NOT denigrating USPS. It's just that they are fast becoming a shadow of their former self, thanks to Trump. It's being widely experience that medications aren't being received on time.....That's why we can't rely upon them for our votes. We won't get a second chance....