I think we MUST vote in person. Vote early if you can, but even on election day . . . .

[Stinky The Clown]

. . . . VOTE IN PERSON.

Bill Barr will be running things on Election Day and Night.

Do you trust him? I DO NOT.

[Iliyah]

1. K & R . . .

[FM123]

2. I will vote in person.

It has been very convenient to mail in, and I will still do that for my 92 year old dad - but for myself, hubby, and our three 20+ year old kids - we are putting on masks and will vote early in person. We live in FL - we can not take a chance with those precious 29 electoral votes.

[DLCWIdem]

3. Thinking the same thing

I have been thinking about my voting plan for about a week now. I was going to mail in or vote in person early, but i have been looking at the news vids on msnbc and i am worried about Repubs many tricks. I am worried Trump will stop the mail in votes from being counted especially if he is winning. Especially now if he packs the court. I believe early in person voting, ( is like absent voting), ballots are counted with mail in votes. I want to make sure Biden is ahead on election day.

[LisaL]

8. What state are you in?

In many states absentee ballots are counted first, not last. So you should figure out your state's rules if you want Biden to be ahead on election day.
For instance, in FL absentee ballots are the first to be counted.

"When are vote-by-mail ballots counted?

Mail-in ballots are usually counted before all the in-person ballots, despite a common myth that suggests otherwise. Those numbers are among the first results reported on election night."
https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2020/07/13/vote-by-mail-florida-frequently-asked-questions

[DLCWIdem]

31. Wisconsin

If you didn't guess from my username. I usually vote early which is an actual absentee ballot. But I want to make sure it is counted on or before election day. I see the nightmare scenario where he builds up a lead from in person voting and declares victory etc.... (already mentioned in this thread) . So I want to make sure my vote is counted early. Yes I am paranoid. Anybody know what Wisconsin does?

[DLCWIdem]

32. Ok. Ballots are counted on election day.

Found out absentee in person ballots are counted on election day in Wisconsin.

[Tommymac]

4. Danger is Putin probably has the key for in person machines.

They are trying to discourage Dems from voting via mail...but encouraging their Rethug base to vote by mail.

Something is rotten here.

Vote however you can...but VOTE!!!

[foo_fighter999]

20. Yep. I recommend voting in person IF your state uses paper ballots for in-person voting.

If you state uses electronic voting machines, please vote by mail-in or absentee ballot if possible so there will be a paper trail. If concerned about mailing your ballot, drop it off at a ballot box instead if that's an option.

That fact that Trump disparages mail-in ballots at every turn while at the same time encourages his supporters to use them is a big tell. Something is definitely rotten. When he talks about the election being rigged, you can bet that he's projecting (like he always does). I have no doubt that Putin's hackers are working around the clock to hack the voting machines.

Paper ballots leave a trail that will be important in the event of a recount. And while paper ballots aren't perfect as the machines that optically scan them can potentially be hacked (especially if they transmit the results via a modem), the paper ballot serves as a backup that can be used to verify the results. So please, vote with a paper ballot if possible. If not, vote by machine if that is your only option. But whatever you do, VOTE. Just VOTE, dammit.

[gopiscrap]

28. welcome to DU

[foo_fighter999]

30. Thanks!

Happy to be here.

We need to do everything we can to remove the orange pustule from office (and then set him up in one that has bars).

But first, we do everything we can for Joe and Kamala to win. And we need to take the Senate too. Protecting the vote from being hacked/stolen is extremely important to ensure a Dem victory.

[aquamarina]

5. I'm sorry, but how do you figure

Bill Barr will be running things election night. It is actually the individual Secretaries of State who are running things.

I don’t trust Barr either but please this is incorrect.

Voting by mail in CA is safe. There are secured drop boxes for those who want to bypass the USPS. The boxes are secured and picked up every 24-48 hours and every 24 hours the last week. The ballots are counted as soon as they are received. And there is online ballot tracking.

And I am pretty sure CA isn’t going to let Barr or anyone else tell us that we can’t or have to stop counting our votes.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. Thank you for your informative post. I am in CA and these facts really matter.

I plan to drop my vote-by-mail ballot (all filled out) into a ballot box at the voting center. That way it's safe and counted right away.

Thank you so much!

[aquamarina]

17. You are very welcome.

I am in OC and I had a very long chat with the registrar of voters last week after I discovered the State no longer had me listed as permanent absentee. (Don’t know how that happened since I’ve been voting absentee since 2002.). So since CA is mailing ballots to all registered voters, I’m not going to mess with anything until after the election. It’s always good to check your status and get any questions you have answered before hand.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. Please be neither literal nor nave

He will decide where lawsuits get filed. He will decide where voting is stopped on his orders. He will decide when absentee ballots get counted or not. He will decide when lines will get shut down. He will decide. He will decide. He will decide. We can talk about secretaries of State but the reality is he will be calling the shots from the federal level and whether he succeeds or not whether he has the authority or not he will be doing mischief on election night bet on it

[Kaleva]

22. Voting in person won't stop him from doing that.

[aquamarina]

23. Sorry, I don't buy it.

I don’t disagree that he might try but elections are run by states, not the federal government. And as far as I can tell, he doesn’t have standing to sue states for running their elections. Trump’s campaign can sue the states and most likely will but I don’t believe Barr can. Again, not to say that he won’t try to inject his lardass self into it, I just don’t think he will be successful.

[LisaL]

26. Well if he decides everything, why even bother to vote then?

You seem to think he is a god like creature.

[sarcasmo]

6. This feeds the GOP and Putin talking point about mail in ballots.

[Celerity]

18. the main reason to vote i person does not though (the OP did not make it unfortunately)

the main reason is to keep Trump (and the Rethugs en toto) from rolling up a massive lead from same day voting and trying to declare he 'won' and then unleashing hell to stop/destroy/slow down/stymie counting the mail-in ballots (plus use his nationawide army of goons to be poll watchers who then transition over to disputing mail-in ballots by the millions (they will focus on Democratic voter-rich areas in swing/purple/reddish states and swing House districts everywhere)

[LisaL]

25. Again, most states start counting absentee ballots before the election.

So absentee ballots are not counted last.

[Celerity]

27. some key ones are not and I am sure there will be observers at the ones who start counting early

and that is not even the main reason why it is so important to vote same day

The main reason is to lower the possibility of a same day voter red tidal wave that opens up the floodgates to massive troubles as I have laid out for months.

[LisaL]

29. Again, many states start counting absentee ballots

before the election. So those results will be the first one released.
Exactly what does it matter that the people didn't vote on election day?
Their results will be released on election day, if their ballots arrive before the election.

[dameatball]

7. At this point I have no idea which way to vote is the best way to be counted. So I am just going to

vote in person unless some new information comes out. I have been mostly relying on DU to keep up with that issue.

I live in a poor town, part of a Florida county that is red by a good margin. I have no illusions that there will be a few assholes hanging around. Don't give a crap. I'm going to do what I came to do and go home.

[nsd]

9. Lots of people plan to vote by mail.

That is totally legitimate.

Let's not give in to Republican hysteria about mail voting or give that hysteria any legitimacy.

[LisaL]

15. Not just plan.

Some states are already voting by mail. There are going to be a lot of people voting by mail because of a pandemic.

[Jeebo]

10. Voting in person might make election day waits longer.

We've all heard horror tales from past elections about people standing in line for six, eight, ten hours and longer before they could vote. I'm afraid that if I vote in person on Nov. 3, my time at the polling place will add to that problem. That's why I am going to vote by mail. But because I'm not sure I can trust the USPS because of all the problems they're having, I'm not going to mail my ballot but instead hand-deliver it to the county clerk's office.

However, if it weren't for the problem of long lines at the polling place, I would vote in person as you suggest, and for the reasons you cite.

-- Ron

[LisaL]

12. It all depends on the state and on the area of the state a person lives in.

I am going to vote by mail because I want to vote early, but in OH it's not easy because there is only one voting place per county.
The false claims that absentee votes will be counted last are FALSE.
OH can start scanning absentee ballots before the election, so as soon as ballot arrived before the election day, it will be the first one counted, not last.
I absolutely do not believe people should be waiting until election day to vote, and so does the Democratic Party of OH.
Voting early is the way to go, either in person or by mail.

[DLCWIdem]

33. Do you have in person early voting in your state?

[Jeebo]

36. I can go to the county clerk's office and vote there...

...instead of mailing or hand-delivering my mail-in ballot. But if I were going to do that, I might as well just hand-deliver my mail-in ballot. I should be getting my ballot very soon; I think they're mailing them in late September.

-- Ron

[milestogo]

11. Bill Barr doesn't control the election apparatus of individual states.

[beaglelover]

14. I'm voting in person for sure.

[Mossfern]

16. NJ this year is all mail in ballot

those wishing to go to the polls must fill out provisional ballots which are counted last.
As soon as I receive my ballot I will fill it in and drop it in my town's ballot drop box.
I think this is the safest way. My vote will be counted way before election day.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

19. Since I live in a vote by mail only state that's impossible

[Kaleva]

24. I'm voting as soon as I receive my absentee ballot which should be any day now.

I'll vote and then deposit the ballot in the drop box at the town hall 2 blocks down from where I live.

[ecstatic]

34. But if he's bullying/scaring us into voting in person on e-voting machines, don't you feel

a little weird about that as well? They forced Kanye on the ballot in multiple states. Will our votes be flipped to Kanye in blue areas?

If we're lucky enough to get him out, Biden and the new congress need to make sure we're never in a bind like this again!

[Baclava]

35. Wait, mail-in voting is a BAD thing now? Who decided that?

[Stinky The Clown]

37. Nobody decided nothing.

It is my opinion and this is a discussion board.

[Generic Brad]

38. I will be early voting on a weekday

I am going day 3 of early voting. If something goes haywire, I have two more early voting opportunities on Saturdays. If those fizzle, there’s always Election Day. Have mask, will travel.