Voters in North Carolina have received absentee ballot request forms in the mail with Trump's face

[Lasher]

Source: CNN

Given the crisis facing the United States Postal Service before a presidential election, the last thing John Herter expected to receive in the mail Saturday was an absentee ballot request form with President Donald Trump's face on it.

"Is this a joke?" Herter said his wife told him as she opened up the mailer to reveal a photo of Trump grinning underneath the words, "Are you going to let the Democrats silence you? Act now to stand with President Trump."

(snip)

While it is common for candidates and political parties to send mail to voters, especially those who don't have access to TV or the internet, Real Facts NC, a non-profit dedicated to researching and telling the stories about issues facing North Carolinians, has never seen a mailer like this before, messaging director Jazmynne Williams told CNN.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/16/politics/postal-service-trump-absentee-ballot-request-mail-usps/index.html

[ananda]

1. Is this legal?

It smells to high heaven!

[SheltieLover]

3. That's what I wonder!

NC Voters: please call your local official office & ask ARE THESE REAL?

Maybe people fill them out & return to trumpfukistan! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[Lasher]

5. I don't know

This reminds me of the Coronachecks that people received with Trump's name on them. The president cannot sign checks like that, to reduce politicization of government payments. But Trump had his name put on there anyway, with someone else signing the checks.

[Farmgirl1961]

11. I was wondering the same thing... n/t

[LeftInTX]

24. Yes

Campaigns do this

The application doesn't have his face on it. The mailer that came with the application has a political ad with Trump on it.
It was sent my the North Carolina Republican Party.

[yellowdogintexas]

51. Very legal and done by Democrats as well. It is a big deal here in TX nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. It looks like that was sent out by the North Carolina Republican Party.

I'd tell anyone receiving that to request a mail-in ballot directly from whatever entity in that state runs the elections, not either one of the political parties.

[SheltieLover]

4. Yup!

[FloridaBlues]

7. Yes probably from Republican Party.

[Rebl2]

6. Write

to local newspaper and let them know fake mail in ballots are being mailed to people. I would also call local election board and tv stations.

[LeftInTX]

25. They aren't fake...democrats do this too

[yellowdogintexas]

37. Yes. The Texas Democratic Party sends them out annually to identifiably Democratic voters

who are over 65, or have previously requested ballots due to being disabled. We have been doing this since 2012 and the VBM numbers have increased significantly in those target groups. The whole point was to make it easier for those qualified to request their ballots.

I received one the other day, because I had not returned the request this year.

The ballot applications are marked as official election mail, very clearly marked with a sender address of the Texas Democratic Party and it is obvious that is a ballot request form.

We are an open registration state so we have to track Democrats using voting history in primaries; a certain number of these go out to chronic non voters in blue areas, hoping to catch a few more. They may be going to Rs but if they are chronic non voters anyway it's kind of a moot issue

[LeftInTX]

41. Thanks for letting me know that you received yours!

I'm a precinct chair and am also a "deputy chair"...(responsible for training and communication with precinct chairs in one county commissioner precinct - currently 91 chairs) So good to know that you received yours. Now we can start our VBM application chase.

[yellowdogintexas]

44. Hi there LeftInTX What county are you in? I am in Tarrant (Ft Worth)

I have been sideswiped by the Census, since I am working for them right now.

Our county party has been doing a bang up job of organizing phone banks of all sorts.

[LeftInTX]

49. Bexar

[LeftInTX]

48. Did you request your ballot application from TDP?

[yellowdogintexas]

52. I am over 65 so I get the application every January.

I do not always return it because I am one of those vote in person on ELection Day traditionalists (paper ballots and all) When I started working elections I had to either early vote or vote by mail because I am never sent to my home precinct. However we NOW have Voting Centers so I can vote wherever they send me on Election Day. Plus our new equipment has a 100% paper trail even for early voting.

I saved ours when we got them in January in case we needed them. My husband sent his in because he is high risk if he gets COVID; I sent mine in a couple of weeks ago because he has asked me to forgo ELection Judge work this year.

Meanwhile, a new app came to me because VAN had not caught up with me.

[LeftInTX]

56. Friends are getting their's today!

[Jamastiene]

8. Never trust an NC Republican.

You are better off going and getting a ballot from your local elections board than using that. It is probably phony.

These are just some of the kinds of tactics the NC Republican Party uses. They are some of the most corrupt and some of the worst bullies ever.

In 2018, they literally went to people's houses and stole people's unsealed absentee ballots from them, claiming they were officials and would turn them in to be counted. They did not. They just stole them. There was a lot in local news about it, but not much nationwide.

That is why I harp on it so much. I want more people aware that when Trump talks about ballot tampering and ballot stealing and mail in ballots, he knows, because his precious NCGOP has already perfected doing it and gotten away with it. Mark Harris, a preacher from Charlotte, was the one they stole those ballots for.

What did the state of NC do when they caught them?
They let them have a whole new election with a slate of all new candidates. A do over. A reward after cheating.

Just like when the NC Republican Party gerrymandered my district "with surgical precision" to disenfranchise African American voters, they redrew my district barely changing anything. I will still NEVER have a Democratic representative again in my lifetime, probably, after that. They are being allowed to do whatever they want and getting away with it.

DeJoy? The yes man Trump picked to go mess up the USPS to try to mess up this election? He's another in a long line of NC Republicans Trump has picked to help him in his corruption. The NC Republican Party has its hands in every single corrupt thing you have seen with Trump too. Trump's ties to the NC Republican Party and the NC Republican Party's corruption needs to be investigated by someone, anyone, at this point. We are going to end up with a theocratic, corrupt, bullying dictatorship in this country if they are not stopped.

This is why I have so much rage against the Republicans, instead of the jovial, sports team like friendly banter everyone seems to want us to have. Fuck that and fuck them. I despise them back for the bullying and crimes and overbearing deranged bullshit they do and get away with, over and over and over again.

I hope no one is stupid enough to fall for that and instead gets a real ballot. That cannot be legal and it cannot be a real ballot. I wouldn't trust anything about that.

[bluestarone]

9. TOTAL BULLSHIT

We need to find out if they got special postage rates??

[yellowdogintexas]

38. no more so than the Texas Democratic Party does for our VBM campaign

Rates are rates and set by the USPS and applied nationally. Bulk mail qualifications are the same everywhere just like the cost of a stamp.

[warmfeet]

10. If true, and it stands,

game, fucking, over.

Civil war is the only resolution to this.

[LiberalArkie]

12. Images

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[mahatmakanejeeves]

32. I wonder if the disclaimer "Paid for by the North Carolina Republican Party" is some sort of a clue.

NT

[yellowdogintexas]

45. ours say "Paid for by the Texas Democratic Party"

We even have a specific fund raising drive to cover the costs. I send a little money every year

[LiberalFighter]

13. Was the Post Office used to deliver the request forms or was magic used?

[BumRushDaShow]

14. The GOP does this every election

in state after state. Basically falsifying government documents - whether their mailer is supposedly a "Census" form -



or a "mail-in ballot" with tiny print somewhere eventually indicating it was sent out by the Republican party, or some mailer sent to Democratic areas with the wrong election date and/or poll location.

[Karadeniz]

15. In Texas, it's illegal to campaign within a certain distance of a voting station. We're not allowed

Wear campaign T-shirts or buttons...that's trying to influence the vote. Mailing a ballot with a candidate's or party's picture or message would definitely qualify as trying to influence the vote and would be illegal where I live. I wonder if NC has such an anti-electioneering law? Call the lawyers!

[LeftInTX]

27. This is an application, not a ballot

The Texas Democratic Party sends them out.

Candidates send them out too. The candidate ones come with ads.

[yellowdogintexas]

40. If you are over 65 and can be identified as a Democrat by the Texas Democratic Party, you

should have received a Mail in ballot application in January. It would show TDP in Austin as the sender, and clearly indicates it is an application.

This has been an ongoing campaign since 2010 to get folks to request ballots to vote from home, instead of having to remember to request them. Democratic mail in ballot numbers have increased every election cycle since. Since we have to request every year, it is a good reminder.

Making it easier to get a ballot in the mail for the rest of the year is not voter influencing; we have no way of knowing whether these folks will vote, how they will vote, or if they will even return the application. The end result has been worth the effort; we're sending out more mail in ballots every year. We don't register by party, so we don't even know if we are sending them to folks who only vote in Democratic primaries to "mess with the libs" but we do it anyway and our vote by mail numbers are increasing every year.

[Traildogbob]

16. Not 100 percent

I got mine and my daughter absentee ballot 2 weeks ago. No trump shit on it anywhere. Still, being in North Carolina I was skeptical of fraud, so I called my local Dem headquarter and they verified it was real. Postage for return was paid. But, with USPS shit I hand delivered both to the local elections board and they entered all the data into the computer as I stood there. I was told I could hand deliver my and my daughters ballots. She works in ICU and shifts are nuts. I went back to Dem headquarters to verify I could hand deliver. Also asked if my ballots are delayed, can I go vote in person, they said absolutely. On a side note, I thought Saturday was Sunday, I retiree thing, so when the mail lady came and put something in the box, I thought whoa, wait, delivery on Sunday? The mail was a huge political fold out, promoting Cooper over the Republican prick! I thought damn, delivering Pro Dem stuff on Sunday, there is a god.
Meadows IS republican North Carolina. And his peeps are getting fucked by USPS Bullshit. Also, my and my daughters tax returns are no where to be found. App $2,000 each. 5.5 months after filling. More trump fuckery with the IRS staff cuts. The criminal is destroying his own fans as well as working dems. Those tax returns could really help loss of job folks and maybe save their homes, like Mnuchin gives a fuck about saving peoples homes.

[Lasher]

19. I am going to guess that the North Carolina Republican Party sent these out to Republicans only.

Maybe independents too but not to Democrats. They have databases and they pretty much know how you are likely to vote. Just another way to tip the scales.

[Traildogbob]

23. Most likely.

They probably have spies watching my DU posts and realize I am a lost cause. Wait until
I get my “Shut the F••k up Donnie” face mask from Stephanie Miller. I ain’t skeeeered😂 So just touch me beeeeatches! Your gubment tax dollars trained me in some things. Never missed a vote since we fought for “that right” after the draft to the jungle war, without that right. Try and stop me.

[yellowdogintexas]

42. Do NC voters register by party? If so only R voters are getting them,

If NC is an open primary state, it is pot luck except for those who consistently vote for Republicans in primaries, so they are going to send to some Democrats

That happens here with the Democratic vote by mail campaign. We are an open registration state so we don't always know who is getting the applications. The Democratic data base (VAN Voter Access Network) is awesome. Campaigns use it. Precinct chairs use it. County parties and state parties depend on it. I am told it is much more advanced than the Rep database . We have formulas to determine hard Dem, vs soft Dem vs likely Dem and when we phone bank or canvass we hit the unknowns and iffy folks first. Sometimes we find NVDs Non Voting Democrats (who are more likely to vote knowing they are not The Only Democrat In Fort Worth)

When I phone bank, I can update the VAN with any new info - such as the phone # I am dialing does not belong to the person or address I am trying to reach. Or the person now lives at a new address. We are currently working a phone campaign targeting qualified voters who have not returned a ballot application; if they tell us they want one we can request it on the spot.

When it is time for vote by mail ballots to go out, I can see when ballots were sent by the Elections Administration, who received them, and when they were received back at the Elections office. I can then call the folks who haven't returned a ballot and remind them to send it, & if they say they are going to vote in person I can remind them to take that ballot with them if they want to vote in person.

[CaptYossarian]

17. Well, Election Day is close to Halloween.

[EarthFirst]

18. I bet these were expeditiously sent en mass...

No delays on these suckers!

[yellowdogintexas]

50. our first round of VBM applications went out in January

to get the actual ballots out in time for the March primary.

If the request is not received in time for that ballot to go out, the voter will still receive ballots for all the remaining elections for the rest of the year .

[George II]

20. It's probably not an official "ballot". They've pulled stuff like that in the past but....

....it turned out to be just a campaign mailer.

The envelope read something like "official ballot document" or whatever. Wonder what this one looks like.

[yellowdogintexas]

43. application to vote by mail? nt

[rockfordfile]

21. trump is un-American as hell. Just remember what happen to votes in the past in NC

[oldsoftie]

22. I saw it in GA during the primaries. No trump face, but the GOP sent the ballot request.

The return address WAS the correct one though.

[Lasher]

28. I wondered if respondents were advised to return applications to the GOP

After all, there's a lot of personal information that the GOP would love to get in in an old school phishing operation. But it does not appear this is the case.

[oldsoftie]

29. Not this one. It went to my mom & I get her mail. My brother noticed WHO sent it.

It was an actual ballot application attached to a GOP ad about voting. For them of course. But i think it was a legit application
I would think sending it to them would be illegal, but who knows

[George II]

26. Here is the CNN story about it. It's not an official ballot, and it says above the return address...

...that it's paid for by the North Carolina republican Party.

It's just a form to send in to request an absentee ballot. Our Democratic Party in CT has done things like that in the past.



https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/16/politics/postal-service-trump-absentee-ballot-request-mail-usps/index.html

[The Daily Irishman]

30. If Trump "Wins" in November. . .

His face and/or name will be on everything, in the grand tradition of tyrants.

[bucolic_frolic]

31. Gotta be illegal, that's not an official ballot application from the state

State should refuse to accept them.

[SharonClark]

33. You might want to read comment 26 that explains

it succinctly. Nothing illegal about it.

[still_one]

34. Is that a valid absentee ballot request form? I wouldn't think so

[Lasher]

39. Yes, I believe it's legit.

Although I don't remember providing so much information when I sent in my request for the primary ballot.

[yellowdogintexas]

47. It is quite legit They can request any info they wish

just as we Dems can in Texas.

They are mining for volunteers and donors and probably surveying for top issues among the voters so they can push them in the various campaigns

[MrModerate]

35. Any sane person would glance at the flyer...

See it as a piece of political junk mail, and discard it.

I hope this isn't the only outreach the elections office is making to voters in North Carolina.

[yellowdogintexas]

46. Texas Democratic party does this. We follow up by phone to those who have not returned theirs

to remind them. Sometimes they plan to vote in person . Sometimes they aren't planning to vote at all. SOmetimes they threw it away because they thought it was a donation request from the state Democratic party.

If they tell me they are going to vote in person I tell them to keep the application in case circumstances change and they need to vote from home.

There is nothing nefarious or illegal about this; but it is an exceptionally tacky mailing. Having his face all over it does get one's attention.

[MrModerate]

36. Did we think that the forces -- foreign and domestic -- trying to disrupt our election...

Were going to restrict themselves to the same bag of tricks they used in 2016?

[yellowdogintexas]

53. Several states and both parties do this. Not illegal

Texas Democrats have been doing it for years. I do not know if the Rs are doing something similar because there is no way they would waste their postage on me. We are open primary, and the most basic survey would cull out consistent voters in the opposite party's primaries.

We are hard core never miss an election Democrats, so our primary history is straight D all the way. We get our VBM app like clockwork. Sometimes we use it sometimes we don't

[MrModerate]

55. But as I understand it...

The document represents itself as an absentee ballot request, something that should only be handled by the state.

Have I got it wrong?

[ga_girl]

57. Yes you do have it wrong

As explained many times by YellowDogInTexas, this is a fairly standard way for both Democrat and Republican parties to get out the vote. And by that I mean get people to request absentee ballots via state approved forms. The only question I have, and I've not seen the reverse side of the forms, is where the application is to be sent to. If it's addressed to the correct department, it should be a safe method of requesting an absentee ballot.

Looking at images, the information requested is very similar to what I hand out in Georgia if a voter wants to update their voter registration information

[MrModerate]

60. I'm still confused. Texas allows...

The individual political parties to print absentee ballot requests in addition to what I have to assume are official state forms? And these party-produced requests can be submitted to the Texas election officials?

I lived in Texas for awhile and I never ran across this.

[yellowdogintexas]

63. it is an official absentee ballot request same as what a voter would get if requested by phone

from the Secretary of State or the county elections office. It just comes inside an envelope from the TDP. Texas Democratic Party pays for the cost of printing them and getting them out to the voters, but the requests are not sent back to the party. I think they go back to the TX Secty of State for processing.

I will say that ours are much more official looking and far less tacky than that North Carolina one

[MrModerate]

64. OK, got it now. Sounds like the system could use a little fine-tuning. n/t

[RhodeIslandOne]

54. We are completely unprepared for the depths they will go to

To steal this election.

[CRK7376]

58. Luckily none of my family,

all registered Democrats, have received any of that garbage. In fact my wife and I mailed out our request for our Absentee Ballot today.

[radius777]

59. Election mailings should always be non-partisan.

Yes, I see the posts above saying 'Dems do it too' but I don't think it's good for any correspondence to/from official election agencies to be 'tainted' with partisanship or advertisements of any kind. Even if it is just the request form for the absentee ballot and not the ballot itself.

[CRK7376]

61. Wish I had one of those

ballots. Then I could put new droppings paper in my birdcage....

[CRK7376]

62. Wish I had one of those

ballots. Then I could put new droppings paper in my birdcage....

[melm00se]

65. I live in NC

and honestly I don't care that asshole's face is on the request. As long as the address for the requesting that absentee ballot is correct and form acceptable to the voting people, so what?

I find it hilarious that he sent the instrument that will spell his doom in November.