A Facebook Mask Karen (his profile picture is at least 50 percent face covering) highlighted “Coronavirus creates election worker shortage ahead of November” (Politico): “Local election authorities typically rely on older volunteers, who are dropping out in higher numbers over coronavirus fears.”
This prompted me to wonder why we would have an election at all here in Maskachusetts. Most candidates will he running unopposed. For the remainder, the outcome is already known. Why have people gather to infect each other when there is nothing to be decided?
Readers: What is the point of a November election in one-party states such as California, New York, et al.? If #BecauseEmergency is sufficient reason to cancel what used to be Constitution rights that had some value (e.g., the rights for young healthy people to receive an education, assemble and socialize, go to work, etc.), why isn’t #BecauseEmergency sufficient reason to cancel a valueless right (to vote in a non-primary election in a non-swing state)?
If we insist on some kind of count, we could do it safely with a drive-by inspection of lawn signs. Every “Hate Has No Home Here” sign can be counted as a vote fore Joe Biden:
Anyone who has the temerity to place a Donald Trump on a lawn in our town will typically find that the neighbors correct the mistake within a few days. Votes for Trump cannot therefore be via a sign with the hated dictator’s name on it. Maybe a yard sign like this would be sufficiently subtle?
Readers: What is the point of holding the November election in the states that overwhelmingly favor one party?
If you’re going to vote for your house representative and potentially a senator, why not the president? You should consider mailing in your ballot
Good point — every time i vote here in NYC in a November election i feel foolish because the elections are decided in the democratic primaries. It used to be that upstate NY counterbalanced the city but upstate NY has been decimated by high taxes and minimum wages and formerly large manufacturing towns like Poughkeepsie have been abandoned by private manufacturers with the largest employer now the state and probably make work jobs. Within sight of the downtown there are miles of abandoned housing. And I would imagine that lots of upstate cities are not so dissimilar. Maybe the Governor should build migrant housing in the City, say in Staten Island, so the upstate deplorables could move downstate maybe on some sort of special work permit, kind of like the people who lived in the townships could reside for a time in Johannesburg, and serve the affluent and the woke by delivering food or cleaning apartments or watching children or the elderly.
Because if they did that, there wouldn’t be any opportunity to complain about winning the popular vote but losing the real vote
In the US, particularly the Senate and Electoral College/President, it’s one acre == one vote.
A handful of empty states (Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nebraska, the Dakotas) have vastly more federal representation than the 10 million+ residence of Los Angles county.
There is at least one good reason to vote in Massachusetts – Ballot Initiative 1, the “Right to Repair” law, which has been expanded to cover wireless telematics of vehicle data. I am still researching this initiative and haven’t decided how I will vote. It’s a little more subtle than it first appears, although I agree with the basic premise. This would actually be a very cool thing for you to investigate and offer your opinion.
https://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Question_1,_%22Right_to_Repair_Law%22_Vehicle_Data_Access_Requirement_Initiative_(2020)
Out where I live, the lawn signs are about 50/50 for the Righteous and the Deplorables. Sometimes neighbors have dueling signs, but so far no shots have been fired, no cars have been keyed, no protesters have camped out, and no signs have been stolen or taken down, AFAIK. I don’t know what the problem with supposedly well-educated people in Lincoln is, because out here in the “sticks” people at least seem to be able to get along with each other. Basic respect, civility. Maybe that’s because they really have to know each other better, interact with each other more, etc., in a small town.
“Most candidates will he running unopposed.”
What does it mean? Single name on the ballot? I hope it’s not as in Soviet Union in 1938:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/858076535223820643/
Alexey: Yes, a single name on the ballot for most candidates in the general election here in Maskachusetts. There is space for a write-in, though!
If we decided elections based on how we “know” they are going to come out, Hillary would be president!
John: That’s a great point and what a beautiful world you have painted. With the Great Mother in Washington instead of the Bad Father, we would be fully protected from the non-Chinese virus!
But is it true that there were any states identified as “non-swing” where the outcome in 2016 was a surprise? The righteous of California, Maskachusetts, and New York did not vote for our current hated dictator, right?