Greg Abbott, I Am Coming After You In Two Years.
All last week, I worked with some really good people to try to get a few extra drop boxes for mail ballots.
Under state law we can turn in mail ballots by hand instead of using the mail. They must be turned by the voter and ID must be shown. Very few people did it because you could depend on the mail. Now, not so much. Many people who are over 65 or handicapped always voted in person anyway because they enjoy it. Now, with Covid, not so much.
We have one turn location where you can turn in your mail ballot. It is a busy county building where all the workers and volunteers are running the election. First you have to stand in line to sign into the building to get past the front door. You temperature will be taken. Then you stand in line again down a long hallway where the county health department is and sick people are coming in. The building is a former WalMart so think of going in the front door of a giant WalMart and walking back to the far right corner. That’s where you’ll turn in your ballot and show your ID.
According to the Google it takes 59 minutes to drive from one end of our county to the other, not during traffic.
So, to help old people and sick people, we asked each county commissioner to set up a county annex or use their office as a place people could turn in their ballots. Three of the four were perfectly agreeable and even wanted to set up a couple more because that would be helpful to old people or handicapped people. Yes, it would. Let’s not try to kill off all the old people by making them stand in line for hours or disenfranchise them because their ballot got lost in the mail.
It worked like a charm and this afternoon, our county judge announced the new locations and thanked the county commissioners, the election officials, and everybody who worked hard to get this done.
An hour later, along comes Greg Abbott.
I’m coming after him in two years with intent to barbeque.
Sumbitch.
Government by fascist thugs, pure and simple.
Let’s hope that this latest affront to democracy will greatly piss off any and all remaining ‘independent’ and/or previously non-voters. This is a huge burden on hundreds of thousands of voters, especially older ones, POC, etc.
[no difference in my particular circumstance]
1More effing details:
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/01/greg-abbott-texas-vote-mail/
“Gov. Greg Abbott orders counties to reduce ballot drop-off locations, bolstering GOP efforts to limit absentee voting options
BY EMMA PLATOFF1 HOUR AGO
The Republican governor’s order Thursday was a rebuke to large, Democratic counties that have set up numerous locations where voters may drop off their completed absentee ballots in person. Civil rights groups say it will suppress voting…”
2“Call Greg Abbott’s office – (512) 463-1782 and tell him what you think of his decision #TexasVoterSuppression ”
.
3[512-463-xxxx is the downtown Austin Greenwood/Homestead tel exchg, located cattycorner from the Govs Mansion, 11th&Colorado, across from DPS HQ]
Harris County is ~ 1,800 square miles and we will have one drop off? Thank you Justice Robert’s and the rest of the Supremes that thought voting irregularities were over in Texas!
4This is the craziest thing to come out of Austin in 24 hours!
Y’all remember how, in the last 30-50 years, the major Rethuglikan mantra repeated over and over was “Local Control of Your Government, no socialist dictatorship here in ‘Murika” ??? Sure you do.
Now that the Rethugs control Austin and DC, it’s a total Commie-Nazi centralized authoritarian oligar-plutocracy dickheadtatorship.
5This is mystifying to me – shouldn’t we want everyone to vote? Haha. Though, silly me, of course I understand that the GOP is all for voter suppression.
Oregon has had mail in or drop off ballots (at multiple convenient locations) for 20 years. It hasn’t changed much when the governorship or secretary of state changed parties. We sign our personalized envelope, no need for witness or notary, our signature on outer envelope is checked against what’s on file when you registered to vote (ID required). Drop boxes are walk up or drive up, like a mail box. Envelope has a bar code specific to you, and you can check on the website to see that your ballot was received and accepted. Colorado is a bit fancier in that they will text you.
What is also very worrying is Orange45 encouraging his cult to (illegally) intimidate voters in polling places. Even though these non-certified* people will be bounced, enough voters will be nervous about even going to the polling place. More suppression.
*I looked this up: each state has its own rules/laws but generally each place can only have one or two certified poll watchers per party. You should have a “stinkin’ badge”. No talking to voters, must stand/sit in a specified area. In Oregon since we’re all vote by mail and there are no polling places, we can observe the process at County Clerk’s office where the ballots are received & processed, but it’s also a limited number and must be certified by your party to be there. No talking to the workers or each other. Just watching. I’ve done this before. Watching the signature checking was interesting – the woman showed us a couple and explained the process. These people are trained to do this forensic work. It’s why I don’t get why there must be a witness/notary or come in and show your ID bit. But what do I know.
6Perfectly on brand for a guy who’s just a more socially polished version of Trump. He received a multi million dollar settlement because the falling limb that put him in a wheelchair just happened to be in River Oaks and not 1980s Oak Forest*, and he’s spent every intervening nanosecond of his career trying to pull that ladder up behind him.**
*FWIW I don’t begrudge him a nickel of that
7**which has earned my undying contempt
Surprised if Abbott doesn’t have a sign on them saying “brought to you by your republican party.” Sort of like Trumpf putting his personal letter in English and Spanish in food boxes for the poor. What a compassionate bastard.
8I hand delivered my marked ballot to the voter registrar’s office. I was the second person in McLennan County to do that. For me it was easy. But my county has about 50,000 people in poverty (out of 250,000) who don’t find it easy. And only about 100,000 in the county live within 10 miles of the courthouse. Voting used to be restricted to land owners. Now it is restricted to CAR owners.
9He’s not alone, unfortunately. For decades, Republicans have been trying to kill off Democracy. They’re just not trying to hide it anymore —- if they ever were.
Meanwhile, I’m one of the lucky ones.
Here in Florida, we’ve been a no-excuse absentee ballot available state for forever. I registered to vote and requested my first absentee ballot when I went to get my Florida driver’s license.
My ballot came today — two days after they started sending them out.
And there are 25 drop-off locations situated all over the county. One is at the library 5 blocks from my home.
I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure the election commissioner of my county is a Democrat and, so far, our Trump clone governor Disantis hasn’t figured out how to overrule her.
Fingers and toes crossed.
One change this year, I think:
10I don’t recall their requiring email address, cell phone and landline in the past.
Fortunately, I’ve got several different email addresses so they won’t get my primary one — one less request for money I don’t have.
But I fear they’ll check the phone numbers —- anything to have a chance to toss a ballot, especially in my district which is solidly blue.
Off subject but Hope Hicks tested positive for coronavirus today. She accompanied The orange ruler twice this week including on chopper one without a mask. Remember one of her key roles was to straighten his trousers when she worked in the WH. Trying to picture what that meant. I hope karma rules now.
11Seen on the twitter
John M. Talmadge, MD
@JohnMTalmadgeMD
The Texas governor is less a statesman and more a rank collection of insipid, reptilian personality flaws. And you may feel free to quote me. Texas weeps.
12Who could have guessed that A-Butt is equally a quisling and against democracy as the f king moron? Now Groggy shows he’s equally as st00pid as Covidiot 45. Those of the Republicon demographic who aren’t over 65 have a range of comorbidity from felony stupid to grossly obese.
Meh. As if Groggy or Donnie care. Their supporters can drop dead voting.
13I hope there were lawsuits filed pretty much the instant Abbot’s decree hit the streets? This is absolutely naked voting obstruction. Surely there are judges left in Texas willing to rule against it?
14Slightly OT, but definitely ‘election’ related:
Right on cue baby, the local TV news shows have begun running, with maps and graphs and pics, breathless segments on [tada– drumroll—] :
‘THE MIGRANT CARAVANS ARE COMING !!’
From Honduras! The brown hordes are now in Guatemala, heading for Mexico, and then the USA BORDER!!’
Who TF says the media are free, fair, balanced, not in the tank for the Rethugs and 1%ers?
One could guess that their arrival on the US border will just about happen in the week before the election…
15Off topic, but Trump and Melania now have tested positive for Coronavirus. Maybe it’s true, but who knows anymore. Might be a way to get out of any further debates, Good thing Biden didn’t shake hands with him after the so called debate.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-he-and-first-lady-have-tested-positive-for-coronavirus/ar-BB19CG4u?li=BBnb7Kz
16https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzGV9Bl6CGg
“Here is the rainbow I’ve been waiting for,
17It’s gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day!”
So I’m 61 and diabetic, but I work in healthcare. I’ve been on a team going to different nursing homes where there have been COVID cases among staff and residents, to do testing. We stay masked and wash our hands frequently, and the nurses have gloves and gowns and spashguards to do the actual swabbing. Since May when we started there have been zero COVID cases among our team, even though we’re in COVID-infested buildings daily. Masks, splashguards and gloves, and careful hand hygiene afterward, work just fine. I know some folks who won’t leave their house ever, and I think that’s overdoing it. But do what you think you need.to be safe.
18Well, Fairfax County is very heavily populated. There were supposed to be drop off boxes at such places like public libraries. I live near a Regional public library. Did not see any signs out in front and no lines. Well, this particular library had been closed since March. I drove by a regular old public library. Same thing. No signs. No lines. Went to the county seat and there were so many people lined up there that yoyu would have thought somebody was giving a away free money or free beer or both. It was an absolute hoot to see so many people either early voting or dropping off absentee ballots. City of Alexandria was pretty much the same. The historic old city hall is right next to a large town square and then some. Lots and lots and los of people there. Yes, everyone wore masks and practiced social distancing. Gott athink that all those people wanted me to live.
19These people will help get voters to the polls, or to the one drop-box in Houston, and deserve your contributions and support:
Rideshare2Vote
20https://rideshare2vote.com/?emci=37d0ec65-4d04-eb11-96f5-00155d03affc
Voter suppression, is just voter fraud at somebody else’s expense.
21Y’all are just trying to cheer me up!
22Twocrows, much longer than decades. My great grandpappy was one of the Glorious Eight who returned South Carolina to white supremacy in 1877. Really, that’s how they were described in SC school histories until a few years ago.
The rightwingers have never ever believed in democratic self-government so voter suppression is a feature not a bug.
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