The Bigly 2016 US Presidential Election Thread, Part XV

[Axver]

A new era of Pax Australialis ?

I don't think the world wants that either.

 

[gump]

Also, as a foreigner, I never cease to be perplexed at the barriers that states here impose to prevent people from voting. It's unconscionable. Like preventing millions of ex-convicts to vote in Florida.

We have compulsory voting in my country. If you don't vote or don't justify your absence, you need to pay a small fine or won't be able to get a new passport or social security card. As an expat, I go to my Consulate every 4 years to vote.

I've always been against compulsory voting, as I feel you should have a right not to vote. But the shenanigans that Republicans go over to suppress voting of the opposing party's constituency makes me rethink my position.


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[Caleb8844]

36% of America can name all three branches of government. Forcing them all to blindly cast a vote sounds terrifying.


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[Kieran McConville]

The running of elections should not be the hands of political party appointees. It's one of the things America has gotten badly wrong, partly I guess as a legacy of it being the purview of the states. A national, independent, non-partisan, permanent commission would be a big help.

As it is, every two-bit party-run state and county outfit has both the means and the incentive to depress turnout. Ahem, turnout by the wrong people.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Also, I for one look forward to the coming Australian imperium, as depicted in the popular film 'On The Beach'.

 

[Axver]

We have compulsory voting in my country. If you don't vote or don't justify your absence, you need to pay a small fine or won't be able to get a new passport or social security card. As an expat, I go to my Consulate every 4 years to vote.

I've always been against compulsory voting, as I feel you should have a right not to vote. But the shenanigans that Republicans go over to suppress voting of the opposing party's constituency makes me rethink my position.

Huh, that's stricter enforcement than Australia! The penalty for not voting is a rather modest fine, and I hear it's not that difficult to get out of it (and it's not often enforced for local elections, though state and federal elections are taken quite seriously).

But after much contemplation I veer mildly in favour of compulsory voting. Or more to the point, compulsory attendance at the polling station. There is no actual compulsion to cast a formal vote. All you have to do is have your name marked off the roll and accept the voting papers. You are then entirely within your right to walk directly to the ballot box and drop them in without marking a vote - or, in the fine Australian tradition, take the papers to a booth, draw a dick and balls on them, and then go to the ballot box. If you have that strong an opinion against all candidates or voting, I would have thought dropping a blank ballot in the box is a more obvious protest than just sitting on your arse like some person who plain forgot.

The running of elections should not be the hands of political party appointees. It's one of the things America has gotten badly wrong, partly I guess as a legacy of it being the purview of the states. A national, independent, non-partisan, permanent commission would be a big help.

As it is, every two-bit party-run state and county outfit has both the means and the incentive to depress turnout. Ahem, turnout by the wrong people.

Seriously, every US election reminds me to be very grateful for the Australian Electoral Commission and the Electoral Commission New Zealand. For all the fuss about the occasional administrative error (and that 2013 WA Senate blunder deserved every bit of censure), they are both excellent organisations and contribute significantly to the working of our democracies.

 

[Kieran McConville]

^also totally agreed about compulsory polling-place attendance. If nothing else it keeps turnout in the high eighties or low nineties, and I don't believe the fraction of the population who have literally no coherent opinion is so high that turnout in the fifties ought to be seen as acceptable, if an outcome widely perceived as legitimate is the goal.

 

[gump]

Huh, that's stricter enforcement than Australia! The penalty for not voting is a rather modest fine, and I hear it's not that difficult to get out of it (and it's not often enforced for local elections, though state and federal elections are taken quite seriously).

But after much contemplation I veer mildly in favour of compulsory voting. Or more to the point, compulsory attendance at the polling station. There is no actual compulsion to cast a formal vote. All you have to do is have your name marked off the roll and accept the voting papers. You are then entirely within your right to walk directly to the ballot box and drop them in without marking a vote - or, in the fine Australian tradition, take the papers to a booth, draw a dick and balls on them, and then go to the ballot box. If you have that strong an opinion against all candidates or voting, I would have thought dropping a blank ballot in the box is a more obvious protest than just sitting on your arse like some person who plain forgot.

Brazil adopted machine voting 10-15 years ago. It's incredibly efficient (you get the results within a couple of hours of polls closing, in a country with 200m people and really remote areas), but it prevents you from writing-in any name you want (or drawing a picture). You do have the option of casting a blank vote or a null vote, however (they are counted separately, and blank votes count to determine a majority whereas null votes are discarded).

So unfortunately this means we will never repeat the feat reached in 1959, when a zoo rhino was the most voted candidate in the council elections in the city of São Paulo, with 100,000 votes, following a campaign from student movements who were dismayed at the pool of candidates.

The Rhino Who Won an Election by a Landslide - The Daily Beast

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Even if Hillary wins this, global opinion on the US is now completely shot to hell. The larger her victory, the more wounds that will be patched up, but the damage is still pretty severe..

The right thing to do is for Clinton to finish out this election and then she can be the first elected female President. Then she can step down before the Electoral College so Tim Kaine can be sworn in when January comes around. Republicans will be happy to get as right-leaning a Democrat as they could hope for while the rest of the country gets someone they can trust that isn't tied up in scandals and all of this mud slinging that has gone on.

Meanwhile, as Kaine heals the wounds as a placeholder President, liberals can go ahead and finally nominate their candidate in 2020, getting someone that actually excites the nation and would be a big help down ticket.

 

[Axver]

Brazil adopted machine voting 10-15 years ago. It's incredibly efficient (you get the results within a couple of hours of polls closing, in a country with 200m people and really remote areas), but it prevents you from writing-in any name you want (or drawing a picture). You do have the option of casting a blank vote or a null vote, however (they are counted separately, and blank votes count to determine a majority whereas null votes are discarded).

I very much hope Australia never goes down the path of replacing paper ballots. The absolute disaster of our 2016 census has killed off the campaign for e-voting for the foreseeable future (which had previously been gaining momentum).

New Zealand permits overseas voters to scan and email their ballot, but it is still a paper ballot. I enjoy the experience of voting, so I'm grateful that for some votes - such as the national election - the Australian Electoral Commission establishes polling stations for New Zealand within some of its offices. But I had to scan my vote for the flag referendum earlier this year.

So unfortunately this means we will never repeat the feat reached in 1959, when a zoo rhino was the most voted candidate in the council elections in the city of São Paulo, with 100,000 votes, following a campaign from student movements who were dismayed at the pool of candidates.

The Rhino Who Won an Election by a Landslide - The Daily Beast

That's fantastic. I'm having a right shitty day but this really cheered me up.

I'm glad that Billy Gumboot the Goat, former President of the Republic of Whangamomona, got a shout-out in the article too.

 

[gump]

I very much hope Australia never goes down the path of replacing paper ballots. The absolute disaster of our 2016 census has killed off the campaign for e-voting for the foreseeable future (which had previously been gaining momentum).

New Zealand permits overseas voters to scan and email their ballot, but it is still a paper ballot. I enjoy the experience of voting, so I'm grateful that for some votes - such as the national election - the Australian Electoral Commission establishes polling stations for New Zealand within some of its offices. But I had to scan my vote for the flag referendum earlier this year.

It's not really e-vote for us, and you have to physically go to the voting booth. You just happen to type your vote in a machine like this.

It just simplifies the process of counting the votes. Also, the machines are not connected online; the data is transported to a data center at the end of the voting, where it's uploaded to the election board (actually, what we call High Electoral Court, a subsidiary body of the Supreme Court, which runs the electoral system).

That's fantastic. I'm having a right shitty day but this really cheered me up.

I'm glad that Billy Gumboot the Goat, former President of the Republic of Whangamomona, got a shout-out in the article too.

Always happy to entertain!

 

[DaveC]

The right thing to do is for Clinton to finish out this election and then she can be the first elected female President. Then she can step down before the Electoral College so Tim Kaine can be sworn in when January comes around.

yea, i think this one'll have to do for now

 

[LuckyNumber7]

The right thing to do is for Clinton to finish out this election and then she can be the first elected female President. Then she can step down before the Electoral College so Tim Kaine can be sworn in when January comes around. Republicans will be happy to get as right-leaning a Democrat as they could hope for while the rest of the country gets someone they can trust that isn't tied up in scandals and all of this mud slinging that has gone on.

Meanwhile, as Kaine heals the wounds as a placeholder President, liberals can go ahead and finally nominate their candidate in 2020, getting someone that actually excites the nation and would be a big help down ticket.

So many delusions. Many wow.

I particularly enjoyed the part where you suggested that Clinton should win just to be a token achievement and then step down.

 

[DaveC]

happy halloween from tampa, florida:

 

[bono_212]

The right thing to do is for Clinton to finish out this election and then she can be the first elected female President. Then she can step down before the Electoral College so Tim Kaine can be sworn in when January comes around. Republicans will be happy to get as right-leaning a Democrat as they could hope for while the rest of the country gets someone they can trust that isn't tied up in scandals and all of this mud slinging that has gone on.

Meanwhile, as Kaine heals the wounds as a placeholder President, liberals can go ahead and finally nominate their candidate in 2020, getting someone that actually excites the nation and would be a big help down ticket.

Modz. Plz.

So many delusions. Many wow.

I particularly enjoyed the part where you suggested that Clinton should win just to be a token achievement and then step down.

Boom.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

happy halloween from tampa, florida:

Miami, brah

In greater Tampa they're not rich enough or white enough.

 

[DaveC]

you're right. reddit now says that it's actually in the town named in honour of everyone's third favourite jenner.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

I particularly enjoyed the part where you suggested that Clinton should win just to be a token achievement and then step down.

That's essentially what it is since it's not like Clintonism is really a political sphere of belief that many actually subscribe to.

 

[Axver]

It's not really e-vote for us, and you have to physically go to the voting booth. You just happen to type your vote in a machine like this.

It just simplifies the process of counting the votes. Also, the machines are not connected online; the data is transported to a data center at the end of the voting, where it's uploaded to the election board (actually, what we call High Electoral Court, a subsidiary body of the Supreme Court, which runs the electoral system).

That definitely sounds superior to some of the options that have been proposed here. But I doubt even that would get up in the current climate because of the abject failure of the census making people wary of moving away from paper.

And what form of voting does Brazil have? This sort of thing would be convenient in Australia's preferential system for providing quick results for the Senate, where voters in larger states sometimes have over 100 candidates to rank (if they vote below the line for individuals rather than above the line for parties). The Senate count is notoriously slow. On the other hand, I am unsure if a machine system could present a ballot as simply and effectively as the paper version does, for the purposes of the voter marking preferences.

 

[Axver]

you're right. reddit now says that it's actually in the town named in honour of everyone's third favourite jenner.

So Kendall, but Kendale Lakes?

Make up your minds, people.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

The incident actually happened in a West Kendall residence. Different from Kendall.

Also, I didn't know they shared a house together.

 

[Phantom Dreamer]

Hillary Clinton's twitter account tweeted this, "How to choose between the most corrupt, least popular candidates". Just drop out already warmonger.

 

[Popmartijn]

Just drop out already warmonger.

Yeah, but it seems as if Trump hasn't gotten the memo. Or rather, I think he got it, but he hasn't been able to read it with his short attention span. So he's still staying in the race. Hopefully the people around him have the good sense to call it a day after next week Tuesday.

 

[Axver]

Hillary's the warmonger when Trump won't rule out using nukes and would walk away from alliances that have safeguarded a significant chunk of global stability for the past seventy years?!

Sure, she's more hawkish than I'd like, but she sure as shit isn't the candidate more likely to provoke a large scale ground war.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...p_organization_communicating_with_russia.html


The party if Reagan is actively supporting a puppet of the Russian government.

But yea, no, Hillary is soooo much worse.

 

[BVS]

Hillary Clinton's twitter account tweeted this, "How to choose between the most corrupt, least popular candidates". Just drop out already warmonger.

I'm guessing you didn't read? It's ok, all the other Trump supporters fall for the click bait too.


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[Axver]

Was a server registered to the Trump Organization communicating with Russia’s Alfa Bank?


The party if Reagan is actively supporting a puppet of the Russian government.

But yea, no, Hillary is soooo much worse.

This ought to be far greater a media sensation than those bloody overdone emails.

It won't be, of course.

 

[RockNRollDawgie]

This ought to be far greater a media sensation than those bloody overdone emails.

It won't be, of course.

I just found out about this connection between Putin (KGB) and Trump and a server in Russia connected with a Trump server in the US.
There is absolutely no mention about this on the news.
All the media is talking about is the "October surprise" of more emails
and legalizing pot.

 

[Hewson]

or, in the fine Australian tradition, take the papers to a booth, draw a dick and balls on them, and then go to the ballot box. .

That would be counted as a vote for Trump though.

 

[Axver]

That would be counted as a vote for Trump though.

Not if it's a really large dick and balls.