Presidential Election: 11/3/20 ---Now the President Elect Joe Biden Thread

[mammajamma]

 

 

6 minutes ago, bearrock said:

 

I think it's better understood as there's no reason to rush to invalidate the 120K votes.  Question on the validity of those votes may not matter if the outcome is more than 120K apart.  If it does swing the election, it'll end up going to SCOTUS anyway.  

 

Another more sinister and paranoid view would be that if those votes are invalidated now, then those willing could potentially cure it by voting in person tomorrow.  If they are invalidated days after by the Fifth Circuit or SCOTUS, then you're out of luck.

plaintiffs already said theyre prepared to take this to SCOTUS. but SCOTUS (via Roberts) just ruled they wont interfere in state law, and would refer back to the states. supreme court of tx has already dismissed this twice. but in 2020, who knows

[mammajamma]

 

ruling coming in 15 minutes

[PleaseBlitz]

https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/10/30/its-absolutely-heartbreaking-to-watch-washington-boarding-up-for-an-election/

 

It’s Absolutely Heartbreaking to Watch Washington Boarding Up for an Election

 

Quote

Amid all the spectacles of the years since 2016, the sight of a downtown DC chain pharmacy putting boards over its storefront on a quiet late-October afternoon does not seem particularly grotesque. 

 

As a country, we’ve seen images of children in cages, white supremacists with torches, and a naval hospital ship sailing into locked-down, Covid-stricken New York. As a city, we’ve witnessed military vehicles take up positions at major intersections, seen the White House recede behind vast new blocks of fencing, and watched as federal authorities tear-gassed peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square to enable the president to pose with a Bible. 

 

And yet there is something uniquely heartbreaking about these scattered scenes of boarding-up four days before a presidential election—a feeling that, for people raised with a basic faith in the United States and democracy, seems utterly alien, a world knocked off its axis. People board up for hurricanes and riots, for acts of God and acts of vandals. It’s fundamentally disorienting to find that citizens of the world’s oldest democracy are reduced to doing so in preparation for a quadrennial ritual dating back to 1788. 

 

What it isn’t, though, is illogical. There is a not-zero chance that the 2020 election could spiral in a terrible direction. It’s been a season of open voter suppression and willful inaction by a judicial system meant to protect our rights. We’re in a looking-glass moment in which a United States senator can openly disdain democracy. Is it that weird to imagine that other aspects of foreign failed states—like street battles over allegedly stolen elections—could come here as well? If I owned a CVS, I’d be mitigating the risk by ordering plywood, too. 

 

The good news is that the plywood probably won’t be needed. Not all of downtown is boarded. Odds are we’ll have an election, someone will win, the boards will come off the windows, and the locals will go back to buying razor blades or energy drinks or Lipitor or whatever it is they were buying at the drugstore. But the reason the spectacle is so discomfiting is that it’s hard to imagine things going quite back to normal. You can’t unsee certain things. For me, those things include boards placed over windows because my own country may not actually be able to peacefully stage a democratic election. 

 

I hope the election is fair. I hope it is peaceful. I hope it is definitive. I hope that the selection of the next president will not have to be a function of who controls the courts or the streets or the security services. And I fervently hope that there is no violence, and that the capital emerges from this terrible fall unscarred by whatever happens around the 3rd of November. 

 

But even if there are no scars on the cityscape, that won’t mean that there’s no wound. The very fact of those plywood boards, the very knowledge that they reveal, is an injury. So I also hope, if things go well, we’ll come out of it not quite the same—a bit more appreciative of the fragility of our democracy, a bit less sanguine about the people who would poison it. In the meantime, we can quietly ponder those covered storefronts and what they mean about us.

 

The picture they use for this article is directly across the street from my office.  

 

[China]

 

 

[mammajamma]

 

this is a good guy to follow when its comes to the dozens of cases going on right now

[Fresh8686]

It really bothers me, when authors, like in that Washingtonian article, make the unconscious mistake of valuing symbolism over black, brown, or any color lives for that matter.

A boarded up CVS is not on the same level of heart-break as little kids in cages. A church defaced during protests that presidents visit every election cycle is not the same level of travesty as people getting shot in the eye with rubber bullets, or the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, etc. Someone kneeling during an anthem is not the same level of outrage, as a police officer kneeling on a human beings neck.

Humans first, symbols second. It's a sign of unconscious bias, when symbols come first and stimulate your concern, more than human lives.

 

/rant

[bearrock]

28 minutes ago, mammajamma said:

plaintiffs already said theyre prepared to take this to SCOTUS. but SCOTUS (via Roberts) just ruled they wont interfere in state law, and would refer back to the states. supreme court of tx has already dismissed this twice. but in 2020, who knows

 

There's a seeming line in the sand between Roberts and Kavanaugh right now in terms of the role state courts and state election officials have to play in interpreting state election law.  Kavanaugh views federal courts as having equivalent role in state legislative interpretation as state courts (which de facto make SCOTUS as court of last jurisdiction in all matters of state election law).  This question could come down to ... Amy Coney Barrett....

[Corcaigh]

7 minutes ago, Fresh8686 said:

It really bothers me, when authors, like in that Washingtonian article, make the unconscious mistake of valuing symbolism over black, brown, or any color lives for that matter.
 

Are you unfamiliar with the Washingtonian’s readership? Mass deaths at the border would be not as important as their child’s lacrosse practice being cancelled.

[Fergasun]

How is there any time for an appeal of this decision? 

 

Seems a no brainer even if the Clerk was doing something unconstitutional, the votes will be counted.  

 

If the Supreme Court invalidates the votes after Texas Supreme Court and lower Supreme Courts uphold them... well, color me worried about a stolen election.

[skinsmarydu]

For the stress. 

 

 

[Larry]

45 minutes ago, mammajamma said:

plaintiffs already said theyre prepared to take this to SCOTUS. but SCOTUS (via Roberts) just ruled they wont interfere in state law, and would refer back to the states. supreme court of tx has already dismissed this twice. but in 2020, who knows

 

Roberts' court has ruled that States interpret their own laws, via 4-4 decisions.  

[PleaseBlitz]

15 minutes ago, Fresh8686 said:

A boarded up CVS is not on the same level of heart-break as little kids in cages.

 

Agree with everything you said, but a freaking ELECTION should not be a reason that a shopowner or homeowner in the United States feels the need to board their **** up.  

[Fresh8686]

4 minutes ago, Corcaigh said:

Are you unfamiliar with the Washingtonian’s readership? Mass deaths at the border would be not as important as their child’s lacrosse practice being cancelled.

 

Ah, good to know. I even see it on "liberal" sites and shows. Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC made the same mistake when the Church got defaced after Trump had his Bible waving publicity stunt.

1 minute ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

Agree with everything you said, but a freaking ELECTION should not be a reason that a shopowner or homeowner in the United States feels the need to board their **** up.  

 

Yup, no doubt.

The article has a substantive point, it's just framed in an unconsciously ****ty way.

[Llevron]

3 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

Agree with everything you said, but a freaking ELECTION should not be a reason that a shopowner or homeowner in the United States feels the need to board their **** up.  

 

Yea. The overall point is that our system is...in trouble....when just the idea of it "working as intended" causes fear. 

[mammajamma]

WOW

 

 

 

huge victory for texas. judge says he isnt happy about ruling that way, but law requires it. refers to the supreme court saying the states should decide election law

 

probably going to the 5th circuit next

[tshile]

Republican friend: we suck at democracy 

me: interestingly enough, every news item that pops up on my phone regarding a legal case with voting, it’s always the republicans trying to throw votes out. I’ve yet to see the Democrats in any of these cases holding the position that some number of votes shouldn’t be counted

*crickets*
 

The “conservative” side of our politics is just wholly disingenuous. 

[mammajamma]

super conservative judge also rules that the previous votes were not illegal in the first place, so if had ruled in the GOPs favor, he still wouldnt throw out the votes. big deal if the case is appealed

[Bacon]

Set a precedent now before things get heated tomorrow. Keep the feds out of it, let the states decide. 

[mammajamma]

1 minute ago, Bacon said:

Set a precedent now before things get heated tomorrow. Keep the feds out of it, let the states decide. 

ya, he did keep it somewhat open for tomorrow though. ordered them to separate tomorrow's drive-thru votes in case a higher court changes its mind. but he definitely made it clear that they shouldnt throw out previous votes. texans just need to put out the word that drive-through voting stations might not be the best way to vote tomorrow

[Fergasun]

Bacon, that has been the precedent. Per the "Purcell" case.  My paraphrase:  "Federal courts should restrain from altering state election rules close to election day."

 

Now, the Pennsylvania case could turn out to be interesting if it is the tipping point state.  Mail in ballots post marked on or by election day will be counted, even if they arrive late. 

 

It is ballots with unclear postmarks that arrive late which could be invalidated.

 

[visionary]

 

[NoCalMike]

Installing DeJoy into the USPS, who goes on to sabotage their ability to deliver ballots on time, then like clockwork Trump starts carrying on about any ballots not counted by the time the clock strikes midnight? Nope, nothing to see here folks.

[visionary]

 

 

 

[Momma There Goes That Man]

 

[visionary]