Some GOP observers who were in ballot counting rooms were required to stand 20 to 30 feet away, according to reports. What can one see on a piece of paper from 7 to 10 meters away? In US law there is an important principle called "chain of custody." For example, if a piece of evidence (such as a weapon) is found at a crime scene, it is marked and cataloged and locked up in an evidence room. At trial, witnesses can be called to testify that the evidence remained in this traceable chain of custody. This safeguards against tampering with the evidence. In a national election, the US has had a long-standing tradition of requiring nearly everyone to vote on one single day; the exceptions were made mainly for the few people who simply could not vote in person (out of the country, in nursing homes, etc.) and there were never enough of these not-in-person votes to make a substantial difference. But this year, they finagled the situation due to Covid and allowed anyone and everyone to have a mail-in ballot. Some states mailed out ballots willy-nilly to people, whether alive or dead, whether they'd moved away or not. The result: huge quantities of ballots do not have a chain of custody that can be attested to. Piles of ballots have been left unattended. Stacks of ballots could have been introduced into the chain without proper provenance. This has made the election results highly suspect. I was watching the results on the internet on election night. I could see the actual numbers, state by state. When I went to bed a bit before midnight on the 3rd, Trump had a comfortable lead in Wisconsin and 99% of the in-person ballots had been counted, but by morning Biden was listed as 'in the lead' by a good margin of votes. A similar phenomenon occurred in Michigan and several other states. When I went to bed, Trump had about (don't recall exact number) 215 electoral votes for certain and was on track to receive between 280 and 290 electoral votes (270 needed to win) if the trends continued in all states. This morning ABC reports that Trump has 214 electoral votes right now, and Biden is on track to most likely win. So in the dead of night, when people are asleep, the vote totals changed drastically. One might wonder if nearly every mail-in ballot was marked for Biden, none for Trump? These are the ballots without trackable provenance, for which the chain of custody can be attested to. Even Michigan voters are protesting outside the counting centers. Is there any wonder? We have reason to be suspicious. And the worst thing is this: there were people predicting, warning ahead of time, of this exact scenario. It's hard to keep something this big a total secret; word was leaking out, but not enough people heeded the warning signs. I have been praying for an honest, fair election result. I hope all of you are doing the same.
If these irregularities are historic, why has nothing been done about it before? (That would be on Trumps watch surely?) Could it be that last Time Trump was advantaged but this time he wasn't, by surprise? Or was it that the irregularities are a danger to democracy itself and affected both candidates equally? Or are you trying to tell me that Democrats do not democratically conduct themselves but Republicans always do? (I couldn't believe it if you took that route). Seems to us over here that your system stinks, or at least Trumps supporters think it does this time, but have as yet no conclusive actual PROOF. .
In Australia we have allowed postal ballots for many years, and we also have a system of pre-polling which enables people to vote in person ahead of the election day, normally for about 2 weeks ahead of the polling day. We have a system which is overseen by the Australian Electoral Commission. This seems to have ensured that everything is fair and reasonable. Names are marked off on the electoral roll to ensure that people do not get overly enthusiastic about democracy (vote early and vote often). I think that there was one occasion in 125 years where the electoral commission failed and this resolved in recommitting the ballot in one state. Part of the system that ensures the integrity of the vote is the process of scrutineering. Scrutineers need to observe and not participate in the count. I take the point that a leaning slightly left media has a jaded presentation of results it is not that fond of.
If I was an observer and couldn't get closer than 20-30 feet away, I would be saying in a very loud voice " I can't verify things from this distance" and using my cell phone to prove my allegations. Has this sort of evidence actually been shown? We have just had our elections over here and the only complaint I have heard is one electorate ran out of special voting papers. Do you ever hear of voting problems in the UK? Not to my knowledge. Maybe Americans should study other voting systems.
The issue with voting observers being forbidden from "observing" is so serious that the Trump administration just filed a lawsuit, and the local judge sided with them, that all count must stop until the Trump observers are actually allowed. I know I shouldn't be shocked, but I am. Why don't we have safeguards against petty theft of the frickin' UNITED STATES election?
"Remember, remember the 5th of November...." A time to remember conspiracies, eh what? I've just heard something interesting. The Trump administration was 'on the ball.' They had DHS quietly arrange for watermarks on the genuine ballots when they were printed. It was kept hush-hush so no one knew, and now any phony ballots will be discoverable. My wife likens this election trickery to a boil that must be lanced, and she thinks Trump's legal team will get it done through court challenges, ballot inspections, and other means.
I have attended 4 or 5 counts here in the UK as an observer. It is permitted to look over the shoulder of any counter inspecting whether ballots go into the correct piles. One is not permitted to touch or interfere in any way with counters other than to register noticing an error. All observers wear rosettes according to the party they represent, and until recently all are respectful and decent to each other.
Yes, and what's more, I think your prayers are finally getting a positive answer. Count and check every vote. Let your people decide and insist that the winner is a good winner and the loser does not act like a bad loser. .
The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls. The world awaits some sane responses and announcements from the Whitehouse at long, long last.
In Philadelphia PA, ballot counting locations were not allowing observers inside the building. A lawsuit was filed and a judge ruled that they have to allow people in to observe the process. The counting locations still refused to allow observers. The sheriff was called. The sheriff refused to enforce the court order. The opposition is appealing the court order, too! And now, by coincidence (?), Trump's lead in the PA vote count evaporated overnight and Biden now has the lead, CBS News reported this morning. How did this happen? Well, hmm. We are supposed to assume that it's all fair and above-board, even though the ballot counters want secrecy. What part of "transparency" do these people object to? Why would they fight in court to keep observers out of the counting areas? Is this a tacit admission that fraudulent activities are taking place in the counting rooms? In Michigan, a postal worker from Traverse City has come forward and blown the whistle on his supervisor, who instructed workers on Nov. 4 to place any mailed ballots in a separate basket so the ballot envelopes could be hand-stamped with the previous day's (election day deadline) date, rather than allow the ballot envelopes to run through the auto stamper (with the correct date). Many dead people have been found to have voted in Michigan, including one person born in 1823. My wife's aunt in Michigan received 3 ballots in the mail, all unsolicited, for relatives who don't even live at her address, one of whom was her deceased husband. Historically, the number of people allowed to mail in their ballots was restricted to those few with great necessity (those who temporarily are far from home, for example) and only by request, for the good reason that mailed ballots are much more subject to fraudulent use (filled out by people other than the intended), but this year it's 'open season' for fraud because of the massive number of mailed ballots (both requested and unsolicited). One can go back in history as far as the 1960 election and see that there were allegations of voter fraud. In '60 it was in Daley's Chicago, which was well known for crooked doings; but Nixon chose to concede and not make an issue of the Illinois results because he felt it would be bad for the country. In hindsight that may have been the wrong choice, for it appears to have emboldened the bad actors. There have been allegations if wrongdoing in several elections since, but nearly every time that the result was close the candidate on the low end of the count would bow out in a gentlemanly manner. But Trump is not known to be a 'gentlemanly' type, and for once we can expect a knock-down, drag-out legal battle to hold the crooks accountable if at all possible.
Not sure what you have to crow about. Boris has been turned and your country is now little better than East Germany. Good luck to all the small businesses over there; they'll need it.
I think you probably already know my opinion of the BritTrump as Trump named him. Don't need you to tell me about small business either. My wife looks set to lose the roof over her head and a very large sum of money used to buy the lease of the pub she lives over, due to government handling of Covid19.
Not really any surprise that postal ballots seem to have turned the tide of Trumps lead though. You can't intimidate postal voters by demonstrations outside polling stations. Perhaps PA did'nt want similar organised by either side INSIDE the count if it was likely to be THAT close. In any case, in the UK ballots are kept for months after an election and every one can be traced back to an entitled individual if necessary. Hopefully you have a similar system in the US, in fact your voting system is supposed to be far more advanced than our is. We still count votes on slips of paper, by hand whether postal ones or otherwise.
I find the current systems fairly antiquated. I see no reason why we don't have a developed and secure system to allow electronic voting. Everyone gets to vote once in say a given week, from home on their PC, out and about on their smartphone or at the polling place on a sanitised device. Then following the closing of the poll we might have a definitive result with the hour. I really don't understand why the vote counting isn't organised nationally by a designated electoral commission. We normally have a voter turnout of around 90+% in Australia, perhaps largely due to the fine if you don't. And I don't understand 'Count every Vote' or 'Stop the Count' in a democratic system where every person has one vote and every votes matters. Surely America than do better than this.
At leasy physical slips of paper, stamped and numbered can be checked if needs be long after the actual count. Electrical signals inside a black box can easily be redirected and fiddled with. Look at the ammount of internet fraud there is going on. Image if votes could be as easily scammed as people's bank balances currently can if a cracker is determined and skilled enough.
Sorry to hear of this. However, you're making my case for me! You see, I run a small business myself. Due to Covid, my volume is down 1/3 and income down by 1/2. The clients who have limited my access to their buildings are the ones who tend toward the liberal/progressive mindset of Democrats; the clients who continue to support me with their business are the conservatives (Republicans). This is how it is over here. And this is under the Trump admin; if Biden or some other Democrat had been in the White House this calendar year, I have no doubt that we would be in full shutdown right now and I would be out of business altogether. Trump has been supportive of businesses in general and small businesses in particular. Since you sympathize with the plight of the "little guys", belittling the one who's done so much to save the US businesses is really misplaced. Again I will say, I don't like the guy, but I don't have to like his mannerisms to appreciate the work he's done to hamper the efforts of the rich elites to dispossess us of all property and to place us on a 'guaranteed basic income' after they rob us of our ability to earn a living.