Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

durbin.senate.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 311 posts

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#41

Post by ordinaryradical »

karatestomp wrote: post #3

Oh, I thought the headline meant remote voting for, you know, voters, not Senators, and was very surprised to see an R next to one of the sponsor's names. The bill's just to let the Senate vote remotely. I'd imagine most of the interesting nuance is about "presence" and quorum-making. This is not about expanding remote/by-mail voting in elections, which Republicans have generally been strongly against, including and…

I used to be wowed by this kind of hypocrisy, but lately I've concluded that these things are happening so frequently because the voters have proved to them sufficiently that they will take no heed provided it "hurts the other team."

Everything on the news looks ironic now because the political class has realized there's almost no limit to what they can get away with.

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#42

Post by postalrat »

smt88 wrote: post #7
kd5bjo wrote: post #6

The Senate is a deliberative body, and its primary work requires debate . Already too much gets done behind closed doors and outside the public eye. Dispensing with even the pretense of open debate is somewhat concerning.

People can debate remotely, too.

Just look at hackernews, reddit, forums, etc. Remote debating never ends.

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#43

Post by ceejayoz »

karatestomp wrote: post #37
jkeuhlen wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The federal government does not have the jurisdiction to change how people vote in elections. That is determined by the states.

Right, but it could have been an amendment, or (more likely) some incentive-based "we're not making you, you'll just get less money if you don't" thing.

Plenty of precedent for that sort of thing, too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Maximum_Speed_Law

> States had to agree to the limit if they desired to receive federal funding for highway repair.

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#44

Post by quadrangle »

djcjr wrote: post #9

When was the last time a candidate represented your views? Does voting matter any more?

Voting will only really get power to the people when we implement a system that works. The best option out there is STAR Voting https://www.starvoting.us/ and online polls at https://star.vote/

As long as we have choose-one voting, it will devolve to two dominant parties that do not need to care about most voters' interests.

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#45

Post by MiroF »

Uehreka wrote: post #18
bcrosby95 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The constitution leaves a lot of details about voting to the states. This would probably require an amendment. A power grab like that from the federal government would probably be turned down by even blue states, especially considering the current president.

It doesn’t need to be a power-grab (“We’re taking over the election to make sure it’s done right”). In all likelihood it would be some sort of funding incentive (“If you resolve to do vote-by-mail, we’ll give you the money to hire people and buy equipment to do it, and even throw in some money for infrastructure as a cherry on top”).

And further, this is how the federal government governs in the vast majority of cases. Sure, it doesn't have the ability to directly mandate what states do, but it does have the carrot-and-stick.

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#46

Post by malandrew »

karatestomp wrote: post #31
natch wrote: post #19

Off topic since this is about senators, but to nip a possible related thread in the bud, an important reason why remote voting for citizens is a bad idea is that it can enable massive scale vote manipulation through schemes to buy or otherwise influence votes. In the privacy of one's home, outside a controlled voting booth, the problem is exacerbated, counterintuitively. A voter at home or in another uncontrolled set…

Has this happened with members of the military or in states that already allow vote-by-mail? If not, why not?

Probably not, but mainly due to scale. The number of people who vote remotely is so few that the amount of fraud you can get through without being detected makes it not worth the effort.

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#47

Post by [deleted] »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #15
ShakataGaNai wrote: post #11

They're making sure they can vote... but yet no one has worked to make sure all of the American people can vote safely (Read also: mail in ballots for everyone).

The constitution leaves a lot of details about voting to the states. This would probably require an amendment. A power grab like that from the federal government would probably be turned down by even blue states, especially considering the current president.

[deleted]

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#48

Post by elicash »

jkeuhlen wrote: post #33
karatestomp wrote: post #3

Oh, I thought the headline meant remote voting for, you know, voters, not Senators, and was very surprised to see an R next to one of the sponsor's names. The bill's just to let the Senate vote remotely. I'd imagine most of the interesting nuance is about "presence" and quorum-making. This is not about expanding remote/by-mail voting in elections, which Republicans have generally been strongly against, including and…

The federal government does not have the jurisdiction to change how people vote in elections. That is determined by the states.

This is true but only half the story. The federal government is able to incentivize vote-by-mail through federal funds. This has been the center of much debate.

Speaker Pelosi says she will push for these funds in any next round of stimulus.

Re: US Senators Introduce Resolution to Allow Remote Voting During Emergencies

#50

Post by ufo »

smt88 wrote: post #10
lisper wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would have to decide on a process for senators to formally register their votes remotely, and that process would have to be one that could not be hacked even by a state actor because the stakes are incredibly high. That is a tall order even for a group of technically competent people, and the U.S. Senate is not generally known for its technical competence.

There are only 100 senators, and lots of people track their votes. A senator logging a surprising vote would be asked about it and able to correct the record. Hacking a senate vote wouldn't be much use in the long run.

Exactly. Remote voting is easier when the votes don't need to be secret.
Post reply on HN