Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election • Hacker News Board

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#41

Post by ChomskyNormal4m » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:37 PM UTC

kepler1 wrote: post #4

Well, as unfortunate as this is, I mean, accidents and issues do happen in life. Be prepared. There was a whole probably 4 years (at least) to register to vote up to this day. For the prepared, how does one day out of years really matter? It's a sad situation if your voter base is scrambling to register on the last possible day, regardless of party .

> There was a whole probably 4 years (at least) to register to vote up to this day. For the prepared...

I moved from one state to another in June. I did not have four years to prepare. I was also not allowed to register immediately, you must reside for some months to register. Also this state has voter suppression to make registration more difficult. They certainly do not have online registration, but they piled on extra Covid difficulties lately. I did manage to register however. What you are saying is ridiculous.

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#42

Post by jimbob45 » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:38 PM UTC

elric wrote: post #3

I don't know much about US elections, but from what I've seen in the news the last couple of weeks, I have to say I'm less than impressed. The rest of the world used to see the US as a beacon of democracy. But the country seems to be utterly incapable of organizing fair elections for its populace. Voter registration failures. Voter intimidation. Politicians literally redrawing maps in order to gain an advangate. A pr…

You know about it though. Bringing a problem into light is the first step to fixing it and thanks to our remarkably robust press, we’ve fairly well catalogued our issues. Now, our government moves glacially by design to avoid overcorrection but it’s reasonable to assume that these issues will get fixed in time.

The issue not being talked about is solving the first-past-the-post system but I don’t think that that’s unique to the US.

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#43

Post by aweiland » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:39 PM UTC

arcticbull wrote: post #28

Bud wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your figures are hilariously off, there. If you look at Republican social policies, they're even more off.

The Republican platform is remarkably narrow and well defined. They are the party of 'free speech,' God, guns and eliminating abortions. The rest is ancillary to their voters. When you cast your opponents as God-hating, Christmas-fighting, Gun-stealing, baby-killing potheads, people don't really care about your economic policies, they're just voting to stop the anti-Christ. The Democratic tent on the other hand is st…

As of this year Republicans officially have no enumerated platform.

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#44

Post by toby » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:39 PM UTC

UncleOxidant wrote: post #17

elric wrote: post #3

I don't know much about US elections, but from what I've seen in the news the last couple of weeks, I have to say I'm less than impressed. The rest of the world used to see the US as a beacon of democracy. But the country seems to be utterly incapable of organizing fair elections for its populace. Voter registration failures. Voter intimidation. Politicians literally redrawing maps in order to gain an advangate. A pr…

The US is not a beacon of democracy at this point, it's a beacon of minority rule. Between the electoral college and each state (no matter how many people live in that state) having 2 senators it's an archaic system that's way overdue for an update. However, the system is built in such a way as to make updates very, very difficult so, unfortunately, don't expect any significant changes anytime soon. In the meantime,…

I have no idea why you're getting downvoted for this. The Senate system is really silly at this point.

Republicans control the senate despite only having 40% of the popular vote nationally in the Senate races.

Californians pay 13% of the Federal tax revenue and get the same number of Senators as states that contribute less than 1%.

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#45

Post by davchana » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

elric wrote: post #3

I don't know much about US elections, but from what I've seen in the news the last couple of weeks, I have to say I'm less than impressed. The rest of the world used to see the US as a beacon of democracy. But the country seems to be utterly incapable of organizing fair elections for its populace. Voter registration failures. Voter intimidation. Politicians literally redrawing maps in order to gain an advangate. A pr…

As the reply says, these things have always been there. I, in India, have never seen US as a beacon of Democracy, or for that mattet, any country, even India. We heard these when Bush got elected, when Clinton, Obama, & Trump, although not on thse levels. This is the democracy, when a party or side does bad things to damage it, or get advantage, others voice concern & speak & shout. US is more seen as world police in middle clase india.

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#46

Post by kaesar14 » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

Armisael16 wrote: post #36

curiousgal wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The rest of the world used to see the US as a beacon of democracy. lol wut. The US has always been a flawed democracy [0]. 0. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index

The US was downgraded in 2016, per your link. That’s hardly ‘always’.

Sounds political. We were a flawed democracy before Trump won too. Anyone forgetting we had a Presidential election decided by the Supreme Court 20 years ago?

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#47

Post by arcticbull » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

aweiland wrote: post #43

arcticbull wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Republican platform is remarkably narrow and well defined. They are the party of 'free speech,' God, guns and eliminating abortions. The rest is ancillary to their voters. When you cast your opponents as God-hating, Christmas-fighting, Gun-stealing, baby-killing potheads, people don't really care about your economic policies, they're just voting to stop the anti-Christ. The Democratic tent on the other hand is st…

As of this year Republicans officially have no enumerated platform.

Oh you haven't been watching nearly enough FOX if you think that :) Take that from someone who now has a Tucker Carlson shaped brain aneurism.

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#48

Post by toby » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:43 PM UTC

roamerz wrote: post #35

UncleOxidant wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is not a beacon of democracy at this point, it's a beacon of minority rule. Between the electoral college and each state (no matter how many people live in that state) having 2 senators it's an archaic system that's way overdue for an update. However, the system is built in such a way as to make updates very, very difficult so, unfortunately, don't expect any significant changes anytime soon. In the meantime,…

You’re correct. It’s a Republic with a sane voting system that keeps the mobs from the population centers from ruling the country. You say weakness I say strength.

If the concern is urbanites making decisions for rural people, then it's fair to point out that there are plenty more rural people in California than the total population of many other states. The state boundaries are completely arbitrary, yet they affect so much.

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#49

Post by sokoloff » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:44 PM UTC

UncleOxidant wrote: post #39

roamerz wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re correct. It’s a Republic with a sane voting system that keeps the mobs from the population centers from ruling the country. You say weakness I say strength.

And so instead of the "mobs from the population centers" ruling the country we have the "mobs" from a few swing states running the country. How is that better? When it comes to the Senate why should dirt in one state get so much more say than people in another?

I see the House as a faster-changing, populous body (which is generally a good thing) and the Senate as a much slower-changing balance against the worst of what a fast-changing, populous body could wreak on the country.

Re: Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

#50

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Oct 13, 2020, 4:44 PM UTC

elric wrote: post #3

I don't know much about US elections, but from what I've seen in the news the last couple of weeks, I have to say I'm less than impressed. The rest of the world used to see the US as a beacon of democracy. But the country seems to be utterly incapable of organizing fair elections for its populace. Voter registration failures. Voter intimidation. Politicians literally redrawing maps in order to gain an advangate. A pr…

[deleted]