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Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

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Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems simple enough to just make it a national holiday.

"Seems simple enough" is to politics what "this should be a quick fix" is to engineering.

So we should do nothing, give up. The world is absurd. Oh well.

As something that helps the problem, it is simple enough. It's not an abstract idea. Our particular vessel at implementing such a change is where the complexity lies and the problem is with that, not the idea.

Often times quick fixes solve major issues for enough time for more permanent solutions to be put in place. Patching a pothole does the job. It's not perfect, but your car won't get damaged anymore in the pothole.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#202
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't help low income folks who work service jobs that don't get the same holidays. I feel like that would just make the middle-upper income vote that much more loud.

What about the middle class that would benefit from a holiday? Should we just ignore them because we don't have a perfect solution yet? Making it a holiday is a huge step forward. Taking other steps (like mandated hours off for all jobs) can also be done. Why can't we have a small step forward? Is there a problem with progress if it doesn't fully solve the problem?

We don't have enough mandated holidays.

1.) There should be at least one federal holiday that constructs a three-day weekend each month. I think ideally, any new such holidays should grant the Friday, rather than Monday, as the holiday day - Friday is traditionally the day of dumping problems on someone else, and ruining their weekend. Ruining a three-day weekend in this fashion is especially egregious, and, at least temporarily, the Friday switchup should help to confuse the problem-dumpers.

2.) The informal Thanksgiving and Christmas-New Years week holidays should be formalized - these are already de facto periods of minimal productivity, they might as well be de jure, and we can just focus on being happy/miserable with our families during this period.

3.) In similar fashion, the entire 4th of July week should be declared a holiday, if for no other reason than to resolve issues of confusion on proper conduct when the 4th falls upon inconvenient days like Wednesday, as occurred this year. A week of vacation during the period when there is actually the potential of usable daylight and pleasant weather would have significant mental health implications.

4.) How the freak is voting day not a national holiday already?!?

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#203
post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know your ballot has not been changed ?

There's a line for a signature that the flap of the envelope ends up glued over the top of. There is no identifying information visible on the outside of a properly sealed envelope. The envelopes have to remain sealed until they're brought into the room with the election monitors to be counted. If the seal isn't intact or the envelope isn't signed underneath or the bar code under the flap doesn't match the one on the…

But you’re still not there and cannot be there when they actually read the ballot...

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#204
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what the graph shows at all. The graph shows that there is no statistical correlation between income and votes, except that lower incomes slightly preferred Clinton. The problem with this data is that it doesn't appear to be weighted by electoral college result, so we don't get to actually see what the impact on the election result is. And, even worse, the survey appears to include the question "Did you vo…

Lol come on now, no need to be facetious. There are six income brackets broke down with the vote tallies for the respective candidates. The exit polling is not done for the Electoral College, and does not change the fact that every income bracket greater than 50k voted for Trump more than they did Hillary

By a single point! You're really stretching the meaning of the numbers. Compare to "Residence"; now there's a meaningful difference (Cities/Suburbs/Country.)

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is already a solved problem. Wage workers can get paid for a multiple of their actual hours as a holiday differential. But in order to invoke that system, you do need to declare the holiday.

You didn't solve the problem, in fact you made it worse. For people who already have a problem getting to the polls you have just given them extra money to not make that effort - going to work instead.

The holiday differential is likely enough that the employer will not allow the employee to work any longer than is strictly necessary, and only if the workplace absolutely must stay open during a holiday. Most people will not even have the option to work. For those that do, the shifts will be offered to the most senior workers first.

Some states might even allow absentee ballots for those who will be present in the state, but are essential personnel who have been scheduled to work on election day. That's not something that can be established federally, though.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#206
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't help low income folks who work service jobs that don't get the same holidays. I feel like that would just make the middle-upper income vote that much more loud.

What about the middle class that would benefit from a holiday? Should we just ignore them because we don't have a perfect solution yet? Making it a holiday is a huge step forward. Taking other steps (like mandated hours off for all jobs) can also be done. Why can't we have a small step forward? Is there a problem with progress if it doesn't fully solve the problem?

That's fair, but my genuine concern is we stop at the voting holiday. As people who have more income are more able to vote, the views of those who aren't able to vote become suppressed that much more.

But you're right - don't do nothing just because to do something isn't perfect.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#207
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are elections not held on Sundays ? I assume that on average there are less people working that day that Monday - Friday, so less people would have to take time off from their job. Edit: Found this > In 1845, the United States Congress chose a single date for all national elections in all states. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November was chosen so that there would never be more than 34 days between…

One oddity of the American system I’ve noticed is that most polls seem to close REALLY early. It’s usually 7am-10pm here, so unless you’re working a 15 hour day (which is illegal in most circumstances) you should be able to vote. American polling centres also often seem to have massive queues and long waiting periods to vote, I assume due to understaffing and insufficient numbers of centres.

> American polling centres also often seem to have massive queues and long waiting periods to vote, I assume due to understaffing and insufficient numbers of centres.

Yep, due to a well-documented campaign by republicans to restrict access to voting that has been ongoing since the civil rights era.

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