Election-related links

[conuly]

Remember, it's not too late to donate!

Mail Ballots Are Already Being Rejected. Guess Whose. (Which is why I'm voting in person, but early.)

Media Owned by Wealthy Are Quick to Tell You Wealth Taxes Are a Bad Idea

Here's Where The Threat Of Militia Activity Around The Elections Is The Highest (When "militia-style groups" move to threatening or criminal activity in order to disrupt the vote or other functions of a civil society, then the correct term for their behavior is terrorism and we can aptly call them terrorists.)

The US Eliminated Nearly 21,000 Election Day Polling Locations for 2020

Pennsylvania’s New Vote-by-Mail Law Expands Access for Everyone Except the Poor

Men and Women Have Never Been More Politically Divided

Electoral College Decision Tree (The fact that some of these paths are so short really proves how broken the whole system is)

Aren’t You Tired, White Men?

Comments

[wendelah1]

I mailed early, tracked my ballot, and have been told my ballot is already accepted and will be counted. Not that it matters for the presidential election, since I live in California.

[alexseanchai]

yeah, my ballot is also already accepted. am not, however, really expecting super high levels of try to screw with the ballots in 100%-vote-by-mail, certainly-going-Biden Washington.

[alexseanchai]

the impression I have is that Texas and New York are both in play. Texas because demographics and immigration, New York because a lot of New Yorkers left the city and the rest of the state isn't nearly as blue. (there's a twitter thread with numbers and stuff but like, my kingdom for the ability to search only that part of twitter that I myself retweeted!)

I'm not sure the shortness of some branches of the decision tree has anything to do with the brokenness of the system? that so few states are in the decision tree, yes, absolutely. (I observe that if Biden wins Florida, 45 has to win literally every remaining state shown here, plus at least one of Maine-2 and Nebraska-2, because if Biden gets Florida and those two districts and the rest of these swing states go red, it's a tie. neither set of voters represented by those two electoral votes is used to having any particular say in the presidential election!)

but the way the decision tree is set up to work—ordering choices from most to fewest electoral votes assigned by that choice—the path going Florida blue, Pennsylvania blue, fin? asking the gamer to choose which way Ohio et seq fall after that is just cluttering up the experience. since FL + PA + the states the coders assume Biden will win > 270 electoral votes, so the choices for Ohio et seq are deciding Biden's victory margin, not Biden's victory. the shorter paths aren't any more or less reflective of the system's brokenness than the longer paths.

[wendelah1]

I wouldn't have expected it here either but so far we've had 50 fake ballot boxes placed by Republicans, and an official one set on fire.

[conuly]

You don't have to cheat if you can win honestly.