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Three ballot drop boxes were attacked with incendiary devices in the Portland, OR metro area. One device didn’t work and authorities recovered it intact. One worked and burned the ballots in one box in Vancouver. The third detonated but the box’s fire suppression system triggered and apparently few or no ballots were damaged. They have the person(s) and their car on video, and the FBI’s involved.
These fuckers are going to get caught. ETA: They’ve already ID’ed the vehicle.
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Bernie weighs in as well:
His response may be the most measured of the three, but the core ideas are certainly the same.
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I want to believe that is a standard feature, but would also not be surprised if that’s a fairly recent addition.
I know that tampering with a mailbox is a pretty serious crime. I assume that an official ballot drop box has at least equal if not greater penalties attached to crimes involving them.
Also, I’m not sure how it works in Oregon, but if this were to happen to my vote I believe I could request another advance ballot, or choose to vote in person up to and including election day. I’m not sure how these voters could be notified, though, since many of the ballots are likely damaged beyond identification.
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In WA (which is 100% VBM), it’s really easy to check on the status of your ballot. I dropped mine off this morning and just this evening I got an SMS notification confirming that it had been received. If you deposited a ballot at that box it should be straightforward to verify whether or not it was received and if it wasn’t to request a new one.
I’m not sure how OR works, but I’d imagine it’s similar since it’s been 100% VBM for even longer than WA.
ETA Vancouver and Portland are neighboring cities, so I would not be the slightest bit surprised if it was the same people doing all the torching.
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If you have text notification activated, it’s the same. If not, you can easily check if they’ve accepted your ballot within a couple of days of dropping it off.
The news also said that anyone who dropped off their ballot at the box with extensive damage can request a new ballot and it will be counted. The box in Oregon with three damaged ballots, the voter’s names were still visible and they will be notified and sent replacement ballots proactively.
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Does this mean that all registered voters receive an advance ballot automatically?
I mentioned upthread that Kansas does not work that way. I am able to verify that my ballot was received and accepted, though I do not see a way to receive notifications.
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That’s what it means in CA; yes.
Newsom flipped the state to permanent vote by mail in 2020, during the height of the quarantine.
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Yup. In WA you’re automatically registered when you get your driver’s license since they already have to verify your citizenship. Everybody gets a voter’s guide by mail about a month in advance and their ballots a couple weeks in advance. The ballot envelopes are postage paid, or you can drop them in a drop box.
No waiting in line to get into a smelly gymnasium or anything. Take your time, read the voter’s guide, fill in your ballot, and send it back or drop it off. It’s a wonderful system.
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“These lawsuits, coming on the heels of the State of Florida’s latest attempt to undermine Floridians’ right to vote on Amendment 4, are desperate,” said Lauren Brenzel, director of the “Yes on 4” campaign supporting the amendment. “Ask yourself, why is this happening now – over half a year after over 997,000 petitions were verified by the state of Florida and with less than a month until the election – that these anti-abortion extremists want to relitigate the petition-collection process?”
(In all honesty, posting this partly to see how it would work on this site. It works fine.)
MoRon is lying out his ass, but that should surprise no one. He is determined to be the fascist-est fascist to ever fash. Sign a petition he doesn’t like? Get a visit from the Brownshirts. Publish something he doesn’t like? Expect t o get sued. Constitution? Who cares about constitution!
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I know that the US is 50+ countries in a trench coat, but it somehow still surprises me when there are such drastic differences to something that should be the same for everyone.
By contrast, in Kansas registration is not automatic and advance voting is available only by request, and must be requested for each election (unless you can establish a qualifying status, like a permanent disability).
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This is the Oregon system, too. WA beat us to the postage-paid thing, though.
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No postage paid in KS, either.
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Paid postage came with VBM only for CA.
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But what about all the good things Trump has done?
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Let’s see. Um. Well. He voluntarily left on Jan 20, 2021 and didn’t stink up Biden’s inauguration with his presence.
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