I’m told that it’s difficult to predict the outcome of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday because independent or undeclared voters can choose to vote a ballot for either party.
This A.I. is downright scary. It can be almost impossible to tell it from the real thing.
That said, we all must be extra careful and discerning of any and all ads, phone calls etc. and any other suspect sources. Deepfakes can look and sound real.
The New Hampshire phone call is a crude example. If it's message had been more plausible it could easily have slipped by unnoticed. That is the scary part for me.
A.I. isn't going away, it's only going to get more refined. This ham-handed effort in New Hampshire is just the first volley in this election cycle.
Talk to friends and relatives, let them know about this new threat.
I haven’t answered numbers I don’t recognize for YEARS. Moreover I have an unknown number app on my phone that sends these calls to another folder. If someone I know goes in by accident, I can easily check that. OR if it’s important people leave a message.
And if they do, or the call comes to your cellphone or a home phone that records the caller's number, it provides a means to trace back to the source.... BUT first, the phony call must be reported. Of course, the caller's number may be spoofed (using someone's legitimate number), making it more difficult to trace to the origin. Sigh.....
Computerized vote fraud is also a "feature of the political landscape," and Hillary the Hypocrite personifies the Democratic Party's loss of its soul.
In the 2008 primary race, it was do-or-die for Hillary in the North Carolina primary. I remembered, from the book "Votescam: The Stealing of America," the story of how "the computers crashed" late at night and eventually came back up with skewed numbers.
I planned to stay up late as results came in from North Carolina, and the same thing happened. Hillary and Obama were neck-and-neck when, around 11:00, the computers crashed. I stayed up to see the reported results the moment they re-started. Sure enough, somewhere around 3:00 in the morning, the first new result came in with Hillary's total flat and a big jump for Obama, putting both the primary and the nomination out of reach for Hillary.
For a couple days there was some speculation that Hillary would challenge the results, but she didn't. The North Carolina Attorney General Ray Cooper went on to become Governor, and North Carolina was gifted the next Democratic convention.
I voted for Hillary in the California primary, and for Obama in the general election.
Hillary went on, as Secretary of State, to become the Butcher of Libya, pressuring a reluctant Obama to go far beyond the United Nations mandate and effect regime change in Libya, turning that country into a festering failed state.
In the 2020 primary race, I supported Tulsi Gabbard , who aptly called Hillary the "corrupt queen of the war-mongers." The Democratic Party has lost its soul.
Question: How many people died suddenly when they were about to testify against Bill and Hillary Clinton?
"Votescam" gives the example of the 1992 New Hampshire Republican primary, featuring George H.W. Bush versus Patrick Buchanan, in which the results were "impossibly" at odds with pre-vote polls.
The 2020 Massachusetts Democratic primary featured an "impossible" brace of four-percent skews from the EXIT polls (at the expense of both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren), giving Biden a hair-thin win.
This comes from the same source that showed that the results for the 2020 Alabama Senate race were heavily skewed in favor of Tommy Tuberville. Computerized vote fraud is a bipartisan problem.
There is a bogus "fact check" article that dishonestly debunks the above-linked analysis of the 2020 Massachusetts primary:
We all knew that AI would be used for deception and devious acts. Why our officials in Washington are still debating how to control this is beyond comprehension.
No it’s not, I fully expect it. This genie is out of the bottle and because our government did no planning, it will never catch up, and the tech bros know it.
I heard it on TV - it reminded me of a kidnap message made from letters cut out from magazines and newspapers. Just Biden's recorded cut and paste words from anything and everything he has ever said, put together. Was not all that convincing, and most would not have gone for it. However, it's going to get better. Plenty to worry about.
Bob, I use X to follow the war in Ukraine. One of the accounts I frequently consult is Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins), the founder of Bellingcat, which is an independent outlet that has solved crimes worldwide that local or state police cannot or will not solve, such as the MH-17 missile attack in Donbas in 2014, which led to the indictments of two Russians by the International Criminal Court. They also solved the Skripal poisonings case. They're now working on solving last year's attack on NordStream2. Eliot Higgins and the people he surrounds himself with are among the most sophisticated independent journalists in the world, and they do a lot of work with AI. Their website is https://www.bellingcat.com/
Joyce, I wanted to let you know that I had written to my Congressman, Mark DeSaulnier, by using ResistBot provided by Jessica Craven on her Substack “Chop Wood Carry Water”. I asked him to consider joining me in asking that Trump’s court challenges by televised. He agreed and sent me an email saying so. YAY! I urge everyone to use this tool.
Yes, due to Joyce telling us about Craven and ultimately learning about Resistbot, I’ve used it several times and have always received a positive reply.
Not sure what the mechanism is to get that done, probably different state by state, but there needs to be an advocacy group that will pick up on it then roll with it.. maybe there is already?
Yes, it is usually the state board of the League of Women Voters (but all genders are welcome just because it has a women doesn’t mean it’s exclusive). I believe it has been a national voted on level at the league board nationally. It’s part of their platform for voter access. But each state league would then use the members of the local leagues to start the campaign. So each state has how they vote in their code of their constitution. So the lLeagud would propose legislation, or they would do a con con they would do a convention. All the leagues have a policy person who does a lot of writing for the legislation. And you need someone at the legislature to take it as their bill and promote it so you want someone who can get the job done with a lot of power. And then that would be followed by voting to change the constitution. It needs kind of a groundswell of popular buy-in.
Each state may have a different percentage requirement but what you wanna do is to get the legislature in their legislative session to vote that percentage to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. So for example if it’s 2/3 or 66.67% of the vote during one legislative Session or even a simple majority and two successive legislative sessions you can get a constitutional amendment on the ballot and then in November when people go into vote, that’s part of what they vote for, if it’s midterm, such as the middle the four year election cycle, the citizens would vote on it. At the time they went into elect local state, and any representatives or senators what is absolutely key is to get a lot of publicity. You want a huge turnout for this. This is something everyone can work on beginning now and follow it up. Even after we have Biden reelected it’s part of the things we have to do to bring transparency and voting rights. Do you mind telling me what state you’re in. I know we try to maintain confidentiality but I can let you know a little bit about how active your league might be in the state you’re in.
In Illinois, we now have a permanent vote-by-mail option, which only requires that you sign up for it. I did for myself and my mom. Now, for EVERY election, I get an email saying the ballots are in the mail, we get them and vote, and mail them back, and also get emailed when they've received them. It's the next best thing to voting online, which I wish we could ALL do. We can bank online -- my bank for the past several years has been in Kansas City, I've never even seen it -- and we can get our medical records online. In this climate, I'm not hopeful we'll be able to vote online any time soon, but it will get there, and a lot of this voter suppression crap will stop.
I'm with you up to the point where you said 'voting on-line'. That is a recipe for disaster. Paper, traceable ballots should never be abandoned. The Internet is NOT secure, and will never be secure enough to trust it for voting. That is a law of physics, not morals. Be careful what you wish for: putting voting on-line will only make it more susceptible to fraud. Real fraud, not just the pissant stuff the GOP tries now.
Not only that, but even now, not everyone has ready access to a computer. Although the Federal government has invested millions in upgrading wireless access to rural areas, in New England we have a good many areas that aren't well-covered...or possibly not covered at all. I would LOVE to see mailed-in ballots--easy, convenient with clear paper trails.
Call the state league president of your state. Ask if they would help write legislation to bring to the next session. Sometimes session start in January, so you might already have missed the deadline to get your bill in but you can do it for next session. Typically how to vote is part of the constitution of each state, so how to change that as you do a con, constitutional convention or change the constitution. That goes on the ballot for November. So if you’re too late this year do it on the ballot for 2025 and I will give you a real head start and a program to work on after Biden is reelected. If there is resistance as there is in some states, just keep building the momentum and writing letters to the editor and making this a very, very popular well-known well supported effort. Get someone really credible in the legislature behind you. It won’t hurt to work with the kids at schools as part of their civic group. National League has plenty of examples of how to publicize and promote this process because they’re very much in favor of voting transparency, and stopping suppression of voting. They were founded for that reason. State league usually presents the testimony, getting it sponsored, getting it through the committees. It’s a lot of testimony. But a lot of people can show up and show support for it. You’re looking to get a constitutional amendment to vote on in November, but you might be a little bit too late right now to get it to your legislator. US league of women voters has copies of proposals and things like that. If you can get an advocate who will write the bill for you both Senate and representative side it will be helpful.
Already contacted the state Rep for this area...we are going to take it to a meeting of the local Dem committee and see if it's something that could get started.
Fabulous TL! If you can, please involve the League of Women Voters as well. They have members - and the members have neighbors, relatives. They are a fabulous sourse for getting the word out. And because they are nonpartisan, people trust them when they advocate and endorse this kind of change. Congratulations:))
And another issue is the Postal System. We still have Trump's pick in charge there - and from the bits I've seen of his attitude during Congress's hearings - hes got pretty much the same arrogance that tfg has. Why in the world hasnt there been some more effort to get him out?
This is the kind of ID verification I could get behind. Short of being bar coded at birth or having a chip implanted, it seems the next best thing. But, alas, something like this is still probably decades away. As far as I know, the government is still operating on some operating system from the last century.
Virginia also has the permanent vote-by-mail option. They even tell me when my ballot reaches the post office and again when my ballot is counted (as soon as it’s received). If I decide to vote in person, I simply go to the polls and turn in my not-filled-out absentee ballot and then vote. Hurrah Virginia!
Me too, but I was really disappointed with the low percentage who bothered to vote in 2020 and 2022. especially since the State paid the postage and even gave us ballot trax. I really don't know what else we can do to improve the voting record here.
I read that once in a comments section from someone in Australia, and asked what the enforcement entailed, but he never answered. I don't know how you could force people to vote, except maybe fines, which seems over the top. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make her drink."
It should be a national holiday. We need to have blue house and Senate and presidency and push for that. Each state has how to vote in their constitution and so it’s a state issue to change their constitution with a constitutional amendment. That’s not a easy to do when you have to go against voter suppression. It takes a lot of activity to get a groundswell of people pushing for a constitutional amendment. That would go on the ballot in November, following it being voted on in the state legislature. Usually states require 2/3 of the legislators to vote for the constitutional amendment to have it go on the ballot for citizens to vote up or down. The reasons have to be clearly stated: as Joyce has, and educate the public - to always have them involved, working with your group.
Desatan and his gop enablers here if floriduh have introduced a bill to eliminate our option to vote by mail, unless we are not present in our county at election time, and can prove it. And yet, we persist (with fingers crossed) in our efforts to get folks signed up for vbm. They have passed laws already requiring folks to re-register for vbm for each election, that apparently wasn't good enough voter suppression.
I don't trust mail-in voting in Texas. I tried it once and Texas rules made it confusing, and I never got confirmation of receipt of my ballot. I'm sure I followed the directions, but the lack of confirmation or the opportunity to cure any issue makes it a non-starter for me for even-year elections. I vote in person, even during the pandemic (vaccinatedand masked), but I always take advantage of the early voting window.
For those living abroad Democrats Abroad is available as a voter support resource in many countries. https://www.democratsabroad.org/
They can advise you on how to get and submit your ballot via email if that is available in your state, and if you have any questions about voting from abroad they answer them. Of course military personnel is one of the largest groups that votes. They also have groups that are organized around different topics, and can help you find like minded people while abroad.
I received my Democratic absentee ballot in SC today and will be delivering it by hand to Election Headquarters in the morning. It is an act of faith only as there are only three names; my BIDEN, Dean Phillips and Marianne Phillips, the latter two unlikely to get a significant number of votes. But I have it in my hands and somehow that feels like a huge win.🏆
It is so very frustrating to have to deal with so many instances of voter suppression. Republicans, instead of governing and explaining their policy positions, use lies and other means to suppress voting because they know they cannot win otherwise. Voting is essential for a democracy.
I just saw somewhere that Georgia is purging voters again. It’s gotten so now that one has to continually check with their board of elections to see if they are still registered to vote. Disgusting state of affairs!
The GOP legislated voter suppression in over 17 states through the complicity of Heritage Foundation and RNC committees on « election integrity" and from there works to exclude eligible voters (including especially college students and those who have recently moved) through Cleta Mitchell’s dark money funded, successful efforts to persuade many of those same states to abandon the ERIC system of voter validation for one with built-in bias.
This is just the beginning of voter suppression. Sometimes November looms faraway. AI is going to be a real problem. I watched Lawrence O’Donnell and he played part of the call. It was a good imitation of President Biden. I applaud Congressman Morelle writing to General Merrick Garland to open an investigation
As always, the problem is the investigation/court decision is slower than the act (in this case voter suppression). What Abbott’s done in Texas, for example: transporting migrants, barbed wire, devices in the Rio Grande, voter suppression, may (will) be overturned by the courts. But everything was implemented immediately. The NH voter suppression may be investigated but it already happened, which will likely keep some people from the polls.
The only way republicans can win is to cheat! I’ve been busy today but let me add that the E. Jean Carroll trial was put on hold due to possible Covid and then Habba walks her skanky butt in the courtroom knowing she’s been exposed. Maybe TFG will get it again and he won’t be so lucky this time. 🤞🏼
These bastards are out early honing their game, seeing how various AI-generated "deepfakes" would play out with a *relatively* informed electorate...any sort of success here would translate big to a much larger pool of the ubiquitous
"low information voter". Demo voter maven Marc Elias and co. have a huge challenge facing them as we move toward the November general elections, and alerting the DOJ as early as possible to have all hands on deck to investigate these dirty tricks during the primaries, one hopes, will sensitize the authorities to what's in store for us throughout this year.
I saw something last week about how in Virginia they had decided not to indict a Republican election person. It seems that about 4,000 votes for Biden had been discovered uncounted. But, to teach this guy a lesson, they let him off with a slap on the hand. I seem to remember that Democrats don't fare as well, often if they cast a Provisional Ballot because they didn't know if they could legally vote yet or not.....and found out that they weren't allowed to yet, they got 5 yrs back in jail. Yes, she was black and this happened in my state of Texas. I am so damned tired of there being 2 sets of punishment for voter fraud.....Republicans found to vote twice, slap on the wrist, 5 weeks probation and a fine of $500. VOTE BLUE! I yield back my time.
The Times of London has a feature that each day looks back at a chosen event from 100 years ago.
From The Times January 23, 1924
"Lenin is dead. His agony has been long. For over a year he has dragged out the slow days in a living death. The bowl is broken, and he is gone. He died in a house confiscated from a once wealthy merchant not far from Moscow. For many weeks his followers, already weary of the artificial legend of his leadership, have been disputing his succession.
Lenin was Bolshevism, and Bolshevism was Lenin. Rarely in modern times has a man so strongly impressed his own individuality upon a movement of astounding extent and still incalculable consequences. He was something that is not known even yet. He was a force that is everywhere felt. He was a disturber, for whose action analogies must be sought in remote and barbarous periods of history. Yet he was a man of our generation, whom not a few contemporaries have seen and heard. The ruin he has wrought in a great Empire is manifest.
The destructive doctrines he taught are still poisoning the minds of many millions. Yet he was no superman. Lenin was extraordinary because the times in which we live are extraordinary. For he himself, in spite of all the destructive changes he has wrought, in spite of all the fierce convulsions that are connected with his name, was but an ordinary, a rather commonplace man, and the secret of his still hardly credible success lies in a striking coincidence between certain qualities of his character and some tendencies of the historical environment into which he was thrust in his later years.
It was not as a thinker that he attained prominence, but as a remarkable tactician. He had little experience of men, but he had an incomparable instinct for human weakness. That short, bald-headed, snub-nosed man set himself to the task of making the restless masses of the Russian people the centre and starting-point of a great world upheaval.
Lenin won for a time; he carried out an immense work of destruction in a great country; he annihilated opposition by a systematic and maniacal application of terror, and he propelled revolutionary forces into the confusion and unrest of post-war Europe. He was paralysed by the effort, and failure came before the paralysis. His followers, divided and distracted, are disputing over the tradition he has created."
George Santyana wrote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." While that thought has been over used in the past, it is now becoming way too real. When I look at this falls election, I am seeing the 1932 German election right along side of our election.
We need a new category of criminal behavior; crimes against democracy. Legislation that makes voting more difficult for certain sectors of the voting public is criminal behavior under this concept. Political speech that directly contradicts core tenants of our constitution would be a form of criminal behavior. Our vaunted belief in "freedom of speech" shouldn't be forced to include freedom to lie, and to lie again and again until substantial fractions of the electorate accept the lie as truthful. I fail to see how protecting the right to practice pathalogic lying strengthens our democracy or the institutions that undergird our democratic processes.
I think the Democrats inflicted a wound upon themselves with the decision to forgo a primary in New Hampshire. Far better would have been fierce GOTV efforts to show the Repuglicans what they will be up against in the general election.
Why should NH be first, every single time? It’s not like NH has a god given right. They are arrogant to think it is their right to always be first. And neither IA or NH have any resemblance to the demographics of the USA. I think primaries should be done by regions, and the order of the regions rotated every 4 years. It would save on fuel and hopefully be over in less time. The latter would be a huge benefit. The election season goes on way too long.
It is our state's law that we go first. I agree, it should rotate, but until the law gets challenged and changed, we're going first, even if it means we vote in 2026 for the 2028 election. Not right, but there you are.
Yup...New Hamster is an odd place. They apparently feel that with their sparse population (which is VERY unrepresentative of the country as a whole) and their meagre allotment of electoral votes, they would never ever see an actual candidate campaign there unless they did something to stand out.
Yes I know it is in your state constitution. And I feel the pain about never seeing a candidate. I live in a state like that. (Personally at this point I don’t need a presidential candidate to come to my state. I won’t go to see them if they do. Lots of other less hectic ways to get info these days.)
Still, the arrogance of putting the “me first” in the constitution says all we need to know. Time to change it NH, time to change it. You have to share your toys with the other 49 kids.
I hear you! We've loved having candidates here to meet them, and it felt strange not to go to any events this year, but I agree with you. We need to spread the wealth around. In 2020, we got to meet Eric Swalwell, Corey Booker, Amy Klobuchar. In 2016, got to see HRC in person. Seeing them in person actually does bring you insight you don't get in other ways.
National voter legislation (and ideally a Constitutional amendment expressly establishing the unfettered right to vote) is the way to assure remedies for voter suppression. Presently states have and exercise the power to suppress votes.
We need to be careful making laws about ideologies. It is a slippery slope that could impact religion, party affiliation, marriage, speech, and many other rights. I get your point though; it seems that when something impacts the greater good and harm results that it ought to be stopped. But then who gets to decide, etc.
I think it is a crime and has long been a crime. See Nixon v. Herndon (1927). But the only way to stop suppression is what almost all :democracies do and that is mandatory (automatic) registration at age 18 or upon becoming naturalized.. We are also among the very few countries that have "elections" that does not allow prisoners to vote...of course are infested with the same people that would be disenfranchised if they weren't in prison. Thank God Nevada just re-enfranchised (except for major felonies)prisoners.
How about everyone file taxes (even if zero income) and also register to vote with your tax forms? No one wants to pay someone else's taxes, so fraud would be less likely?
well the problem with that is some people, older and only on soc sec; younger and in college; laid off and out of unemp. ins, or on welfare wouldn't be able to vote. and I hardly ever paid taxes because I often supported a dozen or more hangers-on unable to find work. so now I'm on the bottom rung of social security and still have three non-working adults to support. Why not just be registered automatically on 18th birthday? Registering my tax filings excludes the very people some are already trying to exclude.
Voter suppression has always been a weapon in Trump's toolbox. Let's not forget that even before the 2020 election, Trump brought on a new Postmaster General and tasked him with implementing a novel "efficiency "program that would delay the receipt of mail-in votes, most of which were expected to favor Joe Biden. For 2024, Trump expects the state legislatures controlled by Republicans to promote measures designed to intimidate voters, especially those in heavy Democratic urban areas, from voting. No ploy is too sleazy for Donald Trump and his Republican allies.
I'm looking forward to writing in Joe Biden on my Democratic ballot here in beautiful New Hampshire. It won't matter, of course., thanks to the DNC. It wasn't very smart to let the Republicans hog the spotlight.
Had to be done to teach NH it doesn't hold sway. And NH laws that say they do are just plain unconstitutional and should have no effect on the rest of the country.
You ought to check out what is happening in Nevada. The NVGOP, headed by two false electors, is telling folks to toss their primary ballots in favor of a pay-to-play caucus that the NPGOP is running parallel to the state-mandated primary. Yep, to get on the caucus slate, the candidate had to fork up $55K to the NVGOP.There were three candidates willing to do that, two have dropped out. Trump automatically gets all 26 of our delegates. That’s just $2115.38 trump had to pay per delegate, if he paid anything at all. This stinks to high heaven.
The justification for running a caucus parallel to the state-mandated primary highlighted the Trumpian strategy of denigrating mail-in voting. The phone calls, social media, ads in newspapers all undercut votes for all other candidates, especially Nikki Haley, who refused to pay $55K and instead used her money to continue to campaign.
Former Republican National Committee official James Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in prison yesterday for his role in an Election Day phone-jamming plot against New Hampshire Democrats.
Tobin, of Bangor, Maine, was found guilty in December on two felony telephone harassment charges. He also was fined $10,000, followed by two years probation. The judge rejected a request from Tobin’s lawyers for a six-month sentence of home confinement and community service.
U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe said yesterday he was impressed by the letters and testimony about Tobin’s many acts of kindness toward friends and family, but wished Tobin “had a better sense of how serious this was.”
The phone jamming was not just a dirty trick, he said. “It was a direct assault on a free and fair electoral system. ... We’ll never know if the wrong people are sitting in government because of this effort.”
—-My comment: they should have sentenced Tobin to 10 YEARS in prison, not 10 months.
Everyone everywhere needs to demand that voting absentee be implemented wherever one lives.. then vote that way..
Bingo
This A.I. is downright scary. It can be almost impossible to tell it from the real thing.
That said, we all must be extra careful and discerning of any and all ads, phone calls etc. and any other suspect sources. Deepfakes can look and sound real.
The New Hampshire phone call is a crude example. If it's message had been more plausible it could easily have slipped by unnoticed. That is the scary part for me.
A.I. isn't going away, it's only going to get more refined. This ham-handed effort in New Hampshire is just the first volley in this election cycle.
Talk to friends and relatives, let them know about this new threat.
And, as always, stay informed and ever vigilant.
I haven’t answered numbers I don’t recognize for YEARS. Moreover I have an unknown number app on my phone that sends these calls to another folder. If someone I know goes in by accident, I can easily check that. OR if it’s important people leave a message.
Me too. I figure that any legitimate caller will leave me a message.
And if they do, or the call comes to your cellphone or a home phone that records the caller's number, it provides a means to trace back to the source.... BUT first, the phony call must be reported. Of course, the caller's number may be spoofed (using someone's legitimate number), making it more difficult to trace to the origin. Sigh.....
Computerized vote fraud is also a "feature of the political landscape," and Hillary the Hypocrite personifies the Democratic Party's loss of its soul.
In the 2008 primary race, it was do-or-die for Hillary in the North Carolina primary. I remembered, from the book "Votescam: The Stealing of America," the story of how "the computers crashed" late at night and eventually came back up with skewed numbers.
I planned to stay up late as results came in from North Carolina, and the same thing happened. Hillary and Obama were neck-and-neck when, around 11:00, the computers crashed. I stayed up to see the reported results the moment they re-started. Sure enough, somewhere around 3:00 in the morning, the first new result came in with Hillary's total flat and a big jump for Obama, putting both the primary and the nomination out of reach for Hillary.
For a couple days there was some speculation that Hillary would challenge the results, but she didn't. The North Carolina Attorney General Ray Cooper went on to become Governor, and North Carolina was gifted the next Democratic convention.
I voted for Hillary in the California primary, and for Obama in the general election.
Hillary went on, as Secretary of State, to become the Butcher of Libya, pressuring a reluctant Obama to go far beyond the United Nations mandate and effect regime change in Libya, turning that country into a festering failed state.
In the 2020 primary race, I supported Tulsi Gabbard , who aptly called Hillary the "corrupt queen of the war-mongers." The Democratic Party has lost its soul.
Question: How many people died suddenly when they were about to testify against Bill and Hillary Clinton?
Answer: Count 'em up for yourself:
https://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/BODIES.php
"Votescam" gives the example of the 1992 New Hampshire Republican primary, featuring George H.W. Bush versus Patrick Buchanan, in which the results were "impossibly" at odds with pre-vote polls.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1#v=onepage&q&f=false
The 2020 Massachusetts Democratic primary featured an "impossible" brace of four-percent skews from the EXIT polls (at the expense of both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren), giving Biden a hair-thin win.
See https://tdmsresearch.com/2020/03/04/massachusetts-2020-democratic-party-primary/
This comes from the same source that showed that the results for the 2020 Alabama Senate race were heavily skewed in favor of Tommy Tuberville. Computerized vote fraud is a bipartisan problem.
There is a bogus "fact check" article that dishonestly debunks the above-linked analysis of the 2020 Massachusetts primary:
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/no-huge-red-flag-that-fraud-occurred-in-mass-primary/
If others want to talk through this, please speak up.
We all knew that AI would be used for deception and devious acts. Why our officials in Washington are still debating how to control this is beyond comprehension.
Since 1938 officials in Washington have procrastinated in regards to the environment so no surprise.
If it's not about money it's a low priority.
No it’s not, I fully expect it. This genie is out of the bottle and because our government did no planning, it will never catch up, and the tech bros know it.
I heard it on TV - it reminded me of a kidnap message made from letters cut out from magazines and newspapers. Just Biden's recorded cut and paste words from anything and everything he has ever said, put together. Was not all that convincing, and most would not have gone for it. However, it's going to get better. Plenty to worry about.
Bob, I use X to follow the war in Ukraine. One of the accounts I frequently consult is Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins), the founder of Bellingcat, which is an independent outlet that has solved crimes worldwide that local or state police cannot or will not solve, such as the MH-17 missile attack in Donbas in 2014, which led to the indictments of two Russians by the International Criminal Court. They also solved the Skripal poisonings case. They're now working on solving last year's attack on NordStream2. Eliot Higgins and the people he surrounds himself with are among the most sophisticated independent journalists in the world, and they do a lot of work with AI. Their website is https://www.bellingcat.com/
This was a test for the general. Expect the perpetrators to learn how to improve their efforts, especially since their crime will go unchecked.
Joyce, I wanted to let you know that I had written to my Congressman, Mark DeSaulnier, by using ResistBot provided by Jessica Craven on her Substack “Chop Wood Carry Water”. I asked him to consider joining me in asking that Trump’s court challenges by televised. He agreed and sent me an email saying so. YAY! I urge everyone to use this tool.
Yes, due to Joyce telling us about Craven and ultimately learning about Resistbot, I’ve used it several times and have always received a positive reply.
Absolutely D. O.,
You said it as I was beginning to write. Trump is the biggest opponent of mail in voting. And this is why.
Yep, Valere, we seem to be on the same page. I looked down and Joyce had already responded to D. O.
Not sure what the mechanism is to get that done, probably different state by state, but there needs to be an advocacy group that will pick up on it then roll with it.. maybe there is already?
Yes, it is usually the state board of the League of Women Voters (but all genders are welcome just because it has a women doesn’t mean it’s exclusive). I believe it has been a national voted on level at the league board nationally. It’s part of their platform for voter access. But each state league would then use the members of the local leagues to start the campaign. So each state has how they vote in their code of their constitution. So the lLeagud would propose legislation, or they would do a con con they would do a convention. All the leagues have a policy person who does a lot of writing for the legislation. And you need someone at the legislature to take it as their bill and promote it so you want someone who can get the job done with a lot of power. And then that would be followed by voting to change the constitution. It needs kind of a groundswell of popular buy-in.
Each state may have a different percentage requirement but what you wanna do is to get the legislature in their legislative session to vote that percentage to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. So for example if it’s 2/3 or 66.67% of the vote during one legislative Session or even a simple majority and two successive legislative sessions you can get a constitutional amendment on the ballot and then in November when people go into vote, that’s part of what they vote for, if it’s midterm, such as the middle the four year election cycle, the citizens would vote on it. At the time they went into elect local state, and any representatives or senators what is absolutely key is to get a lot of publicity. You want a huge turnout for this. This is something everyone can work on beginning now and follow it up. Even after we have Biden reelected it’s part of the things we have to do to bring transparency and voting rights. Do you mind telling me what state you’re in. I know we try to maintain confidentiality but I can let you know a little bit about how active your league might be in the state you’re in.
In Illinois, we now have a permanent vote-by-mail option, which only requires that you sign up for it. I did for myself and my mom. Now, for EVERY election, I get an email saying the ballots are in the mail, we get them and vote, and mail them back, and also get emailed when they've received them. It's the next best thing to voting online, which I wish we could ALL do. We can bank online -- my bank for the past several years has been in Kansas City, I've never even seen it -- and we can get our medical records online. In this climate, I'm not hopeful we'll be able to vote online any time soon, but it will get there, and a lot of this voter suppression crap will stop.
I'm with you up to the point where you said 'voting on-line'. That is a recipe for disaster. Paper, traceable ballots should never be abandoned. The Internet is NOT secure, and will never be secure enough to trust it for voting. That is a law of physics, not morals. Be careful what you wish for: putting voting on-line will only make it more susceptible to fraud. Real fraud, not just the pissant stuff the GOP tries now.
Not only that, but even now, not everyone has ready access to a computer. Although the Federal government has invested millions in upgrading wireless access to rural areas, in New England we have a good many areas that aren't well-covered...or possibly not covered at all. I would LOVE to see mailed-in ballots--easy, convenient with clear paper trails.
We've got them in Massachusetts. Mail-in is easy, but I like to visit the poll in person.
Me, too...but it's not always easy for folks who work shifts or have limited access to vehicles.
Or who are disabled, like I am.
Hi TL,
Call the state league president of your state. Ask if they would help write legislation to bring to the next session. Sometimes session start in January, so you might already have missed the deadline to get your bill in but you can do it for next session. Typically how to vote is part of the constitution of each state, so how to change that as you do a con, constitutional convention or change the constitution. That goes on the ballot for November. So if you’re too late this year do it on the ballot for 2025 and I will give you a real head start and a program to work on after Biden is reelected. If there is resistance as there is in some states, just keep building the momentum and writing letters to the editor and making this a very, very popular well-known well supported effort. Get someone really credible in the legislature behind you. It won’t hurt to work with the kids at schools as part of their civic group. National League has plenty of examples of how to publicize and promote this process because they’re very much in favor of voting transparency, and stopping suppression of voting. They were founded for that reason. State league usually presents the testimony, getting it sponsored, getting it through the committees. It’s a lot of testimony. But a lot of people can show up and show support for it. You’re looking to get a constitutional amendment to vote on in November, but you might be a little bit too late right now to get it to your legislator. US league of women voters has copies of proposals and things like that. If you can get an advocate who will write the bill for you both Senate and representative side it will be helpful.
Already contacted the state Rep for this area...we are going to take it to a meeting of the local Dem committee and see if it's something that could get started.
Fabulous TL! If you can, please involve the League of Women Voters as well. They have members - and the members have neighbors, relatives. They are a fabulous sourse for getting the word out. And because they are nonpartisan, people trust them when they advocate and endorse this kind of change. Congratulations:))
And another issue is the Postal System. We still have Trump's pick in charge there - and from the bits I've seen of his attitude during Congress's hearings - hes got pretty much the same arrogance that tfg has. Why in the world hasnt there been some more effort to get him out?
Hand-marked paper ballots are the gold standard.
I vote for paper mail in. Someone somewhere will alway find a way to compromise the computer.
This is the kind of ID verification I could get behind. Short of being bar coded at birth or having a chip implanted, it seems the next best thing. But, alas, something like this is still probably decades away. As far as I know, the government is still operating on some operating system from the last century.
Virginia also has the permanent vote-by-mail option. They even tell me when my ballot reaches the post office and again when my ballot is counted (as soon as it’s received). If I decide to vote in person, I simply go to the polls and turn in my not-filled-out absentee ballot and then vote. Hurrah Virginia!
Same here in California.
Same in California
I've been voting this way in California for years! It's just wonderful!
Me too, but I was really disappointed with the low percentage who bothered to vote in 2020 and 2022. especially since the State paid the postage and even gave us ballot trax. I really don't know what else we can do to improve the voting record here.
Isn't it required in Australia? I think they have the key, and in this one regard are smarter than we are.
I don't know what Australia does. I can only keep track of myself most of the time! LOL! :)
I read that once in a comments section from someone in Australia, and asked what the enforcement entailed, but he never answered. I don't know how you could force people to vote, except maybe fines, which seems over the top. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make her drink."
Same in Washington state.
Same here in Michigan. Extremely voter-friendly!
In Washington state everyone votes by mail. I don't see why that can't be done nationwide.
Also why isn't election day a national holiday?
It should be a national holiday. We need to have blue house and Senate and presidency and push for that. Each state has how to vote in their constitution and so it’s a state issue to change their constitution with a constitutional amendment. That’s not a easy to do when you have to go against voter suppression. It takes a lot of activity to get a groundswell of people pushing for a constitutional amendment. That would go on the ballot in November, following it being voted on in the state legislature. Usually states require 2/3 of the legislators to vote for the constitutional amendment to have it go on the ballot for citizens to vote up or down. The reasons have to be clearly stated: as Joyce has, and educate the public - to always have them involved, working with your group.
Desatan and his gop enablers here if floriduh have introduced a bill to eliminate our option to vote by mail, unless we are not present in our county at election time, and can prove it. And yet, we persist (with fingers crossed) in our efforts to get folks signed up for vbm. They have passed laws already requiring folks to re-register for vbm for each election, that apparently wasn't good enough voter suppression.
I don't trust mail-in voting in Texas. I tried it once and Texas rules made it confusing, and I never got confirmation of receipt of my ballot. I'm sure I followed the directions, but the lack of confirmation or the opportunity to cure any issue makes it a non-starter for me for even-year elections. I vote in person, even during the pandemic (vaccinatedand masked), but I always take advantage of the early voting window.
For those living abroad Democrats Abroad is available as a voter support resource in many countries. https://www.democratsabroad.org/
They can advise you on how to get and submit your ballot via email if that is available in your state, and if you have any questions about voting from abroad they answer them. Of course military personnel is one of the largest groups that votes. They also have groups that are organized around different topics, and can help you find like minded people while abroad.
I received my Democratic absentee ballot in SC today and will be delivering it by hand to Election Headquarters in the morning. It is an act of faith only as there are only three names; my BIDEN, Dean Phillips and Marianne Phillips, the latter two unlikely to get a significant number of votes. But I have it in my hands and somehow that feels like a huge win.🏆
Yippee Judith! Be safe tomorrow and congratulations to you on this win!
'I'm still waiting...ta da daaa'
It is so very frustrating to have to deal with so many instances of voter suppression. Republicans, instead of governing and explaining their policy positions, use lies and other means to suppress voting because they know they cannot win otherwise. Voting is essential for a democracy.
I just saw somewhere that Georgia is purging voters again. It’s gotten so now that one has to continually check with their board of elections to see if they are still registered to vote. Disgusting state of affairs!
The GOP legislated voter suppression in over 17 states through the complicity of Heritage Foundation and RNC committees on « election integrity" and from there works to exclude eligible voters (including especially college students and those who have recently moved) through Cleta Mitchell’s dark money funded, successful efforts to persuade many of those same states to abandon the ERIC system of voter validation for one with built-in bias.
This is just the beginning of voter suppression. Sometimes November looms faraway. AI is going to be a real problem. I watched Lawrence O’Donnell and he played part of the call. It was a good imitation of President Biden. I applaud Congressman Morelle writing to General Merrick Garland to open an investigation
As always, the problem is the investigation/court decision is slower than the act (in this case voter suppression). What Abbott’s done in Texas, for example: transporting migrants, barbed wire, devices in the Rio Grande, voter suppression, may (will) be overturned by the courts. But everything was implemented immediately. The NH voter suppression may be investigated but it already happened, which will likely keep some people from the polls.
You may be correct. I was going by what Joyce said about the distinction between voter fraud and voter suppression.
The only way republicans can win is to cheat! I’ve been busy today but let me add that the E. Jean Carroll trial was put on hold due to possible Covid and then Habba walks her skanky butt in the courtroom knowing she’s been exposed. Maybe TFG will get it again and he won’t be so lucky this time. 🤞🏼
One can only hope
These bastards are out early honing their game, seeing how various AI-generated "deepfakes" would play out with a *relatively* informed electorate...any sort of success here would translate big to a much larger pool of the ubiquitous
"low information voter". Demo voter maven Marc Elias and co. have a huge challenge facing them as we move toward the November general elections, and alerting the DOJ as early as possible to have all hands on deck to investigate these dirty tricks during the primaries, one hopes, will sensitize the authorities to what's in store for us throughout this year.
Well put! Agree 100 percent.
I saw something last week about how in Virginia they had decided not to indict a Republican election person. It seems that about 4,000 votes for Biden had been discovered uncounted. But, to teach this guy a lesson, they let him off with a slap on the hand. I seem to remember that Democrats don't fare as well, often if they cast a Provisional Ballot because they didn't know if they could legally vote yet or not.....and found out that they weren't allowed to yet, they got 5 yrs back in jail. Yes, she was black and this happened in my state of Texas. I am so damned tired of there being 2 sets of punishment for voter fraud.....Republicans found to vote twice, slap on the wrist, 5 weeks probation and a fine of $500. VOTE BLUE! I yield back my time.
Joyce,
The Times of London has a feature that each day looks back at a chosen event from 100 years ago.
From The Times January 23, 1924
"Lenin is dead. His agony has been long. For over a year he has dragged out the slow days in a living death. The bowl is broken, and he is gone. He died in a house confiscated from a once wealthy merchant not far from Moscow. For many weeks his followers, already weary of the artificial legend of his leadership, have been disputing his succession.
Lenin was Bolshevism, and Bolshevism was Lenin. Rarely in modern times has a man so strongly impressed his own individuality upon a movement of astounding extent and still incalculable consequences. He was something that is not known even yet. He was a force that is everywhere felt. He was a disturber, for whose action analogies must be sought in remote and barbarous periods of history. Yet he was a man of our generation, whom not a few contemporaries have seen and heard. The ruin he has wrought in a great Empire is manifest.
The destructive doctrines he taught are still poisoning the minds of many millions. Yet he was no superman. Lenin was extraordinary because the times in which we live are extraordinary. For he himself, in spite of all the destructive changes he has wrought, in spite of all the fierce convulsions that are connected with his name, was but an ordinary, a rather commonplace man, and the secret of his still hardly credible success lies in a striking coincidence between certain qualities of his character and some tendencies of the historical environment into which he was thrust in his later years.
It was not as a thinker that he attained prominence, but as a remarkable tactician. He had little experience of men, but he had an incomparable instinct for human weakness. That short, bald-headed, snub-nosed man set himself to the task of making the restless masses of the Russian people the centre and starting-point of a great world upheaval.
Lenin won for a time; he carried out an immense work of destruction in a great country; he annihilated opposition by a systematic and maniacal application of terror, and he propelled revolutionary forces into the confusion and unrest of post-war Europe. He was paralysed by the effort, and failure came before the paralysis. His followers, divided and distracted, are disputing over the tradition he has created."
George Santyana wrote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." While that thought has been over used in the past, it is now becoming way too real. When I look at this falls election, I am seeing the 1932 German election right along side of our election.
Letʻs hope we wake up in time.
We need a new category of criminal behavior; crimes against democracy. Legislation that makes voting more difficult for certain sectors of the voting public is criminal behavior under this concept. Political speech that directly contradicts core tenants of our constitution would be a form of criminal behavior. Our vaunted belief in "freedom of speech" shouldn't be forced to include freedom to lie, and to lie again and again until substantial fractions of the electorate accept the lie as truthful. I fail to see how protecting the right to practice pathalogic lying strengthens our democracy or the institutions that undergird our democratic processes.
I think the Democrats inflicted a wound upon themselves with the decision to forgo a primary in New Hampshire. Far better would have been fierce GOTV efforts to show the Repuglicans what they will be up against in the general election.
Why should NH be first, every single time? It’s not like NH has a god given right. They are arrogant to think it is their right to always be first. And neither IA or NH have any resemblance to the demographics of the USA. I think primaries should be done by regions, and the order of the regions rotated every 4 years. It would save on fuel and hopefully be over in less time. The latter would be a huge benefit. The election season goes on way too long.
interesting thought, and far too logical for a process driven by political motives!!!
Amen. Too white, too set in their ways, not at all representative of the nation as a whole. Long past time to boot them from their arrogance.
It is our state's law that we go first. I agree, it should rotate, but until the law gets challenged and changed, we're going first, even if it means we vote in 2026 for the 2028 election. Not right, but there you are.
What gives NH the right to say "We're first"? Unconstitutional, I say. It should be challenged, in the Supreme Court if necessary.
Yup...New Hamster is an odd place. They apparently feel that with their sparse population (which is VERY unrepresentative of the country as a whole) and their meagre allotment of electoral votes, they would never ever see an actual candidate campaign there unless they did something to stand out.
(we can see New Hampshire from our backyard...)
NH Voter here, I hear you. NH's state law requires us to go first. Until someone challenges that in court, we're going first.
Yes I know it is in your state constitution. And I feel the pain about never seeing a candidate. I live in a state like that. (Personally at this point I don’t need a presidential candidate to come to my state. I won’t go to see them if they do. Lots of other less hectic ways to get info these days.)
Still, the arrogance of putting the “me first” in the constitution says all we need to know. Time to change it NH, time to change it. You have to share your toys with the other 49 kids.
I hear you! We've loved having candidates here to meet them, and it felt strange not to go to any events this year, but I agree with you. We need to spread the wealth around. In 2020, we got to meet Eric Swalwell, Corey Booker, Amy Klobuchar. In 2016, got to see HRC in person. Seeing them in person actually does bring you insight you don't get in other ways.
In 2020? In the middle of Covid, when there were no vaccines??? You went to large meetings? Yikes.
National voter legislation (and ideally a Constitutional amendment expressly establishing the unfettered right to vote) is the way to assure remedies for voter suppression. Presently states have and exercise the power to suppress votes.
We need to be careful making laws about ideologies. It is a slippery slope that could impact religion, party affiliation, marriage, speech, and many other rights. I get your point though; it seems that when something impacts the greater good and harm results that it ought to be stopped. But then who gets to decide, etc.
👍👍
I think it is a crime and has long been a crime. See Nixon v. Herndon (1927). But the only way to stop suppression is what almost all :democracies do and that is mandatory (automatic) registration at age 18 or upon becoming naturalized.. We are also among the very few countries that have "elections" that does not allow prisoners to vote...of course are infested with the same people that would be disenfranchised if they weren't in prison. Thank God Nevada just re-enfranchised (except for major felonies)prisoners.
How about everyone file taxes (even if zero income) and also register to vote with your tax forms? No one wants to pay someone else's taxes, so fraud would be less likely?
well the problem with that is some people, older and only on soc sec; younger and in college; laid off and out of unemp. ins, or on welfare wouldn't be able to vote. and I hardly ever paid taxes because I often supported a dozen or more hangers-on unable to find work. so now I'm on the bottom rung of social security and still have three non-working adults to support. Why not just be registered automatically on 18th birthday? Registering my tax filings excludes the very people some are already trying to exclude.
I think the League ofWomen Voters is Non Partisan rather than bipartisan.
They tell we voters information regardless of political affiliation, including via Maplight, from where money comes.
They are one of the few unpolluted institutions in this ignorant country.
Voter suppression has always been a weapon in Trump's toolbox. Let's not forget that even before the 2020 election, Trump brought on a new Postmaster General and tasked him with implementing a novel "efficiency "program that would delay the receipt of mail-in votes, most of which were expected to favor Joe Biden. For 2024, Trump expects the state legislatures controlled by Republicans to promote measures designed to intimidate voters, especially those in heavy Democratic urban areas, from voting. No ploy is too sleazy for Donald Trump and his Republican allies.
I'm looking forward to writing in Joe Biden on my Democratic ballot here in beautiful New Hampshire. It won't matter, of course., thanks to the DNC. It wasn't very smart to let the Republicans hog the spotlight.
Had to be done to teach NH it doesn't hold sway. And NH laws that say they do are just plain unconstitutional and should have no effect on the rest of the country.
Why the hostility? All this did was to cause bad feelings amongst Democrats when the party really needs to be united.
You ought to check out what is happening in Nevada. The NVGOP, headed by two false electors, is telling folks to toss their primary ballots in favor of a pay-to-play caucus that the NPGOP is running parallel to the state-mandated primary. Yep, to get on the caucus slate, the candidate had to fork up $55K to the NVGOP.There were three candidates willing to do that, two have dropped out. Trump automatically gets all 26 of our delegates. That’s just $2115.38 trump had to pay per delegate, if he paid anything at all. This stinks to high heaven.
The justification for running a caucus parallel to the state-mandated primary highlighted the Trumpian strategy of denigrating mail-in voting. The phone calls, social media, ads in newspapers all undercut votes for all other candidates, especially Nikki Haley, who refused to pay $55K and instead used her money to continue to campaign.
Should read: “Nikki Haley, who refused to pay $55K ...”.
If you click on the three dots in the lower right corner of your post you can edit it.
Ah, I can correct here, but not on the main page.
Thanks, Bob. Yes, I tried. I didn’t get an edit option. Odd, because it’s always worked before. My text appeared above and I couldn’t make changes.
“GOP aide sentenced to prison for phone jamming”
Anne Saunders THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 18, 2006
Former Republican National Committee official James Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in prison yesterday for his role in an Election Day phone-jamming plot against New Hampshire Democrats.
Tobin, of Bangor, Maine, was found guilty in December on two felony telephone harassment charges. He also was fined $10,000, followed by two years probation. The judge rejected a request from Tobin’s lawyers for a six-month sentence of home confinement and community service.
U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe said yesterday he was impressed by the letters and testimony about Tobin’s many acts of kindness toward friends and family, but wished Tobin “had a better sense of how serious this was.”
The phone jamming was not just a dirty trick, he said. “It was a direct assault on a free and fair electoral system. ... We’ll never know if the wrong people are sitting in government because of this effort.”
—-My comment: they should have sentenced Tobin to 10 YEARS in prison, not 10 months.
I have crazy fingers tonight. Just wanted to add my thanks as you are always keeping us abreast of late breaking issues.
I have always voted by an absentee ballot. It's the way to go!