Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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Wino wrote: Thu Feb 17, 2022 8:05 pm Tomorrow is dead line for them to have in hand - not mailed - in their hands by 5PM 2/18/22. Appears Abbott screwed you as far as mail in is concerned. If applied, not received, they may not let you vote in person or do so in a provisional vote that will probably not be counted. Again, I expect this years voting turn out will be smallest turnout in modern times due to requirements and rejections.
The fact that the Valley has traditionally been a liberal bastion wouldn't have any relevance, would it?
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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sig230 wrote: Fri Feb 18, 2022 8:21 am
Wino wrote: Thu Feb 17, 2022 8:05 pm Tomorrow is dead line for them to have in hand - not mailed - in their hands by 5PM 2/18/22. Appears Abbott screwed you as far as mail in is concerned. If applied, not received, they may not let you vote in person or do so in a provisional vote that will probably not be counted. Again, I expect this years voting turn out will be smallest turnout in modern times due to requirements and rejections.
The fact that the Valley has traditionally been a liberal bastion wouldn't have any relevance, would it?
Mea culpa - I misread - actually says : Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (Received, not Postmarked) 5:00 P.M. (CST)
Friday, February 18, 2022


So you may not be screwed as yet. Saw that this morning whilst attempting to check local county status of ballot - link still dead and old link I had in favorites says does not exist.
Do agree RGV particularly, and across the state, new law designed to dent predominant left voters. I expect it will affect right winger voters just as badly - even though if it's on equal ratio basis, left still loses in this state.
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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Partisan tactic by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s campaign delays thousands of requests for mail-in ballots from Texas voters

Thousands of applications for mail-in ballots submitted by Texas voters have been delayed — and some voters may ultimately not receive ballots — because Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's campaign instructed eligible voters to send requests for absentee ballots to the Texas secretary of state’s office instead of their local elections offices.

A mass mailing by Patrick went out to Republican voters across the state in January, ahead of the March primary, and included a two-page letter emblazoned with the seal of his office encouraging voters to submit the requests following “three easy steps.” The problem was the third step, which instructed voters to return the applications in an enclosed reply envelope that was addressed to the state.

The lieutenant governor’s campaign said it used the secretary of state's address because “many Republican voters are rightly suspicious of Blue County election officials.”

“The decision to direct return mail to the Secretary of State (SOS), someone who is trusted and respected, gave voters an added layer of comfort,” Allen Blakemore, a campaign consultant for Patrick, wrote in an email.

But the campaign’s approach forced the secretary of state, which had a stated policy of rejecting applications erroneously sent its way, to sort and forward the Patrick-inspired forms to the counties where they should have been sent originally.

The delayed delivery could put voters’ requests for mail-in ballots at risk as counties continue to see higher-than-normal rejection rates of applications under new ID requirements enacted by Republicans last year. Any issues with defective applications must be resolved by Friday so voters can receive a mail-in ballot.

State workers have been forwarding the waylaid applications to respective counties, which this week were still receiving packages containing hundreds of misdirected applications.

The fiasco has further muddled the first election held since Patrick, as head of the state Senate, presided over last year's passage of new laws tightening voting processes, including a measure making it a crime for local election officials to send out applications for mail-in ballots to people who did not request them.

“Everyone age 65 and older has earned the right to vote early by mail. As Republicans, we have fought to make it easier to vote while protecting election integrity, so we need to make sure we increase our turnout by taking full advantage of this convenient and secure voting option,” Patrick wrote in a letter dated Jan. 20 that was attached with the applications.

Though the letter contains the official state seal for the lieutenant governor, as allowed by law, the materials were labeled as being sent out by Patrick’s campaign and not at taxpayer expense.

The mailing went out to voters in Harris County and central Texas, with Patrick endorsing area Republican candidates in different versions of his letter obtained by The Texas Tribune. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently reported the mailer also reached Tarrant County residents.

Unsolicited mailing campaigns from candidates and political parties are not uncommon. But Republicans’ penchant for encouraging voting by mail for their voters has come under scrutiny as they've worked to limit expansions of mail-in voting during the pandemic and criminalized the mailing of applications by county election administrators to voters who did not request them.

Republican lawmakers last year made it a state jail felony for local election officials to send out unsolicited applications for mail-in ballots, even to voters 65 and older who automatically qualify under the state’s strict eligibility requirements. They also prohibited local officials from even encouraging people to vote by mail.

The full scale of Patrick’s mailing efforts is unclear; his campaign did not answer a question about the reach of the mailings. But the secretary of state’s office previously told some county officials that it had received at least two pallets of applications, and some local election officials have indicated they were receiving hundreds of delayed applications.

“The SOS has always accepted ABBMs and quickly and efficiently routed them to the proper local offices,” Blakemore said, referring to applications for a ballot by mail. “We believe that this will ensure that Blue County election officials are more likely to properly handle our ABBMs when they know they are being watched and monitored by the SOS.”

In an email responding to questions about the misdirected applications, a spokesperson for the Texas secretary of state did not address the mailing campaign by the lieutenant governor.

“Generally speaking, we request that voters do not mail, fax, or email completed applications for Ballot by Mail to the Secretary of State Office,” wrote Sam Taylor, the spokesperson, noting that the office would forward applications to early voting clerks “as a courtesy to help the voter.”

“It is not the voter’s fault if a third party put the incorrect return address on an ABBM, so we want to ensure voters are not adversely affected by that,” Taylor said.

This appears to be a departure from the office’s previous stance on applications wrongly sent to its office. The secretary of state’s website previously warned voters against sending applications to its office, noting that “all applications received by this office will be rejected.” That language was removed from the website at the beginning of the month, according to a screenshot of the same page archived by the Wayback Machine.

County election officials receiving the waylaid applications this week are now under a time crunch to process them and reach out to voters if their applications are defective. Hundreds of applications to vote by mail in the primary have been initially rejected in recent weeks after voters did not fill out new ID rules that require them to provide a driver’s license number or partial Social Security number.

Voters can correct the issue but must do so by the Friday deadline for counties to receive applications for the primary election. Otherwise, their application will be finally rejected.

You must provide an ID number

The Texas Legislature last year created new identification requirements for voting by mail that require voters to provide their driver’s license or state ID number or, if they haven’t been assigned those, the last four digits of their Social Security number. If they don’t have either, voters can also indicate they have not been issued that identification.

This is required both when applying for a ballot and when you return it

On an application for a mail-in ballot, the ID field is near the top of the form. If you're returning a completed ballot, you'll find the ID field under the flap of the carrier envelope your county sent you with your ballot.

The deadline for counties to receive applications is Feb. 18. Completed ballots must be postmarked by 7 p.m. on March 1. They can also be delivered in person on election day.

Your ID number must match your voter registration record

It's unlikely that voters know which number is attached to their voter registration record. While the new rules only require you to provide one ID number, voters can provide both a driver's license number and the last four digits of your Social Security number to avoid issues.

Counties must accept applications with both numbers, as long as at least one matches what they have on file.

You can make corrections if you forget to include it but the window is narrowing

For applications: You may be able to correct the issue by signing in to the state's new online ballot tracker using both your driver's license number and partial Social Security number. If you're unable to correct the issue online, you may have to send in a new application.

For ballots: The process for correcting an ID issue depends on when your county receives your ballot. If there's enough time before the deadline, officials will send back your carrier envelope with instructions on how to submit the missing ID information.
Taylor said the secretary of state’s office had been working to “expedite” the forwarding of applications it received and planned to label those that came to them before the deadline to request mail-in ballots.

The unsolicited mailings come as the Texas attorney general argues in federal court that the restrictions on county election officials in regard to voting by mail are intended to limit “official encouragement” of voting by mail. In a hearing for a related case, a lawyer for the attorney general indicated to a federal judge last week that the state preferred people vote in person even if they qualify to vote by mail.

On Thursday, Blakemore defended the new prohibitions as “guard rails” established by the Legislature following Harris County’s unsuccessful attempt to send applications for mail-in ballots to all of its registered voters in 2020.

“It was that overreach, as well as drive-thru-voting, that brought about SB1,” Blakemore said.

In 2020, Patrick referred to vote-by-mail expansion efforts as a “scam by Democrats to steal the election,” saying there was no reason anyone under 65 should be “able to say I am afraid to go vote” during the pandemic. Patrick himself has used the voting option, opting to vote by mail in a 2007 Houston municipal election and an ensuing runoff.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/17 ... n-patrick/

I'll post a separate thread about Patrick as the new power behind the throne in Texas
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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As of now - county ballot status checker link still dead; state works, but no progress on approval after 2/16 receipt of ballot. Primary election in 10 days - won't leave much time to get sorted if ballot not approved for some shit reason. I know all the I's have been dotted and T's crossed on ballot and should be NO reason to not approve - but this is red Texas and run by turd disciples.
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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Wino wrote: Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:28 am As of now - county ballot status checker link still dead; state works, but no progress on approval after 2/16 receipt of ballot. Primary election in 10 days - won't leave much time to get sorted if ballot not approved for some shit reason. I know all the I's have been dotted and T's crossed on ballot and should be NO reason to not approve - but this is red Texas and run by turd disciples.

Can you go to the polls on election day and vote provisionally? If they received your mail in ballot the provisional one wouldn't count, if they didn't the provisional one would count.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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highdesert wrote: Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:33 am
Wino wrote: Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:28 am As of now - county ballot status checker link still dead; state works, but no progress on approval after 2/16 receipt of ballot. Primary election in 10 days - won't leave much time to get sorted if ballot not approved for some shit reason. I know all the I's have been dotted and T's crossed on ballot and should be NO reason to not approve - but this is red Texas and run by turd disciples.

Can you go to the polls on election day and vote provisionally? If they received your mail in ballot the provisional one wouldn't count, if they didn't the provisional one would count.
Provisional, possibly. Whether it would be counted is another matter. I know that if you are sent a mail in ballot and you decide to vote in person, you have to bring your incomplete ballot to poll and then vote provisional - last I checked on that scenario, so presume same today. If for some reason my ballot is denied, I should be able to vote provisional, again with little confidence it would be counted. All this bullshit is all so unnecessary !! FDT !!!!
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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sig230 wrote: Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:56 am Still haven't even gotten the ballot.
You're not on the approved list to get one. :sarcasm:
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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Never got my ballot but finally got through to a human at the Elections Office and they said my application to vote by mail was rejected. They claim to have sent a notice that it was rejected but like the ballot, it too never arrived. I'll have to try the polling location near me or wait until March 1.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

36
My returned ballot for March 1 Dem primary is still in limbo/under review. Still having to check state site as local link to check status still dead.
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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CDFingers wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:37 am Will the Dems fluff this exquisite gift?
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We'll find out after these messages...

CDFingers
:clap2: One of abbott’s primary challengers is essentially calling him a liberal socialist! LoL. Twisted politics and propaganda. It seems anyone can be tarred and feathered with labels.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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sikacz wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:00 pm
:clap2: One of abbott’s primary challengers is essentially calling him a liberal socialist! LoL. Twisted politics and propaganda. It seems anyone can be tarred and feathered with labels.
You would be mentioning Don Huffines by chance. He is further rightwing than any of the other candidates.

Huffines remained politically active after losing his Senate re-election campaign. He was critical of Governor Greg Abbott's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically lockdowns, and spoke at numerous far-right rallies calling for the reopening of the state.[14]

On May 10, 2021, Huffines announced that he would challenge Abbott in the 2022 Republican primary for governor of Texas.[15] As a candidate, Huffines has warned of a Communist invasion of Californians moving to Texas and has advocated to bring prayer back to schools and dared "the Supreme Court to come to Texas to enforce the separation of church and state."[16]

In August 2021, Huffines accused Abbott of using tax dollars to "advocate for transgender ideology". Huffines was referring to two pages on the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services' (DFPS) website that contained resources for LGBTQ youths, including a suicide hotline. The pages were removed from the site within hours.[17]

In November 2021, Huffines publicly criticized a children's book-reading event at a public library in Denton, Texas, incorrectly referring to it as "transgender storytime". This led to the library receiving violent threats and cancelling the event. In response, a mother of a transgender child organized a new event at a different location, which was attended by hundreds.[18][19]

In January 2022, Huffines declined to fire a staffer who had previously worked for far-right conspiracy website InfoWars and who had ties to the white nationalist movement; in a statement, Huffines said that his campaign would not engage in "cancel culture".[20][21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Huffi ... _candidacy

He would be further right than Stephen Miller or Sebastian Gorka.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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TrueTexan wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:22 pm
sikacz wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:00 pm
:clap2: One of abbott’s primary challengers is essentially calling him a liberal socialist! LoL. Twisted politics and propaganda. It seems anyone can be tarred and feathered with labels.
You would be mentioning Don Huffines by chance. He is further rightwing than any of the other candidates.

Huffines remained politically active after losing his Senate re-election campaign. He was critical of Governor Greg Abbott's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically lockdowns, and spoke at numerous far-right rallies calling for the reopening of the state.[14]

On May 10, 2021, Huffines announced that he would challenge Abbott in the 2022 Republican primary for governor of Texas.[15] As a candidate, Huffines has warned of a Communist invasion of Californians moving to Texas and has advocated to bring prayer back to schools and dared "the Supreme Court to come to Texas to enforce the separation of church and state."[16]

In August 2021, Huffines accused Abbott of using tax dollars to "advocate for transgender ideology". Huffines was referring to two pages on the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services' (DFPS) website that contained resources for LGBTQ youths, including a suicide hotline. The pages were removed from the site within hours.[17]

In November 2021, Huffines publicly criticized a children's book-reading event at a public library in Denton, Texas, incorrectly referring to it as "transgender storytime". This led to the library receiving violent threats and cancelling the event. In response, a mother of a transgender child organized a new event at a different location, which was attended by hundreds.[18][19]

In January 2022, Huffines declined to fire a staffer who had previously worked for far-right conspiracy website InfoWars and who had ties to the white nationalist movement; in a statement, Huffines said that his campaign would not engage in "cancel culture".[20][21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Huffi ... _candidacy

He would be further right than Stephen Miller or Sebastian Gorka.
That’s the nutter! LoL.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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highdesert wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 2:50 pm Abbott and Beto are comfortably ahead of their primary opponents, so they'll face off in November. Beto shot himself in the foot as a gun grabber during the presidential debates, I don't think he'll ever recover from that.

Abbott has a comfortable lead over Beto.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epoll ... -7376.html
I’ll probably vote for a green or leave it blank if my only choices are between abbott and beto.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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Unfortunately we will probably continue with the Three Stooges and other TOT minions still running things in the State of Chaos Texas
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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TrueTexan wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 3:51 pm Unfortunately we will probably continue with the Three Stooges and other TOT minions still running things in the State of Chaos Texas
Yes. When the f will the dems get better candidates. I found very few I could vote for.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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sikacz wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 4:51 pm
TrueTexan wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 3:51 pm Unfortunately we will probably continue with the Three Stooges and other TOT minions still running things in the State of Chaos Texas
Yes. When the f will the dems get better candidates. I found very few I could vote for.

I suspect that will be my problem in June, too many gun grabbers with a "D" after their names.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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The worst Democrat is better than the best republican in current political environment.
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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highdesert wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 10:29 pm
sikacz wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 4:51 pm
TrueTexan wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 3:51 pm Unfortunately we will probably continue with the Three Stooges and other TOT minions still running things in the State of Chaos Texas
Yes. When the f will the dems get better candidates. I found very few I could vote for.

I suspect that will be my problem in June, too many gun grabbers with a "D" after their names.
I’m wondering what will get their attention.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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sikacz wrote: Sat Feb 26, 2022 8:46 am
highdesert wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 10:29 pm
sikacz wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 4:51 pm
TrueTexan wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 3:51 pm Unfortunately we will probably continue with the Three Stooges and other TOT minions still running things in the State of Chaos Texas
Yes. When the f will the dems get better candidates. I found very few I could vote for.

I suspect that will be my problem in June, too many gun grabbers with a "D" after their names.
I’m wondering what will get their attention.

They are so brain washed with fear of firearms, I'm not sure what would get their attention. They're like Trumpers, they are beyond reason it's all emotion with no room for logical discussions.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: 2022 Midterm Elections

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highdesert wrote: Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:53 am
sikacz wrote: Sat Feb 26, 2022 8:46 am
highdesert wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 10:29 pm
sikacz wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 4:51 pm
Yes. When the f will the dems get better candidates. I found very few I could vote for.

I suspect that will be my problem in June, too many gun grabbers with a "D" after their names.
I’m wondering what will get their attention.

They are so brain washed with fear of firearms, I'm not sure what would get their attention. They're like Trumpers, they are beyond reason it's all emotion with no room for logical discussions.
That doesn't really make the dems very attractive. Voting for a lesser evil doesn't bring about a change in thinking. It just seems to reinforce bad policies. Need to shift to an alternative then. The argument is getting old, every election cycle it's the same, "at least we're not republicans" only goes so far in my opinion. I voted dem primary, but I'm not enthusiastic about their likely candidates in November.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

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