Okay, the Cubbies are in a "do or die" situation with the Indians one game away from winning the World Series OR tying it up 3-3 and going back to Cleveland for the final game! So while we are waiting for the end of the world as we know it ('cause I just know that Nostradamus wrote an apocalyptic quatrain about the 2016 Cubs/Indians game), let's discuss "absentee voting".
As a taxpaying, registered voter in the state of New York, I do not have the right to the following:
1. To vote in the our primaries because I am not registered in a party.
2. To have a referendum added to the ballot because that is the job of our elected officials.
3. To vote absentee without a pretty damn good reason
Qualifications to Vote by Absentee Ballot in New York:
-Absent from your county or, if a resident of New York City absent from said city, on Election Day.
-Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability; or because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled.
-A patient or inmate in a Veterans' Administration Hospital.
-Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.
And they say that New York is so liberal...well, that, but I literally vote in a church. Now I don't have a problem with this per se. My issue is that with all the screaming about "separation of Church & State" being all sacred and all so's religion doesn't have any undo influence on the peeps, WHY AM I VOTING IN A CHURCH WITH A GIANT CRUCIFIX HANGING ON THE WALL?? And yet, I am not allowed to gaze upon a nativity scene in any public space 'cause "separation of Church and State".
We are clearly behind the times in New York. What are the qualifications for early voting in your state?
Or any other topic you choose.
As a taxpaying, registered voter in the state of New York, I do not have the right to the following:
1. To vote in the our primaries because I am not registered in a party.
2. To have a referendum added to the ballot because that is the job of our elected officials.
3. To vote absentee without a pretty damn good reason
Qualifications to Vote by Absentee Ballot in New York:
-Absent from your county or, if a resident of New York City absent from said city, on Election Day.
-Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability; or because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled.
-A patient or inmate in a Veterans' Administration Hospital.
-Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.
And they say that New York is so liberal...well, that, but I literally vote in a church. Now I don't have a problem with this per se. My issue is that with all the screaming about "separation of Church & State" being all sacred and all so's religion doesn't have any undo influence on the peeps, WHY AM I VOTING IN A CHURCH WITH A GIANT CRUCIFIX HANGING ON THE WALL?? And yet, I am not allowed to gaze upon a nativity scene in any public space 'cause "separation of Church and State".
We are clearly behind the times in New York. What are the qualifications for early voting in your state?
Or any other topic you choose.
14 comments:
California - If you are a Republican they often re-register you as a Democrat, but anyone can absentee vote, no ID, no nothing. Send in the form and vote for the Clinton of your choice. So voting day for me was two weeks ago, and yes, I had to re-register as a Republican, even though I voted Republican in the primary.
I'll have to get back to you about Georgia's early voting requirements though I don't remember them being too strict. I had no problems doing it while I was home from school during 2004. I vote in a church as well, too. I suppose it's not surprising since Georgia is Religious Right territory but it is a little surprising that New York City hasn't moved their polling places out of churches yet from what you've said.
- Daniel
OT: Final edition for this year's Monsterpiece Theater now up at the film site! LINK
Uh, Bev, yesterday, when you told me to protect the kids from "bad" candy and eat them first, did you mean the kids or the candy? Because mistakes may have been made.
Just kidding...keeping kids away from Halloween candy is like trying to separate a smoker form their cigs.
And oh, no! It's November! Halloween can no longer protect us. Oh, it's over. I give in. Can't prevent it. Goin' French on this. I surrender! Just give in. Nothing can stop it now.
Trump has pulled ahead of Clinton in the ABC poll, where Clinton had a 12% lead last week.
Bev,
First, if you were illegal, then you would have these rights.
Secondly, I do think it's funny that liberal New York is so far behind other states in terms of making it easy to vote. My ballot shows up in the mail a month early and I really like that.
Super "conservative" Nebraska has virtually no voting restrictions. You can vote early or absentee just because you request it. You only need an ID to register, and even then, not really. As I said yesterday, petitioned referendums are the norm here. Our primaries are mixed but mostly open. Where they are closed, they are only on the Democrat side (Wot!?)
Rustbelt: I thought I was being pretty clear when I told you to eat the children. ;-P
"...funny that liberal New York is so far behind other states..."
You think that's behind, up until 2012 we still used those old flip-switch machines with the giant lever that closes the curtain and hand-written tabulation. Yeah, now we have fill-in-the-bubble ballots and scanning machines...and yet they still the calculate the votes in the same hand-written way. So much for the calculator age...
LL - In NY one has to go through some complicated procedure to change or declare a party as an already registered voter. And the Board of Elections has a bad habit of just striking people from the voter rolls for no apparently reason. Right before the NY Primary, voter watchdog group found that the NYBOE has struck 100,000+ registered voters off the Brooklyn rolls. Oopsie!
Daniel - I really don't mind voting in a church. I am just surprised that it doesn't bother the "Church v. State" separatists.
Same here on both counts, Bev. As quick as that group is to fuss about anything, especially in a place like NYC (I still remember those public transportation ads with the disclaimer). I suppose we should take our moments of peace when we can get them, though!
- Daniel
I also live in Colorado and currently working on my ballot. I like taking the time going through the judges outside of the blue book which nearly always recommends to retain. I also go to a website:
http://www.clearthebenchcolorado.org
They look at some of the bigger cases each judge presided over and how they voted. For example, Justice Hood on the Supreme Court voted against school vouchers but also voted to uphold state law over city fracking bans. Currently, I'm conflicted. The more you get into the judge reviews the more I am amazed about how much they are evaluated and reviewed. Personally, I'm not sure what the purpose of the public vote is. I am voting to throw out a couple of Appeal Judges because they tended to side for more state control and higher taxes.
I don't know of any restrictions on voting absentee here in Missouri. When I was in the Air Guard I had to do it a few times..I went to the county clerk's office, told them I needed to get an absentee ballot because I'll be out of town, showed them my driver's license and they got me a ballot. No problem. My big gripe about our state is all the darn propositions and amendments we have on the ballots...that stuff is what the legislature is there for...we're not a democracy..but I guess it's just part of it.
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