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* Kentucky’s primary was held last Tuesday…
Retired Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath will face off against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this fall, after winning a closer-than-expected primary against progressive challenger Charles Booker.
The primary proved to be a nail-biter up until the very end, with Booker and McGrath each pulling ahead at various stages of vote-counting. Booker dominated in Jefferson County, his home area around Louisville and a key area for Democrats. But ultimately, a weaker margin outside of Lexington wasn’t enough to make up McGrath’s showing in rural areas outside the two cities.
Despite election day in Kentucky being held on June 23, a crush of absentee ballots made it impossible to know statewide results until a full week later. Vox’s partner Decision Desk called the race on June 30, around 11:15 am. The week of delays could serve as a preview for the November general election, if it is close.
* We have been conditioned to expect election results on election night. Those days are over, folks…
Again, imagine what this looks like in Nov. when/if Biden or Trump win on absentees after being down on Eday votes. We need SoS across the country & political spectrum to spend next 4 mos on PSAs prepping voters for this https://t.co/q6goUvSXIW
— amy walter (@amyewalter) June 30, 2020
* We’re going to need a massive public awareness campaign. The craziness from the far left on Twitter during the counting of that Democratic US Senate primary has been off the charts. One tiny example…
so….Charles Booker vs Amy McGrath — did they stop counting? What's the deal? Taking a break to figure out a way to cheat Booker out of it?
— Racist Trump Tweeted "White P0wer" on 6/28/20 (@philly_bernie) June 29, 2020
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 11:17 am
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This started 20 years ago with Bush v. Gore. You’d think we would get used to it by now.
Comment by SAP Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 11:39 am
To the far left nonsense twitter - Any headline that starts with a question can almost always be answered with no.
It’s a rule that has served me well.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 11:41 am
I guess it’s a far left conspiracy to expect black people to be able to vote without having to wait in line for 10 hours. Nobody dare ask why they closed almost all the polling places where black people live.
Comment by Bob Loblaw Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 11:44 am
===We’re going to need a massive public awareness campaign.===
Yep. The potential for a chaotic post-election dispute over counting ballots in several states will make the Brooks Brothers Riot look like a Boys Nation jamboree. The addition of mail-in voting automatically increases the time after election day required to wait for additional ballots.
The void of reliable information, for any side, will be filled with the paranoid delusions of crazy people on both sides, who will be convinced the other side is stealing the election. We need to identify, in advance, which election authorities will have primary jurisdiction in every state. Shine a spot light on their plans and their processes in advance, to take oxygen away before conspiracy trolls hijack the story.
Knowledge is power.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 11:51 am
=== You’d think we would get used to it by now. ===
The left is definitely used to peak election stealing at this point. The right, moderates, and “centrists” seem to struggle to understand the extent to which our Representative Republic has become less and less representative.
The issue being that a “rigged” election can mean a lot of different things. Is gerrymandering rigging? Is throwing qualified voters off of rolls rigging? Is closing polling places rigging? Is creating voter ID requirements, and making it harder for specific communities to be able to obtain those criteria rigging?
One of the issues with discussing how our elections play out is that “rigging” can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people and a lot of people look at our current electoral system and see rigging — even if legal — even if the Supreme Court decided some states weren’t going to be racist anymore.
If you’re dealing with folks that watched Bush win when Gore really had the most votes in Florida, that watched Trump win by about 72,000 votes over three states when he lost by millions, that watch the GOP retain state legislative and congressional seats that give them undue representation in our country — if you watch all of this you could see why someone like @philly_bernie here is cynical about waiting for a vote count.
And for being cynical, he gets labeled as being “far left” when more than likely most of his preferred policy positions are going to be supported by a majority of Americans, and in some cases a huge majority of Americans.
The left wing in the United States didn’t lose at the ballot box — they lost the ballot box and decades of intentional efforts to disenfranchise and exclude the votes of Americans are coming to bear as a fruit on the tree of GOP enabled proto-totalitarianism.
So, left wing cynics that find it hard to trust our system are a result of paying attention to what’s going on. Is it 100% accurate? No.
But it’s not exactly like our democratic process has been out there installing confidence in Millennials and Gen-Z and it’s hard to take stock of what’s happening in our country right now without considering whether or not we live in a failed state that’s too prideful to realize what’s going on.
Your neighbors won’t wear a mask to stop a pandemic. Your elected officials won’t wear a mask to stop a pandemic. How much commitment do you think exists in the hearts of those people to make sure the votes they disagree with are counted?
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 12:03 pm
===will make the Brooks Brothers Riot===
Worth noting that we should probably expect conservatives and other right wingers to organize riots to help get outcomes they desire since you brought up a play from their playbook.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 12:05 pm
Candy - Thank you for so eloquently illustrating Mr. Miller’s point.
Comment by Captain Obvious Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 12:22 pm
Weeks long counting and waiting for results is actually a throwback. Singular election day is a newer phenomenon.
Comment by Precinct Captain Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 12:28 pm
This used to be the norm. I expect it will be the same for the entire country in November.
Comment by Cheryl44 Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 1:01 pm
far left, far right, the rest of us unite, Sanity 2020.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 1:05 pm
Hard to remember 1960 when Nixon refused to challenge results in Illinois and Texas because it would be bad for the nation. Man was a paranoid scoundrel and a patriot.
Both extremes have been working to delegitimize their opponents victories. I fear we have sown the wind and will reap the whirlwind.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 1:41 pm
===Candy - Thank you for so eloquently illustrating Mr. Miller’s point. ===
Election reform is needed in this country.
A person posting on twitter about an impossible scenario playing out to deprive the candidate they prefer of a primary win is a symptom of that unaddressed reform.
In Illinois we also have very broad support for addressing our own district map drawing process, but how district lines are drawn is just one component of the electoral reform our country needs.
The fact that twitter, facebook, and other social media platforms are filled with intentional bad actors that intend to encourage lack of faith in our electoral process is also not very helpful to creating confidence in our election results.
If the results were instantaneous, there would still be lack of confidence. If everyone set the expectation that no result would be announce for at least 5 business days, there would still be a lack of confidence.
See the Georgia 2018 governor race as an example of why there would be cynicism about how we count votes in the United States.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 2:13 pm
I can agree with allowing for vote by mail, but I hope they keep voting precincts open. I would rather vote in person. Even then I’d prefer to use a paper ballot than vote electronically. All I can do is discuss my own preferences.
Comment by Levois J Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 2:41 pm
To the post,
The evolution of the campaign calendar *is* the following;
Announce, file, run, phone bank, door knock… pluses.
Here’s where it gets good.
First day to ask for absentees, “early voting” begins.
There is no Election Day anymore. It’s a myth, a fairy tale, an Election Day thought begins the first moment polls first early voting begins… and *any* campaign who thinks they have those weeks between early voting beginning and Election Day as viable days… they are way behind and are looking at losing.
Then?
Then Election Day… clean you your plus list…
… “now we wait”
Chill, relax, odds are, you’re not knowing too much for the next 36 hours… at least.
Heck, even Election Day tee-vee coverage seems wholly silly on its face.
The close races people are going to watch… it might take those 36 hours, at least, to see where a winner is found.
So… it’s “election weeks”, no more Election Day … and … I think I saw this on the tweeters somewhere “Results Week”, no more results by midnight.
Another new normal.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 4:29 pm
==the far left==
Right. Wanting people to not needlessly die due to lack of healthcare access, and being skeptical that the same forces that make Michael Bloomberg give a lot of people, including this blog, $900MM to make sure people will keep not having healthcare, will militate to affect election integrity–that makes you the crazy far left.
Comment by Chris Widger Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 4:37 pm
- Chris Widger -
I have no idea what you think you’re saying except to put in a comment Bloomberg, “this blog”, and some sort of healthcare thingy.
Words are good, words to real thoughts are better.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 4:43 pm
If I were in her office, I would be recommending avoiding tying her campaign and her position on Black Lives Matter or police reform back to her spouse.
So far as I can tell Sheriff Bustos has done an excellent job, but I don’t see any real benefit to bringing him into the conversation.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 4:55 pm
I think election night results really do help public acceptance of the outcome. Fortunately, it is possible to organize a vote by mail system to get results election night, and still get the benefits of VBM.
1) Ballots must be received by 7 PM election night.
2) Verify signatures as they are received, organize the envelopes for efficient opening/processing election night.
3) provide ample secure drop boxes for folks who want to vote after last safe mailing day. (Basically repurposed USPS mail boxes)
Under this system, more than 80% of ballots arrive before election day, and they are queued up and ready to count as soon as the polls close.
It can be done.
Comment by Ebenezer Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 5:48 pm
“How much commitment do you think exists in the hearts of those people to make sure the votes they disagree with are counted?”
I have the same concern.
Comment by M Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 11:29 pm
=== “How much commitment do you think exists in the hearts of those people to make sure the votes they disagree with are counted?”
I have the same concern.===
If you are a Trumpkin and *know* your vote is ok via mail, but doesn’t favor vote by mail… or questions the validity of the counting of ballots by mail… the Russians already won.
Failure to see legitimate election results erodes democracy.
Whew.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 30, 20 @ 11:39 pm