Washington State has been using paper ballots almost exclusively for many years. They give the voter more time to research their vote. They don’t have to fit voting in before or after work and every paper ballot is checked for proper signature etc. This is the only system we should use in the USA.
Yes I have to agree on the ‘anything contrarian is better’ attitude is mostly the way they (racist gop) decide on everything so that’s exactly the system (lol) predictably they use. Must deny it unless dear leader says otherwise but of course demento don would think it as well, so it’s a solid prediction 100% of his life!
There is one big problem with vote-by-mail - arbitrary rejection for nonmatching signatures. It has happened to me twice and I had to drive over to the county seat to flash an ID to get the vote counted. Rejection decisions are not made by an FBI handwriting expert or something, just some volunteer who might be wanting to suppress votes to promote MAGA candidates. Doubtless, these fascists will invent new reasons to reject mailed ballots so the convenience leaves a zero-sum or worse outcome.
Again I would like to bring up a much ignored fact. Why was Ivanka going from Country to Country getting patents for Voting Machines. I remember articles about China and Argentina. Argentina was particularly disturbing as 45 started a embargo while she was there and lifted it the day they gave her the patents. Currently Argentina has a Right Wing Mini T who gave Musk the chainsaw at CPAC.
Again, paper ballots are good, but putting our money and energy into tinkering around the edges while letting a third to half of Americans not vote is a fool’s errand. We need mandatory ballot return. It’s mandatory ballot return (rather than mandatory voting) because you don’t have to vote if you don’t want to, but you still have to sign the ballot security envelope and return the ballot in the envelope so that we can continuously groom the voting rolls and ensure that every eligible voter got their ballot.
I am a big proponent of mail-in votes. We have it here in MD and I participated for the last 7 years and it’s a great system, if you trust the people running it. That being said, I have also participated in early voting in NC and I think it’s also a great system for all of us who feel safe going to the polls and are physically able to navigate the whole thing.
Either way, I guess I’ve been lucky. I’ve lived in states that in my experience and at the time, have been honest.
Times are changing, though. Honesty seems a thing of the past in some places and with some people. However, honesty and caring-cooperation is the bed rock of everything that has kept humans thriving and going forward in evolution. Without at least those two qualities, we become no more than physical tools for someone to exploit, and everyone and everything is subjugated to someone else.
Can we rise above social system and economic systems that allow and encourage the powerful few to both manipulate and subjugate larger and larger groups of people? Systems that seem to reduce the general public to positions of dependence and glorified subservience in order to live and support ourself?
We’re at a true crossroads, now, in our development as a people. We can either take our present system of government forward and expand our understanding of equality and liberty and build on that, or we can digress and merely repeat what so many past, so-called civilizations have done and perish as a mere footnote in history, as a re-run. Wait for the powerful guy to ride in with his band of glorified thieves who rape and pillage? It happens over and over in history, like an old, tired series. That’s why the humanities are discouraged in school. Our history reminds us where we came from and asks us if in fact we have changed at all?
I am fortunate I live in Washington and my Senators are Democrats. My congress critter, Rick Larsen,is a slug, a turtle who won't stick his head out of his shell and can't be prodded
Senators and Congress critters don't pay attention to anyone not in their own state or district. At least on line, I do guess that telephone calls rattle them, then again caller ID will tell where they are calling from.
Yeh, Biden's famous comity, the reason he appointed his arch enemy as AG.
Most cases the comity only lasted in the Capitol,at parties or aboard Manchin's Yacht, It is almost heaven.
McConnell is leaving yet he still voted for Patel, Gabbard, Hegseth and other traitors. Fear is a big motivator and evidently it is more than fear of not being re elected.
Mr. Hartmann, I appreciate your effort to analyze our difficulty with voting and all the other justifiable criticisms of our system of government. But you are directing your attention to the wrong institution. Our problem all along has been our economic institution: Capitalism and so called Free Enterprise. It has inevitably lead to Fascism. Criticizing our political system is irrelevant. The battleground is elsewhere. The fight is over. The people have already lost. They simply don't know it yet. They were never really in the fight. They have been a bewildered herd during my long life. The people have fallen for the simplest of Niccolo Machiavelli's principles and are fatally divided among themselves.
White vs. Black. Straight vs. Queer. Anglo vs. Hispanic. Male vs. Female. Capitalist vs. Communist. Right vs. Left. Conservative vs. Liberal. Republican vs. Democrat. Militarist-War-Mongers vs. Peaceniks. Christian vs. Non-Believer.
The only division which really matters is: Owner-Employer vs, Worker-Employee. 3% of us are owner-employees. The remaining 97% obey.
The only three economic components which matter are: RAW MATERIALS, LABOR, MARKETS.
Minnesota uses paper ballots similar yo Washington state .. they are secured and capable of easy recounting . .. those states that don’t use them must want confusion is my conclusion
Bring back the machines of my youth, they were probably around for decades. For those who may not remember:
They were massive slightly intimidating constructs built like a fortress. Step in, throw a switch and the entry curtain snaps shut. You’re in. All your votes are selected with a mechanical lever that returns a heavy clunking noise, that presumably punches a card although I never found out. The final submit button was a bigger lever at the bottom, throw it over and another, louder clunk as it finished, then the curtains snap open. Slightly intimidating, but I thought it reflected the gravitas (and security) that our elections used to have.
Washington State has been using paper ballots almost exclusively for many years. They give the voter more time to research their vote. They don’t have to fit voting in before or after work and every paper ballot is checked for proper signature etc. This is the only system we should use in the USA.
Is there any area of our lives that hasn’t been corrupted by GOP vote suppression of one type or another.
There is no integrity in today’s Maga politics.
So if paper ballots are a helpful plan , you can be sure they won’t allow it . As if they have the right to determine means and methods.
I’m not sure that this past presidential election wasn’t changed by the use of machinery to count votes.
But since there are no real avenues of inspection…. Here we are .
Yes I have to agree on the ‘anything contrarian is better’ attitude is mostly the way they (racist gop) decide on everything so that’s exactly the system (lol) predictably they use. Must deny it unless dear leader says otherwise but of course demento don would think it as well, so it’s a solid prediction 100% of his life!
https://smartelections.us/
There is one big problem with vote-by-mail - arbitrary rejection for nonmatching signatures. It has happened to me twice and I had to drive over to the county seat to flash an ID to get the vote counted. Rejection decisions are not made by an FBI handwriting expert or something, just some volunteer who might be wanting to suppress votes to promote MAGA candidates. Doubtless, these fascists will invent new reasons to reject mailed ballots so the convenience leaves a zero-sum or worse outcome.
This is what I was afraid of in 2024, some maga freak throwing out my ballot.
Not happening with Oregon Vote by mail.
Paper ballots and hand-counting are used in Australia, where voting is mandatory. 👍🏼👍🏽👍🏿👍
Thank you, Mr. Hartmann, for your thorough research and analysis. And for sharing your knowledge with us.
The GOPee war on voting hasn't exactly been hidden.
They are about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
Again I would like to bring up a much ignored fact. Why was Ivanka going from Country to Country getting patents for Voting Machines. I remember articles about China and Argentina. Argentina was particularly disturbing as 45 started a embargo while she was there and lifted it the day they gave her the patents. Currently Argentina has a Right Wing Mini T who gave Musk the chainsaw at CPAC.
Again, paper ballots are good, but putting our money and energy into tinkering around the edges while letting a third to half of Americans not vote is a fool’s errand. We need mandatory ballot return. It’s mandatory ballot return (rather than mandatory voting) because you don’t have to vote if you don’t want to, but you still have to sign the ballot security envelope and return the ballot in the envelope so that we can continuously groom the voting rolls and ensure that every eligible voter got their ballot.
I am a big proponent of mail-in votes. We have it here in MD and I participated for the last 7 years and it’s a great system, if you trust the people running it. That being said, I have also participated in early voting in NC and I think it’s also a great system for all of us who feel safe going to the polls and are physically able to navigate the whole thing.
Either way, I guess I’ve been lucky. I’ve lived in states that in my experience and at the time, have been honest.
Times are changing, though. Honesty seems a thing of the past in some places and with some people. However, honesty and caring-cooperation is the bed rock of everything that has kept humans thriving and going forward in evolution. Without at least those two qualities, we become no more than physical tools for someone to exploit, and everyone and everything is subjugated to someone else.
Can we rise above social system and economic systems that allow and encourage the powerful few to both manipulate and subjugate larger and larger groups of people? Systems that seem to reduce the general public to positions of dependence and glorified subservience in order to live and support ourself?
We’re at a true crossroads, now, in our development as a people. We can either take our present system of government forward and expand our understanding of equality and liberty and build on that, or we can digress and merely repeat what so many past, so-called civilizations have done and perish as a mere footnote in history, as a re-run. Wait for the powerful guy to ride in with his band of glorified thieves who rape and pillage? It happens over and over in history, like an old, tired series. That’s why the humanities are discouraged in school. Our history reminds us where we came from and asks us if in fact we have changed at all?
Read this and compare to what you are witnessing, Voting is history
The purge of the deep state and the road to dictatorship
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-purge-of-the-deep-state-and-the-440
https://kfor.com/hill-politics/the-memo-trumps-jabs-at-ukraine-divide-gop/
Divide and conquer.
I am aware Daniel, but in the end the Republicans will toe the line, fear of Musk, fear of Trump. The Emperor and Empress rule by fear.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BjrRePprg/
If we don't pressure them, it will not happen by osmosis. Write. Call. Picket. Sit in. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/15/trump-administration-tps-ukraine-cleveland
https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-trump-zelenskyy-putin-c0790f9054c6c69d698ed9aa816158ac
22 senate Republicans voted to fund Ukraine. This is a wondow of opportunity.
I am fortunate I live in Washington and my Senators are Democrats. My congress critter, Rick Larsen,is a slug, a turtle who won't stick his head out of his shell and can't be prodded
Senators and Congress critters don't pay attention to anyone not in their own state or district. At least on line, I do guess that telephone calls rattle them, then again caller ID will tell where they are calling from.
They might. Mitch McConnell was a good friend of Chris Dodd, even when he was DNC chair.
Yeh, Biden's famous comity, the reason he appointed his arch enemy as AG.
Most cases the comity only lasted in the Capitol,at parties or aboard Manchin's Yacht, It is almost heaven.
McConnell is leaving yet he still voted for Patel, Gabbard, Hegseth and other traitors. Fear is a big motivator and evidently it is more than fear of not being re elected.
The cabinet is a completely different issue. He's still a reactionary. The only issue is Putin.
https://medium.com/edge-of-collapse/forget-the-future-the-fall-of-society-has-already-begun-2bddafc3dba3
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-purge-of-the-deep-state-and-the-440
Thom, Captain my Captain the same refrain over and over again with the voting rigged Georgia! Thank you for making sense and pointing this out.
Mr. Hartmann, I appreciate your effort to analyze our difficulty with voting and all the other justifiable criticisms of our system of government. But you are directing your attention to the wrong institution. Our problem all along has been our economic institution: Capitalism and so called Free Enterprise. It has inevitably lead to Fascism. Criticizing our political system is irrelevant. The battleground is elsewhere. The fight is over. The people have already lost. They simply don't know it yet. They were never really in the fight. They have been a bewildered herd during my long life. The people have fallen for the simplest of Niccolo Machiavelli's principles and are fatally divided among themselves.
White vs. Black. Straight vs. Queer. Anglo vs. Hispanic. Male vs. Female. Capitalist vs. Communist. Right vs. Left. Conservative vs. Liberal. Republican vs. Democrat. Militarist-War-Mongers vs. Peaceniks. Christian vs. Non-Believer.
The only division which really matters is: Owner-Employer vs, Worker-Employee. 3% of us are owner-employees. The remaining 97% obey.
The only three economic components which matter are: RAW MATERIALS, LABOR, MARKETS.
Don't spend too much time thinking about it.
Embrace your neighbor!
Grab your pitchfork!
Minnesota uses paper ballots similar yo Washington state .. they are secured and capable of easy recounting . .. those states that don’t use them must want confusion is my conclusion
Same with MA
Our Vote by mail with paper ballots in Oregon has run slick as a whistle since 1998!
Bring back the machines of my youth, they were probably around for decades. For those who may not remember:
They were massive slightly intimidating constructs built like a fortress. Step in, throw a switch and the entry curtain snaps shut. You’re in. All your votes are selected with a mechanical lever that returns a heavy clunking noise, that presumably punches a card although I never found out. The final submit button was a bigger lever at the bottom, throw it over and another, louder clunk as it finished, then the curtains snap open. Slightly intimidating, but I thought it reflected the gravitas (and security) that our elections used to have.