Monday, October 19, 2020

Democrats in Pennsylvania may be making their own chances worse

As Republicans do everything they possibly can to disenfranchise Democrats by derailing postal votes in a variety of ways - by blocking ballots, intimidating voters, sabotaging rhe postal system, tinkering with the eligibility rules, and spreading misinformation - it seems that Democrats are not doing much to help themselves.

Many more Democrats than Republicans are expected to take advantage of mail-in ballots in the upcoming US elections. So, Republicans, chasing victory at any price, are doing whatever they can to disrupt the already creaky systems that are in place.

So, it's pretty depressing to read that such a thing as "naked ballots" even exist. These are mail-in ballots sent without a proper envelope. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled recently that such ballots are ineligible. Election officials warn that this could mean that as many as 100,000 (predominantly Democratic) votes could be thrown out in this key battleground state alone, which, given that Trump won the state in 2016 by only 44,000 votes, is a big deal.

But it raises the question of why the hell anyone would send in a postal ballot without an envelope? Now, I haven't seen the ballots, but I'm pretty sure there are reasonably clear instructions on how to fill them out and how to mail them in. 

How can 100,000 people get this this so wrong? Is it just sloppiness, lack of education or reading skills, inadvertent or deliberate poor wording in the instructions? I just don't get it.

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