Minnesotans must now vote in person from today forward. Your vote may not be counted unless you drop off your ballot in person NOW or vote in person. Voter suppression is very real. Make sure your voice is heard!!
PS to JennR: We try to stay apolitical on our blog, but I guess I’ll tread into those waters very briefly. I am not alone in saying voter suppression is real. It is rampant.
It is suppression to change rules in midstream. To say that ballots postmarked on election day were to be counted and now may not be counted. It is suppression to throw multiple wrenches into the postal service to slow down mail delivery, on purpose. It is suppression to rail against the validity of our voting process and mail in voting (while doing it yourself) in order to sow doubt in the minds of the electorate about the reliability of the outcome. It is suppression to use the courts to fight against counting votes. It is suppression to limit polling places so people have to wait hours to vote, in a pandemic — talk about a barrier!
But people are voting, that’s for sure. I hope their votes are counted.
Just told my daughter and sister-in-law who live in St. Paul and Minneapolis, respectively. Thank you for getting the word out!
Comment by gm — October 29, 2020 @ 11:19 pm
Be sure to check if your absentee ballot was received. Mine was not, but thanks to a wonderful woman working for the Hennepin County election office, I was able to cancel that one and was quickly sent another ballot. I’ve checked, and that one was received and will be counted..
Comment by Shirley — October 30, 2020 @ 10:39 am
How is it “voter suppression” to have a hard cut-off for when ballots must arrive at the counting place?
When should the deadline for ballots be, if not 8pm on Election Day? When do you want your results? (results will not be final until all of the ballots that have arrived before the cut-off have been counted. This includes the ballots of people in line at 8pm.)
Any absentee ballot arriving after 8pm on Election Day is not counted. Deal with it. The thing is that you will not have a valid result until hours after the voting deadline. Sure, extend the deadline for Absentee Ballots, but accept that you won’t have results until later.
It’s not nefarious, not is it a secret. I’ve been voting by mail/absentee for over a decade, and the envelope says, every time, that if it’s less than a week ’til election day, use the drop box, not the mail, because if you use the mail the ballot may not arrive in time.
Comment by JennR — October 30, 2020 @ 2:24 pm
I’m not disagreeing with you that there is voter suppression, but adhering to a policy that’s been in effect for decades is not voter suppression. That’s the *only* thing I was disagreeing with.
Yes, changing rules midstream is voter suppression, as is messing with the USPS (not that’s new).
But, where I live, the published policy has been (for the last 20 years at least) that an Absentee Ballot must arrive at the clerk’s office by 8pm on Election Day. It’s the voter’s responsibility to make that happen. Our Absentee Ballot envelopes say, prominently, in multiple places, that Ballots must be received by 8pm Election Day if they’re to be counted, and to allow at least 7 days for USPS delivery. This year (as the mailing envelopes were printed last year), there were inserts that said (in big, bold letters), Do Not Mail less than 14 days before Election Day, but use the drop box.
Comment by JennR — October 30, 2020 @ 6:27 pm
Thank you for this. xo
Comment by annie — October 31, 2020 @ 12:45 pm
No objections from me for bringing that topic up. It seems one party is feeling desperate so they are making up all kinds of rules mid stream. I believe they are even checking the signatures on ballots in PA. They do in other states as well but many of us registered many years ago and signatures change over time plus there are disabilities that happen over time.
The first thing they did was screw up the US postal service which had been working pretty well at the time. Now people in my town seem to get mail only 1 time a day. Plus there are cities where piles of ballots are just sitting in the post office and not being delivered.
It’s very disheartening when there are so many crooks in our government.
Comment by Tobie — October 31, 2020 @ 1:20 pm
It is suppression when a court ruling days before goes against the instructions printed on the ballot.
Comment by Susan Fahning — November 1, 2020 @ 5:19 pm
Lovin’ the Rainey Sisters even more. That’s all I’ll say.
Comment by twinsetellen — November 1, 2020 @ 11:55 pm
Adding my thanks for addressing this.
Comment by Gerri — November 2, 2020 @ 4:55 pm
Thank you, Susan for stepping up and voicing these concerns! We all are feeling great anxiety these days, starting in 2016 and continuing forward with election concerns, covid and racial tensions! Voter suppresion is real and is happening! Just be aware all and pray that it all goes off peacefully!!
Comment by Kathy W. — November 2, 2020 @ 11:42 pm
I thank you too.
Comment by Gretchen (aka stashdragon) — November 8, 2020 @ 11:40 am