Why I don't like early voting or mail in voting.
I don't like any method where there is speculation about where the votes are coming from or what party they favor. As a supporter of Democratic candidates , it does them no favor to have the media announcing that 75% of the early voters and mail in voters are Democrats.
You don't want to let the opposition know what they need to beat you. In college football games that go to overtime, the team that wins the coin toss at the end of regulation usually chooses to take possession of the ball second in overtime so that by the time they get their chance on offense they know what score they have to beat.
When so many Democrats vote early and the numbers are reported in the media, the Republicans kind of learn what they have to beat and can try and ramp up their get out the vote efforts accordingly. You could also see some Democrats look at the lopsided early voter turnout and think its in the bag and it wont be a big deal if they dont vote. I would like to see early voting confined to the last 3 or 4 days before the election day.
Mail in voting may be necessary this year because of covid, and it is easy to sympathize with people who don't want to wait in long lines, but the same objection I made for early voting pertains to vote by mail. It gets reported that Democrats are far ahead in mail in voting and it could serve to inspire republican voters to make sure they get to the polls this time. There is an additional problem with mail in, Trump is going to protest it in court and delay the election results for probably weeks, which could potentially lead to God knows what civil unrest.
I'm voting when I always vote, on election day, Nov 3.
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Try and vote close to the election if at all possible.
I don't think the news organizations can help themselves. They have that 24 hour news cycle to fill and they have to dig up and go everywhere to try to find something new to talk about. TBH I pay as much attention to how many from what party has voted to the polls themselves, which is very little. I'm a registered independent so they won't get any special info from the knowledge that I voted. I've already checked my states system, my vote is in, signature verified and vote has been counted as my state starts counting mail-in ballots about 3 weeks prior to election day. Beyond that I don't listen too much to what the talking heads have to say.
All I really hope is that we get a definitive word on the election before the end of November. I'm concerned that with the increase in mail-in ballots and some states having very strict rules around when they can start counting ballots, coupled with states not spending a lot more money to beef up the ballot counting machine to handle what could be a record number of people voting and we could have gridlock without results for several weeks after the election.
I agree with you on not being a fan of early/mail in voting, though my reasons are far different. I think it is ok for seniors and the military personnel who may be stationed outside the country. The problem with it is that there are specific requirements that must be fulfilled. Things that, if not done properly, will disqualify ballots & votes.
Currently with coronavirus, we have widespread mail in voting - not really a problem for the Post Office - but an overwhelming problem for those who have to process the ballots. The worst part is that certain states require that the tally cannot begin until election day, which wipes out what could have been the only good thing about early/mail in voting - a head start on the count! We should know election results within 24 hours of when polls close.
And of course, this is where I disagree with you:
"There is an additional problem with mail in, Trump is going to protest it in court and delay the election results for probably weeks, which could potentially lead to God knows what civil unrest."
That is the projection of democrats. It is they who intend to sow chaos, delay the results and litigate a result.
Not sure I agree too much with that for this reason. Like all things in this political environment, some over zealous poll worker(s) are going to blab and that to me is much the same as the "this party is ahead in mail in votes" because it also could generate what JR has posted. To me it's like the networks "projecting" a winner of a state. Take NY for instance. Their polls close three hours prior to those on the west coast which could generate some last minute Marvins to run out and get in line to counteract what they are hearing from elsewhere. Not that that is a terrible thing but ........................
It is when it involves ballot harvesting - which should be illegal. In that regard you would be right. Notice out in CA they used that to win elections the last time around with people going out with stacks of ballots and coming back with them all completed - just about all, amazingly enough, going democrat and producing an unlikely victory. This year Republicans wanted to do the same thing and the Peoples Republic of California said NO, then they allowed half a loaf:
When folks such as yourself mail in vote, that's different, for everyone else, they're lazy.
We got your number Vic.
We got your's too!