American presidential elections are a strange beast. As the world was reminded in 2016, the candidate who wins the most votes overall won’t necessarily win the White House. For that, you can blame and/or thank the Electoral College.
More than 150 million people are expected to vote in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, but none of them will be casting a straightforward ballot for Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Both those candidates’ names will be on the ballot, of course. But when Americans go to vote for their preferred presidential candidate, they are actually voting for the state electors who have pledged to support that candidate in the Electoral College. Only in December do the 538 members of the Electoral College cast their votes for president, officially deciding who will take the oath of office in January.
The Empire State is on course to move even more to the political left just two years after Democrats won control of both houses of the state Legislature for the first time in a decade. The 40-member Democratic conference only needs to flip two Republican-held seats in the 63-member state Senate to achieve a two-thirds supermajority to accompany their existing one in the Assembly. No party has done that for at least a century. If it happens in 2020, New York could join California, Rhode Island and Hawaii as one of the states where Democrats have a governor in office and two-thirds of the seats in both houses of the state Legislature.
A state Senate supermajority for Democrats would certainly change the political landscape of Albany. Republicans would be more irrelevant in state politics than ever if they lose key races this year in Western New York, Long Island and the Hudson Valley. There would also be implications for the balance of power between the state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, since a supermajority can override a governor’s veto. Democrats would also control legislative redistricting because the current system allows a two-thirds majority of the state Legislature to have final approval of any redistricting plans created by a 10-person bipartisan commission.οΏ½
Almost 21,000 Election Day polling places have been eliminated heading into the 2020 U.S. election, a drastic dip in voting locations driven by a heavy shift to mail voting, coronavirus-related consolidations, cost-cutting measures, and voter suppression
You’ve heard a lot about Donald Trump and Joe Biden these past few months, but there’s another lesser-known candidate running this cycle with some big ideas that might be of interest to our readers. A major departure from the typical major party candidates, allow us to introduce you to Brock Pierce.
Aiming to be something like the Psychedelic J.F.K. of the Independence Party, the former child-star gone media-mogul turned tech entrepreneur, innovator & VC has lived many lives, and while he’s survived torment and accusations, one thing is clear: this guy can take a punch, and come back swinging.
Interesting candidate for president. While I already voted for Jo Jergenson the libertarian for president on my absentee ballot I could keep him in mind if I changes my mind and ultimately end up voting on the machine.
There are some reports of people waiting three hours to vote on the first day of Early Voting π³
It’s absolutely stupid to wait that long, unnecessary Covid-19 risk with eight more days of early voting left plus Election Day. Or better yet, just do an absentee ballot, making sure to sign the outer envelope and date it, making sure to have it postmarked when dropped off at the post office. Hardly rocket science to have a valid absentee ballot.
Honestly, if the lines don’t tamper down this week I’ll just go to the post office and pay the 55 cents and make sure the clerk postmarks my ballot. No way in hell am I waiting in a line like that, especially when there is not a single competive election locally where the winner is all but certain to have more than 60 percent of the vote.
Hopefully these Early Voting spectacles won’t be a super spreader event for COVID-19. There is a very good chance that at least some of those people in the line have Coronavirus if statistics are to believed. The risk is so high with so many people in closer corners, touching the same pens and tablet computers when they sign in. I understand that democracy is important but it shouldn’t be conducted in a way that risks public health when there are so many safer ways to vote.
The moderator was polite enough not to make it Question 1. But, oh, it was coming.
This face-off in Hailey, Idaho, wasn't a typical debate night. Beforehand, incumbent state Sen. Michelle Stennett, a Democrat, had sought assurances for her safety, fearing riled-up supporters of her Republican opponent, Eric Parker. He, in turn, posted guards outside to avoid a ruckus like the one at a recent GOP picnic. That time, a heckler interrupted Parker's speech to call him a domestic terrorist.
The precautions all go back to what Parker calls "the elephant in the room" in his bid for state office, namely that federal authorities consider him an anti-government extremist who belongs in prison. Instead, Parker beat felony charges twice, now leads one of the best-known militia groups in the mountain region, and is currently on the ballot in a rare purple district in bright-red Idaho.