Meetings, Greetings, and Gatherings

[Rusty Edge]

Here's a picture of nerds dining.

[Unorthodox]

Killer Flamingo shirt. 

[Rusty Edge]

Killer Flamingo shirt.

Thanks. My wife gifts me a lot of loud shirts to wear on vacation so that she can easily spot me in a crowd, or describe me to strangers. I enjoy being a tourist.

[Geo]

Is your buddy there a patriot?
It looks like he wears a flag button or something.

[Rusty Edge]

 Good spot. He is a veteran ad a patriot, but that has nothing to do with it.

It was election day. They give out free stickers as a way of reminding others to vote rather than dye thumbs to prevent repeat voters.  He voted before he joined us for dinner. We voted about a week early before we flew to Florida.

[E_T]

This was the 2nd time that Rusty, his wife and I had gotten together for dinner, when they were visiting the area.  The last time was in 2013.  We had a great time, both times.

[Geo]

It was election day. They give out free stickers as a way of reminding others to vote rather than dye thumbs to prevent repeat voters.  He voted before he joined us for dinner. We voted about a week early before we flew to Florida.

Repeat voters?
You mean in another state or something?

If so, the US vote registering system really sucks.

[Rusty Edge]

As usual, I assume you are being funny.


Repeat voting doesn't happen much. It's a fear left over from the last century. Elections are run on the county level, and most cases of repeat voting I've read about are people who have two homes in two states, or move in the fall and vote early or by absentee ballot. Unless there is cause for suspicion, there is no cross checking.


Of course, the multitude of counties in the USA and the variety of isolated election systems are our main defense against Russian hackers. It sure isn't the Republicans running the government.

[E_T]

The sticker is to show others (especially ones whom are registered but didn't vote for whatever reason) that you had voted.  The finger inking things that Rusty Mentioned is primarily (AFAIK) in Third World Counties, were systems to help prevent voter fraud (like we have in the US) are not as widespread.

[Lorizael]

Unless there is cause for suspicion, there is no cross checking.

A friend of mine relayed a story of electoral frustration recently. He has the same name as his father but goes by a different name (and, you know, has a different DOB, SS#, etc.). His father lives in Virginia; he lives in Oregon. Just this past election (despite living in Oregon for years now), he was told his voter registration had been canceled because he was also voting in Virginia.

It took quite a lot of back and forth with election officials in both states to remedy the situation, and he ended up having to vote with a provisional ballot this year. So evidently there is sometimes some cross-checking. (The root of the problem, apparently, was that when his father went to the polls in at least one past election, the election worker used the son's old, defunct registration instead of the dad's.)

[Rusty Edge]

Unless there is cause for suspicion, there is no cross checking.

A friend of mine relayed a story of electoral frustration recently. He has the same name as his father but goes by a different name (and, you know, has a different DOB, SS#, etc.). His father lives in Virginia; he lives in Oregon. Just this past election (despite living in Oregon for years now), he was told his voter registration had been canceled because he was also voting in Virginia.

It took quite a lot of back and forth with election officials in both states to remedy the situation, and he ended up having to vote with a provisional ballot this year. So evidently there is sometimes some cross-checking. (The root of the problem, apparently, was that when his father went to the polls in at least one past election, the election worker used the son's old, defunct registration instead of the dad's.)

   I had no idea! That's interesting, and thanks for the anecdote!

[Geo]

As usual, I assume you are being funny.

Oh. Thanks a lot.