2020 Election Results Part 9: Biden Wins Again And Continues Building An Administration

[fraurosena]

26 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

Not quite what I was asking - Australia is broken up into electorates representing roughly the same number of people and then in the House of Representatives people run on behalf of a party or as independents. For the Senate our form looks more similar to yours because the entire state is the electorate, and you can either vote preferentially by party or by individual - the senators for each state are roughly proportional to the vote for each party (excepting preference deals, which for complicated reasons occasionally makes it interesting). 

So yes whoever gets the majority of the votes in an electorate is elected, although that can also be complicated due to preferential voting - the candidate with the largest number of first preference votes may not win. 

So for us the Rep ballot is a lot smaller because most parties won't have a candidate running in each electorate (the lowest mine has gotten is five I think - kudos to the TM mob who continually field candidates despite a stunning lack of success).  The Senate ballot is not quite as extreme, but usually manages to be over a metre long.

Ah, I understand now. My answer is still yes, we are one electorate, in the sense of electoral district. The only definition of electorate that we use is as a description of the total of eligible voters.

ETA: Oh, I see you edited your post as I was answering it ?

I do want to add though that we also have preferential voting— hence the oversized ballots.

Edited January 5, 2021 by fraurosena

[church_of_dog]

54 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

I’m a bit flummoxed. What purpose does it serve to register in this case? 

One reason, and again I presume it varies state by state, is because one's ballot choices in a primary are limited by one's registered party.

Not necessarily limited TO the registered party, but each party gets to decide which other party's voters can elect to vote on their party's primary ballot.

So, the Republicans might give permission for voters from, say, the Libertarian Party and the American Independent Party to choose a Republican ballot during a primary, and the Democrats might permit American Independents and Green Party members to choose their primary ballot.

We (California) also have a party option called No Party Preference, which is essentially "decline to state a party".  I think they can choose a D or R primary ballot, or they can vote a NPP primary ballot, which would have no partisan races on it, only nonpartisan races plus propositions.

I am a Green Party member and I have no direct interaction with the Green Party -- no mailing lists, etc.  I can't really say what benefit there is, other than it allows me the option to vote for a Green candidate in the primaries, which I often do on general principle to support third party candidates.

[Smee]

11 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

Oh I want to be a member of the pirate ?‍☠️ party.  Do I get my own parrot ? 

I changed my registration to ‘unaffiliated’ just last night. 

We have a pirate party here in Aus too. I looked up their policies and it was mostly about media piracy.

Other Australian parties include:

The Shooters, Fishers & Farmers Party

The Science Party

Australian Cyclist Party

Animal Justice Party

Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party

Informed Medical Options Party

Love Australia Or Leave (?)

Reason Australia 

Secular Party of Australia*

The Women’s Party

Voteflux.org Upgrade Democracy^
 

*my brother is a member. 
^these guys literally want every single thing they vote on in the senate to be decided by internet polls on their website 

 

In 2013 a guy from the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party was elected to the Senate with 0.51% of the primary vote, due to the way preferential voting and group voting was set up. They changed the rules about that for the 2016 election.

[Ozlsn]

@Smee does the Sex Party exist in your state? I swear they got votes on the name alone. Marketing ploys work.

I voted for Ricky Muir the second time - he turned out to be a half decent senator, quite possibly due to having a wider range of life experiences than many in Parliament and to being willing to listen and learn. Didn't agree with him on all things, but then again who does. It amazed me that after changing the preference counts we ended up with even more of a hung parliament - that did not work how they thought it would at all. 

[GreyhoundFan]

8 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I’m a bit flummoxed. What purpose does it serve to register in this case? 

It doesn't really serve a purpose as far as I know. That's why I prefer the way it is in VA, no registration by party.

 

8 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

How about Russia or North Korea? 

I'm sure Putin or KJU would arrange an "accident" the moment the tangerine toddler was no longer a useful idiot in their plans.

[47of74]

9 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

I know, but since he loved the Dear Leader and Putin so much I’d be fine having him be an ex pat. 

At a very secure prison in the middle of the Antarctic with his family and NO access to the press or other GOP leaders. 

[Alisamer]

10 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

Yes, but I don't want him in Alaska. Maybe he can figure out how to live on Rat Island, which has been eradicated from Rats. But that would mess up whatever science they are doing there. 

Is the Bikini Atoll still radioactive? Oooh, better... Chernobyl. He can have a whole city all to himself. 

10 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I’m a bit flummoxed. What purpose does it serve to register in this case? 

In some states you have to be registered to a party to vote in that party's primary, I think. I have friends who sometimes change their registration to Republican in order to vote in the primary for the "least bad" candidate - and I suspect that might have something to do with how we ended up with Biden as the Democratic candidate. Since Trump was obviously the Republican candidate, I'd bet some Republicans switched to vote in the Democratic primary for who they considered the "least bad" of the candidates.

[fraurosena]

As predicted, Trump's suit against Georgia is going nowhere.

 

[AnywhereButHere]

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

Is the Bikini Atoll still radioactive? Oooh, better... Chernobyl. He can have a whole city all to himself. 

In some states you have to be registered to a party to vote in that party's primary, I think. I have friends who sometimes change their registration to Republican in order to vote in the primary for the "least bad" candidate - and I suspect that might have something to do with how we ended up with Biden as the Democratic candidate. Since Trump was obviously the Republican candidate, I'd bet some Republicans switched to vote in the Democratic primary for who they considered the "least bad" of the candidates.

He would probably think the Bikini Atoll is inhabited by supermodels in skimpy bathing suits and willingly volunteer to go there. Someone should give the suggestion a try...

[onekidanddone]

2 hours ago, 47of74 said:

At a very secure prison in the middle of the Antarctic with his family and NO access to the press or other GOP leaders. 

 No phones and Diet Coke

[fraurosena]

No, no, no! You should not even be thinking of dumping Trump anywhere else in the world but a teeny tiny prison cell for the rest of his natural life. He deserves jail time, not exile.

[Alisamer]

1 minute ago, fraurosena said:

No, no, no! You should not even be thinking of dumping Trump anywhere else in the world but a teeny tiny prison cell for the rest of his natural life. He deserves jail time, not exile.

I kind of agree, but really if we could make him a one-man pay-per-view Survivor show on an island somewhere we could probably cut the deficit. 

Also, a few of his fans who believe themselves to be manly men would probably start making fun of him for his complete inability to survive without being waited on. Keep the camera on him 100% of the time, and put him under pressure. Let people see the real him and how useless he is and how quickly he cracks.

[fundiefan]

2 hours ago, 47of74 said:

At a very secure prison in the middle of the Antarctic with his family and NO access to the press or other GOP leaders. 

Nooooooo! My biggest dream in life is to take a National Geographic trip to the Antarctic. Do not spoil it! It is a very dynamic, delicate ecosystem and one drop of toxicity will ruin it forever. And let's face it, we cannot afford for the Antarctic, or the Arctic, to be disrupted even more than they already are. 

[GreyhoundFan]

2 hours ago, Alisamer said:

Is the Bikini Atoll still radioactive? Oooh, better... Chernobyl. He can have a whole city all to himself. 

If he was sent to Chernobyl, he'd be close to his boss, Putin.

[onekidanddone]

58 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

I kind of agree, but really if we could make him a one-man pay-per-view Survivor show on an island somewhere we could probably cut the deficit. 

Also, a few of his fans who believe themselves to be manly men would probably start making fun of him for his complete inability to survive without being waited on. Keep the camera on him 100% of the time, and put him under pressure. Let people see the real him and how useless he is and how quickly he cracks.

I say put Princess, OfIvanka, Jr, Eric and Malaria on the island and watch them turn on each other 

 

 

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

Let people see the real him and how useless he is and how quickly he cracks.

You can install camera's in his cell too. Can you imagine? Trump all pasty white and quivering on a thin mattress on his metal bed? His long wispy white hair hanging wretchedly along his flabby face, with his bald pate clear for all to see. His tiny hands balled into fists as he cries, and screeches and moans and sobs that they were supposed to lock her up, not him! 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I love his tone. I think it's how we all feel:

 

[Coconut Flan]

15 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Yes. One person, one vote. It doesn’t matter where you live. We tally our votes per county, but that’s just for expediency. It’s not like one party gets the majority of votes in a county, so therefore all votes in that county go to that particular party. 
All votes for a certain party across the country, regardless of county, are tallied up. If that number exceeds the threshold (percentage of the vote total) they get a seat in the second chamber. The more votes, the more seats. There are a total of 150 seats to be shared. 

Interesting approach.  I also discovered the Netherlands has less than half the population of our state.  I keep forgetting the proportions are so different.  

[SeekingAdventure]

Question about todays senate election.

Are they expected to know the results today, or will it be like the november elections?

[Dandruff]

13 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I’m a bit flummoxed. What purpose does it serve to register in this case? 

Others have given good answers and I'll add that there can also be an emotional/cultural/loyalty component.  I used to (not so sure about now) hear people refer to their families as "dyed in the wool" Republicans or Democrats.  Family tradition.  Discussions would be held regarding how one party or the other had helped or hurt <insert racial or religious groups/sects>.  The US is especially diverse so, in addition to what's considered "American" culture, there are strong strains of culture within racial and religious groups/sects with corresponding senses of loyalty within the groups and the politics of the groups.  The political parties, to varying degrees, have supported and/or taken advantage of those leanings; e.g., the Republican party, IMO, has quite a hold over the ultra-religious and the Democratic party over various minority racial groups.  The party structures and associated loyalties can change, but this seems to occur more over decades - or longer, rather than years.

I have no intention of registering for a Party, especially after the seemingly endless badgering I got from the Democratic-leaning folks prior to, and even after, the last election.  I know people who are registered Democrats who told me it was even worse for them, but they don't appear to mind so much since they feel aligned with the Party.  I believe I've voted every election for the last 40+ years, and have been willing and proud to do so, but if the process continues to be what I consider abusive I'm going to think twice next time.  AFAIC, the grassroots folks either need to coordinate and streamline their contact process or they need to just GAF about bothering people who clearly don't want to play with them, especially when those people are NOT registered Democrats.

[fraurosena]

15 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

Interesting approach.  I also discovered the Netherlands has less than half the population of our state.  I keep forgetting the proportions are so different.  

Yes, we're really tiny. We manage to squeeze about 17.3 million of us on 41,543 km² (or 25.814 square miles). 

[Snarkasarus Rex]

22 minutes ago, SeekingAdventure said:

Question about todays senate election.

Are they expected to know the results today, or will it be like the november elections?

We probably won’t know today. There are nearly a million mail in ballots that can’t be counted until the polls close. It may skew R early due to counting in person votes first. And it’s going to be close either way, so it may come down to overseas and military ballots that can arrive until Friday. 

[clueliss]

In case anyone is believing Hawley's whining about 'violence' - apparently the police have a different perspective.

 

[SeekingAdventure]

@Snarkasarus Rex i was afraid so. I guess I'm not gonna make a night out of it then.

[Maggie Mae]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

If he was sent to Chernobyl, he'd be close to his boss, Putin.

They should build him a nice shack. 

17 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I’m a bit flummoxed. What purpose does it serve to register in this case? 

Everyone is giving good answers but I just wanted to contribute my state rules. 

My state is like 56% unaffiliated (not registered with any party). The next highest percent is Republicans, Democrats, and then the Alaska Independence Party (it used to be called the secession party.)  Most of the members of the AIP are people who thought "independence" meant independent, and didn't read through the entire list to see "unaffiliated." The rest are a combination of delusional people and those who felt the Republicans aren't religious enough. 

Anyway, because of how many people are registered in those parties, they get their candidates listed on the ballot automatically. Green Party and LIbertarians have additional milestones to meet. Don't ask me what they are. There have been multiple ballot measures seeking to fix this. 

When someone goes to the polls for a primary,  they are either given the "everyone else ballot" (if they are registered as anything other than a Republican. Or a Republican ballot. However, if they are "Unaffiliated" they can choose. 

But that's changing, because we just passed a groundbreaking new primary system - it's a ranked choice jungle primary. So now in the future, everyone will get the same primary ballot, and the top four choices will move on, regardless of party. This is for statewide and federal stuff. My municipal ballot is mail in only, in the spring, and lists no political parties for any office. Sometimes that's kind of a pain, but at least since we switched to mail in, I can take the time to look up every person and make informed decisions. Increases turn out, too.