* This is bonkers…
More than 121,000 Chicagoans have already registered to vote by mail in the November election, setting a city record.
For the March primary election, 118,000 people submitted vote by mail applications. Before that, the city hadn’t seen so many vote by mail applications since 1944 during World War II, when 116,000 people applied to vote by mail.
The numbers are expected to go even higher, as the Chicago Board of Elections will send 900,000 more vote by mail applications to people in the weeks ahead. They’ll also distribute information about voting by mail to 500,000 city households.
To make sure people are confident in the vote by mail system, the election board is also rolling out ballot-tracking measures so voters can know when their ballot is received and approved.
Holy moly that’s a lot of people.
* Meanwhile, in suburban Cook…
* This Republican pollster is right to start worrying…
Illinois Republicans pioneered vote by mail programs.
* Florida…
The state elections office data shows Democrats with a more than 400,000-voter advantage over Republicans in vote-by-mail enrollment in the state. At the same time, a CBS News Battleground Tracker poll published on Sunday reveals a partisan divide over support for voting by mail, with just a quarter of likely Trump voters saying they prefer to vote by mail in 2020, compared to 59% of likely Joe Biden voters. […]
Heading into the August primary in 2016, more than 1 million Republican voters had requested mail ballots, compared to about 880,000 Democrats. As of Monday, Democrat vote-by-mail requests outnumbered Republican requests by about 1.6 million to 1.2 million.
And it’s not just Florida…
- Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 11:36 am:
I’ve voted early for years but applied to vote by mail this year. It just makes sense that we’re not going going to have a vaccine by then.
- NIU Grad - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 11:41 am:
Who knew spending months and months of time getting your own party members to oppose vote by mail was not a wise electoral strategy? They truly are just following Trump off the cliff this year…
I remember being on phones during campaigns and practically begging older voters to vote by mail when they insist that they’ll be there on Election Day like it was a time-honored tradition. Democrats are wise to make it more of a standard procedure. Republicans are foolish to tell their voters to stay away from it.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 11:42 am:
===Republicans are skeptical about voting by mail===
I wonder why.
Never in my life have I used the phrase
Hoisted by his own petard
As often as I have in the past few months.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 11:58 am:
Because Republicans are, as of today, less likely to vote absentee, there is a very good chance that on election night, if the race is closer than expected, President Trump could be leading after all the polls close.
Anyone want to bet that he doesn’t want to wait for the mail-in votes to be counted?
We need to know who, exactly, in each state, is the ultimate election authority and we need to understand and publicize the processes each state will follow to tally the votes. We need this in advance of election day to hopefully prevent chaos from erupting in states where the race is close.
Even if he doesn’t outright steal the election, a sore loser could further damage public faith in our electoral system. And that’s really what the Russians and Chinese want. So they’ll do their part.
Be vigilant people. This stuff matters.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 12:08 pm:
===Republicans are skeptical about voting by mail, and that’s a problem up and down ballot.===
This is the kind of thing that makes me really worry about my friends and family on the other side of the isle and I am terrified that the governments whose jurisdictions they live under won’t take the effort to protect them from risks they need not hazard.
- Donnie Elgin - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 12:16 pm:
“Republicans are skeptical about voting by mail”
Yep - I threw mine away - the postal service in my area is spotty at best - no need to add multiple points of failure to voting. I will vote in-peroson via early voting at local City hall.
- Groundhog Day - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 12:19 pm:
It is baffling (to me) that Donald Trump, who regularly votes by mail, can convince his followers that it is unsafe and bad to vote by mail. I keep expecting that the most basic critical thinking skills will engage, and the spell will be broken. But no….
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 12:23 pm:
=== Illinois Republicans pioneered vote by mail programs.===
This is everything… in full context of the dismantling and implosion of the ILGOP.
When Rauner ran as a challenger, the heralded (rightly so) GOTV/Early Voting/VBM was so good, it made the exceptional ILGOP factory (and the caucuses too) of vote by mail was elevated beyond its benchmarks.
Let’s not forget Rauner then ran as someone who wanted a depressed turnout, with a purposely weak (less Harold) ticket as not to gin up turnout for, say, Jesse White… and that practice of lowering voters as Trump’s midterm in 2018 wasn’t going to be helpful left the party thinking further away from what it did best to help win elections.
The rising of the ILGOP after the dismantling it will face this November will need an E.D. committed to two critical points…
* GOTV/VBM/Early Voting
* Real, honest, actual diversity… to the Reagan Rule, Cook, Chicago, Collars.
The vote by mail part should be easier to restart, but…
…
… who are these candidates and the diversity that will have voters wanting to vote, in any way for Illinois Republicans?
Bless whoever takes the helm next.
The current state party leadership must be changed.
- anon2 - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 12:23 pm:
The GOP is urging party members to vote by mail in primary elections. They’ll do the same in the general, though their message will be weakened by the head of their party.
- efudd - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 12:24 pm:
“Republicans are skeptical”
Regarding……..change?
Give ‘em a couple decades, they’ll come around.
Then lie about how it was their idea all along.
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 12:40 pm:
Great news and hopefully this goes well for the graduated income tax vote. It seems like a great idea to have a strong VBM campaign for it.
“Republicans are skeptical about voting by mail.”
Except for when the president and others vote absentee. His defenders try to spin it as different than VBM. Both are essentially the same, voting by mail. It’s just GOP being GOP and continuing with its voter suppression attempts.
- Joe Bidenopolous - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 1:15 pm:
===Republicans are skeptical about voting by mail, and that’s a problem up and down ballot.===
I can’t be the only one who doesn’t see this as a problem, right?
- JoanP - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 1:35 pm:
The GOP will support voting by mail about the same time everyone is using their iPhones to vote.
- Responsa - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 1:35 pm:
NPR has posted an enlightening article about vote by mail. It is worth a read.
https://www.npr.org/series/754498433/secure-your-vote-2020-election-security
- Mama - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 3:15 pm:
Can people outside of Cook Co also sign up to vote by mail?
- h'okay - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 3:43 pm:
@Mama yes, everyone in the state of Illinois can vote by mail, not just for 2020, but in any election.
- 44th - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 3:58 pm:
I used it last session. Seemed to work well. Recommend.
- Frank talks - Tuesday, Jul 14, 20 @ 4:36 pm:
GOP is missing the boat. The core base is seniors, why not rally them to VBM and recruit family and friends to do same?
Stay healthy, stay safe, VBM –simple slogan