Here's a case where the GOP messed up getting someone to vote:

[Ilsa]

Back in 2004, an elderly relative decided to vote for the first time in her life. Good for her, right? She affiliated herself with the gop when she registered.

So, about a month or less before the election, the GOP sent her a "ballot" for her to fill in her choices. It came with a nice letter from Barbara Bush and GHWB and a return envelope. I don't know if they asked for a contribution. She filled in her choices and gave it to her husband to mail or take to election office. She doesn't really know for certain how he dealt with it. I tried to tell her that she hasn't voted and she should contact her election official to get a professional explanation and find out where she should vote for real.

She had never voted before, and she had not requested a mail-in ballot. She really doesn't understand how voting works, and that, conceptually at least, a voter's ballot is secret. She went on and on about how great it was to vote in the privacy of her home over a cup of coffee.

Anyway, not that it mattered in Texas, the gop lost a vote for everyone on their ticket by sending out their phony-baloney ballot.

[PDittie]

1. That's happened a few times in this election

The TXGOP has what what was believed to be a "sophisticated" by-mail effort, for years (in Harris County at least). The Dems (read: Glen Maxey) got theirs up to speed this year, in a 2-year effort. It matched the number of mailed ballots in the state's largest county in one election cycle.

By the way, never touch a mail ballot that isn't yours. Greg Abbott has -- and will -- prosecute someone for voter "fraud" if they so much as carry someone's ballot envelope from the kitchen table to the mailbox.