Wishing you all the luck in the world. From downunder

[pink]

I have been glued to the screen watching CNN for the last couple of months. How anyone can support that orange, white eyed blob is beyond my comprehension. I know you will win the house, but I am really hoping that you can grab the senate (especially at the expense of Cruz). If Kemp loses his challenge for governor in Georgia, is there a chance that his position of Secretary of State can be taken from him? He deserves to be accountable for his unscrupulous actions.

In Australia it is compulsory to vote. Also, our elections are held on a Saturday so that its more convenient for people to vote. Do you think that rules like that would work in the USA?

Enjoy your day tomorrow. I'll be watching as the "Blue Wave" becomes a Tsunami.

[manor321]

1. Thank you :)

[DFW]

2. We hope so, too

[pink]

3. Thankyou

I do enjoy "Men at Work"

[olegramps]

33. We will never have sensible election laws as long as Republicans have any voice.

[DFW]

37. Oh, I have nothing against their having a voice

They can have as much of a voice as they allowed us the last four years. It will have as much volume as a pin dropping at an Aerosmith concert.

[Control-Z]

4. Thank you, pink!

Your support means the world to me as I would expect it does to the rest of us.

Many thanks!

[octoberlib]

5. Thanks for your support. This country would

look a lot different with compulsory voting. Federalism is the problem ,with each state’s legislature being able to set their own voting laws. Many states have early voting where residents are able to vote on Saturdays, no state has compulsory voting , though.

[olegramps]

34. States right bullshit. There should be one set of laws for the entire nation.

[octoberlib]

39. Totally agree.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Your kind words mean a lot. Thank you. ♡ eom

[safeinOhio]

7. In Australia it is compulsory to vote

That would make you a Right-To-Vote state.

[uriel1972]

44. Not exactly compulsory to vote...

It is compulsory to attend a polling booth, or mail in an envelope. Voting is not necessary.

[pnwmom]

8. Thank you for caring. It helps to know we're not all alone here,

and that the rest of the world realizes we're not all Trumpers.

[Hortensis]

9. I want compulsory voting, not all do, but for sure it'd work better than

what we have. (!)

At very least to start, we need to stop requiring citizens to register to vote. In the modern era the whole voter registration process is obsolete, necessary only to those who use it for malicious disenfranchisements. I live in Georgia, Secretary of State Brian Kemp for governor, etc.? Numbers vary for how many voters his office has de-registered/"purged," up into the 800,000s, but Georgia's biggest newspaper says that in one day in 2017 alone over 500,000 names were removed from the voter roles. Mine was removed a few years ago.

And yes to a Saturday election day, with civic celebrations, concerts in the park, fireworks, snow festivals. A lot of our Democratic pols support that. Election day was set on a Tuesday in the 1800s so rural people could get in to vote and still be able to take goods to market on Wednesday, all without impinging on the Christians' Sunday sabbath. Now its most important function is as an impediment for some to voting.

Wishing you plenty of luck there also. We know whole world is needing a leash on Trump.

[Cha]

10. Thank You, pink!

My son-in-law is from Melbourne.. he and my daughter and kids have their family home in Portland, Oregon.

I would love it if there were compulsory vote here.. we're in a battle with the trumpshites to fight Voter Suppression.

[peggysue2]

11. Thanks, pink!

We need all the good wishes we can find to turn this thing around.

As for your question: compulsory voting and Saturday elections? Yes, I think it would/could work although there'd be screams of government intrusion. But to have a true sense of the electorate's voice, we need the electorate as a whole to . . . vote.

As for Saturday elections? Excellent idea. In the state I'm living in now, the early voting period offered Saturday hours this year, 11am to 4pm. Makes sense when the majority of voters are working during the week. We should be doing everything we can to make voting easy, not hard.

Btw, I agree with you about Kemp in Georgia. If the election gods are with us, he'll lose, deservedly so.

[barbtries]

12. thank you!

let me know how it goes. i'm afraid to look.

[Norbert]

13. Thank you for your support

MASA (Making America Sane Again).

[bdamomma]

23. or

Normal again.

[zanana1]

14. I think "compulsory voting" would go over like a lead balloon.

We see voting as a right, not an obligation.

[secondwind]

15. Thank you!! We appreciate your concern!!

[blue-wave]

16. Thank You Pink!!

We need a win today....the world needs a win today!!!

[duforsure]

17. Thank You Pink,

And yes it would help making it on a Sat. , and I would like to see it a national day off for people to go vote no matter what day its on. Yes ted cruz is hated everywhere here in Texas , and if enough people vote , he'll be finally ousted. Trump showing up here for him only helps our cause, and more people are running away from trump and cruz now from it. trump may win for us because he's hated so much now here too.

[Demsrule86]

18. Thank you!!!! Hope to shut Trump down.

[RKP5637]

19. Thank You!!! n/t

[Martin Eden]

20. Not voting is a problem in the USA, but the bigger problem ...

... is that tens of millions who do vote have been badly misinformed and misled by decades of propaganda on Fox News and talk radio. That's how a vile demagogue like Donald Trump gets to be president.

We need several major electoral reforms, but it's all for naught without s well informed and engaged citizenry. I'm not sure about compulsory voting (what's the penalty?) but I think civics education should be compulsory at every level. Americans are woefully ignorant about the structure of our government and what it does at every level (federal, state, & local). We're even more clueless about the rest of the world and the people in it.

All too often, voting choices aren't informed by tje qualifications and the policies of the candidates but rather by what is seen on television. Media which attempts to be balanced will give air time to partisan mouthpieces from both sides, leaving viewers no better informed about the real issues at hand and likely to cheer for whover reinforces their existing bias or fears.

And then there are the political ads, which can be even more misleading and devoid of substance other than manipulating voter anxiety. Politicians have to raise enormous sums of money to win elections, and wealthy corporate interests (especially on the Republican side) are more than willing to supply it -- but they expect a return on their investment. There is a growing chasm of wealth and power between the obscenely rich and everyone else because the rules of the game have been thusly rigged.

We have to reduce the influence of big money special intetests, but that would require Constitutional Amendment because the Citizens United ruling will not be overturned with Trump's appointments.

Additionally, I'd like the Constitution amended to:
End gerrymandering.
Abolish the electoral college.
Implement Instant Runoff (ranked choice) voting.
Universal voter registration for all citizens.
Standard balloting which accurately records voter intent, can't be hacked, and leaves a paper trail.
Shorten the election season, and structure a sensible format to inform rather than mislead voters.
Move elections to Wednesday, which is a paid holiday for the purpose of voting.

[olegramps]

35. I would be for all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday voting.

[pink]

49. Our system, which isn't perfect

has an independent body to oversee election matters The Australian Electoral Commission
We don't actually have compulsory voting, its compulsory to turn up to have your name marked off the role. I think the penalty is around $50-$100 unless you have a good excuse for not voting.
Unfortunately, we are also infected with the Murdoch virus. He controls about 65% of our newspapers and also controls cable TV.
We also have preferential voting which works very well but would take a long time to explain.
You're right, abolish the electoral college. I agree with all your recommendations. What about taking another look at how many senators represent each state. Surely the population of each state should have something to do with it.

Good luck for today, I'll be watching with enormous interest. I hope your BLUE WAVE becomes a TIDAL WAVE or maybe a Tsunami.

[Martin Eden]

51. Thanks, pink

I doubt we'll ever get rid of two senators per state, and I've never heard of anyone pushing for that.

That overrepresentation is bad enough without being componded by the electoral college which destroys the principle of one citizen one vote.

The EC is also a disincentive to vote in states that are solidly red or blue.

[CottonBear]

21. Thank you, my friend!

I live in Georgia.

Current Secretary of State, Brian Kemp is running for Governor. He cannot run for two offices at the same time. There is a separate race for Secretary of State. If Kemp loses, then he’ll be out of office! That’s an extra bonus to an Abrams gubernatorial win!

Democrat John Barrow is running for Georgia Secretary of State. He is a Harvard Law graduate and scion of an old and prominent Athens, GA family, the Barrows. His deceased father, Judge Barrow, was a longtime judge and a leading citizen of Athens, GA. Athens is the home of the University of Georgia. (Go Dawgs!)

Both Kemp and Barrow are native Athenians. Interesting, huh? John was a lawyer and county commissioner while Kemp was a building contractor.

John Barrow, who I know, was an Athens-Clarke County Commissioner and then our federal Congressman, before being gerrymandered out of the district by the GA GOP. He ran and won in a new district before losing to a Republican in a later race. The GA GOP demonized John as too liberal for Georgia. However, John ran a very conservative race for Congress, as one must when running for office in a mostly rural and small town part of Georgia.

John is whip smart, very intelligent and has years of experience in the law, local government and as our congressman in DC. He’ll make a fine Secretary of State.

GOTV!

[olegramps]

36. They will continue to screw the people until they are confronted everywhere the go.

Their acts to deprive citizens of their sacred right to vote condones direct confrontation and condemnation. I can only hope that strict laws are passed to punish those guilty of voter suppression are convicted of a felony and served time in prison without any time off. They are striking at the very foundation upon which this nation was founded. It is akin to treason.

[CottonBear]

43. I completely agree. N/T

[pink]

50. The world is watching

I hope that all those disenfranchised voters win their case and that with your new Democrat Governor, she will have Kemp called to account for his despicable actions

[CottonBear]

52. The results are coming in now! Polls closed 31 minutes ago.

Low population, rural Republican majority districts are reporting first, as usual.

Medium size population centers will report next, followed by metropolitan area suburbs.

Finally, Fulton and Dekalb Countiies (Heavily Democratic and hugely populated Atlanta and the surrounding metro area cities and suburbs) will report last. We may not know the final totals until the early hours of Nov. 7.

[bdamomma]

22. Thanks for your kind words

yes a Saturday would be more beneficial to so many people in the US, but then again we can be behind the times. Right now they the opposition party is against the people in so many ways. We are majority we can see what is happening well at DU we can see, feel and hear what is going on in the US. Our only option now is to VOTE. And have a check on this SOB.

[kentuck]

24. Thank you pink!

I find it very interesting that the rest of the world is watching what Americans do?

The world understands that there is a cult of personality, a demagogue, that has emotionally connected to a large proportion of American citizens, and feels threatened as if an American citizen.

The Democratic Party is re-loading. If, God forbid, the Democrats fail in their efforts in this election, a "new" Democratic Party is waiting for the challenge.

We have hopes for Tennessee and Texas.

At this time in history, you guys seems to have a much better elections system than we. Republicans love to suppress the vote in our country.

[MountCleaners]

25. I was just reading about Teddy Roosevelt

And how he was big on civic participation and that this was a thing in the Gilded Age. I think we should have a national holiday for election day.

Thanks for your support and interest!

[hostalover]

40. I've often thought a national holiday for voting would be great!

[pamdb]

26. Another country on my bucket list

The republicans want to make it as difficult as possible to vote. I live in Michigan, a state notorious for unpredictable weather. The democrats have tried repeatedly to get early voting ( like 30 some other states have) and get straight ticket voting BACK, like we used to have and the republican house and senate won’t bring it up. Republicans cheat anyway they can, that’s how they win. And we are one of the worst states for gerrymandering.

[pnwest]

27. Thank you! It DOES help to know

that people elsewhere are pulling for us!

[sinkingfeeling]

28. Thanks

[Greybnk48]

29. Thank you, Pink!

Send strong vibes to Wisconsin! We need to rid ourselves of Scott Walker, who is almost as vile as Trump and worse in many ways.

[treestar]

30. Thanks mate!

I really want Kemp to lose. He could at least have had the decency to resign as SOS first.

[Delphinus]

31. Thank you!

Your encouraging words are much appreciated.

[Tikki]

32. We are going to vote like our lives depend on it..Thanks for the encouragement.

Like they say in Footy...Play On.

Off we go..voting.
Until we reach our goal.
Blue through and throughout.

Tikki

[UTUSN]

38. Thanks for this and thanks to the Aussies next to us in the military (separate from the war)

My supply ship (LST) would load up in Saigon with whatever: Gigantic bags of concrete on pallets, bulldozers, boxes of boots, Coca Cola, Aqua Velva. A three weeks' round trip with the delivery location being an Army base down the river, where we would spend about three days unloading.

At the base we could use the Enlisted Men's bar until 7 P.M. There were always different others coming in from the field, not only U.S. but especially the Aussies, and whoever got to the facility first had "control" of how things were run. If it was the Americans all the tables were left as they were, separately, with groups of 1, 2, 3, or 4 at each, talking privately. If the Aussies, all the tables would be pushed together in one long communal board and there would be boisterous singing (think "Waltzing Matilda" ) with beverages swinging in time in the air. Thanks for that memory.

[Thyla]

41. Don't forget the best part of Aussie voting, the Democracy Sausage!

That is what would transfer to other nations the easiest.

[Dave Starsky]

42. Dinky-di, mate! Thanks for that!

I, too, hope for the House AND the Senate.

The rules you state would be great, but they will be almost impossible to implement in this country if we don't considerably change the composition of our government, from the national level to the local level. The entrenched powerful (and the politicians they pay for) LOVE the system the way it is. They don't want people voting for candidates that might threaten their power. The very fact that we rely on black-box electronic "voting machines" should demonstrate that before the world.

[uriel1972]

45. Please vote all you Democratic Undergrounders...

And make the Disunited States a little saner.


Good Luck!

[Aristus]

46. Thank you, Pink.

[Irishxs]

47. Thanks!!!

I say “thanks” from a loyal phone banker!

[Xipe Totec]

48. It's going to be a horse race. We're all rooting for Trump getting trampled. nt

[Nitram]

53. Thanks, dude!

We need all the moral support we can get.