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Why is Florida constantly an electoral dumpster fire? (Original Post) Recursion Nov 2018 OP
Those mistakes are not mistakes. Botany Nov 2018 #1
Exactly. There is a lot to gain for some to keep the level of efficiency down. Baitball Blogger Nov 2018 #2
It takes a lot of work to have so many "random errors" Botany Nov 2018 #7
Bay County was allowed to vote by email, but no one really Baitball Blogger Nov 2018 #18
Ask Gov Voldemort mcar Nov 2018 #3
+1 Baitball Blogger Nov 2018 #19
The repubs don't want to count votes.... Sancho Nov 2018 #4
One Guess Dirty Socialist Nov 2018 #5
Bullshit. Those people switched parties decades ago YessirAtsaFact Nov 2018 #12
I know one Dirty Socialist Nov 2018 #16
Okay atreides1 Nov 2018 #28
The Republicans run this state RockaFowler Nov 2018 #17
I will not delete Dirty Socialist Nov 2018 #20
What does that have to do with the voting in this state?? RockaFowler Nov 2018 #31
Hmmm... because a simple straightforward process would favor Democrats? harumph Nov 2018 #6
Money issues, no state income tax...elections are expensive and little funds beachbum bob Nov 2018 #8
And leaving things as is benefits the repubs Victor_c3 Nov 2018 #14
Because it's run by incompetent Republicans vlyons Nov 2018 #9
Except they seem to have the funds in Republican heavy districts. MoonRiver Nov 2018 #11
Republican "governing"... Wounded Bear Nov 2018 #10
Carl Hiassen has written at least one book on how Florida is an impenetrable swamp Aristus Nov 2018 #13
Yes indeed. dameatball Nov 2018 #26
Huge state, near 50/50 split plus corrupt gop voter suppression tactics Takket Nov 2018 #15
It was engineered that way, apparently. Nt BootinUp Nov 2018 #21
The gop will never let go of Florida. Rocky888 Nov 2018 #22
It's not merely gerrymandering and corrupt Republicans Awsi Dooger Nov 2018 #23
You are 100% accurate. Rocky888 Nov 2018 #30
Im going to say something that sounds mean GusBob Nov 2018 #24
Been that way since the Rs have had 2naSalit Nov 2018 #25
decades of Republican leadership will do that to democracy 0rganism Nov 2018 #27
It's planned that way. lark Nov 2018 #29
Not a coincidence. County election officials have asked for new equipment but were turned down. Cousin Dupree Nov 2018 #32

Botany

(70,291 posts)
7. It takes a lot of work to have so many "random errors"
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:33 PM
Nov 2018

Last edited Wed Nov 14, 2018, 01:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Absentee ballots that were sent out too late so that people could vote and
then mail them back in and have that ballot counted.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211416264

NY Times:
People voted for Governor but skipped voting for senator.
Ballot design in Broward County is one possible cause of votes cast for one contest but apparently not another.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/upshot/florida-senate-race-broward-undercount.html


Baitball Blogger

(46,576 posts)
18. Bay County was allowed to vote by email, but no one really
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 01:05 PM
Nov 2018

knows how the word got out and how signatures were confirmed.

Sancho

(9,065 posts)
4. The repubs don't want to count votes....
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:25 PM
Nov 2018

...they want to cheat. They have been cheating here for 2 decades at least.

Dirty Socialist

(3,248 posts)
5. One Guess
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:30 PM
Nov 2018

There are a some "Dixiecrats" still in the Democratic Party that long for the good ol' days of whoopin' slaves and "States' Rights". Some might be still in positions of power in the Democratic Party down there. Some might be making bad ballots, but that is just a guess.

YessirAtsaFact

(2,064 posts)
12. Bullshit. Those people switched parties decades ago
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:45 PM
Nov 2018

There is no need to impugn Democrats to explain the mess in FL.

Looks like it is by design and GOP has controlled the executive branch in FL for a long time

Dirty Socialist

(3,248 posts)
20. I will not delete
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 01:09 PM
Nov 2018

The person I know claims the be a Democrat, but a DINO, maybe beyond DINO. He always votes Republican, even though he registers as a Democrat. Think "Zell Miller".

RockaFowler

(7,429 posts)
31. What does that have to do with the voting in this state??
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 02:49 PM
Nov 2018

There are Republicans like Ana Navarro and David Jolly who voted Democratic this time.

Victor_c3

(3,557 posts)
14. And leaving things as is benefits the repubs
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:51 PM
Nov 2018

They have no real reason to want to fix it if it benefits them.

vlyons

(10,252 posts)
9. Because it's run by incompetent Republicans
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:34 PM
Nov 2018

Republicans don't think government can ever do anything as well as for-profit capitalism. So they underfund essential services and then bitch when things don't turn out so swell. Republicans don't care if elections are efficient and user-friendly. They're only interested in winning by discouraging the people most likely not to vote against them.

Wounded Bear

(58,440 posts)
10. Republican "governing"...
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:36 PM
Nov 2018

When shit don't work right, people are supposed to throw the bums out.

It gets hard to do that when the party in power suppresses democracy. The fact that the votes are so "close" indicates that there is probably a Dem lead of at least 10% state wide, if they could get honest elections.

Aristus

(66,096 posts)
13. Carl Hiassen has written at least one book on how Florida is an impenetrable swamp
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:51 PM
Nov 2018

of graft and corruption.

Rocky888

(297 posts)
22. The gop will never let go of Florida.
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 01:28 PM
Nov 2018

If they have to burn it down, they will.

The corruption of our elections were bought and paid for by the bush family, now we have addelson, Koch bros and every other billionaire crook with their hands in this mess. There is a lot of illegal money to be made here in Florida on real estate, now weed and agriculture. And let’s not forget all those republican contolled electoral Votes.

And rick Scott has defunded DEP and fired all our water scientist. So it is all ready for the taking.
The other tidbit here is there are more registered Democrats in Florida than Republicans. But gerrymandering and corrupt Republicans have suppressed and trashed their votes for 2 decades.

 

Awsi Dooger

(14,565 posts)
23. It's not merely gerrymandering and corrupt Republicans
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 01:56 PM
Nov 2018

The Democratic messaging outreach operation in this state are inferior to Republicans. I've seen it for a decade here in Miami. That was on top of my dad volunteering to canvass for Kerry in 2004 and telling me how shocked he was at how disorganized everything was.

My dad was in his 70s and had less than two weeks of lifetime experience at GOTV when all of a sudden he's put in charge of a large Democratic canvassing bureau in suburban Miami. He wasn't ready for that role but he did the best he could after the guy in charge quit a few weeks prior to election day. My dad said the lists they had were terrible. He'd knock on doors that were supposedly Democratic and it would turn out that person not only didn't live there he wasn't even the prior owner. That's how old and out of date the info was.

I'm sure it's far superior to that now, but Republicans got the jump. You can't figure it out and see full benefit two years later. It is a decade before everything is clicking. I saw that in Nevada. It's a very complicated state and the GOP understands the swing voters from cycle to cycle better than we do. For example, it looks like Gillum and Nelson lost partially because Republicans realized that scare tactics with Cubans in west Miami-Dade could be very effective. I provided that link a week or so ago. They linked Gillum to socialist fears from Venezuela. The shift in those districts from Hillary numbers to Gillum numbers was down 16 points, and that was enough to shift the outcome statewide.

Rick Scott was running these soft spoken commercials all year portraying himself as a caring moderate, really worried about protecting pre-existing conditions, and other blatant lies. I still have old sporting events on DVR and see those commercials while watching them. It is outrageous that Scott was able to get away with that crap but Bill Nelson enabled it to happen by somehow believing he could stay off the air all year and not campaign until the final 10 weeks. That avoidance allowed Scott to change his image in the meantime, and therefore everything he said late had far more credibility to voters than it ever deserved.

Also, the problem here was all the posters who believed those polls showing Gillum and Nelson well ahead. It was always garbage. I was on a trip to Boston a few weeks ago and saw a thread asking, "Why are Florida Democrats doing so well?"

I replied that the polling was garbage and not to believe it. Basically any poll with a margin of 3+ points in Florida should be torn up and never released.

Rocky888

(297 posts)
30. You are 100% accurate.
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 02:27 PM
Nov 2018

I also have a problem with the way Florida news orgs have allowed Rick Scott to not answer any questions and hide out to do things in secret, then they report on his wrongdoings after the fact.
And when he does get sued, he uses our water quality fund to pay for his lawyers. We need some democrat leaders with guts to get us out of this mess. I like bill Nelson, but he should have handed off to a younger stronger fighter.

And forget washerman-Shultz.

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
24. Im going to say something that sounds mean
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 01:59 PM
Nov 2018

But I say this as someone who spent a lifetime helping people fill out paperwork and forms when I lived in that state. I have known folks who spell their own name and home town incorrectly

Some folks simply have a hard time reading, understanding, and filling out forms. and it seems to me as if ballots are included

2naSalit

(86,061 posts)
25. Been that way since the Rs have had
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 02:12 PM
Nov 2018

control. At least since JEB was governor. He was in place for the 2000 debacle and helped orchestrate it. Haven't been able to oust them until now.

0rganism

(23,856 posts)
27. decades of Republican leadership will do that to democracy
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 02:16 PM
Nov 2018

they don't want people voting, unless those people are white, male, Christian, rural, elderly or (Florida only) aging Cuban immigrants. the more of those boxes you check, the more likely your vote counts in Florida.

lark

(23,003 posts)
29. It's planned that way.
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 02:24 PM
Nov 2018

1 - Broward and Palm Beach have antiquated machines that aren't even being made anymore, the mfg went out of business. Bet Tallahassee & Orlando have much newer, not out of date and can't be fixed machines.
2 - Number of polling places are absolutely insufficient in So. FL. which is where the greatest number of people live.
3 - Snipe was put in place by Jeb and seems to be a repu covert agent. She chose a ballot style that the mfg recommended not to be used because it caused issues. She moved polling places into gated communities. She didn't have any sense of urgency about counting the votes, should have brought on tons of extra people and didn't.
4 - Laws are designed to ensure that large counties don't have sufficient time for recounts in periods of abnormal activity, Repugs suppressing the vote in every way they can.

So, it's not the people, it's the red legislature and their red governors that have put policies in place to ensure that Democratic votes aren't counted. Oh yeah, the exact match is also part of their plot. People's handwriting change over time, this is an absolute ridiculous provision just intended to let them not count our votes.

Cousin Dupree

(1,866 posts)
32. Not a coincidence. County election officials have asked for new equipment but were turned down.
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 04:38 PM
Nov 2018

They are not allowed to make improvements. R’s in charge and all this confusion and inefficiency makes it easier to cheat.

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