A Cautionary Tale

By GrannyMumantoog, a Trail Mix Contributor

Some recent news articles have shown that there are still people out there trying to mess with voter registration. Mostly they are just using scare tactics by making people think that there is much more voter fraud than has actually been proven to be true. In addition, there are still some people working to get last minute laws enacted to make registrations and voting more difficult. In this crucial election it behooves us all to be ever vigilante and work on behalf of ensuring that everyone who can vote is legally registered!

dont-voteA few days ago, feeling a little paranoid about the state of voter registration, I decided to look into the subject a bit. I discovered that there are wildly different rules, deadlines and methods available for people to register to vote in different states. I learned that my state had a nice online area where I could check my registration status so I did! As expected, I was registered just fine! What I didn’t expect was that my oldest son (Turning 50 Monday yikes!) was not! He had put in a change of address with the DMV some time ago and I remember that I talked with him about making sure his change of address was on his voter reg too. Well, apparently he didn’t do that in time and yes, it turns out that there is a deadline to do it. You can’t just show up at your previously recorded poling place, as he thought he could. His deadline had passed and he was no longer a registered voter! Needless to say I emailed him a link to the voter reg page and he took care of it that day.

This got me thinking that I should share this information with as many people as possible. I was amazed to see how many different deadlines exist when you look at the lists by state! This election is too important to leave anything to chance!

Here are some links people can use. Two of them are to find out more about voter registration in each state. One is a universal form to use to register online, for people who are not yet registered. If all else fails, people should be encouraged to check their state’s official website and find a page with voter information they can click on! For the most part, there’s only a couple week left to accomplish this.

Rock The Vote offers a handy online form taking registrants step by step and linking to one’s state registration site if applicable: https://www.rockthevote.com/register-to-vote

Be aware that some states do not have online registration so voters need to be even more aware of deadlines by mail, determined by postmarks, or in person.

The New York Times has all the state deadlines an links to each state’s online registration where applicable: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/24/us/politics/voter-registration-deadlines.html

Here’s another site with deadlines listed by state: https://www.vote.org/voter-registration-deadlines/

Now, go  forth, and get out the vote!

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76 thoughts on “A Cautionary Tale”

  1. Thank You, Granny Mumantoog for a timely, important Post. If only we could sprinkle magic motivation dust on our fellow citizens to get up, get out & Vote.

  3. roll call: Is Congress Headed Toward A Government Shutdown? Mitch McConnell would need crossover votes for his continuing resolution

    Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said that talks would continue between Democrats and Republicans in an effort to strike a deal before the scheduled Tuesday afternoon vote.

    “Oh sure, very constructive,” Mikulski said of the discussions. “We’re a work in progress.”

    As the release of McConnell’s plan was imminent, Reid seemed particularly critical of the continuation of language in current appropriations law that blocks the Securities and Exchange Commission from compelling companies from disclosing so-called “dark money” campaign contributions.

    “The president will accept no riders,” Reid said. “If they want to get out of here, we’ve got Zika resolved. Do a clean CR and they can leave in 10 minutes.”

  4. thanks, granny M, good post reminder. sure wish we had universal registration and vote mandate like the aussies.

    timely decision reported by abc news: Federal Court Rules Ohio’s Voter Purge Unconstitutional

  7. Hillary Clinton’s Final Exam
    David Axelrod

    Mrs. Clinton’s history has been to rise to these occasions. She calmed unsettled Democrats last fall with her confident and steadfast 11-hour-long appearance before the congressional committee on Benghazi and a series of strong primary debate performances with a dogged challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders.
    If she can handle the asymmetric challenge of the unorthodox Mr. Trump, she will have taken a big step forward to solidifying her hold on the race, but more important, she will have shown that she can handle pretty much anything.

  8. Clinton must stay on the high road: Kirsten Powers
    Kristin Powers

    He’s described the stolid former secretary of State as “unstable“, “unbalanced” and “unhinged.” He’s called her “weak” and “actually not strong enough to be president.” Trump has even suggested that Clinton doesn’t look like a president. He’s claimed both that she is only competitive because she is playing the “women’s card” and that “women don’t like her.”

     

  9. Progressive Family Values
    Paul Krugman

    Here’s what happens every election cycle: pundits demand that politicians offer the country new ideas. Then, if and when a candidate actually does propose innovative policies, the news media pays little attention, chasing scandals or, all too often, fake scandals instead. Remember the extensive coverage last month, when Hillary Clinton laid out an ambitious mental health agenda? Neither do I.
    For that matter, even the demand for new ideas is highly questionable, since there are plenty of good old ideas that haven’t been put into effect. Most advanced countries implemented some form of guaranteed health coverage decades if not generations ago. Does this mean that we should dismiss Obamacare as no big deal, since it’s just implementing a tired old agenda? The 20 million Americans who gained health coverage would beg to differ.

  10. politico: Bush national security adviser endorses Clinton

    “We now have a person at the top of the Republican ticket who I believe is dangerous, doesn’t understand the complex world we live in, doesn’t care to, and is without any moral or international philosophy,” Gregg said in a statement.

    “I’ve met Hillary Clinton a number of times and followed her career in public service. I’m impressed with her knowledge and experience. She would make an extremely good president.”

    Gregg, 88, served as Bush’s national security adviser for six years and was part of the Reagan administration for eight years. He was ambassador to South Korea from 1989 to 1993.

  11. kgc, your fav femme fatale on morning joe reported by raw story: Kellyanne Conway squirms under intense questioning from ‘Morning Joe’ panel trying to explain Trump ‘lie’

  13. politico: Is Donald Trump qualified to be president? In the most pivotal moment of 2016, these are the questions he must answer.

    H.L. Mencken declared there was only one way to look at a politician – “down.”

    Likewise, there’s really only one way to look at the first presidential debate on Monday: as the first serious job interview for potential President Donald John Trump – an opaque candidate who has hidden behind a steel curtain of one-liners, faux familiarity and universal celebrity.

  14. GrannyM…  as someone who registered people to vote for 20+ years here in the great state of NH…  I heartily thank you for this post!  Here in NH, one can register on voting day at the polls.  I’ve always thought this is what should be the norm throughout this great country.  But as you’ve discovered through some research…  voting rules go state by state.

    BlondeW…  as an elected election official, I used to attend meetings with our Secretary of State to go over voting rules.  At one such meeting someone asked him point blank if voting was a right or a privilege.  He said a privilege.  That kinda shocked me… but it twas his answer.

    Tony….  LOVE that sign!…   you sneaky devil, you…  🙂

     

  15. I would not call The Condom a femme fatal  she is a skanky loser who hooked up with a rich hedge fund manager and on his behalf works for

    the worst of the goopers–  I don’t see her as feminine at all in any way

  16. So, patd, you think they carry seeded California sourdough rye at Walmart or Kroger?  That would likely be the only way I’d have any chance of trying it (and I do love my Reubens) without visitng California (which I must say I’m overdue).

    KC, as a man who appreciates women, I would not call Kellyann a femme fatale either.  I’ve never found her attractive, and that is one quality every femme fatale must have IMHO. Plus, she sounded like a blithering idiot when Heileman cornered her about drumpf’s lie about Lester Hole being a democrat.

  18. Pogo
    Thanks for mentioning the Reubens–just took a corned beef out of the freezer for Wed dinner with Sue and her hubby. If you never had a Reuben in the lounge (bar) at the Stouffers on Shaker Square, you missed something that was truly special. I’m sitting here salivating as I type 🙂

  19. Katherine

    Why do you attack her in such a mean spirited way using fighting words? Surely she knows that she is no Marilyn Monroe, but still she stands in front of cameras supporting her candidate and exposing herself to ridicule such as you have presented. Goodness knows I am not a Trump supporter. That said, I want no association with your comments about his spokesperson.

    You are so smart and share so much excitement, knowledge, and sensitivity with us on a daily basis. That’s what this selfish me needs.

    Flatus

  20. kgc, I was leaning more towards the “fatale” in that not so funny joke like a she that leads “men into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations”

    pogo, see pic that Kroger carries on their instacart web page

  21. flatus, I substitute pastrami and provolone for the corned beef and swiss, use homemade russian dressing and fresh claussen sauerkraut on that seeded calif sourdough rye grilled in butter.  maybe not up to “Stouffers on Shaker Square” but I bet nearly as good and probably not as expensive.

  22. Kelly Ann Condom is not a leader – she is follower of the worst kind

    We are not going to the debate party. We have to drive 1 1/2 hours to have Mr. Cracker’s elbow looked at – it is quite swollen but not red, hot or painful. Just annoying

    But I want to declare Clinton the winner. Just showing up to face this jerk — the face of racism, the great white hope– shows something. He would throw anyone (but Ivanka) under the bus

  23. wapo covers that further in their “Kellyanne Conway on accusation that Trump lied: ‘A lie would mean that he knew’” story:

    “Mika, a lie would mean that he knew the man’s party registration,” Conway said.

    Conway — who has criticized the Clinton campaign for urging reporters to fact-check Trump — then launched into an attack on the reporters who cover her candidate.

    “What I would ask you to do is to start looking at the Twitter feeds of quote ‘objective’ reporters, particularly our embeds,” Conway said. “These are not profiles in courage, and this is not journalism. There are people who cover our campaign who actually just slander our candidate on Twitter. Ninety-two percent of one of them — I have them all on my desk, we’ve printed them all out — 92 percent of at least two of our embeds’ tweets are negative toward Donald Trump. Why are they on our campaign plane? Why are they covering our campaign if they can’t say, ‘Hey, look at this crowd’ … So excuse the Trump campaign if we feel like we can’t get a fair shake from certain people.”

  25. So basically the Condom said – Trump cannot be held accountable for anything he says because it is unclear what he actually knows and when he knew it

    We are supposed to accept Trump Rules now….Clinton should clarify that and if it is so — she should get out there and lie lie lie and let fat ass correct the record

  27. Katherine

    I hope the weather is perfect for your drive and that Mr C gets a tolerable report on his elbow.

    I certainly believe that Hillary should be awarded the Presidency by acclamation when faced by a candidate of Donald’s meager accomplishments for the public good, and pathological lack of character.

  29. wiki: Grolsch Brewery, known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo.

  34. Craig Re Arnie: Condolences on the loss of your family friend. I was married to a golfer and watched lots of events on TV. I always thought Arnie was a great gentleman and sportsman. Don’t think I ever heard an unkind word said about him. That’s a legacy!

    Sadly, yesterday the baseball world also lost someone. Jose Fernandez was a young (24) rising super star whose life story was just as compelling as his baseball skills. At 15 he saved his mother from drowning when they escaped from Cuba and it’s just unfathomable that he died in a tragic boating accident.

    Renee: I did notice that several states have same day registration/voting along with NH! I wish every state had that. Also, you posed an interesting question…I think voting is a privilege that should also be a right for every citizen!

    Taking #1 son out to dinner for his B’day tonight. I mis-typed in my post, we’re celebrating today but his actual 50th is tomorrow 🙁

    After that I’ll be coming home and watching the debate with great trepidation. Not sure what to expect from Holt. He’s a republican but I don’t recall ever thinking of him as one of the biased media sleazebags we’ve come to know and not love lately. But, I haven’t seen everything he’s done so I could have missed something. Fingers crossed that DT makes an ass out of himself and shows what a racist, unethical, unscrupulous ignoramus he really is. I’ve seen lots of articles about whether fact checking will happen during the debate. I think if a moderator doesn’t have the most common views already fact checked by air time, then he shouldn’t be the moderator. Anyway, I’ll be holding my breath for at least 1 hour tonight!

  36. Pat, I’ll do my best on the imported beer. Where did you last have them? If it was overseas, I have usually been disappointed by the products exported to the U.S.. I prefer very dark beer, so my palate is not suited to tasting the light beer. What I’ll do is have the proprietor of the establishment have it taste tested by a local ‘expert’ and if it’s up to snuff, will make the purchase. If it’s not up to par, we should regroup.

  37. Granny, thanks for the fine post. And don’t get me started on the maze of state laws for getting on ballots, which protects the two-party monopoly

  38. usatoday: For Lester Holt, it’s debate glory — or torture on Twitter

    [….]

    Another danger, Feldstein says, is to fall into the trap of “false equivalence” that he believes has colored much of the election coverage. The level of Holt’s follow-ups and corrections should correspond to the candidate’s transgressions. NBC is “going to be accused of bias anyway. But you don’t want to get into the Matt Lauer thing,” Feldstein says. “Lauer did make himself a laughingstock in the eyes of national journalists.”

    With Trump’s tendency to fall back on hyperbole and personal guarantees, Holt would be “making a courageous journalistic decision” if he pushed back aggressively, Tyndall says. “If rules get in the way of clarity, then he has to put the needs of clarity over the needs of rules.”

    It’ll be a particularly tricky challenge for Holt because he now presents himself as a neutral referee, while NBC News’ coverage has been clearly paying more attention to Trump than Clinton, Tyndall says. From the beginning of the year to Labor Day, NBC News has devoted 288 minutes of coverage to Trump vs. 93 minutes to Hillary Clinton. While other networks have also spent more time on Trump, the difference is the greatest for NBC, he says.

    “His newscast made an explicit decision that Trump gets more attention and deserves more attention than Clinton,” Tyndall says, adding that the tilted coverage is justifiable, given Trump’s boastful declarations, impetuous policy proposals and insults.

    Holt “spends eight months saying they’re asymmetrical. And because of the debate format, he now has to tell viewers that they are equal. He’s got to do a 180-degree turn,” Tyndall says.

  39. Grolsch – good beer, great bottles.  Me, I’m partial to Sam Adams and to Yuengling (right Flatus?). XR, try a glass – could help you avoid an injury.

    BTW, it was a lie.  He was doing what KC said she was afraid HRC’s camp would do.  Projection is a wonderful thing.

  40. Craig, seems to me that the real monopolies are created by the house (especially) and senate power brokers. Can’t see that changing with a parliamentary system.

    The most likely product of independents are outliers like Bernie who create a threatened candidacy such as Hillary’s. I sure as hell wouldn’t want Bernie as part of my coalition. Multiply that by …

  41. Flatus

    She is not a  Trump supporter.  She was a paid Cruz worker and in reality is the paid employee of a Hedge Fund manager.  She doesn’t believe a word she says – but she doesn’t have to because she doesn’t think that truth is a factor.

    Her specialty is appealing to Republican women — and she has said terrible things about women seeking equal rights.

    So yeah I’m going to say terrible things about her because she has made herself and her values  public .  She is not working on principles or in a principled way.  She is a paid political worker and in the republican tradition does not think the truth has a role.

    And I’ve held back.

  42. Rick LOVES him a Reuben sammy!  Me…  nope…  give me a good ol’ BLT on toasted sourdough any day of the week.

    KGC…  sounds like Conway went to the school of George Costanza…  “it’s not a lie unless you believe it’s a lie.” Good luck to Mr. Cracker.

    Craig…  sorry for the loss of your family friend.  That intensity you described is what made Arnold Palmer a great golfer and athlete.  Although…  I don’t blame your father…  wanting to play for fun can’t be such fun in the face of it.

  43. Yuengling (right Flatus?). Oh, yes, Yuengling is a good robust beer made by a privately owned family brewery.

    I used to make my own very dark muscular brew. It was typically around 8-pct and served cool but not really cold-cold. It was on a level of its own.

  44. The tv networsts worked awfully hard to turn the campaign into a neck-and-neck horse race ala Ben Hur, or a gladiatorial combat ala The Last Days of Pompeii, culminating in low cost, high advert revenue, ‘debates’. Alas. Huuuuuje bread and a little circus.

  45. Katherine

    Good job. You’ve said terrible things about her without risking your future. I hope her strategy fails and that Donald becomes shrill and irrational; then we can alll jump for joy.

  47. Yeungling is good. I thought it was sold to InBev.

    Mostly, I drink the local-ish beers. Schell’s Dark & Schell’s Firebrick, are both fine dark beers. I also like Summit Brewing’s Finegan’s.

    Like king edward I, ‘longshanks’, I don’t much like hops. He declared it a crime to doctor beer with hops or other artificial flavors.

  48. I also like Guiness and Champlain Porter Favorite pale beers of all time was Tuohy’s from Australia, Huber’s of Wisc, and Falsters from Denmark. Huber’s is long gone; I never see the other two.

  50. Oh dear, I don’t drink beer and don’t eat bread :O

    I also don’t really live watch/post/comment/tweet anything because I seem to be lacking in some essential skill to do that.

    I’ll have to play catch up tomorrow.

  51. xr, I think all of them sold out to inbev except guiness….

    which reminds me of another recipe worth sharing if haven’t in previous blogs: boil babyback pork ribs for 13/4 hr in water and guiness stout, pat dry, paint with kc masterpiece and grill 5+ min a side to put a tasty pretty caramel char  on them. usually serve with buttered corn on cob…. have lots of paper towels handy.

    and more guiness.

  52. Granny

    All those things you listed are learned behaviors. Now, with just a little effort I could probably learn how to painlessly register in about 20 states—which I won’t do because I have no desire to move that many times in the next month or so.

  53. GrannyM…   I occasionally eat bread…  but beer….  not my thing.  Make it wine and make it red.  As for the other things you don’t do…  I don’t have the skill for it either.  I really don’t see how anyone can completely listen to a candidate’s answers…  hear the tone…  watch the facial expressions and body language…  while typing at the same time.  Methinks if someone would admit it…  one misses a lot while trying to do such a thing.

  54. kinda like hurricane parties…  waiting and watching a windy blowhard, possible damage from hard fall and interruption of communications

    abc news

    the Clinton camp said this morning it is hosting 1,200 debate-watch parties across all 50 states tonight.

    Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine will attend a watch party in Orlando, Florida, organized by the Human Rights Campaign. Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, will also attend that event, an aide said.

  55. Granny, feel free to substitute the drink and nosh of your choice  (Wine and Cheese perhaps?)  Yesterday I tumbled across some cheese we bought a while back and stuck in the fridge – it’s an Italian cheese – Truffle Cheese with Truffles.  Stuff is delicious.  Made Mrs. P an omelette with it yesterday and she just loved it.

    And like you and Renee, I’m not much of a live blogger.  I type too slowly, make too many mistakes and miss what’s said next while I’m trying to comment on the last thing said.  Now I could give terse comments about drumpf, but Craig would be able to retire from my swear jar donations by the end of the night, and I can’t afford to fund my, much less his, retirement.

  56. “special place in hell for Dr. Jill Stein and her version of the Green Party” – Ms Cracker

    Yup, right down there with Brutus.

  58. Stop Pretending You Don’t Know Why People Hate Hillary Clinton
    Larry Womack

    Consider, for a moment, two people. One, as a young woman at the beginning of a promising legal career, went door to door searching for ways to guarantee an education to the countless disabled and disadvantaged children who had fallen through the cracks. The other, as a young millionaire, exacted revenge on his recently deceased brother’s family by cutting off the medical insurance desperately needed by his nephew’s newborn son, who at eighteen months of age was suffering from violent seizures brought on by a rare neurological disorder.

    What kind of a society treats these two people as equal in any way? What kind of society even considers the latter over the former for its highest office?

    Generations from now, people will shake their heads at this moment in time, when the first female major party presidential nominee—competent, qualified and more thoroughly vetted than any non-incumbent candidate in history—endured the humiliation of being likened to such an obvious grifter, ignoramus and hate monger.

    We deserve the shame that we will bear.

  60. Thanks for the Womack article, Tony ! 

    Good grief, what a creepy creep this trump-ass trump is !

    If this particular trump is not the trump of Doom and the False Teacher who precedes The Beast of the Apocalypse (putin? pence ?) who in hell could be ?

  62. Almost all rip ups will vote for him. There’s no excuse for any Christian Indie to vote for such a sinful person.

    Avarice, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, and Malicious Envy = 6.

    Add 1/3 for Intellectual Sloth = 6.33. Add another 1/3 for Spiritual Sloth = 6.66

    The modern nero.

  63. Poobah, I think your risk/benefit analysis is correct.  Didn’t you say she should have insisted – no taxes, no debate?  She should have listened.

  64. “Gotta say again, Hillary should have not done this. I see nothing but risk.” – C.C., Esq.

    It is a horrible come-to-pass, indeed. Her campaign staff should be put up against the wall and paint-balled until red and gone.

  68. It’s too bad that all of the candidates on the ballot aren’t being included in the debates.  Jill Stein will be holding an  occupy event outside of Hofstra.   The debates are a joke; a put-up deal.

  69. Trump could’ve insisted no-transcripts-of-paid-speeches-to-Wall-Street, no debate.

    I hope Wikileaks drops the hammer on her before early voting starts.

    How can anyone support Hillary when she lied about having a server for convenience?  She had multiple devices; she had them wiped and physically destroyed when the wind caught the stench of what she was doing with the SOS & the Clinton Foundation.

    She brings up Trump U.  He brings up Laureate U.

    It’s just a shame that these are the only two that are allowed on the debate stage.

  71. Gonna watch Rick Perry do a fox trot & just catch the highlight real of the debate tomorrow.  I’ll sleep better.

  72. Gee, Craig.  Colonel Sanders and Arnold Palmer.  Your childhood was more interesting than most.

  74. Clinton should start out saying, it has been proven Donald Trump lies every 31/2 minutes he is speaking – if I  rise to correct him

    I will never get to talk about my vision of America so as you listen to him, just think about it …every 3 minutes he is telling a lie

  75. Oh I see false equivalence is back. Trump would not want to make that challenge because he’s the worst of the worst. 17 speeches at $1.5 M per.  Really now, it takes a two-minute internet search to do this.Hillary has 40 years of precedent behind her.  Drumpf has none.

    And you do understand the difference between a device and a server I hope. I currently have 4 devices, not counting the 3 desktop computers I use.  I have 2 email accounts and two others I don’t use. Over the past 4 years the numbers double.  They are all for convenience. Get it? Lie my ass.

    The 3rd and 4th candidates didn’t reach the threshold required by the debate committee. Too bad.

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