@ISIDEWITHQuestionselectionsStarted 2yrs agoActive 3wks ago

Should every voter automatically receive a mail in ballot?

Absentee-by-mail ballots are paper ballots that are mailed to voters who must then fill them out and return them, often with the voter's signature and sometimes a witness signature to prove the voter's identity.  In 35 states and Washington, D.C., any qualified voter may vote absentee-by-mail without offering an excuse, and in the remaining states, an excuse is required.  For example, Georgia allows anyone to vote by mail while voters in New York can’t vote absentee by mail unless they are out of town on Election Day, ill, disabled, taking care of someone who is ill or disabled, in a Veterans Health Administration hospital, or in jail for a non felony offense.

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 34.4k America voters.

48%
Yes
52%
No
43%
Yes
44%
No
4%
Yes, but add stricter requirements for eligibility and verification
6%
No, mail in ballots should only be used by voters who are physically incapable of making it to a polling location
1%
Yes, and making voting compulsory
2%
No, and add stricter requirements for eligibility and verification

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 34.4k America voters.

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Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 34.4k America voters.

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @9DLF5TX  from Nevada  answered…1yr1Y

No, only if requested.

 @9FDPQWW from Alabama  answered…1yr1Y

Yes, but we should create an online alternative to where you can either vote from a Government monitored website or app to vote.

 @9CCDGPS from Florida  answered…2yrs2Y

Yes, upon request

 @9DCBMGJ from Texas  answered…1yr1Y

No, mail in ballots should be abolished

 @9DF5VBN from New York  answered…1yr1Y

Abolish democracy

 @9F56K6Z from Utah  answered…1yr1Y

No. This has compromised elections and has made the majority of the public not trust the outcomes.

 @9BLQ5YS from Minnesota  answered…2yrs2Y

No, but make voting compulsory

 @9CRZVKL from Washington  answered…1yr1Y

Yes, and make voting compulsory but add stricter requirements for eligibility and verification

Latest News

Stay up-to-date on the most recent “Mail in ballots” news articles, updated frequently.

  @Fox-News submitted…2mos2MO

Battleground state's top court cancels ballot extension

▲  32 replies

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2mos2MO

Pennsylvania's Election Nightmare: Machines Fail, Trust on Trial in Cambria County

A ballot printing issue led to widespread voting problems in Cambria County, Pennsylvania Tuesday morning, according to officials.Cambria County Commissioner Scott Hunt confirmed that the voting problem was caused by how the ballots were printed, and not a problem with the machines. He confirmed to WJAC that mail-in ballots are not affected by this problem.County Solicitor Ron Repak said the machine would not read the ballot markings, based on how they were printed adding they conducted tests before Election Day, but because of the nature of the problem, the mistake was not able to be discovered until voting commenced.Repak is urging voters to continue to cast their ballots and trust that their votes will be counted.First, elections officials are hand counting ballots that were delivered into drop boxes earlier Tuesday. Second, they have express voting machines to help speed up the process. Third, officials have ordered additional ballots and hope to commence with normal voting by Tuesday afternoon.A court order has extended voting times from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Cambria County. In the filing, election officials reported that the Electronic Voting System in Cambria County experienced a software malfunction, which prevented voters from scanning their completed ballots.Until the issue can be solved, county election officials report that voters can fill out their paper ballot and have it placed in a secure and locked drop box.Voters reported that some polling places were not following that directive earlier, instead turning people away and telling them to come back later.Repak said that poll watchers are on site to guarantee that ballots are secured. He also said that Cambria County will now be using express voting machines to help voters get through the lines faster.It's unclear how long it will take to resolve the problem, but Repak confirmed there are measures in place to make sure everyone can vote.

▲  47 replies

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2wks2W

Pete Hegseth Slams Gay Troops Policy

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has repeatedly criticized policies allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military, calling them part of a “Marxist” agenda to prioritize social justice over combat readiness.In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors” and in subsequent media promotions this year, Hegseth described both the original “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy and its repeal in 2011 as a “gateway” and a “camouflage” for broader cultural changes that he claims have undermined military cohesion and effectiveness.In a 2015 appearance on Fox News, Hegseth also argued these policies like repealing DADT “erode standards” in favor of political goals like social engineering.DADT was implemented under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and allowed gay people and lesbians to serve in the military — provided they did not disclose their sexuality. Military officials were also barred from asking military members their sexual orientation. If a troop’s orientation came to light, it could lead to their discharge.The policy was repealed during the Obama administration, allowing openly gay service members.Hegseth writes in his book that he was initially ambivalent to the change but came to regret his passive stance, describing the repeal as a “breach in the wire” that opened the door for broader cultural and ideological changes in the military.On Thursday, Hegseth appeared to walk back his earlier remarks about DADT, telling CNN, “Oppose the repeal? No, I don’t,” and calling this report on his previous comments “more false reporting.”

▲  1811 replies

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…1mo1MO

Vetting Fiasco: Trump's Defense Pick Caught in Sexual Assault Allegation Storm

CNN commentator and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said President-elect Donald Trump’s team missed Pete Hegseth’s payoff to a sexual assault accuser when they vetted him to be secretary of defense.Hegseth is among a raft of cabinet picks facing tough confirmations, and who aren’t being subjected to the customary FBI checks, instead being vetted by private firms. Over the weekend, Hegseth’s attorney dropped the bomb that there was a confidential settlement with a woman who accused the former Fox News host of sexual assault. On Monday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Haberman revealed that her sources in Trump world did not know about the payoff, which was missed in the vetting “because it was a private settlement”HABERMAN: There’s more concern from some people around Trump than there is from Trump himself, about this whole issue. Trump has really dug in, and has told advisers that he is going to stick with Hegseth. Now, we’ll see if anything else emerges.They did do a vet, we are told. This did not show up, this issue, because it was a private settlement, according to the people, who were briefed on what took place. Trump really likes Pete Hegseth. But this did introduce the thing Trump doesn’t like, which is an element of surprise and a negative headline. And so, we will see where this goes.

▲  59 replies

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2mos2MO

Inside the Podcast Revolution: Trump’s Unfiltered Strategy and Harris’s ‘Meltdown’ Risk

Tech billionaire Elon Musk attributed President-elect Trump’s election victory, at least in part, to the lengthy podcast interviews he did during the campaign.In an interview late Tuesday with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Musk said Trump’s podcast appearances showed the American public that he was a normal person.“I think it made a big difference that President Trump and soon-to-be Vice President Vance went on lengthy podcasts,” Musk said in the interview.“I think this really makes a difference because people look at, like, Joe Rogan’s podcast, which is great, and Lex Fridman’s and the All-In podcast, and, you know, to a reasonable-minded, smart person — who’s not, like, hardcore one way or the other — they just listen to someone talk for a few hours and that’s how they decide whether, you know, you’re a good person, whether they like you,” he added, according to a clip highlighted by Mediaite.Trump conducted many interviews with new media during his campaign, as well as with legacy news organizations such as Fox News.Last month, he joined Joe Rogan’s podcast for a 3-hour long interview. The celebrity host later endorsed his candidacy.His opponent, Vice President Harris, did not appear on Rogan’s podcast because, according to “The Joe Rogan Experience” host, the Harris campaign only had an hour and required him to travel to her. Rogan said he felt “strongly” that the “best way to do” an interview with the vice president would have been in his studio in Austin, Texas.Musk recalled posting on his social platform X account that “nothing would do more damage” to Harris’s campaign than going on Rogan’s podcast, “because she would run out of non-sequiturs after about 45 minutes.”“You can’t hide for three hours,” Carlson replied.Musk added, “Yeah, like, hour two and three would be a complete melted puddle of nonsense. So it would just be absolute game over. That’s why she didn’t go on.”“But on the other hand, Trump, he’s there, and there’s no, there’s no talking points,” the Tesla CEO continued. “He’s just being a normal person who’s having a conversation, and doing three hours of Rogan, no problem.”

▲  349 replies

Active 3hrs ago

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…1wk1W

Defense Bill Blocks Transgender Care To Minors

The Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a defense policy bill directing $895 billion toward the Pentagon and other military activities, moving over the objections of some Democrats who opposed a provision added late in the negotiations that would deny coverage for transgender health procedures for minors.The 85-to-14 vote, coming a week after a divided House passed the same measure, cleared the bill for President Biden’s signature.Most Republicans and many Democrats supported the measure, which provides a 14.5 percent pay raise to junior enlisted service members and a 4.5 percent pay raise for all other service members. It also expands access to meal assistance, housing and child care programs that benefit those in uniform.But several Democrats withheld their backing in protest of a provision preventing TRICARE, the military’s health care plan for service members, from covering “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for children under 18.The language, which would affect the gender-transitioning children of service members, was recently added to the measure at the insistence of Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, who refused to bring a defense bill to the House floor without it, according to aides familiar with the negotiations.Twenty-one Democrats, led by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, proposed an amendment to strip the provision from the bill, but the matter was never brought to a vote. Several of them took to the floor on Tuesday to lodge their objections.“It’s flat-out wrong to put this provision in this bill and take away a service member’s freedom to make that decision for their families,” Ms. Baldwin said, estimating that the provision could negatively affect as many as 6,000 to 7,000 military families.

▲  1914 replies3 agree