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  The Right To Vote                                  #303

 By Hank Silverberg


Early voting started in Virginia on September 20th. I waited one week to make sure there were no snags, and along with my wife, we cast our votes this past Friday.

My philsophy, why wait? We know what the candidates stand for by now. We had our "October surprise" this past summer when Joe Biden dropped out. The next five weeks will simply a repetition of the previous two months. 

There has been some criticism of early voting, but I see no problem with it. We cast our votes on  machines, the kind that scan a paper ballot and won't be opened and counted until the polls close on November 5th. It also takes in the paper ballot as a backup. 

Having said that, I am a bit miffed at the local Board of Elections in my home county, Spotsylvania, Virginia. 

The  early voting site has been in three different locations in the past three elections, and each time they have been a bit harder to find. This year it is in an empty office in a nondescript brick office building in a nondescript office park a few blocks off U.S. Route One. You know, the one right down the street from the Golden Corral and Hooters? There were directions on how to get there from the Board of Elections, but once you get close, the signage was terrible. I missed the turn into the office partk twice and then had to work my way around the back to find the entrance to the building where the votine machines were. Once inside, there were signs pointing straight ahead but no sign at the the place you had to turn right in order to find the actual room. 

Why is this an issue?  Early voting is supposed to make things easier for folks to cast their ballot by preventing long lines on election day and easing the pressure on the poll watchers. But if voters can't find the polls, that doesn't work. 

(The tiny sign on the far right in the 
photo is the one directing you to early
voting) 
My county votes red most of the time. A 2023  study done by the Pew Research Center shows that 51% of  Republican voters cast their ballots on election day, while only 38% of Democrats voted on election day. The majority of Democrats voted either by mail-in votes, absentee ballots, or early voting. So, if you are trying to supress votes among Democrats, making the early voting area harder to find could be one of the methods. 

Now I have been told that the site chosen in my county was done simply because this particular office space was cheaper and fit into what the county had budgeted for early-voting. Sure, it was cheaper. It was off the beaten path, harder to find, and if you are in business you don't want to rent that space because it makes it hard for your clients to find. But apparently, it's okay for the most important election in a hundred years. 

The only possitives here, there was a steady stream of voters who found their way to the polls on that Friday morning in late September, and there was also sufficient parking.   

Hurricane Releif

I always admire the first responders who stay on the job during big storms like hurricanes, and rush to assist those unfortunate enough to get caught in the storm or stupid enough not to heed advice to evactuate. Those first responders were at it again this week as Hurricane Helene blasted across the southeast, leaving death and destruction behind. 

(Helene on Sept 29th)

FEMA--the Federal Emergency Management Agency--as usual was involved in coordinating the help sending specially trained units from elsewhere in the country to work with local first responders.  The National Hurricane Center had given everyone along the Gulf Coast a big heads up on the danger and ferosity of Helene. People still died, but it could have been a lot worse without the excellent forecasts from the weather service and help from FEMA, which will continue as the cleanup begins.  

So please note this. Page 644 from Project 2025-- Donald Trump's guidline for his second term, says this:

"The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administeration (NOAA) should be dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized or placed under the control of states and territories."

Project 2025 would also eliminate FEMA and move some of its work to the Department of the Interior or the Department of Transportation. And the costs  of disaster preparedness would be shifted to state and local governments alone. 

The number of storms this year could be way up because of climate change. NOAA predicts between 17 and 25 named storms this season, including 8 -13 which could become hurricanes.

There have already been five hurricanes along the Atlantic or Gulf coast so far this year. 

Imagine the impact of those storms without a good warning system or federal help to clean up??

https://blog.ucsusa.org/astrid-caldas/get-ready-85-chance-of-above-normal-atlantic-hurricane-season-that-may-break-records/


News You May Have Missed 

Space X To The Rescue??


(Space X Dragon  Launch Courtesy NASA) 
Help has arrived for the Starliner crew, which has been stranded on the International Space Station since June. NASA and Space X launched the Space X Crew-9 Dragon on Saturday with two empty seats and two extra space suits. They will be used to bring Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams home. The pair of astronauts was stranded on the ISS when their ship, the Starliner, owned by Boeing, a competitor of Space X, had to be brought back to Earth empty because of some mechanical issues. That unmanned craft actually got home safely at White Sands Missle Range in New Mexico on September 7th. 

But the Dragon 9 crew has its own mission first, so Wilmore and Williams will have to stay on the space station until February of 2025 before they can hitch a ride back to Earth in those empty seats aboard the Space X flight. 

This rescue is a big setback for Boeing, which has been competing with Space X for NASA contracts.

Elon Musk owns Space X.  

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-spacex-launch-capsule-to-bring-home-starliner-astronauts/ar-AA1rn16d?ocid=BingNewsBrowse

Dumbest Quote of The Week!

 "The most important thing is not that we agree on 100% of the issues, it's that we have a person of character and courage under fire in the Oval Office."

Why is this a dumb quote? It comes from JD Vance, Donald Trump's running mate.

I really should have to explain why it's this week's dumb quote. But just in case you have been living off the grid for ten years, here's a bit of  recap. Donald Trump is the worst con man and scoundrel to have come on the national scene in decades. He's a convicted felon and under indictment for at least two other crimes, and he has absolutly no "character" of the kind Vance describes. Yes, harsh, but true.  


(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)  

My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:

HankSilverberg@gmail.com  for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)                       

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796


My NEWEST book is now available. It is designed for use in Public Speaking and entry level communications classes. 


                                                 
You can purchase Communications and Public Speaking Trends in the 21st Century at these two links: 


or straight from the Publisher at:  


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