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Footnotes 2017-2018
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If you are in the USA - V*O*T*E
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I wish I could help from over here! Good luck everyone.
My local polling garage was manned by a very young election volunteer who just bubbled in her enthusiasm with explaining how to use the ink dot ballot. I live in Southern California, so I was thrilled that even in my small neighborhood polling place I heard 3 languages being spoken. I try to think positively.
Goodreads might be quiet tonight. Everyone is listening intently to news results. I remember when Trump was shockingly elected, goodreads was virtually quiet for like a day and a half. At least PBT. A few Europeans and other non-Americans slowly got it going again. I found that interesting. Thank you for your support, Susie.
Yes, things are quiet here too. Most of us are desperately hanging on the internet for indications of results. My fingernails are history
Kate, it’s slowing down already! You watch... we could be the last conversation for awhile. Stay tuned!
Been watching the early returns-here in Clarkston, Oakland County Michigan all polling precincts have huge numbers of voters-when I voted at 3PM my station had already seen 725 voters pass through-big number for my small neck of the woods- Here is hoping we all wake up to a World that is getting back on track!One of my favorite authors, Sharon Kay Penman posted this on her blog today
"There is a story told about Ben Franklin that has never hit home more than it does in 2018. It is said that as Dr Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, a woman asked him what form of government the delegates had given them. His reply was “A republic---if you can keep it.” Please keep Dr Franklin’s warning in mind today. Exercise your right to vote"
My husband and I voted early ... a week ago. Walked into village hall, filled out a ballot and I was done. No lines ... and it was a sunny, pleasant fall day. Today it's raining, cold, dreary and awful. I hope it doesn't suppress voting. We started watching the election coverage at about 3p. Took a break for dinner, and now we're back ... glued to the TV. It'll be a long night, I think.
Done early this afternoon. My great grandmother told us how she voted the first time women were allowed to, and that we girls should always take advantage of that right, because if we didn’t, men could take it away again.
Book Concierge wrote: "I'm always appalled by how pathetically small the percentage of eligible voters actually turns out in our elections.I feel this way for elections here in Canada, as well.
I vote in every election ..."
I do, too, and have ever since I've been of age to.
Here in Calgary, we have a different vote coming up next week. They are polling Calgarians on whether or not we want to support a bid for the 2026 Olympics. I will be voting on that one, too!ETA: Let me clarify - not simply polling Calgarians - it is a plebiscite. But, it's not binding.
I've had my mail-in ballot for some time, but only last night filled it out. LOL we're procrastinators - we always seem to hand-carry our mail-in ballots to the polling place.
The first time I ever voted was in 2016 but I am now completely invested. I did my part today, had to wait in line for 22 minutes in a small town of about 2300 people. And even though it's early, things are looking good in my state of Iowa so far! But no matter what happens here tonight, this state MUST get out that horrible awful human Steve King. Fingers crossed and praying all night.
Here in WA state it’s all done by mail or you drop of at a ballot box. I decided to drop it by the ballot box tonight about an hour before closing and was warmed to see a huge traffic jam! It was a steady stream of people all turning in their ballots.
Tessa (FutureAuthor23) wrote: "The first time I ever voted was in 2016 but I am now completely invested. I did my part today, had to wait in line for 22 minutes in a small town of about 2300 people. And even though it's early, t..."Hear hear! King is an embarrassment to our state! Hurray Abby! Watching her acceptance speech right now...
Can someone please explain to me the impact of both the Senate and House results? Your system is vastly different to ours and hence confusing!
So as I understand it, the main impact is that it’s likely to make it much harder to pass legislation that’s politically driven - both chambers have to pass a Bill in exactly the same form before it can be presented to the President. Nothing to stop parties working together (or to stop individual members of Congress from crossing the floor) but everything is so strongly divided along party lines at the moment that’s less likely than it might sometimes be.
So if the Democrats take the House, they can effectively veto any legislation that’s needed for Trump to achieve his political agenda. (Equally, the Democrats couldn’t do any new stuff either). Not everything requires legislative change of course, but many substantial policies would. Gridlock.
Not sure what happens with budgetary measures - same deal? Or does the executive have more leeway?
Budget has to be passed by Congress too. If the Democrats take over the House, that means that Trump, and his cronies, have less control of the government. The Republicans and Democrats have to work together. It checks Trump more, too, because impeachment starts in the House of Representatives.
Would impeachment ever be a real possibility?
Impeachment needs 2/3 of the Senate I think. So there may well be noises from the House, and potentially investigations but chances of impeachment actually going through would depend on GOP support.
I don’t know if it’s a real possibility this term, but if he’s re-elected, it's more likely. And I’m not sure anymore about the Senate vote- they’ve changed their rules for other votes to a simple majority, but not sure off the top of my head if there is a specific percentage of Senate votes specified in the Constitution. The important thing is the people have voted these representatives in as a statement that they don’t like Trump. From this, he should fear impeachment and/or censure.
For impeachment, the House votes on the Articles of Impeachment (basically, decides if to “charge”) and impeachment is heard in Senate (like the “trial”).
KateNZ wrote: "So as I understand it, the main impact is that it’s likely to make it much harder to pass legislation that’s politically driven - both chambers have to pass a Bill in exactly the same form before i..."Gridlock is definitely on the horizon if some of the "Trumpettes" in the Senate don't start questioning some of the racial divide that this President is creating. The great thing is the House will now have 100 women in the seats! Michigan and Pennsylvania, 2 states that aided in electing Trump turned the tide and sent Democratic women to Washington this election. My district, in Michigan, has been Republican forever-and went with Dem. Elissa Slotkin -a young vibrant gal who I love!!!
Chiming in to this the day after when (most) of the results are in - and it really is no surprise that the Senate remains Republican controlled - far fewer seats were up for re-election, and those up were in states where party change was a slim option. However, even in states where the incumbent senator was re-elected, strides were made - such as Ted Cruz in Texas won by only 3% of the vote, that is shockingly close in a state where he has always had double digit wins over the Democratic candidate. The House 'turning' is a definite statement against Trump and his policies. Look at the incredible diversity of who was elected - far more representative of our population than in the past.
But even more important were the changes in the state and local elections. New York State Senate went Democratic for only the second time since WWII. While NYC is democratic, upstate NY is very Republican and conservative, always has been. This is historic. Plus incredibly diverse -- women, minorities, LGBTQ - candidates were elected across the board - federal, state and local positions. While we have a long way to go, our political system is far more representative of our population than we were on Monday. It is mostly from state and local politicians are often the source of future Congressional reps.
As I posted to my FB page this morning: "Some engagements were won. Even in losses, fronts were advanced. The battle for the United States of America has begun." I'm sure a few of you can identify what/who I referenced with the second part of that comment??
Theresa wrote: women, minorities, LGBTQ - candidates were elected across the boardTheresa-in Michigan-Governor=Woman, Secretary of State=Woman, Attorney General = Openly Gay Woman and all Democrats!! We had a good day!
Joanne wrote: "Theresa wrote: women, minorities, LGBTQ - candidates were elected across the boardTheresa-in Michigan-Governor=Woman, Secretary of State=Woman, Attorney General = Openly Gay Woman and all Democra..."
Congratulations! NY had a GREAT day too! One of my favorites was Kansas - woman governor and first Native American (and also openly gay) woman elected to House, who also happens to be an MMA fighter.
Just love the diversity.
Wisconsin finally got rid of Scott Walker (I'm guessing Trump will appoint him to some cabinet post come January, though). Not entirely happy with the Democrat we got, however, but I'm sure glad Walker is out. There's some talk about a re-count being requested, but that's only done automatically if there's a 1% or smaller margin, and last I heard the margin was closer to 2%. Still, Walker could request a recount - and pay for it out of his own pocket (or campaign pocket). Unfortunately our state legislature stayed Republican in both the Assembly and the state senate. Though there were a few strides made, and some much closer races than Republican incumbents expected. Our assembly (like US Congress) is up every two years; our state senators run on staggered terms, just as the US Senate does.
And U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) - openly gay woman - won her re-election handily against a Trumpite woman challenger.
Book Concierge wrote: "Regardless of your politics, if you are a citizen of the USA be sure you exercise your right to vote today.I'm always appalled by how pathetically small the percentage of eligible voters actually..."
We had 50 percent turnout in my town, which I think is very low, but for here it's very high. I was shocked when I moved to the States and learned that it was often only 25 percent for most electoral districts. That's the statistic I remember, so if I'm wrong, I'd be happy to know.
But I mainly vote for the local and state stuff because this state is predictable for federal.
Karin wrote: "Book Concierge wrote: "Regardless of your politics, if you are a citizen of the USA be sure you exercise your right to vote today.I'm always appalled by how pathetically small the percentage of e..."
No Karin, I do not think you are wrong-My small town usually is at 18-20% for a mid-term vote, except when there is a governors raise(which there was this time)-I believe they calculated close to 70% turn-out, which is very high even with governor on the ballot!
Our turnout in my small village was 82%! It's a conservative, bedroom suburb but - to my surprise - the Democrats were in the lead for every position. Of course we're a tiny village and none of the districts were strictly for our village ... Even the state assembly race covers more than just our village.
I'm always appalled by how pathetically small the percentage of eligible voters actually turns out in our elections.
I vote in every election ... from village trustee and school board members to US Senate and President.
So, if you haven't done so already ... GO VOTE. NOW.