With recent history (as in since 2000), what is your trust level in our elections?

[NRaleighLiberal]

20 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I implicitly trust our election results
	1 (5%)
	For the most part I trust the results
	1 (5%)
	The quality of the results is pretty variable depending upon method and location
	0 (0%)
	I've come to distrust election results
	3 (15%)
	HELL NO! Houston, we have a problem!
	15 (75%)
	other
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[furtheradu]

1. & how come Dem leadership doesn't discuss it??

Freaks ME the hell OUT.
WE need election reform RIGHT FREAKIN NOW!

Whew.
Thanks, ever'body. I needed to let that out.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. totally agree with you - naivety? fear? I think some places are too scary for people to go.

[Alice11111]

15. Yeah, we are polite, but DTs rapid grenades have exhausted

everyone too. Polite v mad, mean, crazy, hungry, junkyard dogs.

[loyalsister]

22. Maybe because it calls into question every single elected official?

Of Democrats, especially those in GOP leaning states and districts.

[welivetotreadonkings]

3. I want to say I trust the integrity of our elections.

I say this because I don't want to discourage people from voting. But something tells me Republicans rig our mechanisms for elections far more than we're even aware. Voter suppression laws, I fear, are just the periphery of their corruption.

[lpbk2713]

4. Distrust and cynicism is what brought me to DU.

(You still have room for another vote selection)

[Hoyt]

5. Pretty much trust actual casting ballots, acknowledging errors and things affecting all

candidates. I don't like the gerrymandering, lies, big money, criminal actions, and perhaps worse, beforehand.

We could use the United Nations election monitoring team in here. Or maybe NATO could do the monitoring.

[GulfCoast66]

6. I trust the result of the actual election

But often doubt the shenanigans that go on before the vote like suppressing less affluent voters and all the other dirty tricks used.

[herding cats]

7. Other: Waning more and more.

I've seen some things, including sudden, timely faux outrage over optical scanners to expedite e-voting, which raised personal concerns.

Someone seemed to not want a verifiable paper trail, and it wasn't the Democrats.

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. I am a HELL NO. No longer any trust in our system. Which is pretty sad and terrifying, really

[herding cats]

12. I knew something was up in 2004.

I first noticed it, locally, in 2004. Then previously unquestioned optical scanners, which had a paper trail, were suddenly brought into question. By that I mean suddenly there were several reported "issues" on election night with these machines. There'd been zero publicized issues in the past. The solution to what was a non issue in the past? Non traceable, zero paper trail e-voting machines.

I went, "wait, what?!" We've never had an issue, this is up for vote in the state legislature at the time, and suddenly there's massive issues reported on optical scanners? I was born on a Tuesday but not last Tuesday.

I've not ever felt fully comfortable since with my vote, and I'm an election official in my area.

[chimpymustgo]

29. "Its not who votes that counts, it who counts the votes." Rethug Peter King 2004. As exit polls and

long lines pointed to a Kerry victory.

It's frightening that we see this happen again and again before our very eyes - and we do NOTHING to verify our voting systems. No paper trail, no nothing.

[Awsi Dooger]

9. I trust the recorded count

Nothing has swayed me from that position, although the foreign hacking is far more troublesome than anything debated here in the past 16 years.

The opposition realizes it can continue to voter suppress and get away with it, while the public moronically assesses suppression and fraud as mostly equal concerns. As long as that remains true we're suffering a steady small leak. Republicans may lose an occasional legal battle over suppression or gerrymandered districts but since it's such an ongoing priority they know they'll gain and gain, in small but meaningful numbers.

I don't trust stupid people to avoid being stupid. That's our primary obstacle, far beyond empty whining about fraudulent returns. I have no idea why we haven't already launched a campaign devoted to mocking fake news. The possibilities are endless. People don't like to be laughed at. You can cut the impact of fake news to one cycle as soon as you get enough Facebook types to associate fake news with something like pleated pants or an outdated hairstyle.

The big picture is positive. Last November the percentage of self-identified liberals rose to 26% in the national exit poll compared to 35% self-identified conservatives. It's the first time that gap has dipped below 10% in my lifetime. It was 12% when I first started betting politics. Naturally the media completely ignored that development. Bush was incredibly unpopular post Katrina. Obama was relatively popular. Now Trump begins with record low approval for a new elect. It means a steady diet of young new voters who align Democratic. They will remain that way for the most part but it doesn't attach full impact until they are older and voting more dependably. I may not be here to see it but I know it's coming.

Right now we're stuck with very little opportunity to hold the House unless a very unpopular Republican is president. So there's some hope in 2018. I'll pay attention this time. But while we have been fretting election returns since 2000 the devastating development is both parties moving toward the extremes. That could only benefit the GOP, as I warned Chris Bowers when he started the incomparably ignorant cleansing push on MyDD in maybe 2004. That 35-26 ideological gap dictates outcomes all over the place. Moderates and complacency were our friends, our only chance at holding the House despite so many districts that logically should favor the other side. Once both parties began paying more attention to primaries and treating/funding run of the mill House races like mini Senate races, it was the equivalent of voter suppression...we can't break even.

[TheFrenchRazor]

27. you're more trusting than i am. any computer that CAN be hacked, will be, when there is something ve

very valuable to be gained. these machines are entirely hackable; no way in heck am i simply going to take it on faith that republicans "wouldn't do something like that."

[Brother Buzz]

10. I can't address other places, but I trust my county election results implicitly

It was dicey a couple of years ago when we experienced ONE election cycle with a brand new paperless touch screen voting system rift with problems, but our county sued to return the crap system for a better paper trail one. Bev Harris was pissed at my county registrar, my friend, because she settled independently without joining Bev's shit qui tam lawsuit. Eat shit Bev!

[TheFrenchRazor]

26. the "paper trail" will never see the light of day 99.999% of the time, so it is meaningless.

we need all paper ballots, all hand counted, all the time. the problem with paper trails is that in order to get a meaningful hand recount of the paper, you have to first prove that one is needed, and you can't prove it is needed until it has already been done. add to this the fact that local republican election officials will obstruct every single effort to get a hand recount if a republican winner has already been declared.

[Brother Buzz]

30. ANY legally registered voter can demand and receive a recount for any, or no reason.

All they need to do is pony up the money for the recount in advance. The Registrar of Voters accepts cash, cashier's checks and money orders.

[Solly Mack]

11. I vote Democratic Party in Florida so I assume my vote is never counted.

[dweller]

19. is that you Chad?

how's it hanging?

🤔
😑

[Solly Mack]

20. I won't ever get over that either.

[lpbk2713]

31. Likewise. The GOP got away with stealing the Y2K sElection.

Damn those thieves and liars all to hell.

[mvd]

13. Distrust

But it would not be surprising if something brought me to the Hell No! category.

[customerserviceguy]

14. For all those who answered in the negative

Do you also distrust 2008 and 2012? They're within the scope of the question.

[Alice11111]

18. Nope. Like Obama said, and all black kids get "the talk,"

but he gave it to us Dems, about overcoming Repubs shenanigans. We just have to do a whole lot better than they do to ever win. The Implication is they will shave off 2 to 10 pc with cheating, voter suppression...so we must really win big to overcome that. Exhausting to think about, but probably true. It's like we have to filibuster every election.

[TheFrenchRazor]

24. these things need to be changed, not accepted. nt

[Alice11111]

28. Yes, but until we get some power back, he may be right

Now, we have the legit press, resistance and maybe some of the intelligence.

[TheFrenchRazor]

25. i am certain that there have been multiple election thefts since 2000. nt

[Alice11111]

16. I trust system here...mostly, as I work as election judge

It depends on Precinct too.

I do not trust the outcomes because of pre election day propaganda & cheating. Also, there is voter suppression, Swiftboating, Comey BS, Russians. Every election since 2000, exvept maybe 2004, the Repubs only got because of cheating. Why would anyone trust that?

As far as machines, they need to all be the same, with paper trails, for checking if challenged, or within 1 or 2 pc points. Elections are left up to States though, so its easier to cheat whenever possible. SCOTUS violated that in Bush v Gore, but they stated that it would not set a precedent.
So, they cheat that way too. Dems are slow learners...we watch for old stuff, but they have a lot of new tricks every time.

I'm so sick and tired of losing to these corrupt fucking Repub cheaters! We need to extinguish them and take them out of the gene pool. Very elite, self serving, values with disdain for those who aren't wealthy.

[Foamfollower]

17. I have absolute faith in our election system

The electorate, not so much.

[TeamPooka]

21. I trust the results. I don't trust the voters.

[TheFrenchRazor]

23. ZERO; unfortunately the dem leadership couldn't care less about securing our elections. nt

[Orsino]

32. Depends on what is meant by "results."

I suspect that even in a fair fight, voters are capable of installing truly horrific candidates whom I wouldn't trust to operate a soda machine.

I know that every election has contained a certain amount of noise and thumbs on scales, so we could say that my trust in our ability to count results is near zero--but I still believe it's possible for enough voters to mobilize and elect reasonable or good politicians. So I have, if not trust, some hope.

[Blue_true]

33. I live in a majority republican county.

Officials make it relatively easy for people to register to vote and vote. I don't see a problem. We need to stop focusing on voter suppression and focus instead of tactics for defeating that effort.