OT: Today is Election Day in the US – please vote!

[ProDesignTools]

Please excuse the brief off-topic reminder that today 11/6 is Election Day in the USA...

Wherever you are and whoever you support, please exercise your Constitutional right (and only chance to choose who runs our democracy) by voting!

Visit Vote.org for everything you need to vote, including polling places. Fast, free, easy, secure, nonpartisan.

Uber and Lyft will get you to the polls for free (or cheap) today, and free bike-share rides are also available.

Thank you, and now back to our previously-scheduled programming!

[SJRiegel]

[Ussnorway]

this thread belongs in the lounge guys

[Todd Shaner]

ProDesignTools thanks for posting this and voting! Those outside the US can choose to ignore it, but if you live in the USA GO OUT NOW AND VOTE!

[Trevor.Dennis]

As you can imagine, this is getting a lot of coverage in the rest of the world (maybe not so much in North Korea and Iran), and the thing that not so much shocked, but definitely appalled me, is the flagrant abuse by GOP officials managing the voting stations.  We saw an interview with Brian Kemp who was shamefully defensive when he spoke about using the precise letter of the law to block some people's Constitutional right to vote. No surprise that this apparently mostly affected low social economic areas. Kemp had a wee quiver in his voice, and looked like his mummy had caught him stealing candy.  Unfortunately it looks like his shameful tactics paid off, as he has 53% of the votes as I type this.

The Washington Post tells it better in this article talking about how Kemp has used his power as Secretary of State — the official who overseas elections — to suppress the minority vote.  There is not the remotest chance of this sort of thing happening in New Zealand, and if it was tried, there would be enormous kick back and real consequences.  I have zero faith in America investigating this situation, and making people pay. 

[D Fosse]

Thanks for the Washington Post link, Trevor - that's pretty shocking reading and puts a perspective on the press being "the enemy". Yeah, they better be the enemy of stuff like this. Voter fraud? Come on. What about election fraud? If anyone tried to pull off something like that here in Norway, they would immediately be rolled in tar and feather and placed to public ridicule in the town square.

Other than that, congratulations on the election, America! I haven't seen the numbers, but the turnout is said to be very high regardless. And a diversity of candidates voted in - native Americans, Muslims, a gay governor - and a whole bunch of women. This is definitely going in the right direction, although it's still some way to go.

[jane-e]

The Democrats have won the control of the house:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/us/politics/midterm-elections-results.html

[D Fosse]

Yes, that was implicit in my congratulation - and the comments over here predict that Trump will now become even more aggressively confrontational than what we've seen so far. Brace yourselves, it can be a bumpy ride the next two years.

[Ann Bens]

Moved to the Lounge.

[Ussnorway]

I love that Dennis Hof won his seat... I felt being dead makes him less likely to win but we can't assume anything with US politics now days

[D Fosse]

Turnout is now 48.1% and still counting: