Fox News Dem poll worker ejected for pre-selecting 'straight Dem ticket' on voting machine, calling

[Valletta]

The first incident took place early Thursday evening as a group of education activists stood outside the Carmel polling place and advocated for pro-parent school board candidates. Sheller says the worker spoke with a pair of black voters who entered the polling station and urged them not to vote for the pro-parent candidates, arguing that the activists outside were "racist."
Dem poll worker ejected for pre-selecting 'straight Dem ticket' on voting machine, calling Rs 'racist'

 

[ThatRobGuy]

So basically, they've uncovered a case of voter interference where voters are being coerced and pressured into voting a certain way with a figurative gun to their head...as opposed to the voter interference we're seeing in other places involving literal guns.

When comparing "far-left nutjob activist telling me I'm racist if I don't vote their way" to "far-right guys dressed like goons from a Steven Seagal movie holding a loaded Sig Sauer 556"...I think I speak for any reasonable person when I say the latter would be considered far more intimidating and a more egregious form of interference.

 

[Aldebaran]

So basically, they've uncovered a case of voter interference where voters are being coerced and pressured into voting a certain way with a figurative gun to their head...as opposed to the voter interference we're seeing in other places involving literal guns.

When comparing "far-left nutjob activist telling me I'm racist if I don't vote their way" to "far-right guys dressed like goons from a Steven Seagal movie holding a loaded Sig Sauer 556"...I think I speak for any reasonable person when I say the latter would be considered far more intimidating and a more egregious form of interference.

Are you advocating for the type of election interference as was referenced in the article just because you can point to another instance that you believe is worse?

 

[DaisyDay]

It's good he got thrown out then.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Are you advocating for the type of election interference as was referenced in the article just because you can point to another instance that you believe is worse?

I'm not advocating for either kind... I'm just saying that people defending (or ignoring/rationalizing) armed men scaring people away from drop boxes aren't on solid ground complaining about this.

...and it's not that I "believe" one form is worse, one form is factually and objectively worse.

I'm pretty moderate...some would say I lean more conservative than liberal on a number of issues, but pretending to be outraged about this (while people on one's own side are using guns for intimidation purposes) makes me think of the old "first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" adage.

 

[Aldebaran]

I'm not advocating for either kind... I'm just saying that people defending (or ignoring/rationalizing) armed men scaring people away from drop boxes aren't on solid ground complaining about this.

...and it's not that I "believe" one form is worse, one form is factually and objectively worse.

I'm pretty moderate...some would say I lean more conservative than liberal on a number of issues, but pretending to be outraged about this (while people on one's own side are using guns for intimidation purposes) makes me think of the old "first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" adage.

"armed men scaring people away from drop boxes"
I tried finding a video of such a thing, and only found this. Hardly scary.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

"armed men scaring people away from drop boxes"
I tried finding a video of such a thing, and only found this. Hardly scary.

You may not think masked men with firearms and tactical gear are scary, but many do.

The Sheriff in your linked video would disagree with you as well as he referred to it as a "growing toxic problem" and "is causing interference and intimidation"

 

[essentialsaltes]

Electioneering by poll workers is illegal for a good reason.

 

[Aldebaran]

You may not think masked men with firearms and tactical gear are scary, but many do.

The Sheriff in your linked video would disagree with you as well as he referred to it as a "growing toxic toxic problem" and "is causing interference and intimidation"

Either way, the men who are supposedly so scary were just sitting in lawn chairs. If that's all it takes to scare people from voting, then the "scared" ones should stay in their safe space.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Either way, the men who are supposedly so scary were just sitting in lawn chairs. If that's all it takes to scare people from voting, then the "scared" ones should stay in their safe space.

Yeah, I don't think it's the lawn chairs that were scaring people, them being armed and dressed like guerillas (while trying to keep their license plates concealed so people can't report them) is the part that's intimidating some people.

If they wanted to "poll watch" in a "non-scary way", why aren't they just sitting in the chairs waving and being friendly to people while they "watch"?


I don't have an issue with civilians wanting to watch things, that's how a number of institutional corruptions have been exposed. But, one just needs a cell phone to do that.

Here's a good litmus test for self-deputized people who simply claim they want to "monitor" a specific situation.

If they're outfitted in such a way that would get them tackled and/or shot if they walked into a bank that had armed security, then they're not actually there to "monitor", they're there to "send a message" and to try to assert their non-existent authority and get themselves into a "give me an excuse, I dare ya" situation.

If they're the tough guys they pretend to be, they should have no problem showing their faces and keeping their weapons 100% concealed so that nobody even knew they had them. (or just leave the guns at home)

Rule of thumb for civilian firearm carrying that my CCW instructor (former Army Ranger) taught us.
"Don't put yourself in any situation with your gun, that you wouldn't be willing put yourself in without it"

 

[Aldebaran]

Yeah, I don't think it's the lawn chairs that were scaring people, them being armed and dressed like guerillas (while trying to keep their license plates concealed so people can't report them) is the part that's intimidating some people.

If they wanted to "poll watch" in a "non-scary way", why aren't they just sitting in the chairs waving and being friendly to people while they "watch"?


I don't have an issue with civilians wanting to watch things, that's how a number of institutional corruptions have been exposed. But, one just needs a cell phone to do that.

Here's a good litmus test for self-deputized people who simply claim they want to "monitor" a specific situation.

If they're outfitted in such a way that would get them tackled and/or shot if they walked into a bank that had armed security, then they're not actually there to "monitor", they're there to "send a message" and to try to assert their non-existent authority and get themselves into a "give me an excuse, I dare ya" situation.

If they're the tough guys they pretend to be, they should have no problem showing their faces and keeping their weapons 100% concealed so that nobody even knew they had them. (or just leave the guns at home)

Rule of thumb for civilian firearm carrying that my CCW instructor (former Army Ranger) taught us.
"Don't put yourself in any situation with your gun, that you wouldn't be willing put yourself in without it"

They were dressed like Guerillas? I'd love to see a picture of that.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

They were dressed like Guerillas? I'd love to see a picture of that.

Compared to some guerillas in Columbia:

I don't think the comparison is all that far off...

In fact, here's the "stock photo" that shows up when you search for the term

If these guys were just there to "watch the polls", can you explain their particular choice of outfits? Do you need the "Baseball Cap/Facecovering" ensemble with tactical vests in order to "watch the polls"?

 

[Aldebaran]

Compared to some guerillas in Columbia:
View attachment 322933


I don't think the comparison is all that far off...

In fact, here's the "stock photo" that shows up when you search for the term

If these guys were just there to "watch the polls", can you explain their particular choice of outfits? Do you need the "Baseball Cap/Facecovering" ensemble with tactical vests in order to "watch the polls"?

The last Guerilla I saw looked different.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

The last Guerilla I saw looked different.
View attachment 322935

Well, I'm pretty sure a gorilla would scare away most people lol, but dressing like a guerilla is probably bad a idea if you're trying to convey the idea "I'm just one of the good guys trying to make sure things are on the level"

And while I appreciate the play-on-words humor... Certainly you understand that outfitting in such a manner is going to have the "make people uneasy" effect on most normal people.

Hypothetically, If some guys showed up at your kid's baseball game outfitted like that under the pretext of "We're just making sure that nobody cheats" (compounded with the fact that you already knew which team they supported, and knowing that they thought they could tell what supporters of the other team looked like purely based on physical characteristics, and knowing that they automatically assumed supporters of the other team were "cheaters"), what would your first reaction be?

 

[rjs330]

Did any of those dudes tell people how to vote?

 

[atpollard]

So basically, they've uncovered a case of voter interference where voters are being coerced and pressured into voting a certain way with a figurative gun to their head...as opposed to the voter interference we're seeing in other places involving literal guns.

When comparing "far-left nutjob activist telling me I'm racist if I don't vote their way" to "far-right guys dressed like goons from a Steven Seagal movie holding a loaded Sig Sauer 556"...I think I speak for any reasonable person when I say the latter would be considered far more intimidating and a more egregious form of interference.

There were armed gunmen at your polling place telling you how to vote?

That's just plain wrong.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

There were armed gunmen at your polling place telling you how to vote?

That's just plain wrong.

Did any of those dudes tell people how to vote?

I don't think the armed "dropbox watchers" were telling anyone how to vote (at least that I'm aware of), they were just trying intimidate and scare certain types of people away who statistically don't vote their way.

...but it all amounts to the same kind of problem

Looney (who's an election worker; therefore, supposed to only be monitoring the process) trying to pressure you to vote for their guy
vs
Looney trying to scare you away from voting at all if you statistically aren't likely to vote for their guy

Either way, it's interference. I'd just prefer my irrational loonies to be the unarmed kind, and not the kind trying to do some sort of Delta Force cosplay in the parking lot next to a drop box.

 

[atpollard]

I don't think the armed "dropbox watchers" were telling anyone how to vote (at least that I'm aware of), they were just trying intimidate and scare certain types of people away who statistically don't vote their way.

...but it all amounts to the same kind of problem

Looney (who's an election worker; therefore, supposed to only be monitoring the process) trying to pressure you to vote for their guy
vs
Looney trying to scare you away from voting at all if you statistically aren't likely to vote for their guy

Either way, it's interference. I'd just prefer my irrational loonies to be the unarmed kind, and not the kind trying to do some sort of Delta Force cosplay in the parking lot next to a drop box.

I think you are comparing apples to oranges. The lunatics with guns are more like the civilians OUTSIDE the polling place than the ELECTION WORKER inside the polling place.

Both should be illegal (polling boxes do not need armed non-officials exercising their right to bear arms near them) and election officials are not supposed to tamper with the election. At least the Sheriff is definitely handling the Election Worker (per the article) and the Sheriff should handle the armed observers if they broke a law (or the Legislature has some work to do if they violated no laws).

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I think you are comparing apples to oranges. The lunatics with guns are more like the civilians OUTSIDE the polling place than the ELECTION WORKER inside the polling place.

In terms of their "official capacity", yes...in that elections workers have rigid standards they're supposed to be held to and the guys in the parking lot weren't there in any official capacity.

...but in terms of their practical impact, they're one in the same...they're making people uncomfortable doing a civic duty that shouldn't make anyone uncomfortable (besides the discomfort of having to pick between two terrible options in many cases lol, but that's a different subject)

 

[atpollard]

(besides the discomfort of having to pick between two terrible options in many cases lol, but that's a different subject)

True ‘dat!