#FreeUpTheMail

[Thomas Veil]

Last night Bill Maher came up with a suggestion so simple it’s brilliant.

After admitting that with all the ways Republicans have tried to suppress the vote, screwing with the mail had never ever occurred to him, Bill made this plea:

From now until the election, make the USPS workload lighter so they actually have time to deliver our ballots.

• Don’t send that birthday card or get well card to your grandma. Call her instead.
• Join the 21st century and e-pay your bills instead of mailing a check.
• Hold off on writing that letter, no matter how charming you think old-fashioned letters are.
• Stop ordering shit from Amazon and everywhere else! It can wait until November!
• Most of all, pressure companies into not flooding you with junk mail, at least for a while. (Capital One pre-approval? Realtors who want you to know they just sold a house in your neighborhood? Penny saver coupon flyers? We’re lookin’ at you!)

And of course, send in your absentee ballot requests now. Today.

And I’ll throw in my $.02. Check out early voting if you can. I’ve done it before. Often it’s not nearly as crowded as you’d think.

#FreeUpTheMail. Spread the word.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Last night Bill Maher came up with a suggestion so simple it’s brilliant.

After admitting that with all the ways Republicans have tried to suppress the vote, screwing with the mail had never ever occurred to him, Bill made this plea:

From now until the election, make the USPS workload lighter so they actually have time to deliver our ballots.

• Don’t send that birthday card or get well card to your grandma. Call her instead.
• Join the 21st century and e-pay your bills instead of mailing a check.
• Hold off on writing that letter, no matter how charming you think old-fashioned letters are.
• Stop ordering shit from Amazon and everywhere else! It can wait until November!
• Most of all, pressure companies into not flooding you with junk mail, at least for a while. (Capital One pre-approval? Realtors who want you to know they just sold a house in your neighborhood? Penny saver coupon flyers? We’re lookin’ at you!)

And of course, send in your absentee ballot requests now. Today.

And I’ll throw in my $.02. Check out early voting if you can. I’ve done it before. Often it’s not nearly as crowded as you’d think.

#FreeUpTheMail. Spread the word.

Perhaps, but with a couple of caveats to do with access to internet, bank accounts, and being somewhat tech savvy.

Paying bills online presupposes a decent internet connection, which is not always the case in undeveloped rural, or impoverished areas.

Likewise, it presupposes the possession of a bank account; I would be fascinated to learn how many minimum wage, rural poor, elderly poor, and underpaid (and indeed, illegal immigrants) actually possess a bank account.

And, while we know that the elderly tend to vote (in large numbers) those who are poorer and less educated, are also less tech savvy.

I'd hate to add conditions to voting that, actually, - in real life, irrespective of intended consequences - make it, in fact, harder to cast a ballot.

 

[Eric]

Stop my Amazon orders? That might be tough but I've learned that if your item is larger than your mail box it will arrive via Fed Ex or someone else, usually.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Well as a senior, I can adopt at least three of the things on that list that I don’t normally do.

Plus a fourth one. My wife and I got our mail-in ballots today. We’re going to drop them off in person. 🗳

 

[Thomas Veil]

Oh for fuck sake. I thought that was awfully fast for the actual ballots to arrive.

We mailed our absentee ballot applications 18 days ago.

I took a look at what we received today, and it was a pair of absentee ballot applications.

Seems Ohio is sending applications to everyone.

In Ohio, that is.

First I’ve heard of it.

*Sigh.*