Discussion
So far I’ve been yelled at by strangers this evening for:
- the existence of provisional ballots, and trying to explain ballot curing
- the fact that US ballots are longer and more complex than they are in other countries (I didn’t design this, I swear!)
- making a silly joke about DC’s national mall not being a shopping center.
@mattblaze that escalated quickly... Sorry for that, as a German-American. It was really rude.
I think the problem is that the rest of the world only reports on the federal election, nobody can comprehend the point you were making that there are dozens of things to vote for. I just counted my ballot, 30 different votes. Germany has 2 on federal election day, maybe 4 if a state election coincides.
And I have counted paper ballots in Germany, it is error prone!
@carstenfranke It’s really unfathomable to people from other other democracies how many things we vote for.
@mattblaze absolutely! This was only my 2nd US election and it took me a while to figure out all the offices I was voting for.
And in other countries there may be way more voting locations and more election judges. In my hometown we had to count about 300 paper ballots with a team of 6...
I really appreciate your insights on the US system and the safeguards in place. Your posts over there years have been very educational.
@carstenfranke I appreciate you understanding the difference between my explaining something and defending it.
@mattblaze @carstenfranke I suspect Mr Blaze has me blocked on here because one time when I was expressing incredulity when he showed me a ridiculously long ballot it came across as me attacking him somehow although that was never my intention; nonetheless I apologise for it again.
I’m not suggesting that was the case this new time, nor am I blaming Mr Blaze for blocking whoever he needs to in order to stay sane - even if that’s me.
(Without suggesting it’s Matt’s fault, I still say it is objectively ridiculous to be voting for some of the things in there; I don’t recall the exact details but I think, for example, who was to be employed as the local dog catcher was on it.)
@mattblaze I was very confused briefly reading the second's corresponding thread, it felt like she just misread your post lol
@mattblaze Do you cure votes with pickle curing, dry curing, or dry salt curing? 🤪
@ai6yr certainly not the pickle one. Too juicy
I’m honestly not sure why any of these things are so upsetting, or why they think I’m to blame for them (except for the silly joke, that actually WAS me).
I have no regrets about the silly joke about the national mall.
@mattblaze how long until the national mall (weak, beta) gets renamed the Mall of America (powerful, based)
@mattblaze keep up the good work, as a Canadian I love the window you create into the US election processes.
@mattblaze long ballots? NSW 1999 would like to present the Tablecloth Ballot.
@bassthang yeah, but that’s still only one contest, right?
@mattblaze On behalf of my fellow humans, Matt, I apologize for their rude and unseemly conduct.
For future reference, do you have a list of preferred topics for strangers to chasten and upbraid you about?
@mattblaze You aren't being yelled at for being one of the best follows around, so brace yourself.
Okay. I can say it nicely.
@mattblaze Well, that'll show you.
@mattblaze I love staying up late and checking to see all the things you got yelled at for 😂 I'm always shocked when people have absolutely no sense of humor, just none.