I am really disappointed with reports that voters are lagging in turning in their ballots. Clerk Candace Grubbs reported the other day that only about 30,000 of over 100,000 ballots distributed in Butte County had been returned. Today I read in Cal Matters that less than a quarter of ballots distributed statewide have been returned.
But some voters may have been wise to hold on to their ballots and see how the Democratic primaries went. As of yesterday, two more major candidates, Buttigieg and Klobuchar, have dropped out. Steyer already hit the door days earlier. Analysts believe that votes already made for these people on early ballots may actually screw up the California primaries – “zombie” candidates suck up votes and prevent other candidates from reaching the necessary thresholds to secure delegates.
I couldn’t care less about the Democrats – I already made a bold move and voted for Trump. No, I am not crazy about Trump, he’s an ass. If I could speak to him personally I’d tell him to grow the fuck up. But, let’s face it, he’s done okay at the President job so far. I like seeing tariffs on foreign trade, I like to see the healthcare mandate dropped, and I like the fact that the economy – right up until the Democrats drummed up a total hysteria over coronavirus – had been doing well. In fact, after a drop last week, the market seems to be recovering pretty fast. Think it’s those GM masks flying off the shelves?
No, I’m not belittling coronavirus, but, according to the CDC, over 80,000 people died of the flu in 2018, and that hardly made a blip on the media radar. Wash your hands.
I know this late election will be a mess for Grubbs and her staff (shake that money-maker Candy!). And, we won’t get the usual instant gratification of knowing on Election Night who/what won/lost. But, what remains to be seen is whether or not mailed ballots will bring up the total number of votes cast.
Of course, some will say it messed up the primaries. I don’t know about that. I think those people wanted to vote for Steyer, Buttigieg and Klobuchar, and in past, plenty of people have voted knowingly for candidates who have dropped out. In Nevada a dead guy won an assembly seat, people are that stubborn.
Also, I think it’s weird that Buttigieg and Klobuchar decided to drop out at this time. I want to know why they dropped out. At this point, I’d say they’d made a commitment to the voters, and owe us all a big explanation. And I should think the Democrats would want an explanation too – by dropping out at this point, they’ve undermined both Biden and Sanders, who may not be able to make the threshold to get any delegates.
So, The Donald seems to be the big winner here.
Regardless of problems with this election, I hope we should try at least two more mailed ballot elections before we decide that this mess was the ballots’ fault.
Chico Taxpayers Association 