Election Hoax Spreading Through Text Messages In Michigan (theverge.com) 78
A text message campaign, claiming to be from the FBI, is targeting people in Michigan with misinformation about "ballot sensor issues." According to The Verge, citing The Washington Post, "The messages claim a 'typographical error' is causing people who voted for Joe Biden to have their votes switched to President Trump, and people who voted for Trump to have their votes switched to Biden." From the report: In Flint, robocalls have been trying to trick people into voting tomorrow (which is not allowed) due to supposedly long lines at polling stations. Nessel debunked this claim too, tweeting: "Getting reports of multiple robocalls going to Flint residents that, due to long lines, they should vote tomorrow. Obviously this is FALSE and an effort to suppress the vote. No long lines and today is the last day to vote. Don't believe the lies! Have your voice heard! RT PLS."
These campaigns are just two of the many efforts to spread doubt about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. In a separate campaign, robocallers have been warning people to "stay safe and stay home," according to The Washington Post. The calls, which began over the summer, have increased leading up to the election -- targeting nearly every city in the US. While they do not mention the 2020 race, one source told the Post: "I think they mean stay home and don't vote." Voters in swing states have received the most misinformation about voting by mail leading up to the 2020 election, according to The New York Times. Between September 1st and October 29th, Pennsylvania saw 227,907 mail-in voting rumors, according to media intelligence company Zignal Labs.
These campaigns are just two of the many efforts to spread doubt about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. In a separate campaign, robocallers have been warning people to "stay safe and stay home," according to The Washington Post. The calls, which began over the summer, have increased leading up to the election -- targeting nearly every city in the US. While they do not mention the 2020 race, one source told the Post: "I think they mean stay home and don't vote." Voters in swing states have received the most misinformation about voting by mail leading up to the 2020 election, according to The New York Times. Between September 1st and October 29th, Pennsylvania saw 227,907 mail-in voting rumors, according to media intelligence company Zignal Labs.
The dirty tricks seem to come from one side (Score:4, Insightful)
Funny old thing, seems the same folks squealing about "voter fraud" are the ones actually trying to perpetrate voter fraud. Maybe because, if everyone's vote were actually counted, this thing would not even be close. And Trump knows that if he loses, he's going to prison for tax fraud.
Re:The dirty tricks seem to come from one side (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a well known phenomenon called "projection".
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The legal reckoning awaiting Donald Trump (Score:2, Informative)
The legal reckoning awaiting Donald Trump if he loses the election [cnn.com].
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Who said we were tolerant of liars, assholes, and scum?
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It's more because of how ridiculously destructive, bigoted, and prone to gatekeeping LGBT communities are. Tell them you tell them you're a no-op transperson or heaven forbid, regret transitioning) or bisexual in a hetero relationship and they go fucking apeshit.
Re:The legal reckoning awaiting Biden (Score:5, Insightful)
...given all the dirt found on Hunter Biden's laptop?
Nobody believes any of the "Hunter Biden's laptop" nonsense, because it is unbelievable.
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given all the dirt found on Hunter Biden's laptop?
Is that the laptop that is going to be taken away by the migrant caravan just after the election?
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Right, because it's those dastardly Republicans refusing to allow certified poll watchers into the polling places in Pennsylvania. Wait... no... those are Democrats.
[Citation needed]
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The city says the man was later admitted. So true, but isolated?
Re:The dirty tricks seem to come from one side (Score:5, Informative)
https://twitter.com/willchambe... [twitter.com]
The city says the man was later admitted. So true, but isolated?
1 person was denied entry, and later granted with the admission it was a mistake
It was at one and only one location
And there's no indication that it was Democrats who were doing the denying
At the very least the OP is being disingenuous.
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Was that before or after the cops were called?
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Was that before or after the cops were called?
You should know, as after all you are the one making the claims of democrats suppressing poll watchers.
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Cops? Wait a minute. I thought we defunded all of them.
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Oh look, a dumb motherfucker who doesn't understand the intricacies of US election regulations.
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Right, because it's those dastardly Republicans refusing to allow certified poll watchers into the polling places in Pennsylvania. Wait... no... those are Democrats.
Could you please post a link? I googled and found this article. [inquirer.com]
According to that article, those were not certified poll watchers and this happened more than a month before polling day, so they weren't polling places yet.
there were several reasons why elections staff did not allow members of the public to arbitrarily enter their offices. The Trump campaign has no poll watchers approved to work in Philadelphia at the moment. There are no actual polling places open in the city right now. And elections officials are following coronavirus safety regulations, such as those limiting the number of people indoors.
Do you have more recent information?
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Didn't you get the memo? Freedom took a hiatus and was replaced with idiocy. Race you to the bottom bitches.
Re:The dirty tricks seem to come from one side (Score:4, Interesting)
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I'd expect dirty tricks and thuggish vigilantes in Mugabe-land, not the land of the free.
You need to read some history books. Pay attention to the chapters on Tammany Hall in NY, and Chicago politics.
There is nothing new about election fraud in America. It dates back to the founding of the nation. Presidential elections outcomes in 1876 and 1960 were almost certainly the result of fraud. Many others may have been.
Re:The dirty tricks seem to come from one side (Score:5, Insightful)
Funny old thing, seems the same folks squealing about "voter fraud" are the ones actually trying to perpetrate voter fraud.
We don't actually know this. Given it seems likely that a higher percentage of Democrats voted early (since they are unlikely to buy into Trump's crap narrative about vote by mail), it's at least arguable this is being done in an attempt to sabotage Republicans.
For that matter, it could just be some asocial, apolitical ass who thinks it's funny.
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For that matter, it could just be some asocial, apolitical ass who thinks it's funny.
It's reprehensible, of course, whoever's doing it.
But I can't help but think that maybe we'd be better off with whoever is stupid enough to fall for that ridiculous claim not voting.
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Funny old thing, seems the same folks squealing about "voter fraud" are the ones actually trying to perpetrate voter fraud. Maybe because, if everyone's vote were actually counted, this thing would not even be close.
What makes you so sure these text messages originate from Republicans? The "typographical error" messages target both parties, and the "don't vote today, vote tomorrow" ones would in all likelihood hurt Trump more than Biden. The general wisdom is more Biden voters voted early or by mail, and more Trump voters wait to election day to vote in-person.
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The military that, you know, mails in ballots from overseas? The military that Trump called "suckers?" That military? Yeah, I I don't think its Democrats that are trying to disenfrachise them.
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Biden-1, Trump-25. At least Trump wins the groping contest, eh?
I mean sure, I'd love a president who never groped anyone but his or her spouse or significant other, with their consent. But you work with what you got, right?
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Oh you confused little troll. Try to keep your narrative straight. I mean, seriously, are you drunk?
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Maybe because, if everyone's vote were actually counted, this thing would not even be close.
I no longer believe that. Win or lose, Trump already got well over 65 million votes. Even if he lost by a landslide, that still A LOT of support (well above his approval ratings).
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Sad but true. Kinda casts doubt on political polling. Two elections in a row now have had very different outcomes than the polling suggested.
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Not really. All the polling information I read give it 50/50 at best to have a clear winner on Election Day. The vast majority said neither candidate would have a clear win that night, both would stall out somewhere a little over 200 points, and there'd probably be 6-10 states that were close enough to be within the margin of error on polling. That's pretty much what's happening now.
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538 had it at 90-10 for Biden. Which polling did you see that said it would be this close? Got any links?
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538s commentary and predictions leading up to the day were the ones saying that. It was as low as 80/20 for a while and tightened to 90/10 only the day before the election. Most of the commentary kept hammering home that Biden was likely to eventually win, but there was a good chance enough battleground states would be too close to call - especially with the absentee and mail-in voting - that there wouldn't be a clear winner that day.
So, with the way things stand tonight, it's pretty much exactly what 538 w
Call tracing (Score:4, Insightful)
When will we hear the results of the investigation of this? </sarcasm>
Don't care. (Score:2, Insightful)
Anyone stupid enough to fall for something like this is too stupid to vote, as far as I am concerned.
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Which is exactly how the people doing these kinds of things justify their actions. After all, they are just keeping stupid people's votes from being counted right? Seems like a civil service. /s
Re:Don't care. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry about replying to my own post, but I just thought I should add that a lot of our country's problems are a result of the stupidity of most of its citizens. Like, for example, the continuing-to-rise infection rate that is clearly caused by people refusing to wear masks and social distance. Some such rebels have weird conspiracy theories about how the virus isn't real, others think that the masks and social distancing do no good, others believe that the pandemic will never end and the point has come where we have to just give up and return to our normal lives. And they are all wrong, and their stupidity is motivating them to take actions that are putting themselves and others at risk, costing lives.
Trump mishandled this pandemic, especially at the beginning with the false sense of security he tried to instil. So, some of this stupidity on the part of the civilians, early on, can be forgiven, because really it was just ignorance/misinformation and not stupidity. But once the truth was promulgated, and the worldwide medical community gave clear and consistent advice on how we should behave, nobody had any excuse left for continued reckless behavior. That's on each individual who engaged (and continues to engage) in it.
Same goes for other kinds of decisions stupid people make. Like party-line voting with zero concern for the issues. That, and related stupid behavior, are the reason why we keep having such lousy candidates to pick from.
Self-education, and the active cultivation of wisdom, is a moral imperative for every person who's actions could have a harmful impact on others (which is to say, everyone). And all informed, intelligent people can recognize and reject scams like the ones this article is talking about. So if anyone falls for this obvious BS, well, that's on them for being stupid.
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That, and related stupid behavior, are the reason why we keep having such lousy candidates to pick from.
I don't think the quality of candidates has any bearing on it. It wouldn't matter if the election was won by best candidate ever seen in the history of politics - they'd still be serving the interest of big business and lobbyists once they get into office, totally ignoring the needs of the constituents who actually voted them in. Welcome to capitalism disguised as democracy.
Re:Don't care. (Score:5, Insightful)
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When you have never been persecuted in your life, inconvenience is easily mistaken for oppression.
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Anyone stupid enough to fall for something like this is too stupid to vote, as far as I am concerned.
You're new here aren't you?
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Re:Old news (Score:4, Insightful)
I just can't wait until we find out the number of Trump supporters who voted twice just like the POTUS told them to do. I wonder will Trump pay their legal bills? Will they have a defense in that the POTUS encouraged them to do so... you know just to test the system.
Re: Old news (Score:1)
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Democrats threaten to put Republicans in camps once the revolution comes.
Never happened outside of a Facebook meme.
The bigger democracy of the world... (Score:2)
Thank you Telecos (Score:2)
The solution is so simple, I can't believe I have to spell it out. JUST DON'T ALLOW THE DAMN SPOOFED CALLER IDs! Just don't!
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No a 100% ban on spoofed caller IDs, since they have a purpose in some cases, namely large corporations wanting a general call-in line to show instead of the particular extension called from. But the solution there is pretty easy as well - a mapped list of numbers that can spoof other specific numbers.
Gee ... (Score:3)
Anyone who would belive such things ... (Score:4, Insightful)
The Real Hoax (Score:1)
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The real hoax is that neither candidate is truly qualified to properly lead America - but one will be installed regardless.
This, of course. I was tempted to write in Cthulhu.
I settled for voting Libertarian, my usual "A plague on both your parties" vote, at least, when the Libertarian candidate isn't a complete nutburger like Budnarik. I actually didn't research Jo Jorgensen enough to say for sure that she isn't a complete nutburger, but in her favor, whatever the result turns out to be, I can say with pride "I did not vote for that SOB." That's something, at least, and all that's available this year.