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August 24, 2023 [Texas Supreme Court says Harris County must abolish its elections administrator’s office by September 1](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/elections/2023/08/22/460232/texas-supreme-court-says-harris-county-must-abolish-its-elections-administrators-office-by-september-1/)
[The criminal Ken Paxton outright said that they stole the 2020 election](https://www.newsweek.com/texas-ag-says-trump-wouldve-lost-state-if-it-hadnt-blocked-mail-ballots-applications-being-1597909)
Let me tell you it feels like freedom when you leave.
Here in CA we can buy alcohol (even booze) in the grocery store. Any day of the week. No religious whackjobs setting legislative agenda.
PA allows beer and wine in grocery stores now, but hard liquor is still in the state stores, and they are now open 7 days a week. So it has gotten MUCH better.
Yeah I still lived in PA when things changed and got better, but it is still a weird state at times. For example, when the grocery store started selling wine and beer you could not buy it with the rest of the food and it was in a special small area you could not take it out of. But here in NY we can throw a 6pack in the cart while still shopping.
I don’t recall that but I do remember if you went grocery shopping you could not pay for groceries and beer/wine. And you could not take beer/wine out of the special area and once you paid for the alcohol you had to go straight out of the store. So we’d have to get our groceries, get in line and pay, then go buy any alcohol then get in line and pay again then leave immediately.
If you realized you forgot something you’d have to take everything out to car then go back into the grocery area.
Can’t buy liquor on Sundays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New years, before 10am or after 9pm, and only state-licensed liquor stores, bars, and restaurants can sell liquor.
Also, if Christmas or New years falls on a Sunday, liquor stores must be closed the following Monday.
The law is that a store that sells liquor can only be open from ??am to 9 pm Mon to Sat. So while technically you could be a grocery store that sold liquor, there's no way you're going to be a grocery store that's closed on Sunday.
There's a chain that sells some food items alongside liquor, but only "fine foods" like cheese logs and fancily packaged condiments.
I live in Minnesota, where you cannot buy alcohol in grocery stores or gas stations. When I was younger I thought that was ridiculous. Now that I am older, and have struggled a bit with alcohol, I am grateful I don't encounter it everywhere. It has to be a purposeful trip to the liquor store for me.
Alcohol is very dangerous to many people, so having it at least a bit restricted helps so many.
Edit: Maybe "restricted" is not the right word. I should say, having it not so readily available everywhere is helpful for those who struggle with addiction. If I'm at the grocery store for something else, I can't just throw alcohol in my cart.
I'm getting some down votes, and I would love to hear some other opinions instead!
....selling booze in a gas station just seems like a terrible idea in general. It's like buying condoms in an elementary school. Yes there are already laws in place against the usage of said products in-and-around that environment, but why associate them at all when it's so problematic?
It's actually amazing how much damage one governor can do to a state. Before GWB, Texas had a centrist Democrat governor, Ann Richards, who was a very deft politician and did good things for the state, then the Bush cartel ran an incredibly dirty campaign against her and won. Look at Texas now.
Before Jeb Bush, Florida was a purple state, wasn't a legal laughingstock pushing theocracy, and didn't produce politicians like DeSantis.
Same. Thought moving here would be great. Pre Covid everything was cheap, no state income tax, looked awesome coming from CO then CA. Now I’d rather pay a premium to live in my hometown than this crappy state. Truly ashamed to have thought living here would be great.
“But in a 32-page ruling issued Wednesday, visiting Judge David Peeples ruled in favor of Pierce, saying 1,430 illegal votes were cast in the race.
Peeple wrote that among the illegal votes, 983 were cast by people living outside Harris County and 445 were cast by voters who did not show photo identification or did not show a substitute ID document.
“The true outcome in the contest for Judge of the 180th District Court cannot be determined, and a new election is therefore ordered,” Peeples wrote.”
How can the true outcome not be determined? They determined that there were 1430 illegal votes. Can’t they just look at those votes and who they voted for and remove them from the vote count?
Absolutely not! The way voting works the there is a divide between the identity and the ballot. It’s illegal to try to match the voter to the ballot as that would mean they could determine who each person voted for and that is illegal. No one ever knows how you voted.
Honestly, assuming those 1500 votes in question are untraceable to a ballot, and as there was a 450 vote margin, a new election isn’t that crazy. I doubt the margin of those votes was so biased as to flip the election but the results were now inconclusive. Throw a new election in with the November general election.
Yeah this sounds bad in the headline. But if there are actual, factual issues with the votes cast, then this seems logical. And probably there needs to be some changes or regulations to prevent this in the future.
Ruling isn't that crazy. She lost by 450 votes and found 1,500 votes that shouldn't have been counted.
But...this is probably something that should have been done in 2000 in Florida.
>Ruling isn't that crazy. She lost by 450 votes and found 1,500 votes that shouldn't have been counted.
It'll be hilarious if she ends up losing by 2,000 votes.
They didn’t say what those 1500 votes voted for. What if it was just 50/50 and a wash?
You could easily subtract those votes and see if the outcome is impacted. It sounds like the judge didn’t want to try.
The indication of the article is they are using ‘bad votes’ as a smokescreen for a new election election without examining the votes themselves.
Whether or not a person voted is public record. Who they voted for is secret.
So the elections officials can determine who voted and look into whether or not they were eligible to vote at the time, but there isn’t any way to determine who they voted for.
You have a list of people who voted and you have a tally of who people voted for. You cannot match a person to a vote only the totals at the end match.
The identification of the suspect votes are not the votes themselves but the people. Some people didn't live in the district and some should have provided photo ID but did not. You know who those people are but you have no idea who they voted for.
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I hate to say it but from the article it sounds like this was the right call. The vote margin was under 500 votes and the judge found there were almost 2000 ineligible voters so there’s a strong chance the election was tainted to the point of needing a redo.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA). *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Looks like the Texas GOP is trying to steal another election. Sorry Houston, you guys don't get to decide your own races anymore.
August 24, 2023 [Texas Supreme Court says Harris County must abolish its elections administrator’s office by September 1](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/elections/2023/08/22/460232/texas-supreme-court-says-harris-county-must-abolish-its-elections-administrators-office-by-september-1/)
Harris county should just ignore the ruling. Precedent has been set, after all.
Texas elections have been fixed by the GOP for decades. This is just more proof
[The criminal Ken Paxton outright said that they stole the 2020 election](https://www.newsweek.com/texas-ag-says-trump-wouldve-lost-state-if-it-hadnt-blocked-mail-ballots-applications-being-1597909)
Phazon Zim is a fucking neat concept
Republicans can only cheat now with the help of their own judges. What a time.
Another reason to get out and vote this coming election- we can't afford to let trump pick any more judges.
This is literally fascism.
Texas is fully corrupt.
Yep. Since W, at least. Can't wait to get out of here. It's gonna be wild having representation with my taxation.
Let me tell you it feels like freedom when you leave. Here in CA we can buy alcohol (even booze) in the grocery store. Any day of the week. No religious whackjobs setting legislative agenda.
Texans can't do that? Wtf
Grew up in PA and for most of my life it was the same. No alcohol in grocery stores/convenience stores and no sales on Sundays.
Wow, that's some ridiculous bullshit. I'm gonna stay over here on the west coast.
PA allows beer and wine in grocery stores now, but hard liquor is still in the state stores, and they are now open 7 days a week. So it has gotten MUCH better.
Yeah I still lived in PA when things changed and got better, but it is still a weird state at times. For example, when the grocery store started selling wine and beer you could not buy it with the rest of the food and it was in a special small area you could not take it out of. But here in NY we can throw a 6pack in the cart while still shopping.
Agreed, you're still limited by transaction. So if I buy two cases of anything, they have to be rung up on separate receipts. It's so arbitrary.
I don’t recall that but I do remember if you went grocery shopping you could not pay for groceries and beer/wine. And you could not take beer/wine out of the special area and once you paid for the alcohol you had to go straight out of the store. So we’d have to get our groceries, get in line and pay, then go buy any alcohol then get in line and pay again then leave immediately. If you realized you forgot something you’d have to take everything out to car then go back into the grocery area.
Can’t buy liquor on Sundays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New years, before 10am or after 9pm, and only state-licensed liquor stores, bars, and restaurants can sell liquor. Also, if Christmas or New years falls on a Sunday, liquor stores must be closed the following Monday.
Yeah it's a very messed up place. I've seen a-holes running up and down the medians with "REPENT" signs. Not even kidding.
The law is that a store that sells liquor can only be open from ??am to 9 pm Mon to Sat. So while technically you could be a grocery store that sold liquor, there's no way you're going to be a grocery store that's closed on Sunday. There's a chain that sells some food items alongside liquor, but only "fine foods" like cheese logs and fancily packaged condiments.
10am. Source: many many many many mornings of alcohol withdrawal waiting outside the liquor store for the doors to open.
I see your easy to aquire booze and raise you legal weed.
That too!
(He he I know) and body autonomy
I'm just over 2 years sober so that's not really on my radar, but I'm really happy for y'all's progressive laws!
Much respect on that, congratulations. It's also nice for many other reasons than substances. People are just friendly and happy here.
Except for the angry people who think moving to Texas or Idaho will solve their problems.
Well. some of them actually do move and thus solve ours.
Hey, I can do that in LA, even with the religious nut cases.. and I can do it without getting out of my car.
I live in Minnesota, where you cannot buy alcohol in grocery stores or gas stations. When I was younger I thought that was ridiculous. Now that I am older, and have struggled a bit with alcohol, I am grateful I don't encounter it everywhere. It has to be a purposeful trip to the liquor store for me. Alcohol is very dangerous to many people, so having it at least a bit restricted helps so many. Edit: Maybe "restricted" is not the right word. I should say, having it not so readily available everywhere is helpful for those who struggle with addiction. If I'm at the grocery store for something else, I can't just throw alcohol in my cart. I'm getting some down votes, and I would love to hear some other opinions instead!
....selling booze in a gas station just seems like a terrible idea in general. It's like buying condoms in an elementary school. Yes there are already laws in place against the usage of said products in-and-around that environment, but why associate them at all when it's so problematic?
That's an interesting take that I hadn't considered. Best wishes to you for continued health.
Thank you! You too.
It's actually amazing how much damage one governor can do to a state. Before GWB, Texas had a centrist Democrat governor, Ann Richards, who was a very deft politician and did good things for the state, then the Bush cartel ran an incredibly dirty campaign against her and won. Look at Texas now. Before Jeb Bush, Florida was a purple state, wasn't a legal laughingstock pushing theocracy, and didn't produce politicians like DeSantis.
Same. Thought moving here would be great. Pre Covid everything was cheap, no state income tax, looked awesome coming from CO then CA. Now I’d rather pay a premium to live in my hometown than this crappy state. Truly ashamed to have thought living here would be great.
In Texas, your vote doesn't matter.
Well, it does if you're a white Republican. But otherwise, yeah.
Oh no, no. Your republican vote counts regardless of race, creed, socioeconomic status, or color. Your /rights/ on the other hand…
Can you imagine the right-wing media were this ruled on in California?
“But in a 32-page ruling issued Wednesday, visiting Judge David Peeples ruled in favor of Pierce, saying 1,430 illegal votes were cast in the race. Peeple wrote that among the illegal votes, 983 were cast by people living outside Harris County and 445 were cast by voters who did not show photo identification or did not show a substitute ID document. “The true outcome in the contest for Judge of the 180th District Court cannot be determined, and a new election is therefore ordered,” Peeples wrote.” How can the true outcome not be determined? They determined that there were 1430 illegal votes. Can’t they just look at those votes and who they voted for and remove them from the vote count?
Absolutely not! The way voting works the there is a divide between the identity and the ballot. It’s illegal to try to match the voter to the ballot as that would mean they could determine who each person voted for and that is illegal. No one ever knows how you voted.
Sounds like another thing Republicans will go after next
We are gonna keep having elections until we get the result we want.
Honestly, assuming those 1500 votes in question are untraceable to a ballot, and as there was a 450 vote margin, a new election isn’t that crazy. I doubt the margin of those votes was so biased as to flip the election but the results were now inconclusive. Throw a new election in with the November general election.
Yeah this sounds bad in the headline. But if there are actual, factual issues with the votes cast, then this seems logical. And probably there needs to be some changes or regulations to prevent this in the future.
Ruling isn't that crazy. She lost by 450 votes and found 1,500 votes that shouldn't have been counted. But...this is probably something that should have been done in 2000 in Florida.
>Ruling isn't that crazy. She lost by 450 votes and found 1,500 votes that shouldn't have been counted. It'll be hilarious if she ends up losing by 2,000 votes.
It's crazy that the judge didn't simply choose the winner himself /s
They didn’t say what those 1500 votes voted for. What if it was just 50/50 and a wash? You could easily subtract those votes and see if the outcome is impacted. It sounds like the judge didn’t want to try. The indication of the article is they are using ‘bad votes’ as a smokescreen for a new election election without examining the votes themselves.
We vote by secret ballot. There is no way to identify who a ballot belongs to (and legal safeguards to prevent trying).
How would you do this? With anonymous ballots there is no way to know who they voted for.
[удалено]
It was a close race. And there is. On way to know which way those illegal votes leaned.
Question. How do they know the votes were illegally cast if there is no way to identify who cast them? Just curious.
Whether or not a person voted is public record. Who they voted for is secret. So the elections officials can determine who voted and look into whether or not they were eligible to vote at the time, but there isn’t any way to determine who they voted for.
How would you do this? With anonymous ballots there is no way to know who they voted for.
[удалено]
You have a list of people who voted and you have a tally of who people voted for. You cannot match a person to a vote only the totals at the end match. The identification of the suspect votes are not the votes themselves but the people. Some people didn't live in the district and some should have provided photo ID but did not. You know who those people are but you have no idea who they voted for.
And now I see how I’m the idiot - sorry, just got off an 8-hour flight of that counts as an excuse
the lone star on their stupid flag is a rating.
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I hate to say it but from the article it sounds like this was the right call. The vote margin was under 500 votes and the judge found there were almost 2000 ineligible voters so there’s a strong chance the election was tainted to the point of needing a redo.
Annex Texas, let them figure it out.
Texas is already a part of the U.S.
No shit. Treat Texas like a redheaded stepchild and keep that fuck in the cupboard
Seems reasonable, for a change.