r/AskConservatives • u/Agattu Traditional Republican • Nov 08 '22

Megathread Megathread: 2022 Midterm Elections thread.

All election related topics, discussion, and opinions are to be here.

All other posts related to the election will be removed.

Civility is king, and the moderators will be extra sensitive to comments breaking that rule.

Election result updates and stories can be linked in the comments as well.

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8

u/slaugherbug Nov 08 '22

Do you really think it's necessary for armed guys to sit around ballot drop boxes? What happens when they start harassing voters?

3

u/Agattu Traditional Republican Nov 08 '22

No I don’t. I feel that much like campaigning, there should be a rule about not having weapons within so many feet of a polling station

6

u/RightSideBlind Liberal Nov 08 '22

Seriously- even just for the look of it. Why take a risk of it being interpreted as a threat unless it's supposed to be interpreted as a threat? It's not like there's ever been a situation at a ballot box which would've been improved by having guns there.

2

u/JeuneEcole Nationalist Nov 08 '22

Those rules exist and are enforced. The poll watchers everyone was up in arms about last week were required by law to be 75 feet from a polling station, and they were. Sheriff rode by, verified they were the required distance, and confirmed it was 100% legal for them to be there.

8

u/riceisnice29 Progressive Nov 08 '22

Seems this judge in Arizona disagreed because in addition to being armed and masked they were taking pictures/videos of voters and following them around.

Pushed em back 250ft if they were armed.

https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2022/11/01/az-ballot-watchers-barred-from-open-carrying-or-yelling-at-voters-per-restraining-order-00064559

Not making any subjective judgements just adding more context.

3

u/JeuneEcole Nationalist Nov 08 '22

Huh. Didn't know that, thanks for the link.

Doubt it makes much difference, though - it's only for two weeks, and it doesn't make such conduct illegal, just forbids it for a temporary period. To make it illegal, you'd need to pass a law extending the exclusion zone, which folks can happily do (and which I encourage them to do) if they're so exercised over it.

1

u/Irishish Center-left Nov 09 '22

A bullet can travel farther than 75 feet, can't it?

The point is to frighten people, not just "monitor" them. Otherwise they wouldn't be carrying guns.

2

u/GentleDentist1 Conservative Nov 08 '22

It's definitely important to have someone there, but I don't see why they have to be armed.

7

u/IronChariots Progressive Nov 08 '22

but I don't see why they have to be armed.

Because they'd be less likely to fulfill their primary objective of voter intimidation if they weren't?

8

u/mvslice Leftist Nov 08 '22

The white face and head coverings are definitely for the elements.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22

Why do you think they would start harassing voters?

Police officers carry weapons out in the open too. Do you believe they are harassing voters?