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The [Thursday] Papers
"Illinois voters will still face a dizzying choice of 13 presidential candidates if they choose to vote in the state's Democratic Primary - even though less than a handful are still in the race," the Sun-Times reports.
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg became the latest to fold his candidacy on Wednesday, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is said to be reassessing her run. [She dropped out this morning.]But both names are on early voting touch screens and will appear on March 17 ballots.
With the dust still settling from Super Tuesday, the remaining candidates probably have other concerns than losing a few sympathy votes to departed rivals two weeks from now. If Warren drops out, the field will be down to former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
But it's too late for Illinois election officials to remove the names of Bloomberg, Warren, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet or former Maryland U.S. Rep. John Delaney. New Jersey Sen. Corey Booker will also be listed, even though he dropped out more than seven weeks ago.
Hell, why not put 2016's candidates on the ballot, too!
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"The Illinois Board of Elections held a lottery for ballot positions on Jan. 2. Klobuchar, Patrick and Sanders took the top three spots. Biden is listed as the fourth candidate."
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If we're voting on touch screens now, you'd think this problem could be avoided. (You could still keep a paper trail for security reasons by printing out touch screen voting receipts and records.)
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"Illinois has more than 8 million active registered voters. As of Wednesday, there have been 179,826 vote-by-mail ballots sent and 27,662 returned, the state Board of Elections said. In the 2016, presidential primary, a total of 119,340 votes were cast by mail.
"The state has seen 68,412 early votes cast, although the number does not include DuPage County. In 2016, there were 520,000 early votes."
I don't like early voting, primarily because of the possibility of late-breaking news that could reveal a candidate to be a crook. This election season in particular we can see another reason why late voting is problematic: All those votes already cast for candidates who have dropped out of the race.
Of course I understand that early voting increases turnout by allowing people to vote on a schedule that works for them. An antidote to that, though, is to make the early voting period considerably shorter - say 72 hours before Election Day proper - and/or to make Election Day a national holiday guaranteeing more folks to take off work to get to a polling place.
Early voting is a problematic, partial solution to the larger issue in this country of how we (or, some would say, Republicans, predominantly but not exclusively) make voting more difficult than it ought to be.
And if it hasn't happened yet, it will happen in the future that early voting for candidates no longer in a race will tip an outcome, and that's really not acceptable.
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
1 In 3 Illinois Households Can't Afford Basic Needs
Meet ALICE.
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The Ex-Cub Factor
"Should the tax really be a concern for the deep-pocketed Cubs? Arguably not."
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Fortune & Faith In Old Chicago
"Augustus Garrett (1801 - November 30, 1848) was an American politician who twice served as Mayor of Chicago (1843-1844, 1845-1846). He was a member of the Democratic Party.
"In 1842, Garrett ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Chicago. He ran again in 1843 and was elected.
"In 1844, Garrett initially won re-election, only to have the election invalidated based on charges of 'illegal proceedings and fraud.' Garrett ran in a second election that year, but lost to Alson Sherman.
"During his terms in office, Garrett pushed to have the first brick school in Chicago, Dearborn School, turned into either a warehouse or an insane asylum, believing that the building was too large for use as a school."
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ChicagoReddit
Are tourists who are not citizens allowed to use pot in Chicago? from r/chicago
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ChicagoGram
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ChicagoTube
"Chicago" / Henri Pelissier, Masters of the Piano Bar
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BeachBook
Here Are The Most Common Illegal Things Car Dealerships Will Try Do.
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Debtors Of The World, Unite!
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TweetWood
A sampling of the delight and disgust you can find @BeachwoodReport.
"Federal funding for emergency preparedness in health care has been in a slow, steady decline for more than 15 years. The amount of federal funding given to state and local officials to prepare for health emergencies has been cut in half or more" https://t.co/MBLLyPd4al
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 5, 2020
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Wall Street, Encouraged by Biden's Wins, Breaks Out Its Checkbooks https://t.co/n6gPkw8HpD
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) March 5, 2020
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Axios: pic.twitter.com/3edF6kTh0K
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) March 5, 2020
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But (democratic) socialism ... https://t.co/PuqGdhIswI
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) March 5, 2020
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OTD in Music History, via Songfacts: pic.twitter.com/CJIfjKPMOG
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) March 5, 2020
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Only Cash.
Posted on March 5, 2020
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