51–60 of 130 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The phone book didn't tell you that someone was an absentee voter.
At least in my state, New Mexico, you can look that information up for any voter with just a name and birthday.
Gosh, if I were a criminal, there's an awful lot of homes that are likely candidates for robbing now that a list of "who is not home + their address" is public.
I don't know at first glance if this is inappropriate. I do know at first glance that overseeing an election in which you are a candidate is a conflict of interest that should not happen.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please explain.
Compulsory voting is wrong for many reasons, it fixes a symptom (low voter turnout as a proxy for reduced participation) but not the cause (reduced participation due to a disconnect between politics and the voters). Turnout by itself should not be a goal, but free and willing participation should be.
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Depart...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least in my state, New Mexico, you can look that information up for any voter with just a name and birthday.
You can look up whether a voter in the state is casting an absentee ballot with just their name and birthday? Gosh, if I were a criminal, there's an awful lot of homes that are likely candidates for robbing now that a list of "who is not home + their address" is public.
Lots of states that do restrict them allow anyone over a certain age to use it.
So it doesn't really imply that they aren't home.
1. http://www.sos.state.nm.us/Voter_Information/Absentee_and_Ea...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least in my state, New Mexico, you can look that information up for any voter with just a name and birthday.
You can look up whether a voter in the state is casting an absentee ballot with just their name and birthday? Gosh, if I were a criminal, there's an awful lot of homes that are likely candidates for robbing now that a list of "who is not home + their address" is public.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can look up whether a voter in the state is casting an absentee ballot with just their name and birthday? Gosh, if I were a criminal, there's an awful lot of homes that are likely candidates for robbing now that a list of "who is not home + their address" is public.
New Mexico doesn't require an excuse to vote with an absentee ballot¹. Lots of states that do restrict them allow anyone over a certain age to use it. So it doesn't really imply that they aren't home. 1. http://www.sos.state.nm.us/Voter_Information/Absentee_and_Ea...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Compulsory voting is wrong for many reasons, it fixes a symptom (low voter turnout as a proxy for reduced participation) but not the cause (reduced participation due to a disconnect between politics and the voters). Turnout by itself should not be a goal, but free and willing participation should be.
Actually, Australia's preferential voting & proportional representation do a far better job of connecting politics and voters than any country with a FPTP system (including US & Canada). https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Depart...
Compulsory voting is great if you are running a dictatorship, it is not a good idea if you want to create a functioning democracy because voter turnout is an excellent way to judge how engaged people are. That signal is lost when you force people to vote.
Yes, proportional representation is better than first-past-the-post. But you can have that irrespective of how you get people to vote in the first place.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please explain.
Compulsory voting is wrong for many reasons, it fixes a symptom (low voter turnout as a proxy for reduced participation) but not the cause (reduced participation due to a disconnect between politics and the voters). Turnout by itself should not be a goal, but free and willing participation should be.
Also of note is how EASY it is to vote here. Postal votes can be lodged. There are “early voting” places open a couple of weeks before the Election Day, and the elections are held on Saturdays.
> “State law requires the public availability of voter lists, including names and address of registered voters,” she said in an email. > It’s little surprise that the way Kemp’s office approached confirming absentee ballots was met with anger. “While the data may already be public, it is not publicly available in aggregate like this,” It's interesting how so many laws are predicated on limited resources. Ie, all name…
Great comment. I think this is an underappreciated trend. Technology is enabling actions that were previously unfathomable, due to limited resources and circumstantial practicalities. Modern systems are much more powerful (in certain ways), enabling potential injustices that no one ever considered possible, and thus of course made no effort to protect against. We are only beginning to consider all of the ramification…
This was my immediate conclusion. What a transparently detestable move.