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Remind HN: Vote

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Re: Remind HN: Vote

#171

Post by jozo »

jasonkester wrote: post #118
jozo wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I clarified a bit what I meant in my post before I realized you had replied. I'm not talking about asking your friends what they want, but representing your perspective based on your situation, education, background etc. As an example, most people here have a unique perspective on technology based on those factors. I'm not very familiar with how elections work in the US, but if possible I would rather people here vot…

I think we're clear on what you're saying. And I still think it's a bad thing. Vote on a case-by-case basis, without bias from your group or political party. Or please don't vote.

I'm sorry but I frankly don't get what you are saying. Democracies are generally based on representation, where you elect someone to represent your values and what's important to you. I don't know how you would do this without taking your previous experiences into account. I also don't get where you got bias from group or political party from. The group I referred to wasn't an actual group, but a representation of people with similar experiences. I'm not saying these people will come to the same conclusion based on those experience, but they still represent a shared part of what is going on in society.

I would understand if you said that people should stay informed, but asking people not to vote seems undemocratic to me. Democracies are still supposed to be a reflection of the people. Not a reflection of those who had the opportunity to evaluate every issue without consideration of previous experiences. It seems to me you're blaming voters for something that is the responsibility of politicians. As a voter you have the right to vote even if you're wrong. I can't really make my point any clearer than this without seeming condescending, so this will be my last post in this exchange.

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#172

Post by hnal943 »

achompas wrote: post #145
jbooth wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, hopefully you're voting for Feingold. That guy's been one of the best senators of the last 20 years, honest, doesn't take any lobbyist money and a fiscal conservative, too, but he's in danger of losing to a guy who's entire platform is "I'm not a socialist" (Feingold isn't either).

Unfortunately Nate Silver puts Feingold at a 3% chance of winning. [1] That means his only chance of victory is a high turnout...so I hope that parent (kgosser) can take some time to vote today. Feingold is truly one of the most important Senators of the last few decades. [1] http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/senate/wisconsin

High turnout will ensure his defeat. He's not listening to the Wisconsin electorate and they noticed.

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#173

Post by callahad »

jswinghammer wrote: post #109
devmonk wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are a Libertarian, you should find and write-in your candidates, not stay home. If there is no known candidate, you should write in "Libertarian", if there is a space to do so. And if there is no Libertarian on the ballot, you should learn as much as you can about the candidates and vote for the ones that best match your set of values. Odds are that you lean either more towards the liberal social values side o…

I consider what you're describing to the equivalent of not voting anyway. There isn't a candidate in my state who I could feel good about voting for. I consider not voting to be a louder act of protest than voting for someone I half or quarter like.

How can your non-vote be a louder act of protest if it can't be distinguished from an apathetic non-vote?

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#174

Post by TheAmazingIdiot »

mahmud wrote: post #74
imeikas wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Estonia you can vote from almost anywhere if you have ID-card and working internet connection. It's really convenient and people are using this more and more. For example last elections 15.75% of votes were made using internet. Official statistics can be found from http://vvk.ee/voting-methods-in-estonia/engindex Also there are talks that they want to enable voting with mobile phones (there are already solutions w…

In Estonia you can vote from almost anywhere if you have ID-card and working internet connection. By any chance, is your most recently elected president called "moot"? Is there or has there ever been a legal motion to rename the country to "4chanistan"? I think I might know what caused your recent problems, and it's not Russia or the EU.

No, you have it all wrong.

Anonymous for President. Name change to /B/stonia

I jest, I jest :) Still, I've heard of some cool governmental tech over there. Voting, as grandparent said, along with cell-phone payment of gasoline, painless e-banking with 2 factor auth, and other cool stuff.

I also remember a pyramid that was built in that area that was on History International... I _think_ it was there, as it talked more about the architecture than the location, other than temps going from 80F to -30F.

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#175

Post by vaksel »

mseebach wrote: post #155
vaksel wrote: post #130

personally I don't vote for 3 reasons: 1. my vote doesn't matter. I live in a 100% blue state, it'll go Democrat no matter what. So whether I decide to vote democrat or republican or green, my vote really won't matter. + the redestricting is always aimed at propping up small states. Why does California and Delaware both get 2 senators? 2. the system is broken, there are no good politicians. There is no incentive for…

> Why does California and Delaware both get 2 senators? Slightly off topic, but I'll bite: Because democracy is much more about protecting minorities than ensuring the majority is in charge. If Delaware and other small states were only ever represented on the federal level in proportion to their population, only issues that Texas and California cares about would ever be taken up.

the problem I have is that it's never a single state getting proportion. They always band together. So California with millions of voters become insignificant, when 10 states with combined total of 500,000 voters band together.

That's why we have more subsidies for corn production than science research.

I'm sorry, but 10 states in the boonies with no people, should not be able to dictate policy to California. Crap like that is exactly why California ends up subsidizing half the red states, who then turn around and vilify it every chance they get.

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#176

Post by jswinghammer »

callahad wrote: post #173
jswinghammer wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider what you're describing to the equivalent of not voting anyway. There isn't a candidate in my state who I could feel good about voting for. I consider not voting to be a louder act of protest than voting for someone I half or quarter like.

How can your non-vote be a louder act of protest if it can't be distinguished from an apathetic non-vote?

I consider those "apathetic" non-votes to be louder than voting as well. I don't mind being lumped in with those people who just can't be bothered to care. I sympathize with them.

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#177

Post by drats »

imeikas wrote: post #39
cletus wrote: post #7

In Australia voting is mandatory. If you're registered to vote and you don't you can get fined. If no one is registered to vote at your address you'll tend to get lots of mail about it (but ultimately, staying off the electoral roll isn't difficult). I used to think this was a bad idea as it forced people to vote who didn't really care. In recent years I've come around to the opposite point of view based pretty much…

In Estonia you can vote from almost anywhere if you have ID-card and working internet connection. It's really convenient and people are using this more and more. For example last elections 15.75% of votes were made using internet. Official statistics can be found from http://vvk.ee/voting-methods-in-estonia/engindex Also there are talks that they want to enable voting with mobile phones (there are already solutions w…

Sorry, that's completely insane even if it's open source.

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#178

Post by protomyth »

tjr wrote: post #131

I once heard a story. It may be a cliche, it may be an old, tired, worn-out tale, but it marked my thinking. A village was planning a feast. All of the residents were asked to bring a bottle of wine, each of which would be mixed together in a large vat for everyone to partake of. One of the residents reasoned that a single bottle wouldn't make a difference, and so brought a bottle of water instead. When it came time…

People forget that local elections are often decided by one or two votes. These elections have a great effect on your life (e.g. property taxes and local spending) or that of your children (e.g. book banning at the local school).

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#179

Post by dlnovell »

tomjen3 wrote: post #5

> Remember that you don't vote to make a difference, you vote because it's your obligation to do so. Really? Its my obligation to help the rest of the people pretend we live in a democracy?

> pretend we live in a democracy?

This is why I don't vote. I am firmly convinced that America is not a democracy, it is a plutocracy that masquerades as a democracy. The interests of the hyper-rich and powerful are served at the expense of the general public. Politicians are simply the people who craft the message (either conservative or liberal) to get enough votes to be put in a position where they can assure that their campaign contributors are served. For me, the recent supreme court decision to allow unlimited corporate expenditures on campaigns was the death of any semblance of democracy in the United States.

Re: Remind HN: Vote

#180

Post by ugh »

CWuestefeld wrote: post #127

Please, do vote if you understand the issues, and where the candidates stand. But otherwise, please DO NOT VOTE. Just because an idea makes you feel warm and fuzzy doesn't make it right. There are plenty of things in this world that are counter-intuitive, and if you're relying only on your beliefs , there's a good chance you'll get it wrong. If you've never taken a class or read a book on economics, please don't vote…

Why that specific set of economists? Wouldn’t a Econ 101 handbook suffice? Anyone can go further if they wish to do that, it’s of no use plunging them in the middle of views which are at least sometimes controversial.
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