By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
A New York based political committee has been accused of sending what many see as an intimidating letter to party voters who have chosen not to vote in previous elections. Whether this is considered peer pressure, inducing worry, or encouraging others to vote has not diminished the controversy and shows an insight into some of the tactics political parties use to generate more votes to their cause. Letters such as this raise questions as to the ethics of shaming voters to vote. The right not to vote is considered a lawful option of the electorate.
The New York State Democratic Committee mailed a letter last week to voters reading:
Dear [voter]:
Our records indicate that you are registered to vote in Kings County:
Who you vote for is your secret. But whether or not you vote is a public record. Many organizations monitor turnout in your neighborhood and are disappointed by the inconsistent voting of many of your neighbors.
Here is some of the information you may need to vote:
- The polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- You can confirm your voter registration status by visiting
- https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/votersearch.aspx
- If you have any questions about voting, please call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683).
We will be reviewing the Kings County official voting records after the upcoming elections to determine whether you joined your neighbors who voted in 2014. If you do not vote this year, we will be interested to hear why not.
The letter reportedly included a voter report card grading a voter’s participation. Reportedly, these notifications were mailed out to one million registered Democrats who did not vote in previous mid-term elections. The grades consisted of: excellent; good; fair; and incomplete.
Included was a phone number for Election Protection, a nonprofit, nonpartisan voting resource organization. Election Protection spokeswoman Marcia Johnson-Blanco said the organization had nothing to do with the letter, but has received 400 calls from voters concerned about it.
The political committee, chaired by Governor David Patterson, defended the letter calling it a common practice throughout the country.
In a deflection, Peter Kaufman, a spokesman for the committee stated:
“This flier is part of the nationwide Democratic response to traditional Republican voter-suppression efforts, because Democrats believe our democracy works better when more people vote, not less. The difference between Democrats and Republicans is they don’t want people to vote and we want everyone to vote.”
The Associated Press reports:
“The letter relies on peer pressure and the possibility of surveillance to encourage turnout – a tactic that research shows is highly effective compared to more costly and time consuming get-out-the-vote efforts like phone calls and door knocking, according to Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Fordham University.
The practice is becoming much more widespread, and similar letters have been reported this election year in Alaska, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Colorado and Iowa.
Panagopoulos noted that while they succeed with many voters, “these heavy handed social-pressure messages do generate considerable backlash.”
‘Shaming people to vote works,’ he said. “It’s remarkably effective. … It’s not enough to ask people to be good citizens. What you have to tell them is that their actual behavior is being monitored.”
Such a system does however lend credence into the notion that, like the political tactics used in the mailing of such letters, some of the practices that could come light if voter choices are ever made public, and if in the immediate sense should the right to vote or not to vote be not be subject to public records requests.
By Darren Smith
Sources:
Washington Times
Associated Press
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Vote … Or Else! Why Are Outside Groups Scaring Voters To The Polls?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/voter-shaming-alaska-north-carolina-florida
Excerpt:
“This flyer is part of the nationwide Democratic response to traditional Republican voter suppression efforts,” a party spokesperson told The Gothamist, “because Democrats believe our democracy works better when more people vote, not less.”
So they aren’t the only ones and this isn’t new. In Alaska, voters have complained about receiving a similar kind of letter from a group that received a hefty contribution from a charter-school supporter who wants to elect a GOP Senate (though he disavowed the mailers).
“Why do so many people fail to vote? We’ve been talking about the problem for years, but it only seems to get worse,” the Alaska letter says. “This year, we’re taking a new approach. We’re sending this mailing to you, your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues at work, and your community members to publicize who does and does not vote.”
In Florida, a St. Petersburg blog reported earlier this week on a letter sent by a group funded by the state and national realtors association. “Your neighbors will know,” the letter warns. “It’s public record.”
Here, all the perp is doing is trying to get voters to vote. Somehow I think the big picture is lost in the details again
There is nothing wrong with encouraging people to vote. However, the problem with THIS particular campaign is the threatening Big Brother, we are watching you, and you’d better tell us WHY you aren’t voting tone of the letter.
It is one thing to encourage and remind people that every vote counts. It is completely another to say we have been watching you and you’d BETTER vote or tell us why not.
This reminds of a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Choosing not to vote IS a vote!
This letter is a clumsy effort to turn out the vote, and will definitely offend some people (especially the “grading” part), But the failure of voters to participate in elections is a serious problem. Voter suppression efforts likewise are a problem.
Ideally, I’d like to see a system where every eligible registered voter is required to “vote,” but where the ballot contains a box to check which says that the voter is purposely not casting a vote for any candidate(s). But I don’t think that will ever happen in the real world.
Kind of like what the NRA does before a vote, threaten to ruin any politician that votes for increased gun control, even if the vast majority of that politician’s constituents want increased gun control. Here, all the perp is doing is trying to get voters to vote. Somehow I think the big picture is lost in the details again.
Elaine,
How exactly does that qualify as voter suppression? Are the claims valid? If Kentucky voters have no idea how to fact check the information they receive then they alone are responsible for the choices they make.
Voting is a right, a privilege, and an obligation.
Those that don’t vote have nothing to say.
Those that don’t take the time to participate in the democracy that Americans tout as theirs, that millions died to protect, that means so much, have nothing to say.
Those that don’t vote for whatever reason should feel ashamed of themselves.
Whether or not it is for others to shame them is a fine point. All too often these fine points are the ones that ruin the big points.
Furthermore, voting should also be earned. One should have to pass a test to qualify as fully informed as to the main issues at hand. It should be the issues that are voted on, not the leaders.
Most voters in the US are influenced more by the constant media barrage funded by oligarchs. Most politicians are in the pockets of the oligarchs that paid for them, lock, stock, and pork barrel.
It is the combination of those who do not take the time to vote and those who vote based on ignorance of the issues but rather on trite cliches and paid adds that are the enemies of democracy.
The act of voting should be a right given but qualified with an understanding of what, whom, and how.
We have so many unnecessary industries in this country, we can surely afford an independent fact, statistic, and history department that all voters would have access to and that would administer tests for voters to take. If the voter passed the test with a reasonable understanding of the facts, statistics, and history of an issue, only then would the voter be permitted to exercise their right.
The way things are now, votes are secured for a free whiskey, glitzy add, or fear invoked by liars to the ignorant.
Plato wrote about the war of leadership between the oligarchs or special interests and those that understood the complete picture or the philosophers.
It seems that in America the special interests and oligarchs have won. Sad
Elaine, this is frightening and intimidating. Voting is a privilege, not a requirement. Implying not voting will upset “Big Brother” seems over the top and should be illegal.
There are few things that settle an argument better than quoting Salon.com.
elaine – you sure you want to go down this road? Grimes has been lying since she filled her papers.
Ah…politics!
____
Mitch McConnell’s sick new low: New mailers expose the GOPer’s shameless voter suppression tactics
The Senate GOP leader warns Kentuckians that they could be voting based on “fraudulent information”
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/31/mitch_mcconnells_sick_new_low_new_mailers_expose_the_gopers_shameless_voter_suppression_tactics/
Excerpt:
As he seeks to fend off a challenge from Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell has taken to accusing Grimes of perpetrating fraud on Kentucky voters, with the Republican authorizing mailers that warn voters they “are at risk of acting on fraudulent information.”
Mailed in envelopes that blare “ELECTION VIOLATION NOTICE” and state “You are at risk of acting on fraudulent information,” the Kentucky Republican Party issued a letter that accuses Grimes of “blatant lies” about McConnell’s advocacy for a local coal plant and his support from “anti-coal activists like Michael Bloomberg.” The
Gestapo-lite? I’ve made phone calls the night before elections. They were offers of a ride, etc. And more about state and local things. Occasionally I would get a spouse of another party saying “it’s those damn Republicans again.” I hope that letter got into papers and on TV. That’s where I would have taken it. It’s elitist Democrats telling you they know best.
Word press seems to be pretty messed up.
If I were registered to a party and they sent me something like this, I would be miffed. They would hear about it.
I think there may be an error somewhere. That post does not open into anything for me but a title and a blank page.
I totally understand if you do not want to comment on what a co-blogger does. That’s cool. Just wondering?
Say I am a newcomer to this blog so I don’t know how it works. Why are there no comments on the post directly below this one? Is that common?
Thanks.
All postings are open for comments.
That letter will not weigh-in well with voters who may not be happy with their party at a particular time. Time to cast off the partisan shackles and be an independent voter!
I meant “owe”.
So if registered Democratic voters don’t vote, the party is going to call them and ask them why? Talk about intrusiveness. Sad trend.
They don’t own an explanation to anyone. Voting, or not, is a right.