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.
Haz, post the letter. You do have a scanner, no? Use a photo hosting site. I don’t believe that any union would’ve been so dumb as to use the words you said they did. I call baloney.
Annie – I don’t seek your approval, Puddin.
What I described is true in its entirety. And as shocking as it may seem, it is quite possible to find out how a vote was cast by someone at a specific residence. Not easy, but possible. If you don’t believe me then you have no idea how campaign ground games work. Or targeted calling, or targeted marketing.
In the instance of the phone calls I described, a union steward gladly provided to some Union thug our unlisted phone number from my wife’s personnel file.
No brainer vote Green and not the lesser of 2 evils.
“I vouch for him”…. ‘Nuff said.
You seem like a phony commenter Rev. Like, someone is saying this trite stuff to ridicule blacks. We deal with it by ignoring you. Give your real name rank and serial number.
Hummm.
Democrats using letters to pressure fellow Democrats into voting equals intimidation.
Republicans using government to disenfranchise Democrats equals voter protection.
Makes perfect sense.
I have ice on my tongue.
I’m biting my tongue until it bleeds.
I have found from 35 years as an investigator, the people who shoot from the hip and call people liars, are often liars.. Michael Haz is as honest as they come. I vouch for him. I’ll leave it @ that.
It seems like most of the effort this election has been geared to not allowing people who want to vote to have that right.
Assuming they mailed only to their own voters, whats the beef? The Democrat party mailing to registered Democrats asking them to vote. This is news? Reminding them the availability of public lists of who voted has always been available. Do they find this intimidating? Perhaps they should notify the party to take them off their list.
DBQ, I get to question the veracity of his claims, that is something we all should be doing. He should post a copy of the letters to his wife with her identifying info hidden. I want to SEE the words he claimed they said. If true, he should’ve contacted the media.
Well…shoot….no wonder he hasn’t won the last few times I wrote him in.
I can’t spell his name. It’s all my fault! Zaphod Beeblebrox /facepalm
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/10/voter-caging-wisconsin
Voter caging is back in Wisconsin.
Is voting compulsory?
Yes, under federal electoral law, it is compulsory for all eligible Australian citizens to enrol and vote in federal elections, by-elections and referendums.
That is outrageous. If that were the case then I would just have to write Zaphod Beebelbrox for every position.
Bettykath is correct. You can get a list (for a cost) of registered voters by party. When I was working on the campaign of a friend who was running as for House of Representatives this last time as a Democrat against the vacant Republican seat in our area (the incumbent decided not to run again), I was in charge of the calling program. We had a list not only of registered Democrats but also the donor amounts from previous donations to the Democrat party and candidates. This helped us to know not only who would be receptive to a call, but who might be a good prospect for additional donations.
We had no idea IF they had voted in the past elections or if they had voted Democrat or Republican. Just how they were registered. Perhaps there are other lists that are more detailed. We were just using ours for fund raising purposes.
BTW: I absolutely hated doing this part of the campaign for many reasons. Firstly because I hate receiving those calls. I did it because he is a friend and is a conservative blue dog Democrat and one of the most honest people that I know. He lost though.
Irregardless. The intimidation we are watching you and expect and explanation if you don’t vote for US is not just frightening….it is really really distasteful.
I love how Annie can call Haz a liar. How civil is that?
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/24/republican-voter-fraud-scott-walker-supporter-charged-13-felonies-wisconsin.html
It turns out that voter fraud is real. A Republican Scott Walker supporter in Wisconsin has been charged with 13 felony counts related to voter fraud.
According to WisPolitics.com:
Robert Monroe, a 50-year-old Shorewood health insurance executive, was charged Friday with 13 felonies related to his voting a dozen times in five elections between 2011 and 2012 using his own name as well as that of his son and his girlfriend’s son.
According to those records, Monroe was considered by investigators to be the most prolific multiple voter in memory. He was a supporter of Gov. Scott Walker and state Sen. Alberta Darling, both Republicans, and allegedly cast five ballots in the June 2012 election in which Walker survived a recall challenge.
According to the John Doe records, Monroe claimed to have a form of temporary amnesia and did not recall the election day events when confronted by investigators.
Hallelujah!!!! Republicans have found their voter fraud. Unfortunately for them, they are the ones committing it. The Monroe case is even worse, because he voted multiple times in the April 2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court race that required a recount. This isn’t the first episode of Republican voter fraud in the state. In 2011, a Republican legislative aide was investigated for voting multiple times.
The greatest irony of all is that the Monroe case exposes why voter ID laws don’t do what Republicans claim they do. Since Republicans benefit most from absentee voting, they have refused to address the glaring potential for fraud by absentee ballot. The Republican in Wisconsin was able to commit multiple acts of state and federal voter fraud by using absentee ballots for state elections, and driving across state lines for federal elections.
Republican voter ID laws address none of these issues, and instead focus on suppressing the vote by requiring voters who are more likely to vote for Democrats to show identification. A person is least likely to have identification if they are living in the city, and don’t drive. Voter ID laws are being used to suppress the votes of women by making strict rules about acceptable names on the identification.
It turns out that voter fraud is real, and Republicans are guilty of doing it.
Australian citizens are required to vote.
*****
Australian Electoral Commission
http://www.aec.gov.au/faqs/voting_australia.htm
Is voting compulsory?
Yes, under federal electoral law, it is compulsory for all eligible Australian citizens to enrol and vote in federal elections, by-elections and referendums.
What happens if I do not vote?
After each election, the AEC will send a letter to all apparent non-voters requesting that they either provide a valid and sufficient reason for failing to vote or pay a $20 penalty.
If, within the time period specified on the notice, you fail to reply, cannot provide a valid and sufficient reason or decline to pay the $20 penalty, then the matter may be referred to a court. If the matter is dealt with in court and you are found guilty, you may be fined up to $170 plus court costs and a criminal conviction may be recorded against you.
http://projects.aljazeera.com/2014/double-voters/ “Election officials in 27 states, most of them Republicans, have launched a program that threatens a massive purge of voters from the rolls. Millions, especially black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters, are at risk. Already, tens of thousands have been removed in at least one battleground state, and the numbers are expected to climb, according to a six-month-long, nationwide investigation by Al Jazeera America.
At the heart of this voter-roll scrub is the Interstate Crosscheck program, which has generated a master list of nearly 7 million names. Officials say that these names represent legions of fraudsters who are not only registered but have actually voted in two or more states in the same election — a felony punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison.
Until now, state elections officials have refused to turn over their Crosscheck lists, some on grounds that these voters are subject to criminal investigation. Now, for the first time, three states — Georgia, Virginia and Washington — have released their lists to Al Jazeera America, providing a total of just over 2 million names.
The Crosscheck list of suspected double voters has been compiled by matching names from roughly 110 million voter records from participating states. Interstate Crosscheck is the pet project of Kansas’ controversial Republican secretary of state, Kris Kobach, known for his crusade against voter fraud.
The three states’ lists are heavily weighted with names such as Jackson, Garcia, Patel and Kim — ones common among minorities, who vote overwhelmingly Democratic.”
Don De Drain, Ben Sanders, Bettykath.
Good suggestions all especially if they are combined.
There really is a need for a mechanism for the alienated to express their alienation in a way that punishes those that have caused it, even if it is simply depriving all parties of the salary for a particular office.
How about as piece de resistance all who do not vote are considered to have voted for the none of these option and if none of these gets after distribution of preferences more than 50% then the office is left unfilled.