POLL: Voting reminders hurting more than they help?

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5 messages on my answering machine, and every one of them is about who or what I "should" vote for. To say nothing of the over half a dozen calls I've actually fielded in the last few days, or the door-to-door visits and door-hangings I've gotten every single day for the past week or so. If it weren't for that proposed constitutional amendment I probably wouldn't have voted, and the constant interruptions of my life to ask me to do the same thing over and over again would certainly have cemented it.

As it is I still resent it, especially as the same organization (something called Fair Wisconsin) is responsible for fully half of it. Once is enough, you pr*cks! Leave me the f*** alone! (Twice is a maybe if one of them is the day before or the day of, for us forgetful types.)

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 16 user(s) have voted.
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Poll Results: Voting reminders hurting more than they help? (16 votes.)

Voting reminders hurting more than they help? (Choose 1)
* They hurt more than they help. - 56% (9)
* It balances out. - 25% (4)
* They help more than they hurt. - 19% (3)

 

Apparently the political parties in the US have way too much money in their disposal, they should put most of it to better use by improving the healthcare or other some such. I can't remember to have been a single time harrassed by any adds during election times. Sure the papers are full of them and on every commercial break you see an election add but those I don't find disturbing. I have never been disturbed at my home by anyone doing such things nor have anyone ever sent any messages on my phone or election adds to my e-mail.

As to the poll question I think it balances itself out one way or the other, both parties do it anyway and I don't think that many actually abstain from voting because of that. Of course I've been allways surprised when they say that a 40% (in the last Finnish parliamentary election it was 69,6%) vote rate is actually good in US, that would be disturbingly bad around here and cause a lot of discussion about the credibility of our government and democracy.

 

I'm not sure what you meant by this -- reminders to vote, or messages for you to vote for something in particular?'

However, I don't see how they hurt. I relished voting tonight, but would have gladly received more material and information on the candidates, judges, and amendments. In fact, I think it's (kind of) inspiring to see people putting in time and effort to get people to support the people and issues they support.

Of course, I don't really watch TV, and the newspapers (college newspaper, NY Times) I read don't have ads for the state and local candidates.

 

@ Fel,

What state do you live in? I should know this, but I don't...

 

What is wrong with trying to get more people to vote? Sure telemarketers are annoying, but I don't hear you threatening not to vote or to change your vote to protest them.

The more people you get to vote, the more accurate the results of your elections are...

 

...Yes. Yes, you really should.

@Gnarf:

...That's EXACTLY what I'm saying. That there comes a point where people get so annoyed that they decide not to vote simply to spite the idiots that come around again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and... It's rather petty, but so are a lot of people.

 

... i wonder if you could sue them for harassment

 

Not when you are pressurising people, on the whole people here (SP) are of higher intelligence than the average person (aprat from the lawyers of course ). And because of that we are able to rise above an almost instinctual habit of being contrary, the "I'm not doing that, just 'cause you tell me to" syndrome; I know far too many people exactly like that and quite often will go and vote here (UK) and spoil their paper or vote for somebody absurd (e.g. Monster Raving Loony Party).

When asked of course, they can say, "yes, they did vote" but was their action acccurate or fair? We have council elections coming up next year and already the leaflet war has started with the three major parties trying to tell me how much better they are than the others, and the minor parties scaring me with some of their rhetoric. I believe at those elections the BNP (British National Party, a party you'd hate your mom to meet espousing neo-Nazi racist propaganda) will win several seats, because people will be bored/annoyed with the others. Plus the fact that elections aren't won on policies anymore, but personality or in the US's case pissed off factor with the president's policy towards war.

EDIT: removed typos's

[ November 08, 2006, 15:17: Message edited by: DarkStrider ]

 

Heh, at first I thought this was a thread about Chev reminding people to vote in the NWN2 contest!

I am with Morgoroth on this one. This seems like a particularly odd campaign tactic that I have never experienced in New Zealand. I guess our political parties don't have enough money to do stuff like this (although they do plenty of other dumb stuff).

 

I don't know if you voted or not, but giving up your vote seems like a terribly extreme thing to do just to spite pollsters.

(Not to mention that your not voting isn't going to do much to stop them from phoning you next election.)

 

It's not explicit, but...

...that does kind of imply that I did vote. It passed, BTW, making us a rather backward state when it comes to couples' legal rights. "Only between a man and a woman." BS. No more common law marriages unless you're hetero!