Some thing I think we all can agree on?
@thegreatdebater (7316)
United States
November 2, 2012 12:24pm CST
A group called Americans for Limited Government have been sending out mailers showing individuals voting record, and that of their neighbors. The mailer does not say who you voted for, just if you voted and the years you did. The group claims that this isn't an invasion of someone's privacy, because the information is public (although you have to love the irony of a group calling for limited government using the government for this information). These "voter audits" as they are called are gathered by groups like this from county election offices, and not only tell these groups if they voted, but what party they voted for. This isn't the only case of this happening, many states have reported this, most of which are battle ground states. I know most of us on there know who if going to vote for who, but would you like your neighbors to know, or know who they are voting for? Shouldn't your voting history be kept in the voting booth?
http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2012/11/01/Woman-is-told-group-has-audit-of-neighborhood-elections-activity.html
2 people like this
7 responses
@ladybugmagic (3978)
• United States
3 Nov 12
An interesting thing - Meg Whitman had never voted in her entire life before she ran for her auctioning of the state of California. I don't know how we would have found that out without these kinds of things.
I think that voting should be compulsory and kept private, because then there would be no voter suppression or intimidation.
1 person likes this
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
3 Nov 12
The lists of voters is general information. I have worked on campaigns before and you can buy lists of registered voters in your state. It can also show their voting history. Meaning the years they voted. But I have never seen a list that shows how they voted. That I know of that is not tracked. We don't even register parties here when you register to vote. So when you buy a list you know who is a democrat or who is a republican. How are they tracking how people vote? That should not be public information information.
1 person likes this
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
6 Nov 12
Personally I don't even think they should know ANYTHING about voting history. If you need that information to win an election than you shouldn't run in the first place. I feel that this should be a private matter, and no one should know how you vote.
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
6 Nov 12
I agree that it shouldn't be public in the first place, and people shouldn't be sending it out no matter what party it helps. Politicians are acting like gods in this country, taking what ever they want, and hurting this country in the process.
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
6 Nov 12
Nobody is sending out information on how anyone voted. No one has that information. No one can gain information on anything except how you are registered. A conservative group sending out info on who is R or D, or the Obama campaign having an app to show you who, among your neighbors, is a Democrat, is the same thing. You want to see a difference because you thought this was some new conservative plot.
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
6 Nov 12
I don't approve of this either (you can get up off the floor now). I don't think that ANY voter information should be available to ANYONE!!!! If you can't win an election without knowing how people voted, and create a plan to get them to vote for you than you shouldn't run.
But, as to your accusation that Obama is going this you are WRONG. Although I don't agree with what Obama is doing, you have to personally down load that app to find out this information, and it tells you who are democrats. It doesn't tell you who are republicans, and it wasn't mailed to people who didn't request the information, and it didn't give our their neighbors information. So there is a difference, but I still don't approve of it. This group is a conservative group using information sent to democrats. Why would you do that?
Your voting record, and your religion should be two things kept PRIVATE!!!
@dark_joev (3034)
• United States
3 Nov 12
I would say that the general information like we have this many people who are registered in this area and this is how many showed up or sent in their ballot would be okay as well as this district or area votes more this way than that way. It has it's good uses and well could give campaigns some information on what the people in those areas want or what method to use to get them to care enough to vote if it is a low turn out area.
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
6 Nov 12
I don't even know if they should know that. I believe that voting should be a private matter, just like your religion. I don't want to know how you vote, or who you vote for, and I don't want to know your religion either.
This case went down to names, and went to neighbors. This is just WRONG!!!!
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
3 Nov 12
I don't see how they could say for whom you voted but rather how you're registered. I don't know if it still does this, but our local newspaper would list the people who hadn't voted in a number of elections. It was usually enough that these people were no longer eligible to vote.
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
6 Nov 12
I believe, I could be wrong, that you actually can go to your local election office and get information, but I don't know how deep that goes. I have heard, no proof given, that it is public information how areas voted, down to house on a block. But, I am not sure of that, and have never tried.
Somethings in this country should be private, and this is one of them.
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
7 Nov 12
I have wondered if listing these people who hadn't voted in a while was a way of trying to shame them into doing their civic duty.
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
2 Nov 12
I am sure they do as well, but this is the first time I have ever seen information like this sent to citizens. I have no idea why this information is public, it shouldn't be, and it shouldn't be used to get votes, or suppress them.
1 person likes this
