So, so complicated. (0.00 / 0)

I can't tell you how frustrating it is to hear people say that young people are just too apathetic to vote and whatnot. In Ohio, students who don't have a drivers license (which is basically anyone from out of state) have to find or print out an absentee ballot request form weeks in advance, send it in, get their absentee ballot on time and then it has to arrive at the board of elections by election day. Additionally, if you change addresses (say, by changing dorm rooms) you have to re-register every year, even if your mailing address is the same. And the deadline for registering is well in advance of the election, not long after students arrive on campus. That means, for most students, a minimum of three forms, all of which have to be filled out well in advance of the election.

These barriers obviously disproportionately effect the poor, people of color, and the elderly, as well as students.

But yeah, the reason people don't vote is because they're lazy.

I support John McCain because children are too healthy anyway.

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by: Sam L @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 11:46:56 AM CDT

Why are out-of-state students registering in Ohio? (0.00 / 0)

Shouldn't they be getting absentee ballots from their home state?

Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both

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by: Anthony de Jesus @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 12:54:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Becasuse... (4.00 / 1)

Because they live there a majority of the year. Because they are legal residents. Because they have a constitutional right to do so. Because local and state issues; transportation, taxes, crime, environmental regulation, and just about anything else are more relevant in the place where they live most of the time.

They do take a lot of shit from people who want to disenfranchise them, though. Like State legislatures, for example.

I support John McCain because children are too healthy anyway.

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by: Sam L @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 13:01:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Perhaps we have different ideas (0.00 / 0)

On what should constitute legal residence.  I don't consider a dorm room to be a permanent address.

Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both

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by: Anthony de Jesus @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 22:11:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Good idea, and two more ideas. (4.00 / 2)

Today's paper had a story about the failure to fund the Help America Vote Act, so that the commission that was supposed to implement it was hamstrung.

Two underappreciated things that are vital in building a lasting Dem, if not progressive, majority are taking most of the state legislatures to be in a position for redistricting after the 2010 census (a 4-year project) and taking the important Secretary of State positions to ensure fair elections.  Would Kerry have won Ohio with a Dem Secretary of State running the election instead of Kenneth Blackwell, who was also running for Governor and heading up Bush's Ohio re-election effort?  More voting machines in urban counties, no disenfranchising shennanigans, fair count etc?  The latter is the job of the Secretary of State Project, a very worthy cause.  You can donate through Act Blue but the site itself is worth a visit to see what a difference their work makes.

John McCain--He's not who you think he is.

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by: Mimikatz @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 11:52:12 AM CDT

Good Project - We need the states to send out information to voters (0.00 / 0)

This sounds like a good project. We definitely need to make it easier for voters. I hope we can eventually require states to do as good a job as California does in informing voters.

When I moved from California to  Ohio, I was shocked by how little non-partisan election information Ohio voters receive compared to what voters easily receive in California.

In California, a few weeks before each election, each county's election board sends out a detailed sample ballot that lists every candidate and proposition in the same format as it will be on the actual ballot. This booklet also lists the voter's polling place and when the polls will be open. In the back, it includes a statement by each of the candidates for local office and information about each of the local ballot measures. The California State elections board also sends out a large booklet with a short description of all the propositions, the complete wording of the propositions, and pro and con arguments about each one, as well as short descriptions of each of the political parties. This information makes it possible for voters to know when and where they should vote, to see what will be on the ballot in advance, to mark their sample ballots in advance (which can greatly speed up the voting process and reduce confusion at the polls), and to learn something about each candidate and proposition from a reasonably non-partisan source.

In stark contrast, in Ohio when you register to vote, you are sent a postcard with your polling place listed. Unless your polling place changes, you may never again receive anything else from the Board of Elections. You, as an individual are thus completely responsible for ensuring that you are still registered to vote. You are also responsible for remembering where your polling place is. In addition, you are responsible for finding out on your own when each election will be held, what offices are up for election, who is running for each office, and what their stands are on the issues. This is a pretty big burden for most people.

The League of Women Voters tries to fill the information gap by publishing a voter guide, and in Cleveland, The Plain-Dealer newspaper also does a pretty good job of publishing non-partisan voter information a week or two before the election. However, they each cover races for the entire metro area, so it is difficult to find the information specific to one's own precinct.

Other newspapers, labor unions, business groups, and civic groups also do a reasonably good job of informing their constituencies. But these efforts do not let voters know if their registration has lapsed. And those people who get most of their information from television (and especially from TV ads), are left pretty clueless about the election, especially about everything on the ballot except the most contentious issues -- especially all the races for judges.

Sample ballots make it much more likely that people will vote and that they are informed voters -- both about the mechanics of voting (resulting in fewer spoiled ballots) and about the candidates and propositions.

By providing reasonably non-partisan information about the candidates, voters also are less likely to be swayed by inflammatory TV commercials and other propaganda. Providing sample ballots also greatly decreases the amount of effort that people like me must devote to providing basic information to voters, thus freeing us up to educate voters about more important things. There will always be a lot of money devoted to swaying voters, but if they have some non-partisan information to counter it, they will not be so easily swayed.

Admittedly, providing sample ballots to every registered voter is costly. But informing voters in advance and thus reducing confusion and speeding up the process on election day should reduce costs. And helping voters to be better informed and thus make better decisions is invaluable for our democracy.

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by: RandomNonviolence @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 12:01:28 PM CDT

Yikes (0.00 / 0)

In stark contrast, in Ohio when you register to vote, you are sent a postcard with your polling place listed. Unless your polling place changes, you may never again receive anything else from the Board of Elections. You, as an individual are thus completely responsible for ensuring that you are still registered to vote. You are also responsible for remembering where your polling place is. In addition, you are responsible for finding out on your own when each election will be held, what offices are up for election, who is running for each office, and what their stands are on the issues. This is a pretty big burden for most people.

That's really bad.

Oregon is more like California except one step better, they send you the actual ballot along with the booklet of information.  You then mail the ballot back once it is filled out, or drop it off at some ballot drop station the day of the election.  (You are responsible for figuring out that location, though.  But I don't think which one you use matters.)

Even with the booklet low information voting can be a problem.  For myself, there are always a few local candidates I know nothing about and end up using the booklet for my final decision.  I must say it gives me some sympathy to those that vote for more major candidates with little information.  It is much easier to just tune out politics and focus on your own life than political junkies tend to realize.

I remember once hearing of someone who voted for Bush/Cheney because she learned Cheney was a oil man and figured he could get us off of fossil fuels more quickly than others.

Remember, only 4 out of 5 Americans know the Earth revolves around the sun, with 18% percent say the sun goes around the Earth.  Given that many of those 18% were probably guessing, you can safely assume that many others who answered correctly also just guessed.  So yea, low information.

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by: Mark Matson @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 14:34:20 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

exactly (0.00 / 0)

Maybe.  But it's important to realize that apathy is a completely reasonable choice considering how complicated voting systems are and how much misinformation is out there about our political system.  Why should you participate?

People aren't idiots, they're just rationally ignorant about politics and political participation.

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by: Nirmal Mankani @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 14:35:05 PM CDT

making the government responsible for nonpartisan election information (0.00 / 0)

i think this is a brilliant project.

each cycle progressive nonprofits spend millions of dollars performing functions of democracy that should be the job of government.

the pew/jeht/google effort establishes a standard for states to publish information about where you go to vote and what's on your ballot.

why should the nonprofit sector be responsible for telling people where they vote? foundations are finally pushing back these expensive campaigns to government. and in the process they are making it easier and cheaper for state governments to execute with smart ideas like the open and nonproprietary data format developed by voting information project.

if this is successful it means we can spend more money for GOTV and the fight against voter suppression, and less money on telling voters the basics of how to vote.  

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by: bbond @ Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 14:39:01 PM CDT