[lit-ideas] Re: voting
- From: "Steven G. Cameron" <stevecam@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 10:19:28 -0400
**The system in Australia seems superior to ours: mandatory voting,
polling on Sunday, automatic registry of citizens over 18, etc. Why is
it impossible (or rather, unlikely) to ever be implemented here??
TC,
/Steve Cameron, NJ
Andy Amago wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
> Sent: Oct 18, 2004 11:32 PM
> To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: voting
>
>
>
> This is one of those times when we should think a bit before throwing=20
> out the baby (early voting) with the bath water (the lousy,=20
> computer-crashing, hackable implementation).
>
>
> A.A. Early voting seems to me like a jury voting before all the evidence is
> in. In the 2000 election, Bush's DUI information came out after people in
> Florida voted. It's possible some who voted early might have voted
> differently had they had that information.
>
> A national holiday is a good idea. A national election day was only enacted
> into law in the 1870s' I believe. Before that, each state voted on a
> different day. Maine voted in September. The people who don't vote don't
> know what's going on anyway.
>
>
> Andy Amago
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> One of the difficulties with the all-one-day system is that voting day=20=
>
> for US national elections is always a Tuesday, a working day for most=20
> of the voting population, which means that most people with jobs have a=20=
>
> disincentive to vote. Allowing early voting means that people who=20
> might not be able to get to a polling place on the Tuesday have a=20
> chance to cast their ballots on another, more convenient day.
>
> My favorite proposal is, however, a fairly obvious one=81\make Election=20=
>
> Day a national holiday, so that no one can be prevented from voting by=20=
>
> a boss who insists on their working.
>
> John McCreery
>
> P.S. Early voting is also, by the way, turning out (if the=20
> implementation isn't screwed up) to be a boon for poll watchers, who=20
> can cast their own votes in advance and then be able to concentrate on=20=
>
> combatting intimidation or other voting suppression efforts on Election=20=
>
> Day.
>
>
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