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Thread: "Steering" at the polling booth

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    "Steering" at the polling booth

    Today was voting day and the nice little ladies working the polling place cheerfully asked me if I wanted the Democratic or Republican ballot, but I wanted neither one of those. There were other options. Too bad they felt compelled to steer me toward the mainstream.

    It's no wonder the two party system remains invincible. And these ladies have interest in keeping it that way since in this city, their party will not be defeated by Republicans.

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    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    At least you get to go to the polls. We eliminated those around here a few years ago, now it is all done by mail. I think we lost a lot with that.

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    Moderator Float On's Avatar
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    I really don't like being defined by a party. There were people on 4 of the 5 ballot options I would of loved to vote for but darn it you can only pick one.
    Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.

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    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Float On View Post
    I really don't like being defined by a party. There were people on 4 of the 5 ballot options I would of loved to vote for but darn it you can only pick one.
    I wish we would go to an instant-runoff voting system:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    DH came home from his stint as election judge and confirmed that there was wording that the little ladies should have used, not "do you want Dem or Repub ballot?" but "of the 6 ballots, which would you like to have?" And of course this is happening all over this city, all over this state, all over this country. Practicing for the general election when it will really count, they are.

    But where is HuffPo to report on this unethical behavior? Where is DaileyKos to blow it up all out of proportion? Rachel Maddow, will you get rabidly angry about this travesty of justice? I think we all know where they are, sitting in their comfy chairs not giving a damn.

    There is only 1 more election before I no longer have to punch a time clock. After that one, watch out City of St. Louis! I'm going to sign up to be a poll watcher. Rather than typing on an internet website like this one, I'll take real action to combat this dishonest crap. Understand that I don't think that the little ladies themselves are being dishonest, I think they are ignorant. They've been been encouraged to be ignorant, and they are rewarded for being ignorant by the city's Democratic machine. It's essential to the city's binary election system.
    Last edited by iris lilies; 8-6-14 at 1:10am.

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    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Float On View Post
    I really don't like being defined by a party. There were people on 4 of the 5 ballot options I would of loved to vote for but darn it you can only pick one.
    This has been a very funky year for me in some ways. One of these ways is that I myself no longer like being defined by a political party - had you told me a year ago I'd feel this way I would not have believed you......Rob

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    Senior Member peggy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    DH came home from his stint as election judge and confirmed that there was wording that the little ladies should have used, not "do you want Dem or Repub ballot?" but "of the 6 ballots, which would you like to have?" And of course this is happening all over this city, all over this state, all over this country. Practicing for the general election when it will really count, they are.

    But where is HuffPo to report on this unethical behavior? Where is DaileyKos to blow it up all out of proportion? Rachel Maddow, will you get rabidly angry about this travesty of justice? I think we all know where they are, sitting in their comfy chairs not giving a damn.

    There is only 1 more election before I no longer have to punch a time clock. After that one, watch out City of St. Louis! I'm going to sign up to be a poll watcher. Rather than typing on an internet website like this one, I'll take real action to combat this dishonest crap. Understand that I don't think that the little ladies themselves are being dishonest, I think they are ignorant. They've been been encouraged to be ignorant, and they are rewarded for being ignorant by the city's Democratic machine. It's essential to the city's binary election system.
    The DEMOCRATS are responsible! Really? Because these little old ladies offered you a choice of one of the two major parties that MOST people kinda go with? That's dishonest? Wow! Who knew? Cause you obviously didn't know there were more than two ballots...or, wait, you did know. As did ANYONE else who actually bothered to look at the sample ballot and give 5 minutes thought to the issues. But I'm thinking you're steaming about something else, cause really IL, there really isn't a there there.
    Frankly I want to blame the republicans for cancelling out most of my votes...on the amendments that is. But that goes back to that '5 minutes thought' thing.

    I'm wondering why so many looked at amendment one and said, 'yeah, people are trying to keep ME from farming so here I go!" I got these ten acres...I got this plow, but THEY are trying to STOP me. Cause, you know...I have every right to cram all the little doggies into a cage I can and now it's going to be in the constitution! Just try and stop me from putting in my 5000 hog operation in now. Just try to regulate that!

    OK, I'm ranting. It's just, how could so many vote for a thing without thinking why? Right to FArm my ass. It's more like the right to do whatever I damn well please without any accountability or repercussions.

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    Simpleton Alan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by peggy View Post
    OK, I'm ranting. It's just, how could so many vote for a thing without thinking why? Right to FArm my ass. It's more like the right to do whatever I damn well please without any accountability or repercussions.
    That reminds me of my very favorite PJ O'Rourke quote "There is only one basic human right,the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences."

    I'm guessing that the amendment in question fits into that somewhere.
    "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein

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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    Today was voting day and the nice little ladies working the polling place cheerfully asked me if I wanted the Democratic or Republican ballot, but I wanted neither one of those. There were other options. Too bad they felt compelled to steer me toward the mainstream.

    It's no wonder the two party system remains invincible. And these ladies have interest in keeping it that way since in this city, their party will not be defeated by Republicans.
    Huh? Sorry, but I'm just not seeing it.

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    It seems as part of proper procedures and training they should be trained not to steer at all. It's a proper procedures thing. Think of it as almost akin to basic fairness in a game in degree of importance. A major political issue? No, but something can be of very small importance on the scale of things and still deserve to be done right. The main thing that props up the 2 party system? The main thing that props that up is probably the very math of how elections are currently setup :\ ("winner take all" and so on. Maybe it wouldn't happen in a proportional system etc. but we don't have that etc.). Plus the two parties absolutely exclude 3rd parties from things like the presidential debate etc.. - so there's also deliberate rigging. 2 party biased poll workers are not covered by the mainstream media? I take it for granted much won't be. Do they for instance cover the potential for electronic hacking of votes and the need for a paper trail? More important than "steering" since it enables not just subtly influencing votes but outright stealing them!

    Because these little old ladies offered you a choice of one of the two major parties that MOST people kinda go with? That's dishonest? Wow! Who knew? Cause you obviously didn't know there were more than two ballots...or, wait, you did know. As did ANYONE else who actually bothered to look at the sample ballot and give 5 minutes thought to the issues.
    I doubt anyone thinks they meant harm, just a matter of getting or not getting proper training. But the focus solely on what people consciously know (they know of the existence of more than 2 parties for instance) isn't accurate either, actual human behavior can be influenced by less conscious things like "steering" (psychological priming - I'd be amazed if this exact psyche experiment hasn't been done - certainly most priming experiments tread similar ground, peer pressure etc. - a whole level of provable non-conscious motivation). Do I think it's the main thing enforcing the 2 party system? No again, it's probably this form of "democratic" voting that leads to it and so the form of democracy would have to change probably.

    And around here - well 3rd parties are never on the general elections in this whole state due to "open primaries". That is what I would call the 2 major parties rigging the system - they won. You can't even register a protest vote most of the time in the general election, the only protest vote is to leave it blank.
    Last edited by ApatheticNoMore; 8-7-14 at 4:14am.
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