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News & ArtsWednesday, April 28, 2010
Politics Smoked Out
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 8:25 AM
TPM:
Orange County authorities are launching an investigation into possible voter registration fraud after a local newspaper reported over a hundred cases of voters being tricked into registering as Republicans by petitioners who asked them to sign petitions for, among other causes, legalizing pot.
2
If someone is stoopid enough to sign a petition without reading it they're stoopid enough to become a rebuplican.
3
Why am I not the least surprised? Conservatives pulled the same tactics for the marriage equality petition signing in Maine. Bait and switch.
Apparently conservatives will lie, cheat and steal, to get back into power. Family and American values, baby. All the way.
Apparently conservatives will lie, cheat and steal, to get back into power. Family and American values, baby. All the way.
4
Same thing happened in Pittsburgh in 2004 - petitions circulated on college campuses (supposedly to legalize pot) really changed people's voter registration to Republican. The Daily Show even covered it:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-no…
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-no…
7
This is why the Supreme Court *must* agree that the signatures on R-71 and similar ballot initiatives must be public record. There are too many situations where voters were lied to about what they were signing -- or in some cases, someone else signed their name without their consent.
8
@7: Exactly. All those poor anti-gay petition signers in WA State thought they were signing a petition to stop "Everything But Marriage" but that didn't happen. They need to double-check that they did indeed sign it in order to prove that at least they tried.
10
Hey guys, don't be too hard on 'em.
I mean, when your party is as small as 21% of the country, you're going to have to do stuff like this simply to keep it alive.
@9: Yeah, no kidding. The Teabagger Republicans are no different from the Bush Republicans. In no way.
I mean, when your party is as small as 21% of the country, you're going to have to do stuff like this simply to keep it alive.
@9: Yeah, no kidding. The Teabagger Republicans are no different from the Bush Republicans. In no way.
11
I wouldn't be so quick to belittle that 21%, seeing as that's about the same percentage of people who identify as Democrats.
And the Republicans have been gaining ground lately. The Dems, um, haven't.
And the Republicans have been gaining ground lately. The Dems, um, haven't.
12
I'm honestly baffled why it's not illegal to offer financial rewards for registering people into a certain party.
15
10
Maybe you're confusing the number of Americans
who self identify as Liberal.
That was 21% a few years ago,
alas it has dropped to 19% now.
Maybe you're confusing the number of Americans
who self identify as Liberal.
That was 21% a few years ago,
alas it has dropped to 19% now.
16
13
nice link.
Republicans at 24%;
must have picked up 3% since your earlier post?
and Democrats at 32%?
are you sure you really want to get all puffy-chested about that spread?
nice link.
Republicans at 24%;
must have picked up 3% since your earlier post?
and Democrats at 32%?
are you sure you really want to get all puffy-chested about that spread?
17
13
the 24-32 numbers are "All adults".
the "REGISTERED & LIKELY VOTERS ONLY" poll from the same link is much more interesting-
Republicans 32% and Democrats 36%
don't look now-
we're gaining......
the 24-32 numbers are "All adults".
the "REGISTERED & LIKELY VOTERS ONLY" poll from the same link is much more interesting-
Republicans 32% and Democrats 36%
don't look now-
we're gaining......
19
Actually, even though you're registered as a republican, you can still vote democrat or any other party affiliation, at least in the general election. In WA, you can be registered to one party, but then vote in another party's primary (as long as you only choose one party).
You can easily subvert this system. For example, sign up as a Republican, then choose a liberal candidate in the primary. Or a staunch arch-conservative who wouldn't have a chance in the general election. Of course, this won't work very well unless a large proportion of the voting electorate does the same thing. But, it's something to think about.
You can easily subvert this system. For example, sign up as a Republican, then choose a liberal candidate in the primary. Or a staunch arch-conservative who wouldn't have a chance in the general election. Of course, this won't work very well unless a large proportion of the voting electorate does the same thing. But, it's something to think about.
21
@16: I use an array of polling numbers, so I tend to pay attention to a number of different data points. The polling average is at 24.1%, while a recent Wall Street Journal poll had Republicans at 17%.
So I just kinda grabbed a recent data point I could remember because I didn't really care if it was exactly right. I knew, though, that saying the Democrats at the same data point - 21% - was wayyy off base, because they're actually some 5-10 points higher, and have been for a while.
All that being said, you don't have to self-identify as "Liberal" to elect liberal politicians. Many Democrats are now conservatives.
So I just kinda grabbed a recent data point I could remember because I didn't really care if it was exactly right. I knew, though, that saying the Democrats at the same data point - 21% - was wayyy off base, because they're actually some 5-10 points higher, and have been for a while.
All that being said, you don't have to self-identify as "Liberal" to elect liberal politicians. Many Democrats are now conservatives.
22
@19 makes a good point. These new registerees can vote any way they want, and the Repulican's are likely to spend money to get them to turn out and vote. What is the downside here? [besides Voter Fruad, I mean]
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