Did you Vote in your Primary Election if not why not

Hmm, thats a good idea Alpha, a voting holiday.


Just to add to, the reason I think the younger generations
are'nt voting.

-Most of them are'nt intelligent enough, I mean most kids can't
even read a sentence without having trouble now-a-days.

-They're not inforemed enough about registering and when and
where voting occurs.

-The majority of the 40% (my own guesstimate) who are informed
enough, see all the corruption and things, and subsequnetly
think theres no point in invoting.

I came back late from college in NY so I wasn't able to vote, if they made it more easily accesible to college students voting trends would definetaly be higher I think.

Have you not heard of absentee voting?

It's been around for a very long time.

You should check it out.

Voting has never been easier.

[edit on 2006/9/14 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by AlphaHumana

Wow, it must have something to do with states... I imagine your voter registration card doesn't have a party affiliation box then, either?

Sounds like it for sure, since we do not carry a voter registration card either. All we do is register and show up at our appointed place to vote and they just check to make sure you are on the list. Even unregistered voters can show up at the polls and register on election day assuming of course they meet the residency requirements which is ten days and I think you can only register at the polls when voting for president but I could be wrong.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Have you not heard of absentee voting?

Voting has never been easier.

Actually now there are several other means other then absentee however some are not as yet in the US. Technically voting by mail is equal to absentee voting I assume although as it states you do not have to be out of the district.

Voting by Mail: Some countries extend the opportunity to vote by mail to those who are not away from their election district. Canada, Spain, The United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark will all send ballots to any interested citizen. Use of voting by mail services varies widely — almost 40 percent use it in Finland, only four percent in the United Kingdom. In 1998, Oregon passed a ballot initiative that replaced typical polling-place voting with a statewide vote by mail program. Other states — including Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Washington State — allow mail-in voting at one level or another. In some places, mail-in voting is only used for ballot questions, not for candidate races. Some critics argue that paying for a stamp to mail a ballot constitutes a new poll tax. Oregon has sites around the state where voters may drop off ballots without paying postage. Other locales have opted for postage-paid ballots.

Voting Early: Some countries increase turnout by extending the period of elections. In Sweden any voter may vote early at their local post office. This year the state of Texas is experimenting with early voting — polls in selected areas are open between seventeen days and four days prior to election day.

Internet Voting: Many people believe that internet voting will greatly increase voter participation. However, it might also offer greater ease of voting to wealthier households. Many countries are testing pilot projects. The state of California recently commissioned a study on the feasibility of internet voting. The panel, comprised of more than two dozen experts in the field of data security, elections and voter participation concluded that "the implementation of Internet voting would allow increased access to the voting process for millions of potential voters who do not regularly participate in our elections." But the commission also expressed serious concerns about "technological threats to the security, integrity and secrecy of Internet ballots" and did not recommend a wholesale move to Internet voting. The commission also noted current voting technology problems stating that "it is technologically possible to utilize the Internet to develop an additional method of voting that would be at least as secure from vote-tampering as the current absentee ballot process in California." (Read the California Internet Voting Task Force Report)



Election Day Registration: Election Day Registration (EDR), also known as "same-day voter registration," permits eligible citizens to register and vote on Election Day. In the 2000 election, six states — Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming — permitted voters to register and vote on Election Day. These states had considerably higher voter participation and registration rates than the national average — 68 percent voter turnout for the EDR states as opposed to 59 percent nationwide. Critics contend that same-day registration will lead to greater voter fraud. Supporters maintain that election officials and trained poll workers are the best prepared to combat fraud.

Source

I would question the internet voting process for the reasons given though.



[edit on 9/14/2006 by shots]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Have you not heard of absentee voting?

It's been around for a very long time.

You should check it out.

Voting has never been easier.

[edit on 2006/9/14 by GradyPhilpott]

egh, I heard about it but forgot... anyway how do they expect me to remind myself especially since I don't watch much tv

That's amazing that you can register at the polling place the day of the election. You can't do that here, and you even have to go to a specific polling place based on your address - I had to go to a public library during these latest primary elections, not my usual American Legion outpost. I assume that isn't the case where you are because come election day some people are apparently not even registered (and the only reason I knew I had to report to a different place was a letter sent to my house from the Broward County Supervisor of Elections' office.)

This reminds me of another thread currently active about requiring picture ID to vote - as long as I've been voting I've always been asked to show identification, and in 2004 I brought my passport, my international drivers license, company tag, and of course my voter-registration card (no picture), atm (picture) and Florida drivers license (because the last two are always on me.) This was just to be sure they had as little reason a possible to turn me away

edit - this was because I don't look like the picture in half of them - for example the Florida drivers license I have to this day has the same picture taken of me for my learner's permit when I was 15 over 10 years ago haha (I renew it through the web and they just send me the new-style license with same old pic, a joke!)

[edit on 15-9-2006 by AlphaHumana]

I didn't vote in the primary's because I'm not registered in my current state yet and I couldn't get absentee ballots for my home district. I'll be registered here and everything in time for Nov.

I don't believe voting should be compulsorary. That defeats the whole point of a democracy. A person has a right not to vote for any of the candidates as much as they do to vote for one of them. If 'Abstain' or 'None of the Above' were on the ballots then I would consider it but I guarantee compulsorary voting will only make things worse here; nothing good comes out of involuntary servitude.

I'm a registered independent but I temporarily switched to *gasp* Democrat to vote for one particular candidate, for strictly personal and selfish reasons.

It really didn't matter anyway, because most all offices had exactly the number of candiates as slots. One office actually had no candidate; the only "choice" was to write in. Voter turnout was very low. But still, I voted, as usual, and I will never miss an opportunity to vote as long as I can drag myself to the ballot box.

I didn't vote because I'm not even sure there was anything for me to vote for, much less make an educated vote for. I'm a Republican in the bluest of blue Upper West Side of Manhattan.


But I certainly won't miss the general election.

[edit on 9/15/2006 by djohnsto77]

Originally posted by iori_komei
-The majority of the 40% (my own guesstimate) who are informed
enough, see all the corruption and things, and subsequnetly
think theres no point in invoting.

I consider myself informed and I've heard all the arguments about the futility of voting. But that is one particular right I will never give up; if you don't vote, you're playing right into their hands. They would love it if you stayed at home and let their cronies decide who wins.

DJ, down here if your party is not running a candidate for a particular race, people of all parties can vote for the primary of that issue. I had to vote for a few Democrats (though I wouldn't consider my self a yellow-dog) because Republicans weren't even going to try for several seats - in our case, of course, we vote for the Democrat that we believe is weakest. I have never even been to New York, so I don't know how it is up there, just wanted to point it out because it may be similar

Originally posted by AlphaHumana
I assume that isn't the case where you are because come election day some people are apparently not even registered (and the only reason I knew I had to report to a different place was a letter sent to my house from the Broward County Supervisor of Elections' office.)

Well I registered in advance so they told me where to go, but they do tell you were to go on their website or local cable channel used for showing town meetings, they display all that info along with other things when no meetings are on.

I find it very odd though that FL does not make you go in for a license that is a new one on me. Here every time (each 8 yrs) they come up for renewal you have to take an eye examine and they take your picture each time and issue the license in a few minutes. You can of course take in a signed document from an eye doctor, in that case they do not check your eyes, they just take a mug shot and it is processed on a computer within minutes.



[edit on 9/15/2006 by shots]

Yeah, lol, it's funny to think about and look at my driving license, I've had a number of people question its authenticity - perhaps the only proof its old and real is the fact that I'm wearing a button-down oxford with the collar propped up (hahaha!) while the rest of it is all flashy and all high-tech modern looking.

I can only attribute the practice to the fact that I'm still pretty young (still shy of the spooky 3-0!) and have never been in any accidents where I was at fault. This does leave a big hole for concerns over the ease of obtaining fake IDs though. Additionally, I was once held in "airport jail" for almost 3 hours once in Groningen, Netherlands after arriving from London (well, Stansted) because the officials had a difficult time believing I was (because I didn't look like it on my IDs) who I claimed to be until a US consular official arrived to confirm who I was - I guess I should have taken something from that lesson, haha.

"we vote for the Democrat that we believe is weakest"

Isn't that like shooting yourself in the foot? Why not vote for the best, even if they are not from your chosen partyline? Thats like republicans voting in Bush, soley because he ticks you off if you are a democrat. It's a pretty sad thing to set someone else up for failure, at YOUR own expence.

As a Republican, I will vote for the Democrat I believe is least likely to win against a Republican. I must say that one post of mine was somewhat confusing because I failed to note the situation or possibility of an incumbent. Those circumstances, as far as I can tell, are usually for minor posts that most people (including myself) have never heard of anyway.

[edit on 15-9-2006 by AlphaHumana]

Originally posted by AlphaHumana
As a Republican, I will vote for the Democrat I believe is least likely to win against a Republican. I must say that one post of mine was somewhat confusing because I failed to note the situation or possibility of an incumbent.

Can you elaborate on just what you mean above? If you did that in a primary where you have to vote for your own party your ballot would be null and void since it contained a vote for a Rep and a Dem.

Lol, no you're right I went and confused myself. What I said doesn't make any sense unless I was voting in an open primary system. If there is an open primary system (where all parties vote for the candidates for every race (e.g. I vote for both the Republican AND Democratic choices for a senate, naturally for the Democratic choice I would choose the one less likely to win when placed up against any Republican.) My state happens to have a closed primary model, where when I arrived and showed my voter registration card, they gave me the Republican ballot (poll worker walked up to the electronic voting machine and slides something through to indicate party affiliation.) Included on the ballot was also a list of Democrats I could vote for, because only Democrats were running for certain issues.

I question the value of the primary system, because it leaves itself open to manipulation, especially in states that have a system like Florida. I can't think of a better way of doing it, though. Like an example I mentioned earlier in the thread - what if a large number of people registered themselves dishonestly just so they could sabotage the prospects of the party they are against.

Originally posted by AlphaHumana
Lol, no you're right I went and confused myself.

Well you have me confused also. A lot of what you are saying is making no sense. I have never heard of a ballot being handed out that was a republican ballot.
My sister lives around Clearwater.

when I talk to her I will have her explain your system to me. I would call her now but she is in Vermont on vacation so it may take a few days.

I wish I still had a copy of the sample ballot I could scan - I just did a brief search around my place, but couldn't find it (it was sent several months ago) - basically it explained the system, and displayed the Republican ballot on the left, and the Democratic ballot on the right. The Broward County Supervisor of Elections website is missing a lot of stuff, and the link to the sample ballot is even dead.

Here's something from the Florida State Department:

Source: Division of Elections, Florida Department of State
election.dos.state.fl.us...

Since Florida is a closed primary state, only voters who are registered members of the two major political parties (Republicans and Democrats) may vote for their respective party's candidates in a primary election. Registered minor political party voters and voters without party affiliation are not eligible to vote for major party candidates in a primary election. However, if all candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner will have no opposition in the general election, all qualified voters, regardless of party affiliation, may vote in the primary election for that office.