Don’t Forget…

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Dana05/06 07:35 AM

If anyone needs to be reminded to vote, they shouldn’t. Voting should only be accomplished by people who care enough to listen to what candidates are saying. For reference, watch Idiocracy.

Chad05/06 09:08 AM

Voting restrictions were enacted using the defunct poll tax, grandfather clause, and literacy test.

If your suggestion became a nationally embraced attitude it could be considered a “Knowledge Clause”—only those with knowledge of the candidates are encouraged to vote.

This would in turn have a similar effect as the Poll Tax, although instead of alienating those without access to money it would alienate those with limited access to information. Access to information is a resource that must be obtained by some means. Obtainment of information requires time and/or money. Even if someone cares a great deal about the election they may not have the resources to explore the candidates positions or personality.

It’s easy to infer what groups would be affected by an idea of a “Knowledge Clause”.

Lisa Jeffries05/06 10:44 AM

Exactly what good does an uneducated choice do? To me, all that says is that the candidates with the most money and compelling TV ads will have the most exposure and recall in voters’ memory… and to me, that isn’t an accurate measure of a candidate’s capability.

Vince Carmody05/06 11:00 AM

No lines at Pullen Park! Woo hoo!!!!

BA05/06 11:30 AM

Well then shouldn’t our goal be to get people the information to make an informed decision to vote, not to make anything more exclusive than it already is?
Help volunteer, write articles, call people, host events, pass out fliers, post fliers…

Idiocracy was a lot more about stupid people breeding than uninformed voting.

Lisa Jeffries05/06 11:43 AM

^ TOTALLY agreed.

And for the record, I haven’t seen Idiocracy.

Unfortunately, most of the “volunteers” and callers I’ve been exposed to really aren’t that educated on the actual goals and interests of their beloved candidates… they’re doing it because someone recruited them or it’s the “in” thing to do.

Jenna05/06 11:46 AM

There’s a lot of information available during the general election; it’s called ‘party affiliation.’ The most reliable way to make sure you are voting for someone with whom you agree is to look up party platforms - far easier than looking up each individual candidate only to find that Republicans behave like Republicans and Democrats behave like Democrats.

So, what do our clever NC politicians do? Remove the one piece of information that’s easily accessible from judicial elections. Now that we have non-partisan judicial elections, we really ARE in a situation where more study is needed.

As far as primary voting goes, I’m all for the uninformed sitting at home. I don’t believe we should legally stop them from participating (via a “knowledge tax” or any other means), but for our parties’ sakes, we shouldn’t encourage it either.

Jedidiah05/06 01:04 PM

This is biased, but for Obama fans, this is what Downtown Raleigh looks like today HERE

Dana05/08 12:09 PM

Great pics, Jedidiah. Obama had a great week here, and there was palpable, positive energy all around this week! I love that photo of him at the Times Bar that was on TMZ.

For the record, I never wrote anything about restricting anyone’s right to vote. Lisa and Jenna iterated my point better than I did.

Mark05/10 01:29 PM

Dana, the point of this was to drop some last minute information on where to go and what your registration status is. It was a lighthearted attempt at celebrating our Democratic process. I know that our system isn’t perfect and that many voters aren’t as informed as the should be, but that’s why many people run for office, so we can improve and change the pieces and parts of this country. Either way, I prefer to look at the positive side of our election process and focus on my own voting choices. I mean, you posted an election day reminder too, right? So whether or not you’re capable of reading between the lines and seeing past face value, please take your defensiveness and negativity elsewhere.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008