4 ms·
There are a wide variety of reasons as to why registering to vote should be as easy as possible, and most of them have nothing to do with convincing people who
by rhallie11 10y ago
There are a wide variety of reasons as to why registering to vote should be as easy as possible, and most of them have nothing to do with convincing people who don't want to vote to vote (I mean, ideally, we should live in a society that automatically registers everyone by default. But we're not quite there yet).
People who work 9-5 jobs that are paid hourly (or people currently in school, and go to school during those hours) literally lose money by taking time off to go to a government building and do these things in person, since government buildings operate 9-5 as well (some even open late/close early, because government).
Currently, the people most-likely to vote are either old (retired, with the free-time available to go do these things at their convenience), or middle-to-upper class salary workers (who won't be penalized for taking time off to go do these things).
While the people least-likely to vote are young people and people who work lower to lower-middle class hourly jobs, who cannot afford to take time off to register/vote. Most states don't even guarantee you paid time off to vote on election days.
If people don't want/care to vote, no amount of simplifying is going to make them do it. But people who want to vote shouldn't have anything standing in their way.
- Semiapies 10y agoBut people who want to vote shouldn't have anything standing in their way. I agree in principle, but in practice for the white millennials this site seems aimed at, there's not much in their way. And then there's a whole section of the page trying to convince people to vote in the first place, to vote for the down-ballot, etc. In that context, sbuttgereit's question seems valid.
- rhallie11 10y ago> for the white millennials this site seems aimed at, there's not much in their way I don't know what about our product makes you think that we're specifically targeting white people, but, even if we were, millennials (even ones from populations that are disproportionately of a privileged background) are overwhelmingly either currently in school, or under-employed . "Under-employed," meaning that they tend to work part-time, hourly jobs, rather than being able to secure salaried positions (even for ones with higher degrees). As I've said before, they literally do not have time--and will, in fact, be put at a financial burden, if they chose to--to take off time to vote. Which is why we have services like "Time off to Vote" (https://www.voteplz.org/guide/get-time-off/ https://www.voteplz.org/guide/get-time-off/) to help people know their rights, as well as easy-to-understand information about getting absentee ballots and voting early. We also have an entire resource for helping people with criminal pasts know their rights (https://www.voteplz.org/register/#/felony-help/ https://www.voteplz.org/register/#/felony-help/), which pretty much no one makes straight-forward. If you look at other registration sites, they tend to say something along the lines of, "don't use us if you've ever committed a crime," because they don't feel like putting in the effort to help that demographic. Even the National Voter Registration form uses language that can be misinterpreted as meaning that people who have been to jail automatically lose their rights forever. Like I said, making it easier for people to vote (and giving them resources to get informed) is not making people who don't want to vote, vote. It's helping people who want to make a difference get the resources to make a difference.
- thaumasiotes 10y ago> Like I said, making it easier for people to vote (and giving them resources to get informed) is not making people who don't want to vote, vote. It's helping people who want to make a difference get the resources to make a difference. Your comment is a direct response to this observation: > And then there's a whole section of the page trying to convince people to vote in the first place, to vote for the down-ballot, etc. Either I missed something somewhere, or you did. And sure, you're not sama, but here's what he said on this subject, directly upthread from you, speaking for you ("all the organizations working on this"): > we have a long, long way to go to 100% voter turnout, and all the organizations working on this share the same fundamental goal. If your goal is 100% voter turnout, that very much is making people who don't want to vote, vote. It is not helping people who already want to vote to vote. The same goes for the marketing copy on your website aiming to convince people who don't want to that they really should vote.
- Semiapies 10y agodon't know what about our product makes you think that we're specifically targeting white people, but, even if we were If you were, it would be terrible and racist, considering the much more serious impediments people of racial minorities tend to have to vote. But I wasn't saying that, just that it was very focused on them, presumably because most or all of the people you have writing the copy are white millennials, and probably all men. Try to scrounge up some other people to look at the site. As for the impediments, again, if you're not lily-white, all those things go double, with more barriers, besides. Meanwhile, I've been a white student and under-employed in a recession while voting religiously, and it was never that hard.