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> [...]so unless that petition has more than 33 million signatures then it doesn't prove much does it[...] It's not going to prove much even then. As a test I
by avar 8y ago
> [...]so unless that petition has more than 33 million signatures then it doesn't prove much does it[...]
It's not going to prove much even then. As a test I just signed this with a fake name, all you need is an E-Mail address and to enter some valid UK post code.
Anyone who's paying any attention to some Internet petition that's implemented like this is crazy. In some other European countries there's online petitions like this, but they'll make you go through the government's official login gateway.
- tikkabhuna 8y agoAre you sure they don't check the electoral roll behind the scenes?
- blinky1456 8y agoEntries are absolutely validated, you cannot just use proxies and automate hundreds of thousands of signings. The people behind the petition website are not idiots.
- j16sdiz 8y agoDo you meant the petition website have access to a full list of British citizen personal information? This can be worrying.
- gideonparanoid 8y agoThe electoral register is relatively open. You can view it in most public libraries, town hall etc. [0]. You can even buy it in some cases [1]. [0] https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/view-electoral-register https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/view-electoral-registe... [1] https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/162824/List-of-people-entitled-to-be-supplied-with-the-electoral-register.pdf https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_fil...
- pjc50 8y agoThe "electoral roll" is hardly secret.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoAnyone who thinks they can't quickly and easily electronically check entries against the electoral roll is crazy. But congratulations on wasting your time.
- avar 8y agoEven if they're doing that it's relatively easy to find what postal code a bunch of British citizens live in (e.g. start with famous people whose primary residence is often well-known). I filled it in with "Fake McFakety" or something like that in a random postal code in London, so I wasn't even trying. They're not going to have a known fool-proof mapping of names/postal codes to something that's guaranteed to be that person's current E-Mail address. Which, in the age of allegations of say Russian interference in elections[1] means this sort of Internet poll is always going to be suspect. It doesn't mean it's completely useless, it's some general way of gauging interest for sure, but the GPs suggestion was that something would change once it passed the 33 million mark. I don't think you can make that claim with a poll that's so easily gamed. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2016_Brexit_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_20...