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> Folks will have time to research other choices at home. How does this have any relationship whatsoever to the way in which the vote is cast? People can alre
by holler 6y ago
> Folks will have time to research other choices at home.
How does this have any relationship whatsoever to the way in which the vote is cast?
People can already research to their hearts content without mail-in-voting.
- fossuser 6y agoAssuming you're asking in good faith it's a lot easier with mail in voting because when you get the ballot you can see all the names and search each category before choosing. It's easier than also having to find out what is on the ballot, searching, and then remembering each person when you go. I usually spend a couple hours at home voting and searching before sending the mail in, something that would be a lot harder to do effectively if I had to go in person.
- chrisseaton 6y agoI don't understand - is it a secret who's on the ballot before you get to the polling station?
- fossuser 6y agoIt's not a secret, but it's not obvious and there are a lot of things on the ballot every time. It's a lot easier when you have the ballot in front of you as a reference.
- chrisseaton 6y agoWhat do you think people were doing previously then, just voting blindly?!
- fossuser 6y agoYes - if they voted at all. I suspect they either left options blank, voted by party, voted the name they heard somewhere, or voted randomly. At least for the positions they didn’t know.
- holler 6y agoI understand what you're saying, but why not just mail people the ballot information ahead of time without actually casting votes? Let them pencil it in and bring it with them?
- fossuser 6y agoThey do that too, it's just a hassle. It's easier to do it when you can also vote at the same time at home.
- phailhaus 6y agoIf you're already mailing people the ballot information, what do you gain by asking them to then come in person to the polling station? It's an objectively simpler user experience. You're asking a lot of people to research ahead of time, make their decision, save that decision for election day, and then make time in their busy workday to go wait in line to vote.
- disposition2 6y agoI like to compare it to taking a test based off of memory vs an open book test. And since this 'test' is something we want everyone to participate in (and give them the best possibility to make an informed choice), I believe mail-in ballot voting might be the best possible solution for voting.
- abrowne 6y agoIf they know the race even exists… Even politically-interested friends often have no idea there are judges on the ballot, or if they do, which one they should vote for. And they can't fall back on party, since many of these races are officially non-partisan. I can go find a sample ballot at the MN Secretary of State website, but it's an extra step. I've chosen the "no excuse absentee ballot" a few times since Minnesota started offering, and this way I just have the ballot to look at, research and fill in.
- pmiller2 6y agoIt is also extremely difficult to research the records of judges, particularly those on lower courts.
- hhs 6y agoIf interested, there was a John Oliver episode on the process of how judges are elected: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poL7l-Uk3I8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poL7l-Uk3I8