Friday, October 23, 2020

Voter Letters

My wife and youngest daughter have been getting a stream of "Center for Voter Information" letters, warning them that "Who you vote for is private, but whether or not you vote is public record." It includes the general election voting record for the rest of the household.

I haven't gotten one.

One of the letters mentioned how important it is to have women and minorities "have their voices heard."

I think I know why I haven't gotten a letter.

This seems like a faintly intimidating approach. "We will know whether you voted!"

The Center for Voter Information is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan organization." And no doubt they also have ocean-front property in Kansas to sell us.

4 comments:

Korora said...

" And no doubt they also have ocean-front property in Kansas to sell us."

In the same Galaxy issue as "The Pain Peddlers" (the story that foretold the rise of reality TV) was a story written in the format of a future history article, about how cataclysmic seismic activity created "The Great Nebraska Sea".

Assistant Village Idiot said...

I received a letter from a group with similar name, perhaps the same. They wanted to inform me about two issues of the two candidates, education and an aspect of health insurance. Their positive evaluation of Biden's positions came from his campaign website, and their negative evaluation of Trump's positions came from an advocacy group. Interestingly, they were careful to say that positions were not always easy to summarise as "yes" or "no," that they were striving to be fair to both candidates, and encouraged me to look at the websites to get a fuller picture.

The bias is getting more subtle.

The Mad Soprano said...

@Korora, the beach front property in Kansas in buried under layers of chalk. I think one of the tenants was called Tylosaurus.

james said...

There was a request for the details of the letter. It is slightly more intimidating than I said. I use symbolic html below, the bolding is in the original.

Center for Voter Information
Voting Report Card for XX XXX

Dear XX

Public records indicate that you are eligible to vote in 2020 (Bold)Who you vote for is private, but whether or not you vote is public record (/Bold).

We will be reviewing these records after the election to determine whether or not you joined your neighbors in voting. While we have hidden the name and street number of your neighbors to protect their privacty, these are their true voting records.

(Bold)Make sure you have up-to-date information about where to vote. You can vote early or on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3.(/Bold) You can find information about voting locations and hours at myvote.wi.gov/en-us/FindMyPollingPlace.

We may call you to ask about your voting experience and will update this chart for the next election. If you do not vote this year, while we will be disappointed, we'll be interesting to hear why not.

(Table) general election Voted/No Vote for 2012 through 2018 for 3 people, including XXX with 2 names blacked out (/Table)

We hope this information is useful. If you have already voted, thank you!
Sincerely,
Lionel Dripps
The Center for Voter Information

P.S. (Bold) Don't forget to bring a valid photo ID. (/Bold) For details, please visit bringit.wi.gov

(Bold)Reminder: Sign your absentee ballot and get a witness to sign the ballot with their address.(/Bold)