US elections and privacy

tbrguy

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Recently, I heard a social scientist describing some research he carried out on the use of social media as political tools and their effect on voting in the US.

It transpired that he correlated his experiments/subjects with the voting records of the individuals involved - and there were a lot, 55,000 springs to mind.

This got me thinking:
In the UK (although voting slips are identifiable by a serial number, they are not available for examination) we set great store by the right to keep our voting private, it's completely normal not to know how others vote and many would refuse to answer even if asked directly as to how they had voted.

If, in the US, it is possible for a researcher to look up how a large number of people voted, does this mean that anyone can go to the town hall or public library and see how their friends and neighbours voted?

And if this is the case, do you think this is good or bad for your democratic process?

For what it's worth, I think this would tend to corrupt the process. Surely peer pressure, church, family, employer/employee relationships; all sorts of factors, whether real or imagined, might influence an individual to vote in way s/he would not, if the ballot were secret.

And as a related issue, I never understood your system - as I understand it - of "registering" as a Republican or Democrat (or other or none I suppose). Surely you should just register as a citizen and vote according to the issues and the candidates?

If anyone could shed some light on these matters, and perhaps correct me where I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, I'd be grateful.
 

tamati

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voting is private in the US and should remain that way. because of this, some people do actually vote differently than they may indicate in social circles or to family.
i believe that is one of the things that scares some voters about photo id requirements at the booths, they see it as infringing upon their voting anonymity.
i do wish we had to dye our finger after voting here, instead we just get stupid little "I voted!" stickers..
 

tamati

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i know people share a lot of information when making online searches and social media postings. and that info could be very telling in ones political leanings.

btw, you do not have to register as a democrat or republican, for instance I am not registered with either of the two main parties. but it essentially is only a two party system.

we do not elect a president by popular vote. we use a certain amount of whats called electoral college votes that are allotted to each state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_(United_States)
 

ColonialBoy

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And as a related issue, I never understood your system - as I understand it - of "registering" as a Republican or Democrat (or other or none I suppose). Surely you should just register as a citizen and vote according to the issues and the candidates?

I believe 'registered voters' in the US have some part in candidate selection in the 'primaries'. In the rest of the world you join a political party to have a say in candidate selection.

Also there is not one standard, federal voting system in the US. In Australia, voting is at weekends (most people not at work), the polls close at 6pm, the outcome is known with reasonable certainty by 8pm, we use manual counting, and have a single organisation (Australian Electoral Commission) that conducts the voting & makes sure procedures are uniform nationwide.

A lot of the US voting system seems to come from the 1700s. This is true for the electoral college system.
 

Calboner

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Recently, I heard a social scientist describing some research he carried out on the use of social media as political tools and their effect on voting in the US. . . .

If anyone could shed some light on these matters, and perhaps correct me where I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, I'd be grateful.
If you could provide a specific reference, your report might be more credible.

As previous posters have remarked, there is no way--at least, no legal way--to find out how someone has voted other than to ask that person. "Voting records" can indicate only whether someone voted--and I don't know who has legal access to such records.


I believe 'registered voters' in the US have some part in candidate selection in the 'primaries'. In the rest of the world you join a political party to have a say in candidate selection.

Also there is not one standard, federal voting system in the US. In Australia, voting is at weekends (most people not at work), the polls close at 6pm, the outcome is known with reasonable certainty by 8pm, we use manual counting, and have a single organisation (Australian Electoral Commission) that conducts the voting & makes sure procedures are uniform nationwide.

A lot of the US voting system seems to come from the 1700s. This is true for the electoral college system.
Yes, in most states, you must register as a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent to vote in a primary election for a Republican, a Democratic, or an independent candidate, respectively.

It was from Australia that the USA, in the late 19th century, acquired the institution of the secret ballot, then known as the "Australian ballot." It is a pity that my country is unlikely ever to learn from any of your country's other electoral practices--notably your practice of legally compulsory voting, which if instituted would destroy the grotesquely disproportionate influence of the right in American politics literally overnight. That influence is, of course, one cause making it unlikely that the US will, at any time in the foreseeable future, learn anything whatever from the more enlightened practices of other countries.
 
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dude_007

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One doesn't have to register as a Democrat or Republican, however, one can only vote for a candidate in a primary election if registered with that party. If one is, say, part of the Green party, one gets a ballot at primary with the propositions but only the Green candidates for a position.

The general election is different. In a general election, one can vote for any of the final candidates. A democrat can vote for a candidate outside his or her party, but only in the final election, not in the primary. This is one big reason why many people register as either one of the two, because then you get a say in who will be the candidate for the party in the primary election.
 

tbrguy

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If you could provide a specific reference, your report might be more credible.

It came from a report on the BBC World Service; sorry, I can't remember the name of the programme.

The researcher was discussing how getting his subjects to post links regarding their preferred candidates in a forthcoming election on their 'wall' (is that right? - I don't use Facebook) was more or less influential on their friends voting when accompanied by a picture or not. Sorry that's not the most elegant explanation but I think you get the drift.

My recollection is that he was quite clear in that he wished to correlate the data with the actual voting records, as opposed to stated intentions.

I think it was this made the whole thing niggle away at the back of my mind until I decided to create this thread and see if anyone could enlighten me.