Should voting reccord be private?

[NobleSavage]

It's not hard to get a database of voters and their votes. I don't really like anyone knowing how I vote. Thoughts?

 

[TV and credit cards]

That's why Portman won't write back to me, the fuckstick.

Maybe just for Independents. If you pledge allegiance to a party then what's the point?

 

[SimpleDon]

It's not hard to get a database of voters and their votes. I don't really like anyone knowing how I vote. Thoughts?

My voting record embarrasses me. Except for the last ten years or so I was a pretty consistent Republican. Until they became too reactionary and chased out all of the moderates in the party. Like Barry Goldwater I morphed from being a conservative to being a moderate and finally to being a liberal by not changing, by not varying my positions.

 

[NobleSavage]

^^ Same here.

 

[Bronzeage]

It's not hard to get a database of voters and their votes. I don't really like anyone knowing how I vote. Thoughts?

I don't know of any government which keeps records of secret ballots.

One of the obligations any democratic republic has to its citizens is the assurance the voter rolls contain only qualified voters. This means it must be a public record which shows who voted in any election. A secret voter roll would render any election a useless exercise.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

If the votes aren't secret then you open things up to vote buying and vote-the-right-way-or-you're-fired.

 

[NobleSavage]

It's not hard to get a database of voters and their votes. I don't really like anyone knowing how I vote. Thoughts?

I don't know of any government which keeps records of secret ballots.

One of the obligations any democratic republic has to its citizens is the assurance the voter rolls contain only qualified voters. This means it must be a public record which shows who voted in any election. A secret voter roll would render any election a useless exercise.

When I vote they ID who I am and then they check my name off a list. Only after that do I get sent into a both. They don't need to know what button I pushed to guarantee qualified voters.

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If the votes aren't secret then you open things up to vote buying and vote-the-right-way-or-you're-fired.

Yes.

 

[Terrell]

If the votes aren't secret then you open things up to vote buying and vote-the-right-way-or-you're-fired.

Exactly, citizens would have to choose between voting for people whose policies are bad for them, or lose their jobs along with possibly being blacklisted for future employment. Now if we did away with voice votes in all legislatures, and required all their votes to be on the record, I could agree. Not for individual citizens.

 

[fast]

It's not hard to get a database of voters and their votes. I don't really like anyone knowing how I vote. Thoughts?

It would be easy to get a job 'cause of all the lack of employees -- fired through workplace violence. Can't you imagine the blame game in epic proportions!

 

[dx713]

It's not hard to get a database of voters and their votes. I don't really like anyone knowing how I vote. Thoughts?

You mean people can check how you voted in the US?
How are you still even a democracy?

I thought vote secrecy (I mean not the fact I voted, but HOW I voted) was so paramount to democracy than on voting days I:
- refuse to discuss my vote out of my family, even though my preferences are quite transparent to who knows them
- take one of each ballot papers, even those for these tacky extreme-right parties I'd rather not acknowledge in the public debate
- complain when there is only one central waste bin (making me walk out of the booth with my discarded ballots papers) instead of one per booth

 

[Bronzeage]

It's not hard to get a database of voters and their votes. I don't really like anyone knowing how I vote. Thoughts?

You mean people can check how you voted in the US?
How are you still even a democracy?

I thought vote secrecy (I mean not the fact I voted, but HOW I voted) was so paramount to democracy than on voting days I:
- refuse to discuss my vote out of my family, even though my preferences are quite transparent to who knows them
- take one of each ballot papers, even those for these tacky extreme-right parties I'd rather not acknowledge in the public debate
- complain when there is only one central waste bin (making me walk out of the booth with my discarded ballots papers) instead of one per booth

There is no where in the United States where a person's ballot is public knowledge. Great care is taken to insure that once a vote is cast, it is recorded correctly and there is no way to connect it to the voter. If a person wants to reveal their vote, it is their right to do so.

What is public record is who voted in any particular election and at which polling place they cast their vote. This can be very useful information to people who manage campaigns and other political issues. It's possible to construct a mailing list of voters and sort it according to the statistics from previous elections. This allows a politician to concentrate resources in places where the effort could tip the election in their favor, and avoid places where no amount of money could ensure a win.

 

[dx713]

You mean people can check how you voted in the US?
How are you still even a democracy?

I thought vote secrecy (I mean not the fact I voted, but HOW I voted) was so paramount to democracy than on voting days I:
- refuse to discuss my vote out of my family, even though my preferences are quite transparent to who knows them
- take one of each ballot papers, even those for these tacky extreme-right parties I'd rather not acknowledge in the public debate
- complain when there is only one central waste bin (making me walk out of the booth with my discarded ballots papers) instead of one per booth

There is no where in the United States where a person's ballot is public knowledge. Great care is taken to insure that once a vote is cast, it is recorded correctly and there is no way to connect it to the voter. If a person wants to reveal their vote, it is their right to do so.

What is public record is who voted in any particular election and at which polling place they cast their vote. This can be very useful information to people who manage campaigns and other political issues. It's possible to construct a mailing list of voters and sort it according to the statistics from previous elections. This allows a politician to concentrate resources in places where the effort could tip the election in their favor, and avoid places where no amount of money could ensure a win.

Okay, thanks for the info.
But then, I have to go back to admitting I don't understand the OP question. Can someone elaborate?

 

[Bronzeage]

There is no where in the United States where a person's ballot is public knowledge. Great care is taken to insure that once a vote is cast, it is recorded correctly and there is no way to connect it to the voter. If a person wants to reveal their vote, it is their right to do so.

What is public record is who voted in any particular election and at which polling place they cast their vote. This can be very useful information to people who manage campaigns and other political issues. It's possible to construct a mailing list of voters and sort it according to the statistics from previous elections. This allows a politician to concentrate resources in places where the effort could tip the election in their favor, and avoid places where no amount of money could ensure a win.

Okay, thanks for the info.
But then, I have to go back to admitting I don't understand the OP question. Can someone elaborate?

As far as I can interpret, he would prefer it be a secret that he is registered to vote, and in which elections he voted. There is a price to pay for participating in the government of oneself, and as these things go, voter registration is a very low price.