GOP To Iowans: Your Neighbors Will Know If You Don’t Vote Republican

[demmiblue]

Source: Think Progress

The GOP is trying to convince Iowa voters on Facebook that their neighbors will know if they voted Republican.

Screenshots of Facebook ads, promoted by the official Facebook page of the Republican National Committee feature an ominous message: “NOTICE: All Voting Is Public.” The ad tell voters that “In a few months, Iowa will release the list of individual who voted in this election.” Most troublingly, the ad includes an arial view of a neighborhood with checkmarks indicating that “These People Voted GOP.”

It is true that voter participation in elections in public information. But how a someone voted, including what party they voted for, is not. The secret ballot has long been considered a hallmark of American democracy.

The ad is a variation of a GOTV (Get Out The Vote) strategy called “vote shaming.” The tactic is employed by liberals and conservatives to use social psychology to increase the chances that people vote. In every state but Virginia, whether or not you participated in an election is public. “If you publicize something, it has a very powerful effect on behavior,” Chris Larimer, an Iowa political scientist, told USA Today in 2012.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/10/31/3587414/iowa-republican-facebook-ads/

[louis-t]

1. It is a sickness...

being a Republican.

[DocMac]

9. My friends who think they are conservative

won't even admit it anymore. They are toxic and they know it.

[daleanime]

21. Amen....

they call themselves independent in public, they'll mouth every republican talking point then swear that they're not.

[MisterP]

10. only a real pusbucket of a party with no ideas whatsoever would stoop to such threats

http://thedailybanter.com/2014/10/new-york-democrats-threatening/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025736826

[Enthusiast]

17. +1 an entire shit load.

[HereSince1628]

2. I got my 'voting report card' in the mail this week from America Votes

I have a perfect voting attendance record.

It may move people's voting behavior, but it still feels creepy.

[3catwoman3]

3. Their chicanery...

...knows no bounds. Utterly despicable.

[Rex]

4. The GOP and their fascism. Always in the background, hovering

waiting for a chance to defile the nation.

[bulloney]

19. As I stated in another post, we really didn't defeat the Nazis in WW II.

We just let them in this country and they've infiltrated our system to where it is today. Instead of Nazis, they call themselves Republicans and Teabaggers.

[Frustratedlady]

5. What? Release the list to who?

I don't care if my neighbors know. One is head of the local Tea Party. She definitely knows I'm not a Republican.

My kids look at the ceiling when I start talking politics. It isn't that they aren't Democratic, but because they don't want to hear all that is going on between the parties.

Fire away! I voted straight Democratic and proud of it. Idiots!

[littlewolf]

6. NY is doing much the same .. but this time it is the Dems doing it.

http://nypost.com/2014/10/30/democrats-threaten-voters-to-get-to-the-polls/

The New York State Democratic Committee is bullying people into voting next week with intimidating letters warning that it can easily find out which slackers fail to cast a ballot next Tuesday.
“Who you vote for is your secret. But whether or not you vote is public record,” the letter says.
“We will be reviewing voting records .?.?. to determine whether you joined your neighbors who voted in 2014.”
It ends with a line better suited to a mob movie than a major political party: “If you do not vote this year, we will be interested to hear why not.”

more at the link.
stupidity isn't always limited by party.

[HereSince1628]

11. That's all text I got on my Voting Report Card here in WI.

Their argument is it works. It might, but it feels creeeeeeeepy

[WinkyDink]

14. I'm voting, but this makes me feel like NOT and giving them a big FU!

[daleanime]

22. Close.....

but not quite the same.



Still creepy.

[gratuitous]

23. One teeny, tiny difference

From your description, it sounds like the New York Democratic mailer includes the very pertinent bit of information that "Who you vote for is your secret." While the Iowa Republican mailer doesn't come right out and say that your vote will be revealed, it's strongly implied, and the text coupled with the photo seems to say that in addition to whether someone voted, how that person voted will be known as well.

That specification by the Democrats that your vote is secret makes all the difference.

In my analysis, though, it seems that the Republicans are trying to blunt a technique found so effective by researchers ("vote shaming&quot . The low information voter is the Republicans' friend.

[Thinkingabout]

7. I am thankful I do not have to be shown as a GOP voter, I am a proud Democrat voter.

[Treant]

8. That one cuts both ways

Thanks for telling me which neighbors voted Republican. I know who I won't be inviting to the Christmas party.

[rufus dog]

12. I don't believe it is legal to say how you voted...

Only if you voted. Thom Hatmann argued this is a good thing. Studies show it increases turnout. Increased turnout favors Dems.

Now what the Iowa GOP is doing is trying to intimidate people to vote for the GOP, not to vote.

[Oilwellian]

13. That's odd

Hartmann posted this on FB the other day:

Election season is full of surprises. As a registered (but essentially skeptical) Democrat and former campaign worker, I’m used to seeing odd, sometimes aggressive or misleading messaging strategies and get-out-the-vote tactics.

Still, imagine my surprise to open my mailbox on Wednesday night to this bizarre, hostile letter from the New York State Democratic Committee, the very people I’m supposed to be voting for on November 4.

Dear Thomas:

Our records indicate that you are registered in New York County. Who you vote for is your secret. But whether or not you vote is public record. Many organizations monitor turnout in your neighborhood and are disappointed by the inconsistent voting of many of your neighbors.

We will be reviewing the New York County official voting records after the upcoming election to determine whether you joined your neighbors who voted in 2014. If you do note vote this year, we will be interested to hear why not.

I guess, given the fact that the mailers have proven utility, Democrats that complain about them might be being a little hypocritical. Still, it’s a little disturbing that New York Democrats feel the need to pull a tactic straight from the dark side: THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS WATCHING. THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS EYES EVERYWHERE.

http://thedailybanter.com/2014/10/new-york-democrats-threatening/

[WinkyDink]

16. I wonder if that's a "dirty trick" letter.

[WinkyDink]

15. It can't be known. We don't sign our names.

[rufus dog]

18. You have to provide name and other info to get the ballot

In CA we sign to get a ballot. Then another person gives us a ballot.

[TexasTowelie]

20. Those look like some rather large houses in that photo.

Usually larger houses belong to wealthier people who tend to vote Republican so I guess that I'm not shocked if that is a GOP neighborhood.

[47of74]

24. I'm an Iowan and I don't the f--- care if everyone I know knows if I voted Democratic

You hear that Iowa GOP? I don't fucking care if you know that I voted Democratic. I don't fucking care if everyone I know knows that I voted straight Democratic. I don't care how many dumb fuck teabaggers come out of the woodwork, I am not ashamed of my vote and you can go straight to hell.

[cyberswede]

25. I certainly hope my neighbors already know I don't vote Republican.

[Blue Owl]

26. Be the star in your own private whisper campaign!

n/t

[giftedgirl77]

27. Wow, how embarrassing would that be?

I would hate for my house to ever be labeled as voting for those assholes. This looks like an ad to prove you're not a moron & if you live there it's time to move.

[KMOD]

28. They've always pulled this crap

In the 70s, One of my Uncles used to plead to my mother before every election, "You have to vote Republican, or I will lose my job".

Pathetic. All of it.

[Samantha]

29. No one in my neighborhood has any question about how I am voting

even the Republicans. I wear my DU sweatshirt outside when I mow the lawn!

Sam