[HPN] votes for president

[Thomas Cagle]

Hi all,
Tom Scofield's quick outline on voter registration, casting partial votes
(I can recall ballots where I voted for Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, none
of the above, and myself) all do have a direct impact on the body
politic. In my state at least all those null votes DO get tallied. Don't
think pols don't notice them they do.

If we had endless resource seeking amendments that would require a new
slate (and new elections) when a candidate does not aceive a majority
suits me fine. Till that day comes to pass partial votes is what we got.
Use it.

Tom C

On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:22:28 -0500 (EST) Scofield
<tscofiel@suffolk.lib.ny.us> writes:
>Dear Bill Tinker,
>May I add my two cents on voting?
>I am 41, and except for the year I voted for Nora Bredes for congress
and
>myself for state assembly, I have never pulled the lever and felt 100%
>good about my choice. (Just to make sure you don't think I'm a sell-out,
>let me make clear that my candidacy was a straight quid pro quo - I
agreed
>to run so the Democrats could have a credible candidate that made them
>look like they give a shit about poor people; in return, I got a larger
>forum to spout progressive views from Memorial day through November '96.
I
>spent less than $3,000., talked about cutting corporate welfare and
>instituting a wealth tax, and ended up with 31% of the vote in a
district
>that was 4:1 Republican registration. Yeah (chuckle), 14,000+ people
>actually voted for me, and I got endorsed by our major daily - it was a
>barrel of laughs! I became disgusted with the Democrats beyond all hope
>last year, and am now a registered Working Families Party voter.
>When Suffolk Welfare Warriors was strong, we did voter registration
every
>year, but it got more and more difficult after Clinton signed the
federal
>welfare deform bill in '96, and the Democtatic Assembly in NY state gave
>away the store and whored themselves off to Gov Whacky Patakis'
draconian
>state welfare deform in '97. It got more and more difficult to look
people
>in the eye and encourage them to register and vote for the least evil of
>two bastards - so here's what I do NOW:
>
>I educate people that it is very important to register and vote, and
that
>you don't have to sacrifice your integrity by holding you nose and
voting
>for the schmuck that hates poor folks a bit less than his opponent. I
now
>encourage folks to register and go to the polls even if there is no one
>worth pulling the lever for. For instance, in this last election, I
voted
>for two out of nine judges, and two out of six town council members. I
DID
>NOT VOTE for any of the choices for town supervisor or county
legislator,
>as they ALL SUCKED. 
>
>There have actually been elections when I have gone into the voting
booth,
>pulled the lever to close the curtains, found no one worth voting for,
>opened the curtain, and walked out, THEREBY MAKING IT KNOWN THAT A
>REGISTERED VOTER CARED ENOUGH TO LEAVE FOR WORK 25 MINUTES EARLY, AND 
>WENT INTO THE BOOTH, BUT FOUND NO ONE WORTH VOTING FOR!!!
>And that is the key... right now we intelligent folks are a mostly
silent
>majority - we don't like the choices, so we just stay home. But that
gives
>too much power to the 19% of eligible voters who actually vote, and lets
>politicians and media say the people have spoken.
>
>By going to the polls and entering the booth, but limiting our choices
to
>those we feel good about, and not taking the lesser of two assholes, we
>send a strong message to those in power that we are here, we care, and 
>we will vote, but not for any schmuck that's a bit less awful than any 
>other schmuck.
>
>Also, I hope you keep lists of everybody you register, to do voter
>education and turnout, as well as follow-up accountability sessions.
>I would ask everybody, in addtiton, to educate folks, and let them know
>they can go into the booth and cast no votes, or just a few... as long
as
>they show up and get in and out of the booth, it doesn't matter who they
>voted for or whether they voted at all - we can literally scare up 
>better candidates just by showing up!
>Terri Scofield

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