Don't Vote

[mhalachai]

This is a pretty cool youtube:

Don't Vote

"Don't Vote 2 - The Sequel" (Watch on YouTube)

(I'd register to vote but I'm Canadian and that's frowned upon. I'm voting in my election on Oct. 15 14 :)

Comments

hn

[sorceress-death.livejournal.com]

^_^ Michelle was in there for like 2 seconds. Wonder if thats all they told her to do.

Heh, I registered when I was in high school. Squeeness

Re: hn

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

it's a great PSA. Because it grabs you with the WTF are they saying? and then dragging you along for the ride. A very good idea :)

[sulien77.livejournal.com]

My reaction was WTF?! Then I watched the vid and it is absolutely wonderful. I wish they would show that on TV as it is here, but chances of that are nil because of the language. Thanks for posting this, even though I've been registered to vote since I turned 18 and made sure that I've registered every time I move.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I know. At first I was all like, what IS THIS and then I got it, thankfully before the anvil hit. I really like how this ad has so many people in it, appealing to a lot more people that way.

[sulien77.livejournal.com]

By the way, I snagged this and posted it to my journal. This really needs to be passed on to as many people in the US as possible, because we have a real problem with voter apathy here.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I think democracy has a problem with voter apathy. Polls up here indicate that only 44% of people my age (30!) are planning to vote. Morons.

[lizey.livejournal.com]

Compulsory voting FTW, Australia.

[jaydeyn-sitari.livejournal.com]

Huh. I didn't realise that Canada was non-compulsory too! You guys need to move your country out this way...

:)
Jaydeyn

[penyn-1600.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing!

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Anytime! I'm all about the online viral sarcasm :) And I vote, so it's a match made in heaven.

[creepers58.livejournal.com]

Fun vid. I'm gonna snag this and post it to my flist.

I am actually not registered to vote, but I also live in the only state that does not require registration.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Awesome.

So what is it about your date state. your state that doesn't need registration? Why are you guys so awesome? Also, in a related Q, how is voter identity verified? Up here in BC, Canada, you don't need to be registered but you need government issued ID like a passport or driver's licence, and/or proof of address like a gas bill or if you don't drive or pay bills, you can get someone who does to legally vouch for you. It's all very bureaucratic.

[creepers58.livejournal.com]

I have no clue why North Dakota originally set it up that way. According to this link (http://www.nd.gov/sos/electvote/voting/vote-history.html), there was a Senate bill to start voter registration, but was considered too costly for the state.

Voter identity is probably verified the same way it is for you. Some sort of government issued ID and/or a piece of mail showing at least 30 days residence. In 2000 I voted on a ND college campus and had no problems at all. In 2004 I missed voting by one hour. I'm hoping/assuming that it'll be the same thing this time around.

[lyl-devil.livejournal.com]

Pssst - the election is Oct 14!

Also, wicked vid. Wish some of our creative people would do something like that in Canada (or have they, and I just missed it?).

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

... i knew that. I got confused because we're having our municipal elections on Nov. 15. Yeah. That's it.

I have to vote early anyway because stupid work is making me be out of town on Oct. 14.

No one's that creative in Canada. They all move to the states or are Rick Mercer (http://www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/images/issue/2007/sep15/4_HarperMercer_15.jpg).

[kira-snugz.livejournal.com]

love this. canadian too, and voting in our election.

am gonna repost it on my lj.

[ancientcitadel.livejournal.com]

Great vid. I'm glad we've got compulsory voting.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Do you find that there's a better sense of political understanding because of compulsory voting, or do you have a lot of people just go in and tick off whatever?

The main sense here is that there's no point to voting, so some people just don't. Especially here in BC, on the western side of the country. The vote is always decided by the two big provinces out east, so the government is already elected halfway through the day here. It's a depressing thing, but it happens.

[ancientcitadel.livejournal.com]

Yes and no. You still get people who are just going through the motions, you get people who vote blindly by political party however in recent years we've found a lot of people want to know about the issues.

A few years ago, a grassroots organisation called GetUp (http://www.getup.org.au/about/) started. It really focuses on the issue and not just at election time. I think it was a direct result from this and because the opposition candidate focussed on the electorate that, at the last election, the sitting Prime Minister lost his seat. It's only happened once before.

[flingslass.livejournal.com]

Voting is compulsery here and we don't want it any other way :D You can't complain about who got in if you didn't vote :)