
Help Your Users Vote - sama
https://medium.com/voteplz/help-your-users-vote-6ee61dcf224d#.l9us594st
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cpursley
Bias test: If you had a way to know with 100% certainty that a user would be
empowered by this to go vote for a candidate which you vehemently oppose,
would you still show them this banner?

Also see Mike Rowe's (of Dirty Jobs) thoughts on this:

> Remember - there’s nothing virtuous or patriotic about voting just for the
> sake of voting, and the next time someone tells you otherwise, do me a favor
> - ask them who they’re voting for. Then tell them you’re voting for their
> opponent. Then, see if they’ll give you a ride to the polls.

[https://www.facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe/posts/1254500967893...](https://www.facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe/posts/1254500967893377)

~~~
fouadmatin
We think it's really important that everyone votes and expresses the direction
in which they want the country to go. So yes, we hope all companies share our
tools with their users.

Our goal, as a non-profit, is to help as many people vote as possible -
regardless of who/what they support.

~~~
dexterdog
If that is true then you are rare in the get out the vote world.

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chasenlehara
Ugh, no. Not all tech companies should do this.

If your service actually helps me vote (provides information, gives me a ride
to my polling place, etc.) then sure, it’s part of the value you offer. But if
your app has nothing to do with voting, it’s spam to send me an email or push
notification about voting.

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teilo
Not my job. There is an implicit contract between an online business and its
users. That contract implies that the purpose of the relationship is to
provide a specific service. It does not include preaching to them and telling
them how to run their lives. If I choose to do the latter, I am breaking that
contract.

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oolongCat
This is just asking people to spam their users. If someone lives in a truly
democratic nation then they have the right to choose not vote, yes it surely
would be nice to have everyone make a valid vote. Sometimes you just do not
want to vote because you have to choose between two horrible choices and it
doesn't matter at the end of the day because you seriously do not agree with
either of the two choices.

Southpark did an amazing episode on this exact issue once. (
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douche_and_Turd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douche_and_Turd)
)

~~~
labster
I just don't agree. In a democracy, you have the right to hold any opinion,
but not to stop participating. Everyone should vote. If all of the choices are
terrible, turn in an empty ballot. It's really that simple. If people did
that, at least we'd get some metrics about how dissatisfied people are.

But even if you think all of the candidates for all of the offices are too
terrible to vote for, that doesn't excuse you from voting on the dozens of
initiatives on the ballot.

~~~
tomjen3
It is not democracy if it doesn't have a none of the above option.

~~~
jacalata
That's what writing in is.

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ptomato
If you send me a push notification unrelated to your app, I will immediately
uninstall your app, and you will deserve it for being a spamming sack of shit.
I strongly suspect I'm not alone in this.

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GuiA
Voting, particularly for presidential elections, is the ultimate exercise in
pointlessness. Not only is it statistically completely insignificant at your
individual level, but in fact the US voting system is designed to not always
reflect the opinion of the majority! Not to mention the uncountable cases of
fraud.

Things you can do to make your political voice heard:

\- call/write to your local representatives

\- go out and join a protest (better, start a protest!)

\- donate money to a cause you care about

\- volunteer (i.e. donate time) for a cause you care about

\- write a blog, start a podcast, distribute flyers, etc. etc. etc.

But voting is certainly not in there. And not only is voting a completely
insignificant act - its utmost importance is forced through the minds of
children and adults all across the country as if it were the most important
thing a citizen could do, and not voting is socially less acceptable than
clubbing baby seals. Of course, those in power know that, but voting is
convenient for them - it lets them give a semblance of control to the people,
all the while the things that really matter can be controlled behind closed
doors, where the average citizen has no leverage. A population that just goes
out to vote when they're supposed to (with their votes easily manipulated by
the media establishment) and forgets about the political machine the rest of
the time is an easily controlled population.

A good essay: [http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/03/your-vote-doesnt-
count](http://reason.com/archives/2012/10/03/your-vote-doesnt-count)

~~~
unclenoriega
I don't understand this argument. They do count the votes. How many people
have to stop voting before your vote is important enough?

I agree that those other things you listed are important, but most of them are
important because they ultimately connect to votes. Next time you call or
write your representative, be sure to add that you don't vote, and neither do
the people you can persuade. I doubt your opinion will count for much.

Moreover, the presidential election isn't the only thing on the ballot. I'll
grant you that many statewide races are a foregone conclusion on election day.
(This may mean the primary is important though.) But a local race on my ballot
in 2014 was decided by 561 votes. Now, I may not have been the deciding vote,
but there's a decent chance somebody I know was.

The logical conclusion of this argument is that no one should vote, which of
course would invalidate the argument if it happened.

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gaur
I tried an Oregon address, and voteplz told me that "Oregon does not allow
early voting", which is not true. The entire election process is conducted by
mail starting several weeks before the election.

~~~
fouadmatin
Hey gaur! Sorry for the confusion, the early voting tool is for voting early
in-person (which is what the phrase "early voting" generally refers to). I
just made a github issue to account for voting-by-mail only states too. Thanks
for pointing out!

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jacalata
Or, you know, spend your time and money on making it easier for people to vote
(like advocating for vote by mail in shitty states that don't make it
universally available now) and stop wasting your time telling people like me,
who aren't eligible to vote, about what self-righteous wankers you are.

