
Ask HN: How can tech be used to prevent another Brexit / Trump? - etewiah
Yes, I realise there is an assumption in my question that both of those events were bad. I believe (hope) the majority of people here see them as signs of a broken system. What I am looking for are serious suggestions about how to better inform voters of their choices in elections &#x2F; referendums. I have an idea of my own but I want to hear what others think first.
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laxentasken
Broken systems? They getting elected/voted is what you get when you ignore
that people are not happy with how things are going.

However, you should always try to get your own opinion and try to search out
for facts by yourself.

~~~
etewiah
Right - and what can be done with tech to help sift true facts from lies and
exaggerations?

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FiatLuxDave
My suggestion would be something like a Wikipedia for politicians and poll
workers, which would be a one-stop-shop for policy positions and election
information. Unlike Wikipedia, it would not be editable by all, but instead
each politician gets to register so they control their own policy position
statements.

The advantage of this is that instead of having to look at each politician's
website, you can look to see a) when are the upcoming elections that affect
you, b) who is running in them, and c) what are their positions, in a common
format and easily compared.

So, for example, I enter my zip code and I see that the local port authority
election is coming up (march 12), and Bob(R), Joe(D), and Rosa(I) are running.
I click on the position page and see tabs for Port Fees, Port Expansion, and
Sewage Handling. I click on the Port Expansion tab, and compare each of the
candidates statements, written in their own words (or that of their staff) and
I can compare them directly. I see that Rosa has noticed that Bob is
overselling the advantages of expansion in his statement and she has provided
a rebuttal directly in her statement. Joe's statement doesn't even address the
issue but makes fun of Bob's looks. I make a note of my preference, and save
it to my personal account. Then I print out a reminder sheet with the date of
the election and who my preferences are, with little notes: March 12, Port
Election, Rosa (expansion costs too much).

From a business standpoint (although this really ought to be a .org), I think
this could be "build it and they will come", because politicians spend a lot
of money trying to get their message out. If you offer a free place where
their message will get exposure, they will use it. Once the use of the site
has grown enough, it will have its own gravity pulling in new users. It would
probably be good to focus on a few local races to get them to use it to start
the growth.

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somecallitblues
The problem is that the modern day fascists like Trump, Le Pen etc. have
become champions of the working class, which was traditionally left. And the
left has been lost in its political correctness that it's completely alienated
the working class. Getting left to pull their head out of their ass and get
the working class back on their side is what you need to do. I wish I knew how
though...

~~~
etewiah
But seriously, is there not some way to use technology to: -fact check claims
by politicians more quickly and accurately -counter the "twittering" of
politics (encourage more nuanced explanations of the issues) -more accurately
figure out the sentiments of the population

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kluck
Root cause: voters are not educated enough. They make gut decisions based on
emotions while they should use their brain. So develop something that educates
people AND feeds the emotional side.

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rolfeb
If there is one thing I have learnt in my career, it's that you can't fix a
social problem with a technical solution.

~~~
etewiah
What if part of the problem is bad technology like twitter which encourages
sensationalist politics?

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pcvarmint
Tech is only a means to an end, not a system to decide ends.

Voters decided the ends when they voted for Trump.

And no, I don't think this event was bad.

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baccheion
The internet creates a very strong platform that makes it possible to reach
many people in the USA (previously not possible without massive amounts of
media and advertising).

What's needed are sites filled with accurate information and that allows
people to explore issues (which will be actual issues, actual things that need
to be thought out and address, and actual things that need to get done or that
should possibly get done) to see where they personally stand. Also, being
burnt into the public eye for many years (launch in 2017 in preparation for
the 2020 elections) will give it time to grow to maturity as the next
generation rolls in.

The sites would have to be well-done to be able to uncover good insights in a
way that's not easily gamed. I think many want to be informed on the issues
and who to elect, etc, as they aren't totally aware of what's going on, and
will probably be open to accurate/relevant information, or will believe
whatever they are told by Fox (which will net the same outcome if it's
accurate/worthwhile, rather than the hodgepodge of crap that's usually
spammed). Also, while many want to vote well with good information, they don't
really want to spend much time sorting through everything or even thinking
about these things. That is, they just want everything to work (which some
turn their nose up at, but it doesn't matter unless it affects the accuracy of
their vote).

Also, the electoral college, house seats, congress, etc, all need to be turned
upside down, thrown out, thoroughly reassessed, etc, to see if there's
anything there. There's a lot more data, intelligence, capable people, and
accumulation of knowledge and experience now than there was in the 1700s when
a handful of people sat in a room and quickly scraped something together one
night. How can something be expected to blindly stand the test of time in
general, much less when it was just hastily pieced together? Things need to be
generally done correctly in order for them to be better over time, but as that
hasn't ever usually been the case, things need to be revisited from time-to-
time to ensure they are what's needed.

The problem with the revisits (and everything else) are those that are always
trying to break the system or game it to get more of what they want. There are
always those people/groups, but it's important to separate that concern from
the issue of correctness/precision/accuracy. That is, malintent shouldn't be
used to get in the way of doing something properly (or from someone trying to
do so), it should mainly serve as perspective such that the solution can be
properly Engineered to be buffered/resistant to attacks, while still doing
what's necessary. If the attacks are such that it sets the system to neutral
or mediocre, then you can't just settle on that. You have to figure something
out to ensure what's actually needed makes it through.

In any event, time has shown that nothing that's actually needed is out of
reach or impossible, it's that the "powers that be" didn't want to do it or
didn't know how.

