
Reddit – “Windows 10 prompted me to register to vote” - phantom_rehan
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/ivrkbi/windows_10_prompted_me_to_register_to_vote/
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AH4oFVbPT4f8
To check yourself, press the Windows Start Key and enter a single letter to
start the search then backspace the letter.

The message will be at the bottom of the start menu. If you are on a new
install of Windows, the message instead will be Try Edge. Once you clear that
message and try again, you'll get the register to vote message.

~~~
kyriakos
i got it too after trying this a couple of times. First time i got Covid
Information link, 2nd time nothing, 3rd time i got the voting. I am not in US,
I have no US keyboard, no US locale so i guess MS just sends these out
globally.

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Fellshard
Big tech in the US feels responsible - and has been scolded - for the results
of the 2016 election, so this is their mea culpa: to help drive out complacent
voters.

~~~
s9w
That sounds like 2016 something went wrong. The voter turnout was low, but not
spectacularly low.

~~~
CivBase
Why do you say the 2016 voter turnout was low? It was very typical for US
presidential elections in the last century[0]. Even if you only look at the
swing states, voter participation was very normal.

[0]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections)

~~~
s9w
Huh, interesting. I did (naively!) only do a quick google search, and the
first article (CNN) has completely different numbers.

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notadog
Screenshot of what the notification looks like:
[https://i.imgur.com/LHfKkDh.png](https://i.imgur.com/LHfKkDh.png)

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captain_price7
Fyi, this prompt was shown to a Dutch user, to register for US election.

~~~
gruez
My guess is that the detection is based on language settings rather than
region/keyboard settings.

~~~
kyriakos
I have English (UK) as language and UK Keyboard - I am not UK or US based
though - still get the message.

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phkahler
Why TF are people using an OS that has ads? Whatever the reason I just dont
get it.

~~~
SkyPuncher
Perhaps, because there are only two options for most people - OSX and Windows.

OSX machines are prohibitively expensive for most, so Windows is the only
reasonable option.

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e2le
I would argue the habits of most people are restricted to a browser on the
desktop. I doubt their OS and native applications are likely to be a barrier
beyond simply how their UI looks.

~~~
vladvasiliu
That may be true, but in order for them to start that browser they have to
have an OS. When they go their local store and buy a random computer they're
going to get Windows or MacOS if they feel like splurging.

It's a non-trivial investment to install linux or to look for a PC coming with
it preinstalled, especially if it's something they don't particularly care
about (since they mostly use a browser).

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1f60c
OP: why did you feel the need to editorialize “Windows 10 prompted me to
register to vote” into “Windows 10 prompted me to vote”?

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bluecmd
Maybe they didn't know there is a difference? I'm from Europe and I didn't.
You register to be able to vote? Why isn't every citizen automatically allowed
to vote?

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krapp
>You register to be able to vote? Why isn't every citizen automatically
allowed to vote?

Voting isn't a Constitutionally guaranteed right in the US, it's a privilege.
Although the Supreme Court and various Constitutional Amendments greatly
restrict the power of states to disenfranchise their citizens, states do have
that power (for instance convicted felons often lose the right to vote.)

Also, voter registration laws have traditionally been an effective way of
suppressing African American and immigrant voters[0] (who tend to vote
Democrat) so red states tend to vigorously support such laws.

[0][https://time.com/5855885/voter-registration-history-
race/](https://time.com/5855885/voter-registration-history-race/)

~~~
edbob
> Also, voter registration laws have traditionally been an effective way of
> suppressing African American and immigrant voters[0] (who tend to vote
> Democrat) so red states tend to vigorously support such laws.

I've yet to see a single source that can show any significant effect of "voter
suppression". One guy in 1836 doesn't count. If you truly think that
minorities in America can't figure out how to register, than I would suggest
that you check your patronizingly racist view of minorities.

The argument about linking Republican registration policies to Jim Crow etc.
is worthless, because those were all Democratic laws that were opposed by
Republicans. Stop blaming Republicans for the Democratic Party's legacy of
populist racial identity politics.

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rehemiau
"We're all living in America"...

~~~
hprotagonist
ist vunderbar

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Jonnax
The start menu integrates Bing web search so I'm presuming it's an advert from
that.

It also looks like you need to change a registry key if you want to disable
it.

~~~
DaiPlusPlus
For some reason they changed the registry entry (and Group Policy) you need to
tweak to disable Bing's search integration in Windows 10 2004, but
instructions are here (disclaimer: I wrote the answer):

[https://superuser.com/a/1579780/41739](https://superuser.com/a/1579780/41739)

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bob1029
This kind of shit is why I am starting to use Windows Server 2019 as my daily
driver workstation OS.

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DaiPlusPlus
Windows Server 2016 and 2019 is the same OS as Windows 10 LSTB/LSTC.

That said, I'm running the non-LTSB/LTSC builds of Windows but I think I've
gotten all of the underdocumented group policy settings set to disable all of
the unwanted Bing/ads/web integration. The only thing I'm dreading now is the
next unexpected and unwanted feature-update that will trash all of my files
on-disk.

I'd be fine with automatic major OS updates if Windows had its own partition
or physical volume to go-crazy in while my own silo'd programs, configuration
data, and personal files were on a physically separate drive with a hardware
interlock to prevent the OS from writing to it unless I gave it permission.

(Yes, I lost 2 years worth of files in the October 2018 Windows feature update
because I was using folder redirection)

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aronpye
Seems that the left wing tech companies are getting nervous.

~~~
input_sh
Here's a simple question to ask yourself: do the workers own the company? If
the answer is no, it's not a left wing company by any stretch.

