Too Stupid to Vote?

[Buddha Bart]

If I were a floridian right now, I would be really angry that the news-media and various politicians are calling me too stupid to vote.

I know in jersey we get a sort of "example booth" poster mailed out to us well in advance of the election with the exact layout of the inside of the booth.

Plus there were arrows. ARROWS!

bart

 

[Chef0083]

I think most states( I know GA does ) have laws that require the ballot to posted in newspapers weeks before the election takes place, that way you can study up and makes sure you get it right.

 

[thebestMAX]

Dont quite get which way you were going with your post. Are you agreeing with Floridians being stupid or not?

I live in SOUTHERN Fl. and have never seen such a concentration of stupidity in one place. Ive lived in over 12 states, visited and worked in most of the rest and thought Id seen it all until I got here.

Sometimes I do not think there is one competent person in the entire South of Florida. (Go ahead and make a stupid comment about me being here, I dont care) Maybe the state should be divided in 2 like they talk about being done in California. Never the less, I am leaving this zoo as soon as possibe.

I live in Palm Beach County where the controversy is. I voted and had no difficulty understanding the ballot. If you made a mistake, you could get a second ballot and destroy the first. BTW, the bigger concentration of old people is in the more southern couties. The only concentration here is the Democrats.

If Gore wins all this will go away but if Bush wins, we will never hear the end of the whining.

19,000 people voted for 2 candidates for Pres. They screwed up. They truely are TOO STUPID TO VOTE correctly. People are always in a hurry, dont read signs or instructions and then blame others.

Heres a laugh;

I say there is the right way, the wrong way, the Army way and the good enough for Florida way.

 

[cxim]

Come on guys have a heart.

Palm Beach county has an official 'rescue your car from the swimming pool' detail.

The highest insurance rates in the country for replacing storefront windows ( due to car 'malfunctions' ). "I swear officer, It was in park & just ran into that store all by itself".

" Up North we are allowed to turn Left from a GO RIGHT ONLY lane, why not in Florida ?"

" I am 92 yrs old & have been driving all my life, THERE WAS NO REDLIGHT !" after causing a 10 car pileup.

"What do you mean you won't cash my check ? I have been banking here for years !!"... "For the 10th Time lady, you are in the wrong place, your bank is across the street."

"What do you mean you won't take my coupon ? I want to talk to the manager !!!"... I am very sorry lady, but we do not honor coupons that are only valid in NJ & expired in 1965.

 

[Pennstate]

I think all the comments on the Floridian elderly voters are despicable. Many of these comments coming from people who worship other elderlies like Ronald Reagan and Strom Thurman. Is there a double standard here?

 

[DefRef]

I sent a copy of the ballot to my girlfriend and she thought it was confusing. I called her an idiot! How hard is it to read a little and follow the arrows.

 

[BowDown]

I voted for the first time in NY and yes, it was a little confusing; but there was a study chart for me to figure it out. These people aren't new voters, I think it's just a ploy to get Gore in the white house. I think that even after (or if it happens) the re-vote, Bush will win Florida.


[edit]forgot a word [/edit]

 

[yakko]

It is an unfair ballot. I mean just because the democrats voted approval for it and were sent an advanced copy and it was printed in the paper so all complaints could be made before the election does not mean the democrats are fscking whinny ass pieces of sh!t. I mean come on there was really no fair process that has taken place before the election to eliminate any kind of screw ups.

 

In America people are too stupid to vote.
People are too stupid to pay taxes.
People are too stupid to sit on a jury.
People are too stupid to not drive drunk.
People are too stupid not to do drugs.
People are too stupid not to reproduce like roaches.
People are just plain stupid ALL AROUND.

Everyone can't be smart, or at even remotely intelligent. Deal with it.

 

[fdiskboy]

I have to agree. People are stupid.
Period.

 

[kassy]

I am not American, I couldn't vote and will not be able to for several years, but the decision on who will be President will impact on my life because I live here and married a US Citizen. Yeah I know, "big deal" you say, BUT my point is this, as an outsider, and looking at this from a global perspective I think it is fair to say that the rest of the world is perhaps seeing America as a country that would be unable to organize a piss up in a brewery, and that is a shame.

 

[thebestMAX]

Good ones, Yakko and Cxim
Dwell is 100% right on.

 

[smittyrt]

when will the American people decide that it's time to live in this century?

Why is our entire country continually governed by rules created centuries ago?

I don't think the electoral votes in Florida should decide the next president. The popular vote is for Gore. The people have spoken!

 

[Moving Target]

How can you not figure this out?!!!!!!



Ballot

 

[NesuD]

I showed that ballot to my eight year old and told him to vote for gore. He got it right the first time and seemed to have no trouble understanding it at all. Also palm beach county has a history of spoiling their ballots. 4 years ago they had over 15,000 ballots spoiled because they voted for 2 people for president. This year they did the same thing with 19,000 spoiled for voting for more than 1 candidate. I think that a case could be made that there are a lot of people in that county that are not mentally capable of understanding the voting instructions.

 

[rickn]

Something is gonna happen for sure. Palm Beach county is very wealthy. Money talks

 

[Fathom5]

<< unable to organize a piss up in a brewery, >>


ROFLMAO kassy that's a good one. I can imagine that's exaclty what it looks like.

 

[DaBoneHead]

I posted this in another thread, but it applies here too. I am not as brutally judgemental as some of you, and I give people the benefit of the doubt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I saw the ballot too, but there was one thing that you all are missing.

Voting is done in queues and in a limited number of booths. We all hate standing in line, and so we try to be quick about it. In many of these areas (if not all), they were not just electing a president, they were electing a group of politicians, which means many ballots. Also, many of the politicians on the ballots -- they never heard of, but they will vote anyways. So voting can be a confusing process, we know more or less who we will vote for, but the details get to us... and that is what is wrong with that ballot.

We read from left to right. Therefore, it is natural for us to look to the left of a document and begin there. Starting from the left, the Gore box is second from the top, however, his punch-hole is third from the top.

Now, put yourself in a voters mind, a voter who is rushing through the process because the kids are in the car, the place is crowded, they are double parked and dont want to get a ticket, etc. They know they are going to vote Gore, and so when they get the ballot, they immediately look for his name, find it second from the top, move further to the right ignoring the arrow (it is a detail, therefore a rushed person will overlook it), punch the second hole from the top, only then to realize they screwed up as they see Buchanan's name because their eyes are looking farther to the right. In horror and not wanting to look stupid, they punch the third hole down and hope it all works out...

And that is why there are 19,000 double punched ballots that were thrown out and not counted.

And the election goes to Bush.

 

[Moving Target]

DaBoneHead

Why would you punch the SECOND ONE DOWN when the BIG ARROW next to GORE'S name points to the third hole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second hole doesn't even line up, IT'S IN THE MIDDLE BETWEEN BUSH AND GORE!

BALLOT!!! LOOK AT IT, IT'S NOT THAT HARD!

 

[bigshooter]

The electoral college is a good way to vote. It gives people all over the country a more equal representation in the vote. Although it does seem reasonable that a popular vote should win, it may not be completely fair. Let's say there are 3 regions voting. One region has 10 million voters while the other two combined have 8 million. The ten million voter region will want to vote for a candidate that will do things for their region. But their are 8 million other people who may want another candidate that would be beneficial to them. Just because one region ahs a denser population of like minded people shouldnt keep another region from having any say. Some may argue that this will make some peoples votes weigh more heavily than others, but in reality its letting people accross the country have a fair say in what candidate they like. That's what governors and senators and congressman are for. They take care of more local issues. The president should be chosen by people all over the country. Not just one region who happens to have a denser population. The denser population may vote for someone who would benefit them, and not the other regions. In my opinion it is hard to explain, but hopefully i have been clear enough. BTW, there should be a voting license. It should be free but you should take a test to show that you are at least have a basic grasp of what is going on. It should also test and see if you are intelligent enough to grasp the concept of a ballot that has arrows pointing to circles. Even though your 130 year old eyes may not be able to see what box the arrow is pointing to, you should be able to count how many down the candidate is and then select that numbered circle. Those old senile farts in florida should realize they are old, and getting a phD in something from 1934 doesnt mean your mind is still the same as it was then. (A lady said in an article that she found the ballot confusing and she had a PhD). Well that shows what quality the schools in America are, if they give PhD's to geniuses like that. Just my 12.5 cents.

 

[NesuD]

It is the voters resonsibility to understand the ballot and cast their votes correctly. If we start allowing a &quot;do-over&quot;, little term borrowed from my 10 yr old football pickup games, This entire country could collapse into chaos. You would see everyone and their brother wanting to do it over again.

DABONEHEAD: as far as the 19,000 double punch ballots go your position is unsupportable. Based on the voting history of the county that is not an unusual number they did it nearly 16,000 times in the 96 election with a lower voter turnout.

 

[Champo41]

<< Now, put yourself in a voters mind, a voter who is rushing through the process... >>


But there are ARROWS!!! ARROWS!!! For God's sake, it's not the SAT, just follow the arrow! How can a voter be so stupid as to say (as all voters have been who voted wrong) &quot;Well, since Gore is the second one down, he MUST be the second box!&quot; Tell me, if they're in a rush, why would they be thinking that? It's CLEARLY marked, hell, the candidate boxes don't even line up exactly right for the punch boxes!

I've been watching this on CNN practically all day and it's ridiculous. I feel for Gore, though I support Bush, because it's an odd situation to be in, but it's stupid that the people vote, slap themselves on the head, and then bring out a lawsuit when they clearly saw what the ballot was going to look like months before! That lawsuit won't go anywhere. Shouldn't they have raised questions about it before? Again, how can a person be so stupid as to see this thing before, maybe even see it again before voting, and then going out and punching the wrong box? And then they file a lawsuit for it! Over what? Their vote? So basically they want money for their vote.

And what exactly are they in a rush for? All they're doing is just waiting...

 

[DaBoneHead]

Moving Target...

It is possible if you are rushed. I myself am horrible with filling out forms. Hell the IRS is always sending me stuff saying I didn't fill out this form properly, or I am missing that form... yada yada yada... I'm sure to get audited one of these days. It is all because when you are doing something you have to do, but you don't want to do(such as filling out your IRS 1040), you try to get through it quickly, and that's when mistakes happen.

I looked at that ballot, and initially dismissed the probability that an error could occur, but then I started running scenarios through my mind, and like I stated above, it could happen, especially if someone were under duress.

Granted, it is ultimately the responsibility of the voter to becareful with their votes, but that ballot didn't facilitate things either.

 

[Moving Target]

It is all because when you are doing something you have to do, but you don't want to do

If you don't want to vote, don't vote.

If you want to vote, take the time to know what your doing.

You are not being timed, it's not a race, you are not being graded! There is no reason to rush through it. I you don't take the time to make sure you vote counts, than that's your problem, don't piss and moan about it later!!

Every one else did it!

 

[BDawg]

As for the &quot;stupid shouldn't vote&quot; comment, voting is a right, not a privilage. Courts have decided over and over that the ignorant have just as much of a right, and that voting privilages are not given by intelligence.