Post #107,601
6/27/03 6:57:47 PM
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Nicely argued.
The fact that "longer weekly hours" translates into a Loss not Gain in ""productivity"" is a perfect metaphor for the All-M$-Office - and for our daily Language-murder, now taken for 'normal' Murican tradition.
The Euros' numbers! even - belie our stupid bizness fetish.
I wonder.. how many on the 50-hr treadmill number among that casual 50% group.. who find the energy to VOTE?
Pshaw,
Ashton
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Post #107,605
6/27/03 7:12:49 PM
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Haven't voted in 10 years...
I've missed the last 2 presidential elections. 5 congressional elections. Countless bond issues, mayoral, etc.
It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I leave most mornings about 8am (after taking kids to school), and don't get home most nights until close to 7pm (or later). I think I tried once in the last 10 years, and the line at the polls was so long at 7am, that I couldn't even stay (or risk being late to work).
The polls would have to be open to 9pm (or later), someone would have to watch my kids (making 3 kids stand in line for 30+ minutes isn't pretty).
Here it is, 6:10pm on a Friday night, I'm still at work. The CEO just went home. I'll be out of here soon. At least my commute is 25 minutes instead of 1 hour now.
Ever noticed that presidential elections are always held on a leap year? (At least until 2100, then I won't care.) It always seemed to me that every 4 years they could declare a national holiday to allow everyone time to vote. But, I'll bet there would be some large business like M$ or IBM that would complain that the 1 day of lost productivity would cost them "billions".
Glen Austin
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Post #107,613
6/27/03 8:26:40 PM
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That is the answer
the working class that could vote against this sort of thing, can't vote because they are being overworked and not allowed time off to vote. By law they have to give you one hour off to vote, but nobody enforces that anymore. Besides the lines may be so long as to take over an hour to get inside the building.
But then, there is always absentee voting. They mail you the ballot and you punch it at home and then send it in the mail.
"I wonder how much of this BS Corporations will continue to shallow before they start looking into alternatives to Microsoft software?" -[link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=106839|Orion]
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Post #107,621
6/27/03 9:26:25 PM
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Duh!
So what's to keep me from giving you $5 for your ballot? I'll fill it in and mail it in.
I'll bet over 50% of Americans are so disenfrancised with the election process, that they would sell their ballot for $5. And don't go doing the survey on the forum, because we're well educated, concerned citizens.
Besides, if you won't sell it to me, then I'll just steal it from your mailbox (or the local postal center).
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Post #107,628
6/27/03 9:36:05 PM
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Actually they steal it from the unaudited computer record...
behind the unverifiable touch-screen.
And then pass laws where you only have standing to sue about it if you are the attorney general appointed by the winners.
(See Nebraska for prior art - I am not making this up.)
Cheers,
Ben
"good ideas and bad code build communities, the other three combinations do not"
- [link|http://archives.real-time.com/pipermail/cocoon-devel/2000-October/003023.html|Stefano Mazzocchi]
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Post #107,625
6/27/03 9:33:07 PM
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Our office has a posting
in the lunch room that notifies you that you're entitled to 2 hours paid time off if you can't make it to the voting station. It's a federal law.
--
Less Is More. In my book, About Face, I introduce over 50 powerful design axioms. This is one of them.
--Alan Cooper. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum
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Post #107,635
6/27/03 10:03:04 PM
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Depends on the state
Federal law provides for a general right to vote. A majority (30?) of states have provided for paid time off to vote in federal elections (1 or 2 hours). Many extend this to local elections. What state are you in? Check [link|http://www.fec.gov/pages/faqvdayeprocedures.htm|here] for info about your state laws.
-----------------------------------------
[link|http://www.talion.com/questionw.html|?W]
Where were you in 72?
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Post #107,655
6/27/03 11:34:30 PM
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I don't understand this.
Vote on a weekday??!?
Down Under, voting is down on a Saturday. It's Just Done That Way. Booths are open from 6am and close at 6pm. Every time. Mind you, it is also compulsory to attend a voting booth here, about which we've had discussions before. :-)
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
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Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
| -- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. |
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Post #107,767
6/29/03 10:42:28 AM
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The reasoning behind our odd choice of day for fed elections
From the link in my post above- Q. Why are federal elections held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November?
A. The Tuesday after the first Monday in November was initially established in 1845 (3 U.S.C. 1) for the appointment of Presidential electors in every fourth year. 2 U.S.C. 7 established this date for electing U.S. Representatives in every even numbered year in 1875. Finaly, 2 U.S.C. 1 established this date as the time for electing U.S. Senators in 1914.
Why early November? For much of our history America was a predominantly agrarian society. Law makers therefore took into account that November was perhaps the most convenient month for farmers and rural workers to be able to travel to the polls. The fall harvest was over, (remembering that spring was planting time and summer was taken up with working the fields and tending the crops) but in the majority of the nation the weather was still mild enough to permit travel over unimproved roads.
Why Tuesday? Since most residents of rural America had to travel a significant distance to the county seat in order to vote, Monday was not considered reasonable as many people would need to begin travel on Sunday. This would, of course, have conflicted with church services and Sunday worship.
Why the first Tuesday after the first Monday? Lawmakers wanted to prevent election day from falling on the first of November for two reasons. November 1st is All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics. In addition, most merchants were in the habit of doing their books from the preceding month on the 1st. Congress was apparently worried that the economic success or failure of the previous month might influence the vote of the merchants. -----------------------------------------
[link|http://www.talion.com/questionw.html|?W]
Where were you in 72?
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Post #107,770
6/29/03 10:53:45 AM
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Re: The reasoning behind our odd choice of day for fed..
Maybe we need to rotate it some. Let's choose Presidents in June, when we're looking forward to Summer, and in a good mood.
Then we could have Spring Presidents, when we needed some imaginative leadership. And Fall Presidents, when we needed to slow down. Instead all we have is one grim Winter President after another. Even Carter was stern and stoical.
-drl
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Post #107,821
6/29/03 11:34:08 PM
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Let's work on changing election day to Saturday first...
One thing I really DON'T like about our current system is that the elections occur in November, and Inauguration doesn't occur until late January.
Whatever date we chose, even with the 2000 elections, I think inauguration day should occur within 2 weeks after the election, AND the statehouse should be CLOSED from election day to inauguration.
Some of the worst legislation is lame duck.
If there is some legal challenge to a particular election, then the inauguration is held up until the courts clear up the matter (even if it's 2-3 months).
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Post #108,107
7/1/03 4:59:01 PM
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Vote absentee!
It's legal!
jb4
"We continue to live in a world where all our know-how is locked into binary files in an unknown format. If our documents are our corporate memory, Microsoft still has us all condemned to Alzheimer's."
Simon Phipps, SUN Microsystems
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