Sherri W (SyntaxSeed)

❓🇺🇸 Question for Americans...

An interview I watched mentioned Republicans trying to get the voter info so they can correlate where you live & how you registered to vote with who you voted for.

What?? Aren't your ballots anonymous??

Here in Canada, unless I decide to put a candidate's sign on my lawn... no one knows who I voted for.

The ballots are anonymous & even put into the box in a way to prevent marking or slight of hand by poll workers.

I'm confused.

#politics #USPol #vote

Mar 22 at 11:20pmWeb
Show threadMatthew Weier O'Phinney18h ago
@syntaxseed Where I live, and most places I've lived in the states, ballots are numbered, and when they check your ID, they also note your ballot number next to your name. It's asinine, to say the least.
Show threadMarco "Ocramius" Pivetta18h ago

@mwop @syntaxseed

Wait... your ballot cards are associated with your name?! That is madness!

We do have IDs and Voter IDs here, but their purpose is to prevent giving a second anonymous ballot card to anyone...

EDIT: disclaimer: voted today, here in Italy

Show threadSarah Savage17h ago
@ocramius @mwop @syntaxseed most often the tying of your name with a ballot is for auditing purposes. It was always theoretical that it might be used to see who people actually vote for. But it’s unfortunate that more and more in this country that was theoretical is becoming less so.
Show threadMarco "Ocramius" Pivetta17h ago

@sarah @mwop @syntaxseed if it is possible, it will be done.

Over here, mafia would've gotten easy voter fraud out of such a system: easy to know whether the votes you paid for are being respected, if you can look them up.

It's such a stupidly foreseeable vulnerability...

Show threadAlex Rock11h ago
@ocramius @mwop @syntaxseed here in France, we put an already printed paper with the candidate's name or it's party inside an envelope, nothing is identifiable nor marked, and we only give our ID to prove our identity so we can sign a paper registry, proving we have voted.
Old but fine.
The only way to cheat is when everyone is complicit and adds fake signs to the registry and adds more envelopes to the urn. It happens, but not so much.
Show threadSherri W (SyntaxSeed)15h ago

@mwop WHAT?!?!?

OMG.

Show threadBen Ramsey15h ago
@syntaxseed @mwop When you vote in primaries, they definitely know which primary you voted in (whether for Democrat or Republican) because you can only vote in one or the other but not both.
Show threadSherri W (SyntaxSeed)15h ago
@ramsey @mwop Sure, but I assumed if you wanted to stay anonymous you could skip the primaries.
Show threadBen Ramsey15h ago
@syntaxseed @mwop Skipping the primaries is why we have so many bad candidates on the ballots in the general elections.
Show threadgrmpyprogrammer7h ago
@ramsey @syntaxseed @mwop Your two-party system and campaign financing issues are why you have so many bad candidates.
Show threadLarry Garfield2h ago
@grmpyprogrammer @ramsey @syntaxseed @mwop All of the above.
Show threadBen Ramsey2h ago
@Crell @grmpyprogrammer @syntaxseed @mwop Ranked choice voting would help.
Show threadJosh Butts1h ago
@ramsey @Crell @grmpyprogrammer @syntaxseed @mwop I'm convinced RCV in US federal elections would be chaos.
Show threadLarry Garfield38m ago

@josh @ramsey @grmpyprogrammer @syntaxseed @mwop It hasn't been in the 2 states that already use it. And many cities use it now.

(Disclosure: I'm on the board of directors for @FairVoteIL )

Show threadJosh Butts24m ago
@Crell @ramsey @grmpyprogrammer @syntaxseed @mwop The 2 that use it are functionally irrelevant in presidential politics. If TX, NY, CA, and FL started doing it, you would immediately see money corrupt that too. If we don't solve the money problem, RCV, Term Limits, etc, won't matter.
Show threadLarry Garfield24m ago
@josh @ramsey @grmpyprogrammer @syntaxseed @mwop As I said, all of the above.
Show threadNick Sloan6h ago
@ramsey @syntaxseed @mwop In Pennsylvania you have to vote in the primary for the party in which you are registered. That also means that unaffiliated voters can’t vote in a primary here. But party registration isn’t a perfect proxy for voting outcomes. Just ask John Fetterman.
Show threadBen Ramsey3h ago
@nick @syntaxseed @mwop We don’t have party registration in Tennessee, as far as I’m aware—at least not for voting in primaries. Georgia was the same, when I lived there. I’ve never registered with a party ever.
Show threadJeff Markel1h ago
@ramsey @syntaxseed @mwop I actually disagree with this. Primaries are one of the main reasons FOR bad candidates.The parties push their own chosen candidates over the ones that may be preferable to the electorate as a whole. They also grossly expand the cost of running for office. They benefit almost no one besides political consultants, the advertising/media companies they deal with, and the entrenched party power-brokers. Eliminate primaries and have a single, Ranked Choice Vote election
Show threadSephster10h ago
@mwop @syntaxseed this blows my mind
Show threadRomain Canon8h ago
@mwop @syntaxseed "what could go wrong"
Show threadJosh Butts5h ago
@mwop @syntaxseed it was much more anonymous before digital voting. As far as I know the data set of names to votes does not exist but you could create it from the audit trail they use to tie the ballot receipt to the digital counts, I think.
Show threadCookiefiend18h ago
@syntaxseed I'm confused too. Yes, US ballots are anonymous. I've no idea what that interviewer or interviewee thinks they are talking about.
Show threadbob.php 18h ago

@syntaxseed they are anonymous in that there is no receipt to prove you got counted right. they are not anonymous in that they keep a record that you did it. i assume for the event they successfully write laws for earning social points.

like texas has a website i can login to prove i voted but they claim what i voted for is gone and we even get no proof the machine didn't just write its own choice.

i believe none of it. that the data is gone, and that the counting is honest.

Show threadOld Hippie Ⓥ Resistance!18h ago
@syntaxseed In NY state I attest to who I am (no ID) and then get an unnumbered voting form which I mark up in a private space. I then bring it to a machine that reads it.
Show threadJay Grant 🏳️‍⚧️18h ago

@syntaxseed in NC our identities are correlated with our ballots

I hate it

Show threadMoya18h ago

@syntaxseed

Same here in New Zealand. I'm 66 this year, and NOBODY has EVER known who I've voted for. It's none of anyone's fkn business.
('Tho' at times, I've made it clear who I WON'T vote for.)😉 😎

Show threadJenniferplusplus12h ago
@syntaxseed ballots can't be connected to a single voter, but they do keep records that you did vote, when, and where. And those records are available to campaigns.
Show threadRussell7h ago

@syntaxseed Every state runs their own election process so any one answer is ~ 1/50 & why there is no federal mechanism for canceling elections.

Most likely what they're doing is playing with the statistics based on registered party. Some states make that public, some don't. We know % voted for [party] in [county] so if you're a registered voter for that party then they know there's a [voters/votes]% chance who you will vote for. They can then tailor ads or suppression tactics to you.

Show threadOscar Merida 4h ago
@syntaxseed unrelated to USA but in Bolivia, you used to marked your ballot with a fingerprint. And having an inky finger proved you voted. Elections are mandatory and a holiday. Practically whole country shuts down. I don't know if they still mark paper ballots the same way.