Intelligent voting

kneemos

Should people be made to give a coherent and valid reason for voting yes or no in the coming election.Some people seem to have the most obscure reasons for voting.

SafeSurfer

Should people be made to..

You lost me there

eth0

I'm voting no for the craic.

Other reasons include 'having a dig at the government', 'because alan sh1tter and phil hogan are the biggest gobsh1tes to walk the face of this earth', 'because i'm against the United States of Europe idea'.

hairyprincess

I'm voting whatever way my husband tells me cos I'm the little woman and I can't possibly be relied upon to make to make an educated decision

earpiece

Ohhhh, Ehhhhhh, This is Ireland!!!

Pushtrak

Then you'd probably have 10% of the people in the country voting.

AnonoBoy

You can't make people give a valid reason.

You can hope they have one but you can't make them give one.

stimpson

hairyprincess wrote: »

I'm voting whatever way my husband tells me cos I'm the little woman and I can't possibly be relied upon to make to make an educated decision

Vote me a sammich.

Encrypted Pigeon

Well my reason for voting yes is that I don't want to have to do it again, just get it out of the way now and be done with it. Is that a coherent and valid enough reason?

donvito99

I live my life doing the opposite of what that cow Mary Lou says.

Tesco Massacre

Who would voters have to explain themselves to? What's the criteria for an intelligent vote and an unintelligent one? Who sets that criteria?

I just don't want Jedward to win.

Pushtrak

Sintel wrote: »

Well my reason for voting yes is that I don't want to have to do it again, just get it out of the way now and be done with it. Is that a coherent and valid enough reason?

No, not by my estimation anyway. Not unless it is backed by reasoning that makes yes seem good.

No, this isn't me saying whether I think the yes or no vote is best. Not interested in that discussion. Nor voting on this particular issue.

Temptamperu

I am voting intelligently, that is not wasting my time voting. They wont say "well the people voted no, so that is that" No people we will be made vote again and again until we give them what they need. Or they will fudge the numbers.

kneemos

AnonoBoy wrote: »

You can't make people give a valid reason.

You can hope they have one but you can't make them give one.

Even if someone is voting no because they want to keep thier bus pass.

Eathrin

It's disheartening to see how ignorant some people are about the treaty and their reasons for voting yes/no couldn't be more obscure.

Pushtrak

Tesco Massacre wrote: »

Who would voters have to explain themselves to? What's the criteria for an intelligent vote and an unintelligent one? Who sets that criteria?

I think the idea behind it, as I've heard it explained before is any basic understanding of a policy or outcome of whatever it is you are voting on. As in, it isn't "sounds good on the radio" or "looked good on poster". Honestly, would be great if people were to vote and have a reason behind their vote. Can't be enforced though. Would never be.

Pedant

The OP raises a valid question.

The brand of democracy we live in at the minute seems to base its legitimacy on the premise that the majority will of the electorate is infallible. This is a clear fallacy.

If no-one is infallible, how would the majority of the electorate be infallible?

IrishAm

Some farm boy on the Frontline said a Yes vote would be an end of CAP for Irish farmers.

Thanks for making my mind up for me, farm boy.

tommylimerick

in some countries you have to vote
i will be voting no and if i am lucky they might give me a second chance till i get it right

GLaDOS

Everyone voting no is doing it because they just want to piss off the government.

Everyone voting yes is an idiot who has been brainwashed by government scaremongering.

Pedant

Eathrin wrote: »

It's disheartening to see how ignorant some people are about the treaty and their reasons for voting yes/no couldn't be more obscure.

'Yes' side:

Vote 'yes' for jobs and stability.
Vote 'no' for chaos and misery.

'No' side:

Vote 'no' for jobs and stability.
Vote 'yes' for chaos and misery.

...

Choose wisely.

Encrypted Pigeon

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Everyone voting yes is an idiot who has been brainwashed by government scaremongering.

Or sick of having to vote twice on everything until "we get it right".

btard

If voting changed anything the bastards would abolish it.

BattleCorp

I'm voting because my father voted for his father and my son will vote for his son.

And they fixed the roads.

Or something like that.

In the last election I spoke to my mother about, she gave me reasons for her top two choices:

1. Because he was old. And therefore she assumed he would not only be smarter than the other candidates, but that he would also have the same priorities as her.

2. Because she had glasses, and was a woman. Again, because she looked smart and was assumed to have similar interests as my mother because of her gender.

My mother literally judges candidates on their photos, with the exception that she refuses to vote in Fianna Fáil, because they're "liars and thieves", which would be a perfectly fine position to take if she had any idea of why they're "liars and thieves".

So while I think it would be great to only allow intelligent votes, I also think it would never be something we could reasonably test for.

kneemos

Tesco Massacre wrote: »

Who would voters have to explain themselves to? What's the criteria for an intelligent vote and an unintelligent one? Who sets that criteria?

A list of valid reasons could be made out and judged with a reasonable amount of common sense and leeway. You would probably give reasons for yes and no, so that nobody knows your preference.

Tesco Massacre

My dad's from Kerry and he told me about an old woman who lived near him who voted for Jackie Healy-Rae because he called in for tea during his pre-election rounds and - wait for it - danced a jig with her around the kitchen table to some traditional music that was playing on the radio.

I wish I was lying.

BattleCorp

DEMOCRACY

Where a gobsh1tes vote counts exactly the same as a genius.



Democracy is the worst form of government, apart from all the others tried before.

BattleCorp

true-or-false wrote: »

In the last election I spoke to my mother about, she gave me reasons for her top two choices:

1. Because he was old. And therefore she assumed he would not only be smarter than the other candidates, but that he would also have the same priorities as her.

2. Because she had glasses, and was a woman. Again, because she looked smart and was assumed to have similar interests as my mother because of her gender.

.

I would normally have started a "your Mama is so thick.........." but on mature reflection, my Mammy is exactly the same as yours.

Wetai

I don't think you should have to provide a reason, but you should have the option to explain your vote, if you want to. But I doubt anyone would read the reasons, or would just pick the ones that make them look good.
In an election: "X People said I'm the best candidate in Irish history"
"But Y people, which is 2x the number of X people, said you're a feckin gob****e who should be shot"
"Ah, nevermind those ones, let's just publish how many were in the X group"

Tesco Massacre

Wetai wrote: »

I don't think you should have to provide a reason, but you should have the option to explain your vote, if you want to. But I doubt anyone would read the reasons, or would just pick the ones that make them look good.
In an election: "X People said I'm the best candidate in Irish history"
"But Y people, which is 2x more than X people, said you're a feckin gob****e who should be shot"
"Ah, nevermind those ones, let's just publish how many were in the X group"

Hehe

Why did you vote for Candidate A?
'Cause fu*k you, that's why.

douglashyde

There's some of the opinion that people with higher levels of education (College grads) should be given more votes - which I think is cocky pop.

That said, I do believe people should have answer a factually unbiased question about the treaty before they vote.... So, you know we make sure we don't have any half wits voting. Mary Lou and Joe "Stalin" Higgins come to mind.

Me.. I like to flip a coin.

BattleCorp

douglashyde wrote: »

There's some of the opinion that people with higher levels of education (College grads) should be given more votes - which I think is cocky pop.

Me.. I like to flip a coin.

We already have a system like that. As far as I can remember, some members of the Seanad are elected by this method - by college grads etc.

Open to correction but I don't think I'm wrong.

paddyandy

OP There should be an assessment of overall mental and emotional fitness to vote on any poll and especially at election time with failures giving a blank vote to save embarrassment . Like many good ideas it won't happen .

Archeron

I'm voting no because there are less letters in no than in yes, and austerity in the amount of letters we use is something we simply have to face.

nice_very

donvito99 wrote: »

I live my life doing the opposite of what that cow Mary Lou says.

thats a very sad way to live your life IMO








I hope she sees your post and sends you a PM telling you not to jump off a bridge/emigrate/cut yourself or a combination of all three.

AnonoBoy

Temptamperu wrote: »

I am voting intelligently, that is not wasting my time voting. They wont say "well the people voted no, so that is that" No people we will be made vote again and again until we give them what they need. Or they will fudge the numbers.

Or if everyone thought like you, all the people who wanted to vote no wouldn't bother and then it actually would be a yes vote. I wouldn't say that's voting intelligently at all.

kneemos wrote: »

Even if someone is voting no because they want to keep thier bus pass.

Unfortunately yes.

melekalikimaka

i genuinely think for each vote, there is an accompanying small test on what you're voting for, make your vote, and take the test, if you pass your vote is counted, if not you fail, you dont get told your results. then an only then will voting make ay sense in this country, people dont vote for the topic, they vote for ridiculous reasons, if you dont understand, dont bother getting off your sofa, nobody needs an ignorant vote especially not the country

Pushtrak

melekalikimaka wrote: »

i genuinely think for each vote, there is an accompanying small test on what you're voting for, make your vote, and take the test, if you pass your vote is counted, if not you fail, you dont get told your results. then an only then will voting make ay sense in this country, people dont vote for the topic, they vote for ridiculous reasons, if you dont understand, dont bother getting off your sofa, nobody needs an ignorant vote especially not the country

But shur the font on that poster was mighty.

BUBBLE WRAP

Im going "MAYBE!"

Pedant

BattleCorp wrote: »

DEMOCRACY

Where a gobsh1tes vote counts exactly the same as a genius.



Democracy is the worst form of government, apart from all the others tried before.

Ⓐ ANARCHY!! Ⓐ

sligoface

i'm voting yes because i saw a film wit jim carrey in it called Yes Man and his life was crap cuz he always said no to everything so he started saying yes and his life got loads better. didn't watch the end of it because someone said do you want to watch something else and i had to say yes.

Mr Benevolent

If Libertas and Sinn Fein vote No, I vote Yes. Neither of them seem to have read the leaflets.

AudreyHepburn

Well you certaintly can't force people to vote in a certain way but I would hope that come Referendum day people will leave the bitterness and anger aside and be intelligent enough to try to come with better reasons to vote than 'because the Government said to vote yes' or 'because I want to piss off the government' etc.

There is too much scaremonger on BOTH sides of the debate and it isn't doing anyone any good.

I really wish people would ignore the campaign on both sides and just read the Referendum Guide and decide from there.

I have a feeling I'm asking for far too much though.

Scanlas The 2nd

I won't be voting as its my way of protesting against democracy.

Son Of A Vidic

kneemos wrote: »

Intelligent voting

Well in this little country unfortunately, the concepts of intelligence and voting are often not compatible. As the Lisbon acquiescence clearly demonstrated.

Nothingbetter2d

hairyprincess wrote: »

I'm voting whatever way my husband tells me cos I'm the little woman and I can't possibly be relied upon to make to make an educated decision

thinking like a true blueshirt Enda will be proud of his wife

i dont know what to vote... there hasn't been one bit of information delivered to my door. There is no unbiased information anywhere to be found. each side only prints their scaremongering hype instead of what is really entailed.

Toby Take a Bow

Confab wrote: »

If Libertas and Sinn Fein vote No, I vote Yes. Neither of them seem to have read the leaflets.

Judging from why you're voting yes, it seems like you haven't read the leaflets either.

Or the treaty.

I would say you'd have great difficulty in voting if the OP's plan came into operation. And a glorious day it would be, too.

Dravokivich

donvito99 wrote: »

I live my life doing the opposite of what that cow Mary Lou says.

So... if she told you not to jump into the Liffey?

melekalikimaka wrote: »

i genuinely think for each vote, there is an accompanying small test on what you're voting for, make your vote, and take the test, if you pass your vote is counted, if not you fail, you dont get told your results. then an only then will voting make ay sense in this country, people dont vote for the topic, they vote for ridiculous reasons, if you dont understand, dont bother getting off your sofa, nobody needs an ignorant vote especially not the country

Not understanding doesn't have to mean the vote is ignorant. If someone doesn't understand what they are voting on, then I'd see it as an issue with the level of information provided and how it's presented. Voting No is more than valid in that instance and is well worth getting off the sofa for.

whatever99

I've read the leaflets and informed myself etc., but I'm still unsure as to which way to vote. There might be further implications of a yes/no vote that I can't foresee.

And I can't seem to fully put my faith in either side, as, as usual, they are both totally contradicting themselves.
Yes side: "Vote yes or we're fucked!"
No side: "Vote no or we're fucked!"

Simples....:rolleyes: