Observations from North Carolina elections

[Vlad!]

Observations drawn from unofficial results here

• 1.1 million people voted a straight party ticket. Presumably these people then had somebody else tell them where to eat dinner that evening, to which they drove in their Chevy trucks, which their friends recommended over Ford.
• Between 20 and 40 thousand people will bother to fill out the bubble even if there's only one candidate on the ballot. I suppose participating in democracy is so exciting that people do that sort of thing. It makes me wonder what would happen if nobody filled in the bubble.
• 85% of voters--over two million--voted for a constitutional amendment saying that anyone ever convicted of a felony should not be allowed to serve as Sheriff. I wonder if 85% of the same voters would vote "No" if the ballot asked instead "do you believe that people can change?"
• The state used a "instant runoff system" in which voters can choose a second and third choice for highly-contested seats, in the event that their first choice is not one of the top two. It makes me wonder if the same system should be used in votes for any contest of more than two people. "Well, I really wanted the Libertarian candidate to win, but when he is inevitably defeated by an order of magnitude, I'd prefer the Democratic schmuck over the Republican schmuck". I realize this statement implies, probably falsely, that the Libertarian candidate is not also a schmuck; that is incidental and not indicative.

[RedcoatJones]

You still fill out bubbles in NC? I love Georgia's system of a touch screen. Tap tap tap, and I'm done. It lets me know if I skipped a race and asks if I want to go back or leave it blank.

So simple.

[bloop]

Yeah, touch screen here, too. Very easy.

I'm fine with the result of the elections. TBH, I kind of like forcing consensus. I think we've tried the stimulus approach, it has had some effect, but further stimulus is unnecessary, so it's time for a different approach. But so many R's, some prominent, others we're well-acquainted with here, have been acting like total d-bags for the last 24 hours (really. check their twitters).

(I could probably come up with a link to illustrate that for every word of that last sentence.)


President was absolutely right in his press conference. It's the economy, stupid. If he and they can't or won't do anything about that, then they'll all be in trouble again in two years.

[Vlad!]

Yeah, we still use pen and paper. Here in North Cackalacky, people get intimidated by technology more advanced than the clicker at the back of the pen. I was about to comment on the transparency/lack of potential interference from voting machine makers, but I guess the ballots are electronically tabulated anyway, so there's not a big win there either. We're just backward and dumb.

Looks like the republicans took the house, which of course means they'll try everything in their power to obstruct the PotUS wherever possible, up to and including staging Clinton-esque shenanigans. But this level of national politics is depressing and annoying, so I figured I'd focus on the issues closer to home, such as making fun of people who fill in the bubble for races with only one runner.

[whim]

1.1 million people voted a straight party ticket. Presumably these people then had somebody else tell them where to eat dinner that evening, to which they drove in their Chevy trucks, which their friends recommended over Ford.

I did not vote a straight party ticket, but to the above comment, I would just like to say: 

Between 20 and 40 thousand people will bother to fill out the bubble even if there's only one candidate on the ballot. I suppose participating in democracy is so exciting that people do that sort of thing. It makes me wonder what would happen if nobody filled in the bubble.

I've wondered this myself.

85% of voters--over two million--voted for a constitutional amendment saying that anyone ever convicted of a felony should not be allowed to serve as Sheriff. I wonder if 85% of the same voters would vote "No" if the ballot asked instead "do you believe that people can change?"

Where is that dang "like" button?

I prefer the ol' pen and paper method, but then... I'm very anti-touching screens.  I twitch when I see other people touching screens. 

[bloop]

Looks like the republicans took the house, which of course means they'll try everything in their power to obstruct the PotUS wherever possible

If they haven't noticed, we're sort of in crisis mode in this country, so it would be in their best interest not to do this.

[enemy anemone]

I'm very anti-touching screens.  I twitch when I see other people touching screens. 

(I touched this sentence on my screen. I thought about taking a photo to show you, but I am too lazy.)

[Vlad!]

If they haven't noticed, we're sort of in crisis mode in this country, so it would be in their best interest not to do this.

Since when have politicians done anything that's in the best interests of the country?

[bloop]

Never mind the country. It'd be in the best interest of their own political futures to work toward solutions.

[Vlad!]

I don't claim to be an expert in politics, but I don't agree with that assertion. In the mindset of the Republicans, its their job to save the country from the liberal and socialistic atrocities being committed by the Obama administration. The only constituents they care about are the Republican voters who elected them to office, and by making a lot of noise about serving the interests of the Right, they are securing their own political futures (assuming--and this seems to be a valid assumption--that the nation and the state survive essentially in their current form despite their tender ministrations).

If you work with the "opposition" toward a solution, you are a compromiser. And that's, apparently, bad.

[bloop]

"Don't compromise with teh Obama/Reid masheen!" is probably good enough for the Tea Party voters to continue voting for them, but I think the independent voters that are also responsible for putting them there wouldn't be pleased if they offer no solutions of their own. I just don't think it's tenable as a long-term political strategy when one is empowered to at least try a different way.

[Vlad!]

It must be quite pleasant in your world.

[bloop]

I just like that, for once, I'm seen as the rosy one. I think any strategy like what you are describing will backfire, and it wouldn't be the first time (remember Clinton?). I can hope anyway.

[whim]

(I touched this sentence on my screen. I thought about taking a photo to show you, but I am too lazy.)

You are EVIL.

[enemy anemone]

You are EVIL.

but lazy. *touch screen* *receive bacon*

[whim]

*twitch*  *twitch*  Wait... bacon??  I wasn't aware there was bacon involved.  This certainly changes things. 

I believe that I am in agreement with The Rosy One.  *slowly nods*

[enemy anemone]

*twitch*  *twitch*  Wait... bacon??  I wasn't aware there was bacon involved.  This certainly changes things. 

[KariStar86]

• 85% of voters--over two million--voted for a constitutional amendment saying that anyone ever convicted of a felony should not be allowed to serve as Sheriff. I wonder if 85% of the same voters would vote "No" if the ballot asked instead "do you believe that people can change?"

To be fair, there have been some recent events that left a bad taste in people's mouths...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Hege

And that's only one of the six that ran this cycle! I think they all lost in primaries, though.

[Vlad!]

There's a better solution to that problem: don't vote for scumbags like Hege. Given that he didn't win, it seems like even North Carolinians have gotten that figured out.

(A friend gave a much more cynical viewpoint today: he said that he thinks felons should be welcomed into the office of sheriff, because they've already proven that they have the qualifications for the job. This would be funnier if it were less true.)

[KariStar86]

Good point! I guess I just don't know why the sheriff is an elected office in the first place - too much politics in a department that shouldn't be political. (Btw, while looking this up yesterday, I found out that a convicted felon can't be a sheriff's deputy or any other law enforcement officer in North Carolina - besides the sheriff.  )

[bloop]

Well, I can be convinced either way, but I generally agree that ex-cons shouldn't be permitted to be in the police department, in much the same way as a convicted pedophile shouldn't be a teacher. There's just so much that can go wrong.

They may be very useful helping law enforcement (like Frank Abagnale, whose life was dramatized in "Catch Me If You Can"), but I don't know that I'd want them doing the actual enforcement of the law.