MetaFilter posts tagged with vote

Prop 8 : CA :: Ref 71 : WA

hippybear — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:35:57 -0800

On May 18, 2009, the Governor of Washington state signed into law SB 5688, granting near-equal legal standing to state registered domestic partners, meaning mainly (but not exclusively) same-sex couples. This new law, nicknamed the "everything but marriage" law was to go into effect at the end of July. Due to efforts made by some conservative groups, the measure will now be up for a public vote on the November 3, 2009 ballot in the form of Referendum 71. Meanwhile, a coalition of groups has formed to ensure the law remains standing, while others seek to make the names of the petition signers public. The legal battles over the signatures have already begun. Previously.

A Song for Europe

Grrlscout — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:27:40 -0800

It's Eurovision week, everyone! The last of the semi-finals was last night, and the twenty-five entries are now set for this Saturday's extravaganza in Moscow, the most expensive and flashy yet. After last year's controversy over votes motivated by regional politics and entries that detracted from the, er, dignity of the event, the Eurovision voting mechanism has changed. Western countries in particular have brought in the heavy musical muscle, with Andrew Lloyd Webber writing the UK song, the amazing Patricia Kaas singing for France, and Dita von Teese performing on stage with the German entry. You can't vote from outside of Europe, and you might struggle to watch the contest live from outside Europe. But you can have your very own Mefi Eurovision experience right here! Get some snacks and lots of booze, settle in, view the twenty-five entries here, and decide for yourselves. (MLYT warning) Official videos for the pre-qualifiers: UK France Spain Russia Germany And the semi-final performances: Sweden Norway Iceland Finland Malta Portugal Israel Turkey Greece Lithuania Croatia Romania Armenia Bosnia-Herzegovina Moldova Estonia Denmark Albania Ukraine

EU Profiler

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:37:40 -0800

EU Profiler: the authors of Kieskompas, a "Vote-O-Mat"-style tool for the undecided Dutch voter, following up on their adaptation for the US Presidential election (previously on MeFi), will launch an EU-wide version for the European Parliament elections upcoming in June. So Europeans, urge your political parties to register! The tool itself will launch in May.

WhiteHouse.gov Gets Diggy with It

GatorDavid — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:26:52 -0800

OpenForQuestions at WhiteHouse.gov is asking you to vote for the questions you want Obama to address Thursday night. Like digg, but more governmentally.

The House will now consider the Flags for Orphans bill

TheDonF — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:22:30 -0800

UK MPs trying to block publishing their expenses - they're voting on Thursday to overturn last year's High Court ruling. TheyWorkForYou is emailing members to let them know that the UK government buried the news of this vote amongst last week's Heathrow runway anouncement. They are trying to reverse the 16 May 2008 High Court decision that MPs' expenses must, under the Freedom Of Information Act, be made public. What can you do about this mixture of Jo Moore and Krusty? TheyWorkForYou is encouraging people to write to their local MP to ask them to vote against the bill, join the obligatory Facebook group or use their MySociety site to contact local media outlets.

Scientists Determine the Fishiest Election Ever (LiveScience)

bondgirl53001 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:56:45 -0800

Scientists make fish "vote" by having them choose an artificial fish to follow. Shocker: There's not a lot of individual decision-making.. I always did say some people are as intelligent as fish..

Election Protection

eschatfische — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:47:34 -0800

Having trouble voting? Have a question about the polling process in your state? The folks at the non-partisan 866-OUR-VOTE Election Protection Hotline are there to help. Online, they offer information about voting in your state, the ability to report problems at the polls or live chat with Election Protection workers.

Say You, Say Me

gman — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:12:23 -0800

Call a phone number and explain why you're voting the way you are. Brought to you by these guys.

For the Halibut

pearlybob — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:05:56 -0800

SLYT. From the creator of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, NC Neighbors, Vote 08 (NSFW). Gave me a chuckle!!

What to do if your vote is suppressed

mecran01 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:02:59 -0800

Do you know what to do if your vote is suppressed?
GOODVOTE.ORG is a group of volunteers from the technology community and blogosphere who simply want the will of the voters to be reflected in the result of the 2008 election. Our only purpose is to make sure that when legitimate voters are challenged they know who to turn to for help.

Historical Popular Vote Maps

interrobang — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:42:56 -0800

Electoral maps, going all the way back to the beginning.

The Return of Terry Tate

P.o.B. — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:38:19 -0800

Terry Tate would like to let you know to Get Out The Vote! He also has a couple of messages for Sarah Palin. He's coming From Russia With Love to tell you Reading Is Fundamental to establishing your world view. *No governors were harmed filming these messages*

Obama Wins in a Landslide

bwg — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:13:40 -0800

If the World Could Vote

Decisions, decisions...

aheckler — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:22:19 -0800

The Choice 2008 is the newest report from PBS's Frontline. It examines the backgrounds, both personal and political, of John McCain and Barack Obama. You can also watch the entire two-hour show on YouTube.

The Typography of Change

clearly — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:19:30 -0800

Vote for Hope Other examples of Kinematic Typography [previously] We Can Believe In include the Yes We Can speech, and an example showing that sometimes a clear message of change is difficult to deliver.

Right to Vote.

lunit — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:46:33 -0800

As we approach Nov. 4, I'm reminded that an estimated 5.3 million Americans are prohibited from voting because of a felony conviction. The ACLU breaks it down by state.

Who cares?

OverlappingElvis — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:38:32 -0800

Don't vote.

The Joy of Chickens?

yhbc — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:37:20 -0800

The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories needs your vote.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, The Bookseller is pleased to announce the "Diagram of Diagrams" – a public vote to find the oddest book title of the past 30 years.
Direct link to poll page is here. There are only a few days left to do your part for world-wide (literary) democracy!

A BBQ in every pot...

loquacious — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:39:02 -0800

Dave Grohl for President!

IM IN UR VOTING MCHINS STEALIN UR PRIMARIES

dinsdale — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:29:15 -0800

Kucinich Asks for New Hampshire Recount in the Interest of Election Integrity. A little earlier in the election cycle this time around, many people are worried about serious discrepancies between pre-election opinion polling and exit polls, which both had Obama winning by a substantial percentage, and the official results. Obama also appears to have won in hand-counted precincts while Clinton seems to have dominated in precincts which counted the votes with the Diebold Accuvote TSx optical-scan machines, which have been shown to be susceptible to a memory card hack. Note: there is no reason for a vote-counting machine to ever run arbitrary executable code from a memory card. Voting activist Bev Harris thinks Kucinich is walking into a trap due to a lack of ballot chain-of-custody oversight.

"Something — something — happens every election.”

Miko — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 06:51:55 -0800

“I’m an old computer nerd,” Diener said. “I can do anything with computers. Nothing’s wrong with computers. But this is the worst way to run an election.” NYTMag piece on electronic voting, voter confidence, and the impact of old-fashioned problems like printer jams, befuddled voters and volunteers, and interface design flaws. By Clive Thompson.

Best-Designed Sites on the Web by Popular Vote

MattS — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:14:25 -0800

CommandShift3 is like Hot or Not. Except, instead of clicking on hot babes, you click on hot websites. It's actually a pretty nice way to check out good design on the web. It's also the key combo to do a screenshot on a mac.

Taxation without Representation

Navelgazer — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:06:20 -0800

Senate kills bill to give D.C. representation (L.A. Times). Yesterday the U.S. Senate denied a cloture motion on a bill to allow the District of Columbia two voting U.S. Senators. Facts, the District has a population of 581,530 to Wyoming's 515,004. The district has no representation in the senate, and can only send a single representative to the house, who cannot vote. Washington, D.C. is predominantly black and overwhelmingly democratic. President Bush had threatened to veto if the bill had passed, but his threat was largely ceremonial - the bill needed 60 votes for cloture anyway. The vote was 57-42, largely along party lines. Most Republicans claimed that the bill was "clearly and unambiguously unconstitutional," though eight members of the G.O.P. voted for it anyway, led by former Vice Presidential candidate Jack Kemp.

Next they'll want to drive

klangklangston — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:03:47 -0800

Who can count the ills visited upon modern society by women's suffrage? Dr. John Lott would include government spending, taxation and social programs. Lawrence Auster thinks that it's worth considering an end to the experiment of women's suffrage. (And is mocked and responds). Perhaps he'll find an ally in former senator Kay O'Connor.

On some level, it's heartening to see conservatives conserving 100-year-old arguments.

Gay not so 'good' for candidates?

orthogonality — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:56:55 -0800

In 1968, Mattachine Society of Washington co-founder Frank Kameny declared "Gay is Good"; in 1971 he became the first openly gay candidate for the US Congress. But if you're running for president today, while you know gays contribute money and definitely vote, Kameny's or any "gay support could cost candidates":

Quinnipiac University polls of voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- the big three Electoral College swing states -- found voters by large margins more likely to see the endorsement of a gay rights group as a reason to vote against, rather than for, a candidate.

So is the Democratic Party's apparent embrace of gays, as evidenced by tonight's "gay debate," a good idea? Or would greater distance between gays and the Democratic Party help both groups achieve their goals?