Published in The Tuscola County Advertiser on Wednesday, August 2, 2006
in an article by Mary Drier staff writer on the front page
'Shame' on You for Not Voting
and in an article in The Flint Journal Saturday, August 5, 2006, page A3, Pssst! Want to know if neighbor voted? by Joe Lawlor
http://www.mlive.com/...
it is explained that people in Michigan are getting fliers from a Democrat in Ingham County named Mark Grebner.
"The wording of a flier that reveals how your neighbors vote. About 500 to 1,000 Genesee County residents received such a letter as part of a study:
WHAT IF YOUR NEIGHBORS KNEW WHETHER YOU VOTED?
Why do so many people fail to vote? We've been talking about the problem for years, but it only seems to get worse. This year, we're taking a new approach. We're sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to publicize who does and does not vote.
The chart shows the names of some of your neighbors, showing which have voted in the past. After the August 8 election, we intend to mail an updated chart. You and your neighbors will all know who voted and who did not.
DO YOUR CIVIC DUTY - VOTE!"
~~~~~~~~~
The people who were interviewed for the two articles are not happy about the invasion of their privacy.
This is the kind of backfiring, shooting-ourselves-in-the-foot idea that we don't need in Michigan, IMO.
This is the 2004 article that explains Grebner's thoughts:
http://www.lsj.com/....
Published August 03, 2004
Analyst plans to publicize voting records
Read more about Mark Grebner's experiment at www.grebner.com/etov
By Stacey Range
Lansing State Journal
Planning to lie about whether you vote today?
You might want to think twice, because your neighbors could find out.
East Lansing political analyst Mark Grebner is conducting an experiment to see if letting people know whether their neighbors vote could help boost turnout at the polls.
Using voter records from today's primary election and the Nov. 2 general election, Grebner this fall and next spring will send notices to 3,700 Michiganians letting them know which of their neighbors did and didn't vote.
snip
"It's trying to shame people into voting, and that raises some ethical questions," Abramson said.
Grebner said his experiment isn't aimed at shaming people into voting, although that could be one aspect. It's intended to see what would happen if voting were a public function."
I just can't believe this is helpful.
Any thoughts?