“I Will Vote” Virginia

[Anonymous]

I received an odd postcard from the Democratic Party under the heading “I Will Vote.” It graded me on voter participation, and I received a D because I had not participated in early voting. The card then gave the names of two neighbors with an A+ rating because they had voted. Strangely enough, one of the named neighbors has a Youngkin sign in her yard.

Although a Democrat, this attempt at public shaming is obnoxious. I was not thrilled about voting for McAuliffe, so I will skip voting based on this heavy handed approach.

[Anonymous]

Wait...what?

How is that legal? Announcing who and who has not voted on a person's street?

[jsteele]

It’s public information. Next year OP will have an even worse grade and her neighbors will all know.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you would have skipped voting anyway, OP. That’s the point.

[Anonymous]

Voting is your power. Don’t let that power be diminished by an irrational response to junk mail.

[Anonymous]

So… you want Youngkin to win then? Since you have no desire to cancel out your Youngkin neighbor’s vote?

[Anonymous]

Post a photo of the mailer. Are you sure the Democrats actually sent this to you? Lots of PACs send out phony mailers pretending to be the “other side.”

[Anonymous]

One reminder: In Virginia, there is no party affiliation on your voting record. Voting in the Republican or Democratic primary is one of the few indicators publicly. Of course, you can cross over in any primary conducted by the Board of Elections. Of course, donating funds or otherwise indicating your support of the party is another way to make your way to a list.

Today, it seems that Dem canvassers avoid GOP aligned households and vice versa. I've noticed that on my street. Dems skip the houses of those who've voted in GOP primaries and vice versa.

I think the card sent to OP is creepy--but, as Jeff said, it is publicly available. I did not realize, though, that it was available so quickly to the public. I would have thought they would hold it until after the election. However, the Board of Elections has to have a record of who has voted or people would be able to vote twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So… you want Youngkin to win then? Since you have no desire to cancel out your Youngkin neighbor’s vote?

NP. Based on things like this, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So… you want Youngkin to win then? Since you have no desire to cancel out your Youngkin neighbor’s vote?

NP. Based on things like this, yes.

Over a . . . postcard? I don’t get it.

[Anonymous]

People who post stuff like this are dumb and there is no way I believe you would have voted D except for that mailer.

[Anonymous]

We got the same mailer today and it was addressed to a Democratic voter in our household. The recipient themself, who is a young democratic voter questioned the logic behind this approach. As a Democrat myself, I was a bit appalled when I read it that politics is now public shaming at the voter level.

[Anonymous]

I got this too. I'm active in the Democratic Party in VA and was pretty surprised. While the information is public knowledge, it seems weird to share in a letter writing campaign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We got the same mailer today and it was addressed to a Democratic voter in our household. The recipient themself, who is a young democratic voter questioned the logic behind this approach. As a Democrat myself, I was a bit appalled when I read it that politics is now public shaming at the voter level.

Agree. The public shaming is gross. I don't care which party is doing it, it reeks of desperation.
Who are they to determine a "grade" for you based on past voting or early voting? And, the fact that they inform people about their neighbors' voting habits is even more gross.
If they think this is a way to GOTV, they are mistaken.

[Anonymous]

I think it's foolish to take that approach BUT Democrats are known to put most of their energy in the big elections vs things like state elections. Just look past it and go vote.