Re: Local/State Politics: Engage Now Or Die!
Posted: Sat October 12, 2019 12:43 am
Vote for Bammer. I support responsibly priced haircuts.

Aren’t you from Woosta, you fuckin’ hahd on?cutuphalfdead wrote:We got a recount for Boston city council.
What's the difference between a monorail and a normal, raised light rail?
All provisional and absentee ballots have been counted, a recount was completed, and a UNC grad student has officially defeated the incumbent by 22 votes.B wrote:By the way, I opened this thread to mention that our Town council was decided by 24 votes.
Another grad student here became a judge last year by writing himself in and winning with one vote.B wrote:All provisional and absentee ballots have been counted, a recount was completed, and a UNC grad student has officially defeated the incumbent by 22 votes.B wrote:By the way, I opened this thread to mention that our Town council was decided by 24 votes.
I never vote for judges, it feels...wrong. takes away from the impartial thing.Mickey wrote:Another grad student here became a judge last year by writing himself in and winning with one vote.B wrote:All provisional and absentee ballots have been counted, a recount was completed, and a UNC grad student has officially defeated the incumbent by 22 votes.B wrote:By the way, I opened this thread to mention that our Town council was decided by 24 votes.
https://ggwash.org/view/67201/why-citie ... -explainedB wrote:What's the difference between a monorail and a normal, raised light rail?
You can't be serious.bune wrote:I never vote for judges, it feels...wrong. takes away from the impartial thing.Mickey wrote:Another grad student here became a judge last year by writing himself in and winning with one vote.B wrote:All provisional and absentee ballots have been counted, a recount was completed, and a UNC grad student has officially defeated the incumbent by 22 votes.B wrote:By the way, I opened this thread to mention that our Town council was decided by 24 votes.
This is a different argument than the one you first put forward (that voting against a judge ruins their impartiality). That first argument seems just prima facie wrong, as it asumes any judge is impartial (haha) and further that voting or not voting for them somehow affects their impartiality (which doesn't exist, so, it can't be affected).bune wrote:Why not? Every judge runs unopposed anyway so voting for them or not voting for them amounts to the same thing.
I vote between two candidates but if it's just one person then what is a vote for other than confirming that they ran a campaign?
I got the mailer once from the Republicans saying "these neighbors haven't voted in years, you should talk to them" and I was confused. Also got one once from them saying "you've voted this many times, why not sit this one out" or something similar. Very strange stuff.tragabigzanda wrote:Party leadership pays close attention to this stuff, and by voting or not voting, you let them know to what extent you agree with the platform chosen by the candidate.bune wrote: I vote between two candidates but if it's just one person then what is a vote for other than confirming that they ran a campaign?
For example, if you vote for Dems on a ballot but skip a vote on an unopposed race, then they might assume there was something about that candidate you didn't like.
Of course it depends on the type of elections in your state. We have an open ballot system, so I can vote for moderate Republicans in the primary, then moderate Dems in the general. By voting for moderate Republicans but NOT voting for the far-right candidates, the MT GOP gets a sense of what level of conservatism I'm comfortable with.
That impartiality jab was just that - a jab. Nothing of substance.Mickey wrote:This is a different argument than the one you first put forward (that voting against a judge ruins their impartiality). That first argument seems just prima facie wrong, as it asumes any judge is impartial (haha) and further that voting or not voting for them somehow affects their impartiality (which doesn't exist, so, it can't be affected).bune wrote:Why not? Every judge runs unopposed anyway so voting for them or not voting for them amounts to the same thing.
I vote between two candidates but if it's just one person then what is a vote for other than confirming that they ran a campaign?
The idea that it's pretty inconsequential is at least a little more convincing. I suppose it depends where you live and to what extent you've paid attention to local elections. I've lived in major metro areas for the last seven years or so, so generally judgeships are quite contested (the local precinct judge I mentioned earlier notwithstanding) and make clear just how false the idea of a judge's impartiality should be (i.e. to what extent they are pro-cop, pro-worker's rights, pro-immigrant, etc.). Moreover, even unopposed judges can and should be voted either for or against, whether (as trag says) as a clear endorsement of the party or as a referendum on their behavior. There was a judge in Vegas who was recalled in an unopposed election (if I'm remembering correctly he locked up a female defense attorney on spurious charges). So no, I don't think voting for judges is inconsequential in itself, even if in practice it might tend to be so.