Vote Pact

smhatahy · 09-24-2008, 06:51 PM

http://www.votepact.org/about/

So here's how it works, ussually when you vote 3rd party, you are essentially just taking away votes from either the Democrats or Republicans. The basic jist of this program is that a Republican voter who is switching to a third-party candidate will make a pact with a Democrat voter switching to 3rd party that way you aren't taking votes away from only one party but equally. I think it's a cool idea, and if anything it may persuade more people on the fence to vote for a third party.

Bryan · 09-25-2008, 07:32 AM

People should vote for who they think will be the best President, not negotiate their vote with someone else.

**Epaphras** · 09-25-2008, 02:48 PM

This is like the classic "Prisoner's Dilemma". Two suspects are seperated and interrogated by police. If both keep quiet, they will both get off with a warning. If one implicates the other and the other keeps quiet, the snitch will go free and the other will go to jail for a year. If both implicate the other, both go to jail for a year. The point is: most people wouldn't trust that the other will keep quiet, so they snitch to cover their own butt. But when both do this, neither ends up with what they want.

All this to say: there is no telling that one side won't back out of the deal in the voting booth, leaving us where it stands today.

smhatahy · 09-25-2008, 02:51 PM

Quote:

All this to say: there is no telling that one side won't back out of the deal in the voting booth, leaving us where it stands today.

Using absentee votes works.

**slap_j** · 09-25-2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan

People should vote for who they think will be the best President, not negotiate their vote with someone else.

Besides, if a handful (third party voters) of "popular" votes mattered all that much then Al Gore would've been prez in Jan of '01.

Dr. Worm · 09-25-2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akshay

http://www.votepact.org/about/

So here's how it works, ussually when you vote 3rd party, you are essentially just taking away votes from either the Democrats or Republicans. The basic jist of this program is that a Republican voter who is switching to a third-party candidate will make a pact with a Democrat voter switching to 3rd party that way you aren't taking votes away from only one party but equally. I think it's a cool idea, and if anything it may persuade more people on the fence to vote for a third party.

But living in a battleground state, my vote is worth far, far more than someone from, say, Alabama or California.

JerryLove · 09-25-2008, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan

People should vote for who they think will be the best President, not negotiate their vote with someone else.

That's how the loosing party thinks

**Sean** · 09-25-2008, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan

People should vote for who they think will be the best President, not negotiate their vote with someone else.

But there's more to it than simply voting for who you think is best. Sure you want your favorite in office, but you also don't want to put your least favorite in office by voting for your favorite. Sometimes you vote to support your favorite and other times you have to vote to go against some you strongly oppose.

**slap_j** · 09-25-2008, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean

But there's more to it than simply voting for who you think is best. Sure you want your favorite in office, but you also don't want to put your least favorite in office by voting for your favorite. Sometimes you vote to support your favorite and other times you have to vote to go against some you strongly oppose.

Implicit in that strategy is that the two major parties have a monopoly on legitimate votes. That is, any other vote is a waste. It's like some meta rule. We have a democracy--vote for who you like...as long as it's this guy or this guy.

dtaylorl · 09-25-2008, 07:39 PM

I think its a great idea in making it a viable option to vote for someone thats not from one of the two main parties... I myself am Canadian and Albertan... I think a pact like this could have worked well in our last provincial election.

**Sean** · 09-25-2008, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slap_j

Implicit in that strategy is that the two major parties have a monopoly on legitimate votes. That is, any other vote is a waste. It's like some meta rule. We have a democracy--vote for who you like...as long as it's this guy or this guy.

Exactly