New York’s Democratic Party has resorted not only to shaming its members into voting, but to issuing veiled threats should they not head to the polls this Tuesday.
In a letter sent to registered Democrats in the state, the committee has resorted to what the Associated Press calls “peer pressure and the possibility of surveillance to encourage turnout.”
The letter threatens the registered voters by saying “we will be reviewing” your “official voting records.” And if it turns out the individual was too disenchanted with the Democrat’s offerings in the elections, Big Brother “will be interested to hear why not.”
New York’s Democratic Party is writing to registered Democrats telling them that unnamed organizations are monitoring their neighborhood’s election turnout and that the party will want an explanation if they do not cast a ballot.
The letters went out to about 1 million voters this week ahead of Tuesday’s election. It represents a get-out-the-vote tactic that is being used increasingly around the country by both parties.
The letters acknowledge that “who you vote for is your secret. But whether or not you vote is public record.”
“Many organizations monitor turnout in your neighborhood and are disappointed by the inconsistent voting of many of your neighbors,” the letter reads.
It goes on to say, “We will be reviewing the … official voting records after the upcoming election to determine whether you joined your neighbors who voted in 2014. If you do not vote this year, we will be interested to hear why not.”
I think the Democrats just threatened me: pic.twitter.com/wGvYInosk5
— Jonathan Coulton (@jonathancoulton) October 30, 2014
The letter contains a phone number to a non-partisan voting resource organization called Election Protection.
The group claims it has already received hundreds of calls from voters concerned about the threatening nature of the letter. With the letter having been issued to registered Democrats, those phone calls are coming from people pretty upset with their own party.
One political science professor explained that the idea is to not only shame people who don’t vote, but to actually let them know their “behavior is being monitored.”
GOP spokesman David Laska remarks, “Something’s wrong in the Democratic Party if they’re resorting to subtle threats to New York’s hardworking taxpayers.”
Cross-posted at the Mental Recession
