NM GOP Mailer: We will tell your neighbours if you won't vote against Democrats.

[ApatheticAustrian]

The New Mexico Republican Party admits sending fliers to residents warning them that when “Democrats win the election and you didn’t do your part… your neighbors will know.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/14/gop-mailer-we-ll-tell-your-neighbors-if-you-vote-democratic.html

[Speed of Sound]

[Cashew]

Ugh. This is sick.

[Incipimus iterum]

A good title for a book about this election would be "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 2016"

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

I'm not normally bothered to defend Republicans, but I was more under the impression that this was about shaming people into voting who weren't going to vote at all. They can't disclose the result of a secret ballot.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I'm not normally bothered to defend Republicans, but I was more under the impression that this was about shaming people into voting who weren't going to vote at all. They can't disclose the result of a secret ballot.

That's how I read it too.

EDIT: I suggest changing the thread title to "...If You Don't Vote"

[Lyin' Steve]

I'm not normally bothered to defend Republicans, but I was more under the impression that this was about shaming people into voting who weren't going to vote at all. They can't disclose the result of a secret ballot.

That's how I read it too.

Yup, thanks for the complete lie of a title, ApatheticAustrian.

What they're doing here isn't particularly controversial.  As we learned before the Iowa primaries, it's a common tactic, and the Obama campaign used it frequently.

[ApatheticAustrian]

excuse me for not posting all the information on the flyer.....

here you go:

[Devout Centrist]

A good title for a book about this election would be "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 2016"

I wrote a short story form a the perspective of a journalist called 'Fear, Loathing, and Combovers on the Campaign Trail '16'

I made a few predictions as well

[kyc0705]

[ProudModerate2]

excuse me for not posting all the information on the flyer.....
here you go:

Oh.
I don't like that at all. If you combine both of these mailers, that doesn't pass the "kosher" test at all. Are these two separate mailers ? .... or is one side the front and the other is the back side ?

[ApatheticAustrian]

Oh.
I don't like that at all. If you combine both of these mailers, that doesn't pass the "kosher" test at all. Are these two separate mailers ? .... or is one side the front and the other is the back side ?

according to the link, it's the same flyer....

and the title isn't my own for the record, just copypasted TDB.

[Young Conservative]

Please clarify and say NEW MEXICO GOP mailer...I should show you the mailers my mom gets because she's a woman in Florida....just as propagandizing...

[ApatheticAustrian]

Please clarify and say NEW MEXICO GOP mailer...I should show you the mailers my mom gets because she's a woman in Florida....just as propagandizing...

pardon again for copypasting the title...i am going to fix it.

[Green Line]

Well, the neighbors deserve to know.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

Well, the neighbors deserve to know.

[Alcon]

This is a fairly common practice these days because it's highly effective.  New Mexico also has party registration, so I assume they're threatening to out people for being registered Republican and not voting -- that's public record, after all.  It may be skeezy, and they certainly aren't going out of their way to let people know their actual votes aren't public record, but this isn't particularly beyond the pale.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I'm not normally bothered to defend Republicans, but I was more under the impression that this was about shaming people into voting who weren't going to vote at all. They can't disclose the result of a secret ballot.

That's NOT how it comes across.

[Ebsy]

These mailers are scummy by fairly standard for GOP groundgame operations. I doubt they are very effective though.

[Joe Republic]

Why would anybody care what their neighbors think?  Plus, this is so obviously an empty threat, anybody would just laugh before throwing it in the trash.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I don't oppose this. Voting is a civic duty, and people who don't perform it deserve public opprobrium. Obviously, how they vote is their choice and theirs alone.

[Joe Republic]

I don't oppose this. Voting is a civic duty, and people who don't perform it deserve public opprobrium. Obviously, how they vote is their choice and theirs alone.

Describe the public opprobrium you anticipate.

[Alcon]

These mailers are scummy by fairly standard for GOP groundgame operations. I doubt they are very effective though.

Believe it or not, they are.  It annoys people, but "your friends and neighbors will know you didn't vote" is the single most effective way of increasing turnout.  I believe one of the most extreme results found in controlled study was when they mailed letters to residents of a town letting them know that a list of who voted and who didn't would be posted in town square.

It doesn't work on most non-voters, but even prompting 1-in-10 to vote is pretty impressive.

[Enduro]

Wow. What a bunch of babies.

[DavidB.]

I really, really don't like this. Why is people's voting record public in the U.S. anyway? That's insane.