Chris Neary
Chris Neary is a producer for On the Media.
Mail That Shames You Into Voting
Two Listeners Got Mail We Said They Wouldn't Get
Monday, November 05, 2012 - 01:04 PM
A few weeks back, producer PJ Vogt and I did a story about how campaigns work these days. In it, I talked about direct mail that campaigns use to, subtly or not subtly, guilt you into voting. It's very effective in getting more people to vote. The examples came from Sasha Issenberg's book The Victory Lab. One particular experiment, Don Green (who we spoke with) and two other researchers sent out a series of letters, each of which turned the screws tighter and tighter on voters.
One example I mentioned is a letter that provides you with a "voting report card," which notes how frequently you've voted. It's a reminder that whether you vote or not is public record. Another example I listed, in part for comic relief, is a letter that shows how often your neighbors have voted. (It was the most effective letter.) After Brooke read that one for me, I said, and here's where I need to apologize, this:
NEARY: And, by the way Brooke, you’ll never get that last letter. Campaigns hate to send out anything that prompts virulent hate mail in return, and one of those researchers got some of that mail.
Well, it turns out that while campaigns might shy away from those mailings, other political organizations aren't shy. We've received two examples of these sorts of letters sent in by real, actual OTM listeners.
First, listener Rachel Lieberman got a voter report card mailing from MoveOn.org. (She notes that the report card isn't accurate, she just voted at a different address. Here's hoping it doesn't lower her citizen GPA.)
And from listener Taylor Maxwell, exactly the sort of letter I went out of my way to claim she probably wouldn't get. It's from Americans for Limited Government. Names and addresses redacted, or else we'd be co-shaming.
You should vote tomorrow, even if no one is watching. Though probably someone is.
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Comments [5]
Is this a predominantly liberal-activist voter-turnout tactic? MoveOn does it; the unions do it. And they do it in neighborhoods where they know that they predominate, and where they think that higher turnout will be a net benefit.
"Americans for Limited Government" from Fairfax VA sounds about as Rpublican as it gets. And this is the first that I have heard about a conservative group doing it, although I don't have any particular reason to doubt it. (I just now saw the Kos link included below.)
What is funny is how different groups use the tactic in a reflexive, counter-offensive manner. So Daily Kos goes after Americans for Limited Government for this dubious tactic:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/30/1152541/-Your-neighbors-voting-history-Really-Americans-for-Limited-Government
Meanwhile, lawprof blogger Ann Althouse in Madison, Wisconsin called out the AFL-CIO for doing the same thing:
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/11/afl-cio-organization-sends-insultingly.html
I agree that the record of voting behavior should be considered private information. I was shocked that this information is available. Has anyone explored when and how this information became available and whether or not the decision to do so was contested?
My Son got a card that said he hadn't voted in the last 5 elections.
The reason is because he only uses my address so I can get his mail. He works on a ship and isn't here to vote and wouldn't because he is a registered voter in Florida where he lives. I would appreciate it if they would take his name off the voter list. I live here and I vote.
Interesting - my husband got that exact same "Voter Report Card" in today's mail, only it came from Working America.
Also, although his record showed that he voted in 4 of the past 5 elections, a rate FOUR TIMES higher than the local average (which is admittedly pathetic), he also only rated a "Good" grade. Hmpf.
This is a clear invasion of privacy. Yes. We all should vote. But it's no one's business to publish info on whether we do. And where are people actually getting this kind of record, anyway? Or is it also false information?
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