This is how a voting poll looks in Russia. People are attracted to voting with a delicious spread.
Feeding Democracy
Opinions, art, debate
Opinions, art, debate
This is how a voting poll looks in Russia. People are attracted to voting with a delicious spread.
Clarissa's Blog 
WHOSE society is better off and more stable again?
At least Russia seems more thoughtful of their voters (even if only in terms of pandering to their ephemeral comfort levels).
LikeLike
30% of their population don’t have running water and use outside toilets. Which in the Russian climate is not a lot of fun. 25% have no electricity. 35% have no access to the internet.
But these numbers have been stable for decades, so yeah, it’s stable. 🙂
LikeLike
I was going to say “countdown until someone makes a comment about how this looks like a good idea” but I was toooooo late.
LikeLike
I had an argument with someone close to the last presidential election about how having to mail in your ballot represents an “illegal poll tax” our state is mail-in ballot only.
I pointed out that it’s still less then you would spend on gas money or bus fare, that you could still go to your local library or other places to drop your ballot in a secure drop box if you prefer.
None of those options were sufficient for him. No, voting should be 100% free and require as little amount of effort from the voting public as possible.
I was a bit flabbergasted, to be honest. I’m all for accessible voting, but shouldn’t citizens you know, want to vote?
LikeLike
” I’m all for accessible voting”
I’m not. I think it should require effort in order to keep out the completely uninformed. I wouldn’t mind a very simple test that had to be submitted with the ballot (and if a person failed the test the ballot wouldn’t count)
The test would have three questions along the lines of…
what is the name of the state you live in?
what is the state capital?
which congressional district is this polling station in?
which has more members the senate or house of representatives?
in what court can decisions by the supreme court be appealed?
If a person has a score of zero – their vote doesn’t count.
I realize that kind of test is unconstitutional (and would carry the taint from the morally reprehensible ‘literacy tests’ from the South) but the less a person knows about the political system and what the issues are the more I’d prefer they didn’t vote.
LikeLike
“in what court can decisions by the supreme court be appealed?”
We’ve got to remember, though, that even among college students nobody knows what the SCOTUS does or even that the president doesn’t make laws. The differences between the branches of the government is a complete mystery to most people, which is a shame because it’s a great system and it deserves to be known.
LikeLike
“They can’t, right? The congress can pass a law that goes against the decision”
Yeah, trick question. But as the SCOTUS is the ultimate arbiter of the constitution so a law that goes against the decision would be unconstitutional…
The constitution can be amended but it’s a lot of work of the kind that no one seems up to anymore.
The democrats had 16 years to try to do something about the electoral college that bothers them so much and….. nuthin’!
LikeLike
They are against the electoral college when it undermines their chances. When it’s on their side, I’m sure they love it. Idiots like me who love principles more than winning are few. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nothing like a “trademark” consistency to form (and maintain) a recognizable baseline.
LikeLike
Yeah, but vote the wrong way and there might be polonium-210 in your food…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good point. 🙂
LikeLike
Isn’t N a Russian national? Did he exercise his right to cast an absentee ballot in the election?
LikeLike
They weren’t offering any blinis or salami to the foreign-residing Russians, so ….
LikeLike
Actually, the most interesting news out of Russia today isn’t the election. While I was channel-surfing this afternoon, I discovered that my satellite programming includes the English-language RT (“Russia Today”) channel.
Do you know that the United States is providing chlorine gas to the anti-Assad rebels so they can use it to attack a Syrian city and then blame it on the Syrian Air Force? This will provide Trump with the excuse he wants to start an all-out war with Syria. (Even Rachel Maddow hasn’t come up with that news yet.)
LikeLike
I totally recommend RT if you want a bunch of laughs. But only if you are strong enough to withstand the propaganda. And the crushing sense of disappointment when you hear your seemingly intelligent friends quote this stuff verbatim and insist it’s true.
LikeLike
“I’m not. I think it should require effort in order to keep out the completely uninformed.”
The irony of someone who gets his worldview from Breitbart writing this sentence.
“I realize that kind of test is unconstitutional (and would carry the taint from the morally reprehensible ‘literacy tests’ from the South)”
“But I’ll still support the idea because trolling is the only pleasure I have ever known. ”
LikeLike
Uh oh…. sounds like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays 😦
LikeLike
Initially I thought this was in Illinois and I was horrified. I saw the woman in the foreground, in the grey coat and said: she has had as hard a life as a Russian would have had. In Illinois! And then I saw it was in Russia.
LikeLike
I hope in Illinois there is enough to motivate people to vote without this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Off-topic. This is how this country’s press uses its freedom.
“Journalism”
LikeLike
I don’t get it. Is this a joke? It sounds deranged.
LikeLike
It’s just an example of how the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment (which protects freedom of speech and of the press) allows partisan propagandists to write exaggerations and even outright lies about political figures without fear of government punishment, regardless of how outlandish is the political opinion expressed.
Compare the “@60Minutes” nonsense to the gushing love-fests for Che Guevara over at The Nation Magazine, or Melissa McEwan’s savage hatred for any male political who disparages Hillary, or the vicious attacks on Mueller’s team by Trump loyalists.
The beauty of the American system is that you can fight odious and false speech with contrasting speech that you consider truthful and honest — but with rare exceptions, you can’t use government laws to shut the opposing view down.
So in the free light of day, readers/audiences get to hear both sides, and make up their own minds.
LikeLike