Cynics, rejoice!
Filling in one bubble or another on Tuesday may make no difference on the national level, but it’s not all for naught.
Adults wearing their “I VOTED TODAY” stickers can have their fines forgiven at the Hartford Public Library. Youth are not being forgotten. They can also have their overdue fees dropped if they complete a civics questionnaire.
Over at La Paloma Sabanera, voters wearing their stickers will receive a free small cup of coffee, providing a much-needed boost for those planning to stay up all night while the results are tallied.
Rich H
This sort of thing is causing a ruckus in DC because…well, it’s illegal. It’s federal law that you can’t offer anything in exchange for voting.
http://dcist.com/2012/11/quick_reminder_you_cant_give_people.php
Kerri Provost
True, but showing a sticker that you could’ve taken from a friend is different from requiring a photo of a completed ballot. I saw a couple of tots leaving the polling place with stickers and I’m pretty sure neither actually voted. Then again…
Rich H
Of course. Plus you can just buy rolls of the stickers yourself online at http://www.electionstickers.com among others. Still, the implication is there that “if you vote, you can get this…” The guy quoted in the Courant story basically said that the amnesty was why he was bothering to vote.
Kerri Provost
It definitely encouraged me to get up and vote early. I would’ve voted anyway, but tying this into my loop of errands changed my timing by a few hours.
Richard
I voted today and didn’t get a sticker. All I got was sore as my write in candidates would hardly fit into the small space with the large marker so I took out my pen and finished the job. I have to add a bit of a twist to what Rich H says, “if you vote, you can get this,” isn’t that really the way it is? If you vote for this evil twin you get this much evilness if you vote for the other evil twin you get a good wallop or so they say. A coffee or a sticker or forgiven fines are nothing compared to what we are going to get with who ever wins this election.
Kerri Provost
I had the same experience and only wrote in short last names. Conspiracy theory: this is how they discourage voters from seeking other options.
I’m with you on the voter incentives. Isn’t revoking someone’s right to vote (in some states) because he commits a felony the inverse of this?
Richard
Here we go again. HROV didn’t count all of our write in votes for one candidate. So once again we will have to wait for our votes to be counted. On to the SEEC!