Let's trick and intimidate people into not voting!

[SpeakNow]

http://news.yahoo.com/u-election-nears- ... 20119.html

Democratic lawmakers and activists in Wisconsin and Ohio - the most coveted of all the swing states in the presidential race because the winner there is likely to win the White House - are angry about several dozen billboard signs that have popped up in recent weeks, warning of stiff penalties for voter fraud.

The billboards were put up in mostly black and low-income communities. Most had a large picture of a judge's gavel and said "Voter Fraud is a Felony!" punishable by up to 3-1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. They were paid for by an anonymous group described only as a "private family foundation."

Several companies have sent out letters urging their employees to vote for Romney. The Koch brothers, who have given millions of dollars to back Romney and other Republicans, have come under fire for sending a "voter information packet" to 45,000 employees of Koch Industries and its Georgia Pacific unit.

The packet, obtained by the political magazine In These Times, includes a list of candidates the company supports, with Romney at the top of the list. It also includes a letter from Koch Industries President David Robertson saying that "many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences" if voters elect candidates who increase regulations and hinder free trade - a presumed jab at Obama.

One group, called True the Vote, hopes to train up to one million people before Election Day. Rights groups say the large numbers of monitors could be intimidating and discourage some people - particularly minorities - from voting.

[rock_girl]

One group, called True the Vote, hopes to train up to one million people before Election Day. Rights groups say the large numbers of monitors could be intimidating and discourage some people - particularly minorities - from voting.

Let me guess, their uniform is going to involve a white bed sheet and some tape.

[CallmeChaCha]

Kind of like this guy who told his employees he might have to fire them all if Obama gets re-elected

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-worke ... 40914.html

Of course, as your employer, I can't tell you whom to vote for, and I certainly wouldn't interfere with your right to vote for whomever you choose. In fact, I encourage you to vote for whomever you think will serve your interests the best. However, let me share a few facts that might help you decide what is in your best interest.

[meda]

Kind of like this guy who told his employees he might have to fire them all if Obama gets re-elected

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-worke ... 40914.html

Well, it's better than the coal mine owner who made his miners take a day off without pay to go be props at a Romney rally. I'm so glad we have brought back the values of the Gilded Age. :roll:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81421.html

[Swamptribe]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10 ... e-letters/

Add all this to the voter roll purges in several states. The whole voter ID nonsense. Where you can't use a student ID to vote, but you can use a gun owner permit to vote.

[Fargood]

Kind of like this guy who told his employees he might have to fire them all if Obama gets re-elected

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-worke ... 40914.html

This guy is the worst kind of douchebag. He has a trophy wife that can't stop spending even when facing foreclosure. They live in the most expensive house in the country and they make their billions by enticing people to take out debt they can't afford to purchase overpriced time shares they can't use. I helped a neighbor get out of a timeshare purchased through this guy's company. The sales tactics were relentless. The web of vultures went much deeper than just the intial timeshare purchase. "Don't like you timeshare? Want to sell? That's okay! We can recommend a time share sales company. We didn't mention that the resale company was ours, too? Oops."

Seigel made his billions selling an imaginary product and suckering a lot of working Americans into purchasing something they couldn't afford, couldn't use and never really existed in the first place (most reviews of Westgate time shares affirmatively state that if and when you actually asked to *gasp* use your timeshare, it was sold out or otherwise unavailable.)

It doesn't surprise me at all that he would send out an inflammatory email to his slaves, oops, I mean "employees," blackmailing them into voting for the candidate that will further guild the roses on this guy's overpriced house.

[Hane]

A super-insidious one I just heard about: robo-calls giving people the "opportunity" to vote over the phone.

[mebeforee]

Kind of like this guy who told his employees he might have to fire them all if Obama gets re-elected

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-worke ... 40914.html

Oh my god. It's like that scene in Parks and Recreation, but in real life... what a slimeball.

[jericho]

http://news.yahoo.com/u-election-nears-efforts-intensify-misinform-pressure-voters-051420119.html

Gee this is horrible! We shouldn't tell people our opinion or want them to abide by the law!

How about some real voter scare tactics

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/24/14677602-feds-investigate-phony-letters-warning-florida-voters-theyre-not-eligible-to-vote?lite

[formergothardite]

So you find nothing wrong with a company telling their employees that they want them to vote for a certain candidate? You don't think that would make employees feel pressured to vote for someone?

[jericho]

So you find nothing wrong with a company telling their employees that they want them to vote for a certain candidate? You don't think that would make employees feel pressured to vote for someone?

A company cannot force you to vote for someone. If they do, it is against the law. I have no problem in a company sharing their opinion on the candidates.

[formergothardite]

You really are a bigger asshole than I originally thought. And I didn't think that was possible. These companies are urging their workers to vote for someone and you think that is no biggie.

[jericho]

You really are a bigger asshole than I originally thought. And I didn't think that was possible. These companies are urging their workers to vote for someone and you think that is no biggie.

There should be a limit in what you can and can't say to employees, and there are laws on the books already. If its threatening or effects your personal life then that's too far.

[formergothardite]

Well I think those laws should be expanded to not being able to say, I'm voting for this person and I really think that all my employees shoud too.

[jericho]

Well I think those laws should be expanded to not being able to say, I'm voting for this person and I really think that all my employees shoud too.

Maybe so, but I don't think there should be a law where you cannot express your opinion in written form to employees. They should not however be forced to read it.

[emmiedahl]

Maybe so, but I don't think there should be a law where you cannot express your opinion in written form to employees. They should not however be forced to read it.

There are a lot of opinions that an employer cannot legally express to his employees. And who the hell does not read a communication from their boss? There could have been info about a meeting or something at the end.

[JesusFightClub]

We can't (I are a bureaucrat). In fact, there are very strict rules against it and if my boss or anyone else, including all the way to the top of the chain, told me who to vote for they would be in a lot of trouble.

Of course we're free to discuss politics in the workplace, as amongst colleagues and friends, but getting an email communication like that would be an actual national scandal and gross misconduct from the sender at the very least. I don't see how this should be different anywhere. Someone who controls your livelihood shouldn't be telling you who to vote for.

[Witsec7]

We can't (I are a bureaucrat). In fact, there are very strict rules against it and if my boss or anyone else, including all the way to the top of the chain, told me who to vote for they would be in a lot of trouble.

Of course we're free to discuss politics in the workplace, as amongst colleagues and friends, but getting an email communication like that would be an actual national scandal and gross misconduct from the sender at the very least. I don't see how this should be different anywhere. Someone who controls your livelihood shouldn't be telling you who to vote for.

That certainly was the opinion of the labor movement in America. My mother would be told by her forelady at the sweatshop who to vote for, the floor lady was carrying water for the sweatshop owner. Workers organized so they could have their own independent voices.

[JesusFightClub]

That certainly was the opinion of the labor movement in America. My mother would be told by her forelady at the sweatshop who to vote for, the floor lady was carrying water for the sweatshop worker. Workers organized so they could have their own independent voices.

My grandfather used to tell a story of why he joined the union. He said when he was little on voting day the mine bosses and their wives would come round knocking on people's doors. The bosses' wives would say to the women...now, very nicely, mind..."If Labour get in my husband will be forced to let some men go. Wouldn't it be a shame if your man was one of them?"

We don't do it in my union either except with a (pc) at the end. Sure, there are some Labour-affiliated unions and some practices which appear to me to be very close to the line, but we are not kidding on that the parliamentary road will get you anywhere. Only the united action of the working class will do that.

[Witsec7]

My grandfather used to tell a story of why he joined the union. He said when he was little on voting day the mine bosses and their wives would come round knocking on people's doors. The bosses' wives would say to the women...now, very nicely, mind..."If Labour get in my husband will be forced to let some men go. Wouldn't it be a shame if your man was one of them?"

We don't do it in my union either except with a (pc) at the end. Sure, there are some Labour-affiliated unions and some practices which appear to me to be very close to the line, but we are not kidding on that the parliamentary road will get you anywhere. Only the united action of the working class will do that.

This is the same kind of shit that came down all across my town up until the 60's.

(I also want to note I was quoted before I could correct my original post so my correction is bolded on this post.)

[JesusFightClub]

I knew what you meant ;)

[formergothardite]

Maybe so, but I don't think there should be a law where you cannot express your opinion in written form to employees. They should not however be forced to read it.

Why is there any need for an employer to send out letters urging employees to vote for a person? And, I don't know about jobs that you worked at, but I always had to read things that my employers sent me, because you never know what it is going to say, so unless this is going come with huge letters at the top saying THIS DOESN'T RELATE TO YOUR JOB AT ALL AND IS JUST HE OPINION OF YOUR BOSS. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THIS, FOLLOW THIS OR TAKE THIS OPINION INTO CONSIDERATION AT ALL. Then employees are going to be forced to read it because they will have no way to know if it is important to their job.

[Sola]

Why is there any need for an employer to send out letters urging employees to vote for a person? And, I don't know about jobs that you worked at, but I always had to read things that my employers sent me, because you never know what it is going to say, so unless this is going come with huge letters at the top saying THIS DOESN'T RELATE TO YOUR JOB AT ALL AND IS JUST HE OPINION OF YOUR BOSS. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THIS, FOLLOW THIS OR TAKE THIS OPINION INTO CONSIDERATION AT ALL. Then employees are going to be forced to read it because they will have no way to know if it is important to their job.

Plus there is also the fact that if the employer knew that the letter would be tossed, unread and taken no notice of, why would they waste time and money sending it out in the first place. They knew it would be read, they knew that it would be taken notice of and they knew that it would influence at least some of the employees. That's why it was sent and that's why it shouldn't have been sent.

[rock_girl]

Maybe so, but I don't think there should be a law where you cannot express your opinion in written form to employees. They should not however be forced to read it.

Forget laws, how about common decency? If you're a good boss you don't mess with your employees. That includes threatening to fire them when you've got a hang nail, replacing the coffee in the break room with prune juice and sending them letters that strongly suggest your choice of candidate should be theirs.

For the same reason doctors have a code of conduct that reads "don't root your patients" (among other things), employers need to understand that their position of power isn't an invitation to influence their employees' votes.

[formergothardite]

The only reason for an boss to send out letters urging people to vote a certain way is if they wanted to use their position of power to intimidate people into voting how they wanted them to vote.