Shareholder

Until the administrators remove the "I voted" logo from username posts of those who have voted in the FT election, I am calling on those who have not yet voted, to boycott the TalkBoard vote. This is an intrusion on our privacy and goes against the basic principles of democratic participation. I have been a candidate on three occasions and would normally encourage a high turnout. But this action is a return to the Salem Witch Hunts and cannot be tolerated in our community.

I respectfully ask for an explanation of this practice, why it was adopted and at who's initiative.

Jaimito Cartero

It's not April 1st, is it?

rkt10

Some things I just don't understand. What's the problem here?

Rita

Jaimito Cartero

A voter player hater?

ScottC

This has to be a joke, it really has to be.

Canarsie

You can disable the avatar if you do not want the fact that you voted to be publicized.

Simply go to MyFlyerTalk and click on Edit Avatar in the Settings and Options area on the left side of your browser window.

Not only can you disable an avatar, but you also have a choice of which I Voted avatar you would like to display, if you prefer to display an avatar at all.

I hope this helps.

airbus320

Regretably, is is not a joke.

In democratic elections, public disclosure of who voted and who has not voted is probihited by law. Your vote and the fact that you even voted is considerated private. There is no disclosure of those who votes and those who choose not to vote.

While the 'voted logo' has probably the intention to rallying the voting population to get out and vote, this measure has the consequence of revealing to the public eye who has not voted. This measure is an invasion of my privacy....

and I therefore protest the use of this logo.

airbus320

This still does solve the problem of complete privacy. There should be no logo at all.

Dovster

Not really -- it is easily removed.

Yes, for a few seconds it will be revealed that you voted but the same is true when you walk into a voting booth -- everyone seeing you go in and go out has a darned good idea that you voted but not for whom.

dhuey

That is not true in many jurisdictions, including Washington state. There have been many public figures who were surprised to face public scrutiny for not voting.

Jaimito Cartero

In the US, when you go to vote, they give you a sticker that says, "I voted". You're not forced to wear it, but most citizens are *proud* to vote, and display it so. I guess from your reaction it's not the same up north.

As Canarsie has pointed out, you can turn this avatar off, so I don't see what the issue is.

Canarsie

This is not an issue, as one can easily disable the avatar prior to voting if desired.

For those of you who want to vote but do not want it to be known publicly that you actually voted, first disable the avatar by following the instructions I provided earlier in this thread.

Problem solved.

Randy Petersen

I'll take responsibility.
As many who have posted to this thread have indicated, it is solely to try and remind members that we have elections going on. After the past election, a few members asked about why there was not a higher voter turnout, and others commented on how it was not promoted enough, etc. etc. So as this election period was close, i first thought of having a pop-up window appear reminding every visitor to FlyerTalk to vote. The tech guys said they could do that but thought we might hear a few complaints from those who would confuse it with or compare it to an ad. Fair assessment, so i went back to the drawing board. What method could i come up that might serve as a reminder that the TalkBoard elections were going on since we have disallowed general campaigning except for personal emails to known members and signatures.

So i thought this I Voted campaign could serve that purpose since as noted, we designed it so that members could self-select for the I Voted to be displayed or not.

But we did think this all through and tried to come up with a way to get more of the voters out, plain and simple. For a vast majority of members of FlyerTalk, they will be reminded of the voting which is going on now, which is its only purpose.

I'm sorry if you took it any other way and in case you wonder, as soon as the elections are over the buttons all go away.

I think it worthy to continue to get the vote out and to you and airbus320, my apologies that you have taken the intent any other way.

Randy

P.S. And a Salem Witch Hunt? Really?

dhuey

This is FlyerTalk, after all -- Headquarters of Hyperbole™.

rcs85551

Kudos to Shareholder for starting this thread. While I do think it is a great idea of promoting the election, it would have been better to disclose this avatar thing upfront.

Maybe someone can include the information about the avatar in the election sticky as well as the information how to disable it.