NM GOP Resorts To Voter Intimidation With Threats

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
It is true that whether or not someone has voted is public record (though how someone voted is not). And the concept of insinuating that your neighbors will find out if you don’t vote isn’t new (vote shaming). A field study experiment (“Social Pressure and Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Largescale Field Experiment”pdf, published in 2008 in the journal American Political Science Review (APSR)) was conducted in Michigan for the 2006 primary election and it showed that people voted at a higher rate if they received mailers indicating that their participation in the election would be publicized. The mailer that had the biggest impact included information about the two previous elections and whether the recipient and his or her neighbors participated or not. “We intend to mail an updated chart,” the mailer warned. “You and your neighbors will all know who voted and who did not.” (from the New Yorker). (cue ominous music)

MoveOn.org received a tiny bit (sarcasm) of criticism when they did they same thing in 2012 to get people out to vote for Obama, and Cruz faced a teensy weensy bit (monster sarcasm) of flak back in January for the same thing, because the Cruz mailer was designed specifically to look like an official government mailing and not a political mailing. And there are other instances where both parties have done the same thing over the last few years. There are several other articles in the APSR about it. So in New Mexico they are applying known mobilizing tactics. However, for the New Mexico GOP to be trying to mobilize their own base with this particular frame and message shows a bit of desperation, or at least fear that GOP voters may decide to stay home this election.
 
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