"Report to us about your neighbor..without their permission", asks MN GOP

[zulchzulu]

Gee, I wonder where this database will go to... paging Admiral Poindexter...Admiral Poindexter....

Snip:
"Take Minnesota. The state Republican Party has developed a Web site that allows its activists to tap into a database of voters whose political allegiances and concerns it would like to know. But it is not just any group of voters -- they are the activists' neighbors."

"The project, dubbed WebVoter, gives GOP activists the names and addresses of 25 people who live, in most cases, within a couple of blocks from them. The party has asked 60,000 supporters from across the state to figure out what issues animate their neighbors and where they stand in the political spectrum, and report that information back to the party -- with or, possibly, without their neighbors' permission. "

"The Bush campaign launched a similar effort on its Web site. Those who sign up to be campaign volunteers -- and who live in a state the campaign is targeting -- can access a list of their neighbors the campaign would like to reach. The site provides their names, addresses, phone numbers, maps of where each lives and a script with a number of questions -- including whether they are registered to vote, are opposed to abortion rights and support the president. "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A58309-2004Jul17?language=printer

[acmavm]

1. "Little Brother calling Big Brother, Little Brother caling Big Brother....

Do you hear me Mr.Asscroft? I have a information for your data base. My neighbor is a pro-choice, anti-bush*, pro-Kerry, commie liberal. Over and out."

[izzie]

2. I guessed this was public anyhow. All records are public

Birth to death and after in wills. This money to people running is also. It has been trying to get it that is different.Now it is in front of you. I see no harm.

[spooky3]

4. How are neighbors' views on abortion and whatever else is on their

questions list, public?

I suspect the libertarian-leaning Republicans contacted by these folks will be none to happy about it.

[sandnsea]

10. Report back to the party?

Uh, no, this isn't done in any way that I know of. The most we report back is whether somebody wants a yard sign or wants to volunteer, pro Kerry/Dem or not. This is unbelievable. They have no concept of invasion of privacy whatsoever.

[iconoclastic cat]

3. Does Chimpy/RNC really admire N. Korea this much?

All we need now is the cannibalism.

[Monte Carlo]

5. How very Stalinist.

Monitoring your neighbor for political reasons? Half the population monitoring the other half? Jeez, don't they have anything more constructive to do?

[shance]

6. Is this legal?

It sounds incredibly invasive with potential for abuse.

[TexasSissy]

7. Why don't we do the same? Voter registrations are public records,

aren't they? The database you speak of groups according to location....so I'm wondering why the Democrats don't do the same thing?

[Sugarbleus]

8. Strange, but I don't yet see any real harm in it....UNLESS they were

trying to get info from neighbors so the neighbors could be arrested on trumped up charges of terrorist activity....

[no name no slogan]

9. This really isn't anything new

Block captains and precinct-level organizers do this kind of work every time there's an election. It's called "voter ID", and it is used effectively by ALL parties to figure out where there support is in each neighborhood.

The only difference with the WebVoter program is that it has become centralized and put on the web by the state party organization. As a Minnesota DFLer, I can only say "Damn, I wish we'd thought of that!".

Most of the information on WebVoter comes from public records, and from those websites that list individual contributions to political campaigns.

Sure, it may seem sinister, but it's really not any different than what parties have been doing for years, if not centuries. The only difference is that now, with new technology, it can be shared widely among many people.

[sandnsea]

11. Well we don't

We don't ask people about their personal views on any issue whatsoever. It's strictly get out the vote, answer questions if THEY have them, and mark down pro-Bush or pro-Kerry. That's about it.

[no name no slogan]

15. It's just like Voter ID

You ID people who you think will be supporters, and keep a list of them, and also include something about their main issues. How do you get the info about their issues? ASK THEM.

If they don't tell you anything, then you don't get any info. But most, if they are supporters of your party/candidate, will volunteer that information.

In Minnesota, there is no party registration-- everybody is the same as everyone else. The only way to keep track of your supporters and potential supporters is by maintaining your own databases.

The MNGOP is not doing anything out of the ordinary this year. Hell, I myself and building a web-based activist database application for use in our ongoing progressive efforts. All our info is VOLUNTARY, collected from supporters and potential supporters who we've either talked to, or who have signed up with us.

The time to be afraid about this kind of stuff was ten years ago, when it was all a novelty. This type of application is micenuts compared to what big corporations have on file for you.

[sandnsea]

18. We don't do that

That's all I can tell you. We have their party affiliation and ask for their vote, if they tell us who they're voting for we mark it down. We don't keep any information on their views on specific issues. Maybe you do it in Minnesota, but we don't do it where I live.

I'm sorry, I do not want a database full of my views on political issues. No way, no how.

[Unperson 309]

13. NO! True, the voter affiliation is public record, but...

asking party members to cozy up to the neighbors and ask them questions, which are then reported BACK to the party is NOT!!

If a Republican, canvassing me, asked if I were a Democrat, that would be public knowledge. The question would be legal. BUT, what if, in the course of the conversation, he asks me about my views on abortion, terrorism, the al Qaida, legalized drugs, medical marijuana, the draft, etc? Yes, I might answer the questions, but do I know where those answers are taken after I give them?

Do I WANT to be in a database owned by people who have the power to hurt me because they are in positions of authority? Do you think for one split instant that the Minnesota Republican Party would NOT hand that database (with answered questions, names, addresses etc) over to the white hOuse when asked to?

Not just no, but HELL NO!!! In my offline life, members of my family are members of the ACLU, of PETA, of other leftist groups. Did you know that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is now OFFICIALLY listed as a terrorist group?!! YES, information that a
relative was a PETA member MIGHT end up getting that person "disappeared" some day if these skunks stay in power!

Dollars to donuts, the person asking the questions will NOT say to their neighbors "Oh, I'm taking this survey so we can put you in our database!" No WAY! Anyone asking ME political questions from now on can expect a SHARP frilling on who they are, where the info is going and why and after that, dammit, I plead the fucking FIFTH AMENDMENT!

I refuse to answer because any answer I give may be used to incriminate me by illegitimate fucking brownshirts who will make shit illegal so they can jug my subversive ass! GET OFF MY FUCKING WELCOME MAT!!" *SLAM!*

309

[no name no slogan]

16. MN doesn't have party affiliation for voter registration

which is a BIG reason why the parties rely almost exclusively on the data the collect at campaign stops, tabling/events, and mailing lists, etc.

The WebVoter application is little more than an extension of this. Basically, it's a bunch of Repubs going door to door, asking their neighbors about politics and the candidates they support.

NOBODY is compelled to answer ANY questions they're asked. This is not much different from doing canvassing or voter ID before an election. The only difference is that now they've got it all coordinated in ONE CENTRAL PLACE, instead of tons of lists/databases with many different campaigns/DFL organizations, with duplicates, incorrect records, etc.

It's a hell of an idea, and makes it THAT much easier to keep track of supporters, and to make sure they turn out November 2. Unfortunately for us DFLers, this is just one more example of how the MNGOP is kicking our asses in the technology end, and we're still floundering about trying to get our message (whatever it is this week) out to the voters.

[Unperson 309]

12. The website advocating this is:

http://www.mngop.com and the site with the webvoter stuff (invitation only... Ha><orz? can you enlighten us?) is http://www.mngop.com/webvoters (if that doesn't work try it as webvoter)

They are very bit as creepy as they sound!

309

[no name no slogan]

17. Have fun at their site, instead of being paranoid

Click on the "Letter Writer" button on the left-hand side of the page. I know of several people that have used this applet against the Repubs by changing the canned text to something anti-Shrub, and then send it on.

I heard that the Repubs may be checking the outgoing mail nowdays, but if a lot of people do it they may not have the resources to read them all. What better way to waste their valuable resources than to use them against themselves?

[shance]

14. It is a form of stalking

which they are pretty good at doing.