Grebner's voting experiment

Mark Grebner, an Ingham County Commissioner most known for his political business, Practical Political Consultants, is under fire for a mailing he did.

From the Argus

Shock quickly turned to anger when Hamburg Township resident Karl Schwanik opened his mail one day last week.
He had received a letter containing his voting record — a list of the elections in which he had gone to the polls to cast ballots, and those he hadn't — from an East Lansing firm known as Practical Political Consulting Inc.

The letter also contained the voting records of his neighbors and promised a follow-up letter that will indicate who voted in the coming Tuesday primary election

I have mixed views on this. It's certainly legal, and rather easy to find out who voted and who did not vote as it is public record. It's also easy for me to preach about voting since I'm classified as an 8 or a 9 voter (never missed a contested election).

However, there are several reasons people don't vote. Some are lazy. Some don't know enough about the candidates. Some are informed and don't like anybody on the ballot.

I wish those who didn't like anyone showed up and left the ballot blank, voted third party, or wrote themselves in. That sends more of a message than staying home where they are ignored.

The ones who don't know enough about the candidates I don't want voting. Ignorant people should not vote. I'm NOT referring to those I disagree with on issues. I'm referring to the fools who vote for superficial reasons (IE - Vote for Granholm because she's a woman, Vote for DeVos since he's Dutch) instead of deciding based on where the candidates stand on issues, voting records, competency, or candidate's character.

I find out as much information as I can on each candidate before I make a decision. I have never filled in the straight ticket circle. I go down each list and make the decision. If I don't know anything about the people, I skip that race. If I don't like any of the choices, given I leave it blank, write someone in, or vote third party.

The ideal situation is for a 100% turnout of well informed voters. I don't mind my vote being cancelled out to a well informed voter I happen to disagree with. I hate it when my vote is cancelled out to some joker who thinks Granholm is hot and votes for her because of that reason.

While we all have the right to vote, it's also a major responsibility to make sure we really know who we are voting for and the reasons we are making those decisions. If Grebner's list gets uninformed people to the polls, he's doing us all a disservice. If he's getting informed people to the polls, he's doing us all a service.