Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Elections - City Councils and Commissions - Policies
mplsjaromir
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mplsjaromir » July 14th, 2015, 3:08 pm


EOst
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby EOst » July 14th, 2015, 3:14 pm

lol. Think of the poor property owners faced with the immense expense of printing out one extra piece of paper for each incoming resident!

MNdible
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby MNdible » July 14th, 2015, 3:49 pm

It is a stupid thing to compel landlords to do.

Maybe we could just compel the renters to take a minute to update their own voter registration.

mattaudio
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mattaudio » July 14th, 2015, 3:56 pm

Maybe we could just automatically register people to vote, and make election day a holiday.

MNdible
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby MNdible » July 14th, 2015, 4:31 pm

I'd be interested to know how many people don't vote because they're not registered. It is not a major obstacle (in Minnesota). If it's really leading to voter disenfranchisement, then those voters apparently weren't very interested in being enfranchised in the first place.

EOst
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby EOst » July 14th, 2015, 4:40 pm

So what? In the worst case scenario, this is an extremely minimal burden on landlords. Studies have repeatedly shown that such measures increase voter turnout.

Besides, both because of our nation's confusing and inconsistent laws re: voter registration and because of the malicious and falsifying rhetoric of certain politicians, a lot of people aren't aware of their voting rights. Think college students at the U, who assume they aren't allowed to vote at their school address, or of recent immigrants. Sometimes, too, people forget, or they think their registration doesn't need to be changed every time they move, or any number of other dumb things.

MNdible
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby MNdible » July 14th, 2015, 5:02 pm

I'm not an anti-government guy, I promise. But this definitely falls into the category of unnecessary piddly regulation of exactly the kind that Minneapolis City Council members just can't say no to. I'm a good government guy -- I believe that government has a robust and important role to play in society. But that doesn't mean that every "good idea" that pops into somebody's head should be enacted as legislation.

Gov. Dayton correctly called out the Voter ID push as being a solution in search of a problem. I'd say that the same critique applies here. The problem is not that it's too hard to register to vote, or even that some people forget to register when they move. The problem is that some people just don't care enough to take the time to vote.

Yes, it won't hurt any landlords to have to do this. Just like it won't hurt bars to hand out free earplugs, or any number of other initiatives we could probably come up with. But, really, are these things that the City of Minneapolis needs to get involved with? It's not an argument of this taking away time from other more important things -- it's an argument that this is something that just doesn't need to happen.

EOst
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby EOst » July 14th, 2015, 6:14 pm

The problem is not that it's too hard to register to vote, or even that some people forget to register when they move. The problem is that some people just don't care enough to take the time to vote.
All of those things are problems, not just the last one. You've created a straw man of the nonvoter; their reasons for not doing so are far more complex than you're giving credit for. Regulations like this won't solve every problem, but they are incredibly minor fixes that have been proven to increase voter participation.

mplsjaromir
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mplsjaromir » July 14th, 2015, 7:26 pm

This ordinance is about communicating local preference. Big city governments pass laws that aren't under the purview of the city. It allows state and national politicians to point to statutory support of a given issue.

Recognizing same sex marriage, gun control, global warming, are not issues for municipalities. Still cities all over the country have addressed and will continue to address these issues in ways they can. The Democratic Party will use expanding voting access as policy initiative in future elections. Testing the waters in Minneapolis is part of the strategy.

My advice to Republicans who are not fond of Minneapolis being a legislative Petri dish, win a mother farking seat on the City Council!

Snelbian
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby Snelbian » July 15th, 2015, 12:32 pm

Won't somebody please think of the poor landlords! They're going to have to print out whole sheets of paper once in a while. This is so onerous that I'd be surprised if any apartments are built in Minneapolis ever again. Whole sheets! Sometimes a dozen! Do you have any idea how many nickels that will take out of their pockets every year?!

EDIT: My bad, the cards are free to pick up, not printable. Still, it's...uh...SOCIALISM!

MNdible
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby MNdible » July 15th, 2015, 12:36 pm

Yep, it's easy. Got it.

Apparently it strikes nobody else as ridiculous that we're going to force landlords to become part of our election process, so carry on.

Let's start brainstorming some other simple things that we can force other people to do, because we're just trying to do good!

mattaudio
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mattaudio » July 15th, 2015, 12:45 pm

Actually it doesn't seem ridiculous at all, since one's physical address has a huge amount to do with the election process, and landlords have a huge amount to do with one's physical address.

Though it would be so much better if people were registered to vote automatically, bypassing the needless and anti-democratic step to mail in a registration form or deal with same-day registration hassles.

mplsjaromir
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mplsjaromir » July 15th, 2015, 12:45 pm

Who is being forced to be a landlord?

clf
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby clf » July 15th, 2015, 3:03 pm

I have had landlords that give out the change of address packets that can be picked up at the post office that had voter registration cards in them. I thought they were nice to provide that along with the other forms you fill out at the time of signing a lease.

Snelbian
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby Snelbian » July 15th, 2015, 3:25 pm

Yep, it's easy. Got it.

Apparently it strikes nobody else as ridiculous that we're going to force landlords to become part of our election process, so carry on.

Let's start brainstorming some other simple things that we can force other people to do, because we're just trying to do good!
I agree, laws are stupid and shouldn't exist. Especially the ones about simple things people should and shouldn't do for the good of society. The more our legislative process concerns itself only with incredibly complex, evil plots, the better.

Cobra Commander 2016!

MNdible
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby MNdible » July 15th, 2015, 3:34 pm

Yep, if you question any law, clearly you're a reactionary who hates all laws.

It's amazing that society has managed to limp along without landlords taking on this critical task.

Anyway, thanks all for giving this one so much critical thought.

Snelbian
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby Snelbian » July 15th, 2015, 10:36 pm

Snark aside, Cam's argument is just really weak. Governments large and small regulate all sorts of things large and small. Nobody is going to decide not to build an apartment building just because they have to hand out a notecard they're not even paying for, and as EOst says, there is a very real and tangible societal benefit to be had. It doesn't take a great deal of critical engagement to grasp that his argument is ridiculously hyperbolic.

mullen
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby mullen » July 16th, 2015, 8:15 pm

so can we agree betsy hodges sucks as mayor?

David Greene
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby David Greene » July 16th, 2015, 8:26 pm

Er...no?

Silophant
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Re: Minneapolis City Politics General Discussion

Postby Silophant » July 16th, 2015, 8:33 pm

I'm gonna go with... Nope.
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