One criticism I've heard about ACORN is they pay their volunteers by how many registrations they bring in. Which a cynical person might say might lead to some fraudulent registrations. But still, if Micky Mouse is on a registration form, it doesn't mean Micky Mouse is going to show up and try to vote....
On my seventh birthday, I wanted a toy fire truck, and I didn't get it, and you were real nice about it, and then the house next door burnt down, and then real firetrucks came, and for years I thought you set the fire for me. And if you did, you can tell me!
Xander ,'Same Time, Same Place'
Natter 61*
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
tommyrot - Oct 15, 2008 8:36:54 am PDT #4662 of 10001
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Jesse - Oct 15, 2008 8:40:20 am PDT #4663 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
But still, if Micky Mouse is on a registration form, it doesn't mean Micky Mouse is going to show up and try to vote....
I do feel like that is the key point. Gawker did a nice piece about the whole thing -- I love that Alex Pareene came up from Wonkette to Gawker! It's much more political now.
amych - Oct 15, 2008 8:46:26 am PDT #4664 of 10001
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
One criticism I've heard about ACORN is they pay their volunteers by how many registrations they bring in.
Well, they pay them by the hour -- but who knows what would motivate people to fill out the forms funny. Even so, the Mickey Mouse point holds. Every voter registration drive in history has had some bad forms in it; there's no evidence that any of those people have ever been officially enrolled or succeeded in voting.
Typo Boy - Oct 15, 2008 9:00:00 am PDT #4665 of 10001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
They pay them by the hour, but their job is to get voter registrations. So if they walk in with too few registrations too many days in a row they get fired, even if there is no explicit quota. And voter registration is damn hard work. So you will always get a percent of people who take the job and then decide it is easier to pull names out of the phone book than to stand on a Supermarket corner, or go door to door collecting registrations.
Acorn has evolved over the years; their controls were much tighter this year than in the past. Out of over a million new registrations, about 30,000 have turned out be problems 3%. (As someone who has done volunteer voter registation that is not unreasonable - one in 30 is someone who thinks it funny to fill out a form with smartass answers.) And apparently 90% of those were caught by acorn and turned in flagged. So that leaves .3% Acorn failed to catch.
Dana - Oct 15, 2008 9:03:01 am PDT #4666 of 10001
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
Anyone ever have one of those days when you're just too stupid to be trusted with anything, including work?
Barb - Oct 15, 2008 9:03:17 am PDT #4667 of 10001
“Not dead yet!”
AUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Why must people be SO STUPID?!?
(Not directed at anything election related, actually)
ETA: And not Dana. Because I suspect Dana is far, far more capable than the idjits I'm currently dealing with.
SuziQ - Oct 15, 2008 9:07:04 am PDT #4668 of 10001
Back tattoos of the mother is that you are absolutely right - Ame
Anyone ever have one of those days when you're just too stupid to be trusted with anything, including work?
Yes. Today I'm afraid to trust most of what I'm doing (took me three tries to type that sentence if that is any indication of my abilities today).
Gudanov - Oct 15, 2008 9:07:08 am PDT #4669 of 10001
Coding and Sleeping
Why must people be SO STUPID?!?
Fluoridated water
Jesse - Oct 15, 2008 9:15:03 am PDT #4670 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
I am approximately one hour from being on vacation!!! Needless to say, I'm not getting shit done. (Working from 7 this morning doesn't help that either....)
amych - Oct 15, 2008 9:15:23 am PDT #4671 of 10001
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
Well, sure. Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face.