NationStates Jolt Archive

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7576956.stm

Xbox Live in youth voting drive

Americans will soon be able to use Xbox Live to register to vote in the November presidential elections.

Microsoft has signed a partnership with activist group Rock The Vote to boost interest in the upcoming election among young people.

As part of the tie-up Xbox Live members will also be able to take part in polls to gauge their voting intentions.

A forum on Xbox Live will also be used to gather opinions from gamers that will be shared with candidates.

Party politics

"To realise our goal of registering two million young Americans by this fall, we need to go where young Americans are," said Heather Smith, executive director of Rock the Vote, in a statement. "There's no doubt in our minds that many are on Xbox 360 and Xbox Live."

Microsoft said that the Rock The Vote campaign to use Xbox Live would begin on 25 August.

In the past Rock The Vote has also worked with MySpace to encourage bands that promote their music via the social networking site to get fans to register to vote.

Through the partnership with Rock The Vote, Microsoft is also planning to have a presence at the Republican and Democrat party conventions to educate politicians about it and its members views.

Some aspects of Xbox Live are free but for a monthly fee members can take on other console owners in online games. In the UK the annual fee for the service is £39.99.

In May 2008 Microsoft announced that it had 12 million subscribers for Xbox Live spread across 26 countries.
Now, see, this is a great idea. Reaching the youth of today and getting them to care about voting is incredibly difficult as it is. If they can do it through X-Box Live, so much the better.

I just hope Sony and Nintendo do the same.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7576956.stm


Now, see, this is a great idea. Reaching the youth of today and getting them to care about voting is incredibly difficult as it is. If they can do it through X-Box Live, so much the better.

I just hope Sony and Nintendo do the same.

will they do this in Finland?that'd be awesome!

I don't know. Right now they're mainly working with Rock the Vote, an organization that's been dedicated to getting youths to register to vote in the United States for many, MANY years. If there are similar groups in Finland, they may well follow RtV's example.

That really is awesome. :D

now if they can VOTE through xbox theyll have something.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7576956.stm


Now, see, this is a great idea. Reaching the youth of today and getting them to care about voting is incredibly difficult as it is. If they can do it through X-Box Live, so much the better.

I just hope Sony and Nintendo do the same.

I think it says something if people are to lazy to get of their ass and go and register to vote, no we will just do it while we continue our 20 hour game marathon.

I still can't believe you have to pay to be able to play against other people off line.

now if they can VOTE through xbox theyll have something.

Massive online voting fraud?

Massive online voting fraud?
whereas online voter registration cant possibly be fraudulent?

the requirement to leave the house in order to vote is becoming more and more of a burden. the sooner we can figure out a way to let people vote from home the better.

the requirement to leave the house in order to vote is becoming more and more of a burden. the sooner we can figure out a way to let people vote from home the better.
If society is such that people would refuse to place their vote if it meant having to leave home, we have a more serious problem on our hands than who our governmental representatives are.

I'm quite worried about the vulnerability in this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7576956.stm


Now, see, this is a great idea. Reaching the youth of today and getting them to care about voting is incredibly difficult as it is. If they can do it through X-Box Live, so much the better.

I just hope Sony and Nintendo do the same.
I'd just like to point out that I called it:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a205/ulteriormotives/MortalCongress.png

whereas online voter registration cant possibly be fraudulent?

the requirement to leave the house in order to vote is becoming more and more of a burden. the sooner we can figure out a way to let people vote from home the better.That's what happens when you don't even ask for ID when you go to vote in person.

whereas online voter registration cant possibly be fraudulent?
Never said anything of the sort.

the requirement to leave the house in order to vote is becoming more and more of a burden. the sooner we can figure out a way to let people vote from home the better.

Oh, I know how much a burden actually leaving my apartment is, going outside and waiting in a line at some polling place to press a few buttons. If someone is too lazy to do that, I really don't know if I trust them to vote for the next leader of the nation.

Oh, I know how much a burden actually leaving my apartment is, going outside and waiting in a line at some polling place to press a few buttons. If someone is too lazy to do that, I really don't know if I trust them to vote for the next leader of the nation.It's a bit of a hassle for some people. The disabled and overseas citizens, mainly... =P

Never said anything of the sort.



Oh, I know how much a burden actually leaving my apartment is, going outside and waiting in a line at some polling place to press a few buttons. If someone is too lazy to do that, I really don't know if I trust them to vote for the next leader of the nation.
With my work schedule and the location of the polling place from where work is about an hour drive to get there

Sometimes it is cutting it awful close, personally its the not leaving my house thing so much as the work schedule thing

I live on the opposite side of the country from my precinct. I have to vote absentee.

I did register in person while home on vacation, despite the round trip being an hour.

Anyway, I think this is a great idea.

It's a bit of a hassle for some people. The disabled and overseas citizens, mainly... =P
I thought the discussion was about getting the youth to vote.

With my work schedule and the location of the polling location from where work is about an hour drive to get there

Sometimes it is cutting it awful close, personally its the not leaving my house thing so much as the work schedule thing


My own district's polling place is a church 45 minutes (assuming good traffic) from my workplace. Fortunately, they usually open at 6:30am, so I can vote before going into work. It's a bit of a stretch some election seasons to vote and get to work, but it's worth the occasional late start.

I thought the discussion was about getting the youth to vote.




My own district's polling place is a church 45 minutes (assuming good traffic) from my workplace. Fortunately, they usually open at 6:30am, so I can vote before going into work. It's a bit of a stretch some election seasons to vote and get to work, but it's worth the occasional late start.

It can be done and I have continuously done so but if there was a more continent way to do so I would in a heartbeat,and it is not simply a lack of ambition to leave my house.

I thought the discussion was about getting the youth to vote.My little brother will be voting in an American election for the first time. He can't just hop to our polling station in Fairmont, WV. But yeah, you're right. Plenty of people are too lazy to go vote. It's just that some people actually have an excuse, which is why some people are able to abuse that in the first place. It comes down to choosing whether to disenfranchise those that would be unable to vote or making abuse of such facilitations easier for freeloaders.

It can be done and I have continuously done so but if there was a more continent way to do so I would in a heartbeat,and it is not simply a lack of ambition to leave my house.

Alright, I was out of line the lazy comment earlier. My coffee not have been strong enough today.

But my main concern about online voter fraud still stands. Verifying an electronic vote cast over the Internet may be too much of a burden for a government that can't successfully count votes cast on paper cough*2000*cough.

Alright, I was out of line the lazy comment earlier. My coffee not have been strong enough today.

But my main concern about online voter fraud still stands. Verifying an electronic vote cast over the Internet may be too much of a burden for a government that can't successfully count votes cast on paper cough*2000*cough.

Completely legitimate concern, there are ways to reduce the possibility but they would require a major overhaul and some rather strict requirements that most people would have issues with

In the end it could be done (or at least as close as paper votes) but it would be possibly just as inconvenient as paper votes

Oh, you think the American voting system needs an overhaul? The German Constitutional Court ruled that the German voting system is unconstitutional and needs to be revamped. However, they've given us time until after the upcoming election to fix it, because they're aware of the difficulty of creating a working voting system.

So the next German general elections will be unconstitutional.

Hah. What'll happen then? Will you guys toss out the results or just let them stand?

Oh, you think the American voting system needs an overhaul? The German Constitutional Court ruled that the German voting system is unconstitutional and needs to be revamped. However, they've given us time until after the upcoming election to fix it, because they're aware of the difficulty of creating a working voting system.

So the next German general elections will be unconstitutional.
whoa

what about it is unconstitutional? what kind of thing are they going to institute to make it right?

Hah. What'll happen then? Will you guys toss out the results or just let them stand?They stand, but they violate the constitution. The court decided that it was a greater evil to rush through creating a new system or allowing the current government to remain in power longer than anticipated without popular vote than to have one more bad election.
whoa

what about it is unconstitutional? what kind of thing are they going to institute to make it right?You get two votes in the German system, one for the party you want to see in parliament and one for which party wins your voting district. The party receives seats depending on how well they do in the general election plus whatever they get from the voting districts. But the way the system works, it's possible to lose a seat if you get more votes in some circumstances. One of those came up in the last election and got ruled on this year.
We have yet to see what is going to happen. Likely is that nothing will until after the election, seeing as you need a majority to change the voting system in the first place.