vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen

11.07.2006

4:45, Election Day

Great experiment over at Chittenden County's Channel 17 Center for Media and Democracy. Take a look at their Exit Voices project, which asks Vermont voters "What would you say if there was a comments section on the ballot?"

Now there's an idea I can get behind. Wouldn't it be great to vote for a candidate, but add a note like "hated your negative ads" or "next time, vote for a balanced budget" or "you were wrong about the Iraq War" ?

Interesting that so far today most of the posts don't answer the Exit Voices question. Instead, people write about their experience at the polls -- who they voted for, what the turnout looked like. Their excitement about election day comes through: For these people, voting is more than a duty.

-- Candace Page

posted by vt.Buzz | 4:52 PM |

Comments:

Thanks for the mention, Candace. I think the comments we're getting are more in line with what I expected. The "comments section on the ballot" idea is more about voters communicating about the elections with their neighbors than to the candidates directly. After all, we can hardly guarantee that the candidates will read Exit Voices -- or even hear of it. The audience will be other voters in Vermont, and our hope is that makes it an empowering and democratizing tool.

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