Voter "report cards" go out to Minnesotans, rating them on their voting history
MINNEAPOLIS -- Peer pressure is being used to push voters to the polls.
"Voting report cards" coming in the mail claim to compare your voting history to your neighbors, and say they'll follow up to see whether you voted this year.
The voting history doesn't include who was voted for, only whether votes were cast or not.
"That is something private I would say," Varun Dyeagi of Minneapolis said. "Everybody keeps their vote secret."
Another Minneapolis voter, Guy Freeman, said he thinks the mailers are intimidating.
As invasive as it may feel though, State Rep. Jeremy Munson (R-Crystal Lake) says it's legal and can be an effective tactic.
"I think most people want to beat their high score, maybe one-up their neighbors," he said. "They try to get you to compete. People have this core competition, some people, and they want to turn those people out to vote any way they can."
The report cards are coming from the Voter Participation Center, a nonprofit that says its nonpartisan goal is to get more people to vote.
Its president, Tom Lopach, said in a statement to WCCO, "Many citizens are inspired to vote when shown their record. It's a way to provide some meaningful benchmarks to encourage greater involvement in our democracy."
Not everyone agrees with that.
"It will do nothing but make me throw it in the garbage," Freeman said.
The information on the mailers is all public if it's used for political reasons. In fact, for $46, any registered voter can get the name, address and voting history of every other registered voter in Minnesota.
"[Political] groups will go to great length to identify voters that they think are going to vote the way they want and then flush them out of the house by sending mailers," Munson said.
Blaine Hayes, a Minneapolis voter, says he'd rather be reminded to vote than of the times he didn't vote.
"Don't guilt trip me into voting," he said. "I'm going to vote."
The report cards include information on how to be taken off the mailing list.
