Of All The Reasons To Say No To Internet Voting, Wouldn't Porn And Beer Be Near The End Of The List?

from the try-that-again dept

Thu, Mar 20th 2008 5:55am — Mike Masnick

There are many, many reasons to be against the idea of allowing political voting via the internet, starting with questions about the security, accuracy and reliability of the technology. However, former Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who admits he wants to attract younger internet users to his conservative party, gave some bizarre reasons for not being a fan of internet voting. Apparently the problem isn't questions about the technology but the idea that voters may be multitasking with beer and porn: "I am not an enthusiast of a young person sitting in front of a computer, watching video clips and pornography while sipping a bottle of beer and voting when he feels like it." Does that mean he'd be okay with if it people agreed not to watch porn or sip beer while voting?

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Filed Under: beer, jaroslaw kaczynski, online voting, poland, porn

24 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 20 Mar 2008 @ 6:17am

OK, how many polish jokes will this generate?
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SteveD, 20 Mar 2008 @ 6:45am

The disillusioned youth...
Somehow he doesn't strike me as a man that’s going to reconnect politics with the disillusioned youth.
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ChurchHatesTucker, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:01am

Re: The disillusioned youth...
My first thought as well. Do they want to court the youth vote or not?
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:05am

it might make it easier for Florida to explain all those Pat Buchannan votes that way.
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W4RM4N, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:05am

What Does He Do on the Internet?
Is he basing this from personal experience?
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Lisa Westveld, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:07am

Just wondering...
If you're not old enough to vote then what are you doing online drinking and viewing porn? :-)
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Stanislaus Polakiem, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:10am

Vhere do you get ovv?
Vhy do you mock the great nation of Polska???
Ve have many great cultures.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski is great hero of state. Only fault I can find is that he doesn't drink enough beer or watch enough porn clips.
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Duodave, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:24am

Damn...
Does this mean I can't sit in my pickup truck with a beer between my knees reading porn, park the truck then go into the voting place and vote? How many republicans have been doing that for years?
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Andre, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:28am

I a moments like this I feel embarrassed that I hold polish passport. Luckily I do not have to live there anymore. I think he confuses the role of a president with the role of a comedienne.
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Anonnymouse, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:31am

The real question is why anyone would sully their fantasy time by thinking about his politics.. ;)
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TheDock22, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:32am

Heck...
I could see not wanting people to be drunk while voting. We may end up electing Curious George for President! Oh wait...we kind of did a couple times...
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jt, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:33am

On the other hand...
...if they hand out porn & beer at the voting booths, do you think voter participation would increase? I think it might!
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moe, 20 Mar 2008 @ 7:55am

Re: The disillusioned youth...
Haha, that's the understatement of the year.
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Brett, 20 Mar 2008 @ 8:56am

Best decisions
Some of the best decisions of my life have been made after beer and porn.
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Michael G, 20 Mar 2008 @ 9:32am

Oh man...
I hate to be thinking of myself thinking like this but I kind of agree with the principle of what he's saying, voting shouldn't be just an afterthought. I must be drunk watching too much porn.
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TriZz, 20 Mar 2008 @ 9:37am

Re: Just wondering...
...are you joking? It's Europe. I don't think they have an age limit on beer, and most broadcast television contains nudity (including the commercials).
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Rational Beaver, 20 Mar 2008 @ 10:17am

Beer & Porn, eh?
So I guess it's okay for women to vote online (unless he objects to playing Scrabulous on Facebook while voting).
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Nick, 20 Mar 2008 @ 10:48am

Re: Re: Just wondering...
It's Europe. I don't think they have an age limit on beer, and most broadcast television contains nudity (including the commercials)

I assume your joking?
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R. H., 20 Mar 2008 @ 11:26am

Re: Re: Just wondering...
The legal drinking age in Poland is 18. Just thought you'd want to know ^_^
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Mar 2008 @ 12:08pm

realy this makes sense, lets assume that internet voting was avaliable. do you know what would happen?!?! i can see it now, im drinking my beer...watching my porn, and suddenly it the very cute blond chick getting it from behind AND talking about what she would do as president to change the country, id be so drunk that id believe her and go vote.

yep...i see this is a BIG problem.
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Robert, 20 Mar 2008 @ 1:34pm

Internet Voting
I would love to be able to vote online, I think it would greatly increase Voter Turnout for the younger crowd whom is comfortable doing everything online these days.

It could hardly be any worse than the damn e-voting machines we keep hearing about being hacked and malfunctioning.
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Jake, 20 Mar 2008 @ 2:02pm

On some level, I can see his point; voting is the kind of thing that really ought to involve some serious thought, rather than being done as an afterthought.
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BTR1701, 20 Mar 2008 @ 2:54pm

Seems to me, voter turnout would dramatically increase with the addition of porn and beer. It sure would make voting for Hillary more palatable if a nice picture of Isabella Soprano was in the next browser window.
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BTR1701, 20 Mar 2008 @ 2:55pm

Re: Serious
> voting is the kind of thing that really ought to involve some
> serious thought, rather than being done as an afterthought

Yes, but it's not the government's place to be telling me or regulating me into thinking the way they've decided I ought to be thinking.
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