SPetty
10-28-2004, 08:03 AM
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/localnews/news8/stories/wfaa041027_wz_cc.2d8277bb.html
Swap the vote
The presidential race in Texas, of course, doesn't appear to be much of a contest. Polls show President Bush with a sizable lead over Senator Kerry in the Lone Star State.
If the surveys are correct, all the Texas electoral votes will go to the former Texas governor.
That's why the daily news coverage in the final days of the campaign shows Bush and Kerry soliciting votes in the handful of so-called "swing states," where the election could go either way.
But what if you—in Texas—could influence the outcome in a swing state? That's the goal of a Web site called VotePair.org (http://www.votepair.org).
It provides a mechanism for Kerry voters in Texas and other states considered safe for George Bush to trade their votes with backers of Ralph Nader or other progressive candidates in the swing states.
So a Kerry vote, for instance, could be cast in Florida in exchange for a Nader vote in Texas.
So far, VotePair says it has matched up almost 1,700 pairs of voters; not a lot in the big picture, perhaps, but a potential difference-maker in states like Florida, where Bush won by 537 votes in 2000; or in New Mexico, where the final margin was just 316 votes four years ago.
I wasn't able to identify any Web sites aimed at securing swing state votes for the president. VotePair is backed by people who support "progressive" third-party candidates like Ralph Nader, who are ideologically more aligned with Democrats.
You may be wondering whether vote swapping is legal. VotePair says there are no laws prohibiting the practice (http://www.votepair.org/wearelegal.php), and if there were they would be challenged by constitutional lawyers. "Political compromise, slate-making, coalition-formation, legislative logrolling, and vote-trading are the very essence of democratic politics," the organization explains on its Web site.
Swap the vote
The presidential race in Texas, of course, doesn't appear to be much of a contest. Polls show President Bush with a sizable lead over Senator Kerry in the Lone Star State.
If the surveys are correct, all the Texas electoral votes will go to the former Texas governor.
That's why the daily news coverage in the final days of the campaign shows Bush and Kerry soliciting votes in the handful of so-called "swing states," where the election could go either way.
But what if you—in Texas—could influence the outcome in a swing state? That's the goal of a Web site called VotePair.org (http://www.votepair.org).
It provides a mechanism for Kerry voters in Texas and other states considered safe for George Bush to trade their votes with backers of Ralph Nader or other progressive candidates in the swing states.
So a Kerry vote, for instance, could be cast in Florida in exchange for a Nader vote in Texas.
So far, VotePair says it has matched up almost 1,700 pairs of voters; not a lot in the big picture, perhaps, but a potential difference-maker in states like Florida, where Bush won by 537 votes in 2000; or in New Mexico, where the final margin was just 316 votes four years ago.
I wasn't able to identify any Web sites aimed at securing swing state votes for the president. VotePair is backed by people who support "progressive" third-party candidates like Ralph Nader, who are ideologically more aligned with Democrats.
You may be wondering whether vote swapping is legal. VotePair says there are no laws prohibiting the practice (http://www.votepair.org/wearelegal.php), and if there were they would be challenged by constitutional lawyers. "Political compromise, slate-making, coalition-formation, legislative logrolling, and vote-trading are the very essence of democratic politics," the organization explains on its Web site.