Johnson, Stein supporters vote swapping with Clinton voters to defeat Trump

[DonViejo]

By Jeff Taylor

Those looking to support Libertarian Gary Johnson or Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the upcoming presidential election but also want to help defeat Donald Trump are turning to an app called #NeverTrump and a website called TrumpTraders.org to vote swap with Hillary Clinton backers.

Clinton supporter and Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur Amit Kumar came up with #NeverTrump last month after feeling discouraged that his vote in the solidly blue state of California wouldn’t mean much.

-snip-

Vote swapping, also known as vote trading or pairing, played a part in the 2000 George W. Bush, Al Gore election, when constitutional law professor James Raskin wrote an article for Slate titled “Nader’s Traders,” proposing the idea. Soon, websites like NaderTrader.com and VoteExchange2000.com were born, where thousands met to talk about swapping their votes.

The sites were shut down after attorney generals in five states sent threat letters. One of the vote trading sites, VoteSwap2000.com, brought suit before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the resulting case, Porter v. Bowen, established vote trading as “clearly protected by the First Amendment.”

“Vote trading is simply people talking about how they are going to cast their vote — how to form the more effective coalition to accomplish mutual purposes,” Raskin said. “That’s what a political party is! If vote trading is illegal, then political parties are illegal.”

-snip-

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/11/johnson-stein-supporters-vote-swapping-clinton-voters-defeat-trump/

[still_one]

1. I suspect it is also illegal

[jcgoldie]

2. Seems it would be but

I've seen the guy who runs the neverTrump site interviewed an he claims it is not. I think he said a similar movement amongst Nader folks was found legal in 2000. Of course that effort failed

[PoliticAverse]

8. Perhaps, but the Ninth Circuit found it to be constitutionally protected...

LOS ANGELES - In a decision stemming from a dispute during the controversial presidential election of 2000, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that so-called "vote-swapping" websites are protected by the First Amendment.

"Technology changes the way politics work, but it doesn't alter the basic principles of democracy," said Peter Eliasberg, the ACLU of Southern California's Manheim Family Attorney for First Amendment Rights. "Voters of any political persuasion should be able to meet like-minded voters wherever they are and organize for their candidates without threats to their freedom of speech."

See: https://www.aclu.org/news/court-rejects-threat-vote-trading-websites

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

3. Stupid waste of time. Vote for Hillary if you don't want Trump.

We need every vote.

[Tom Rivers]

16. exactly

i do not trust anyone that favors stein or johnson to actually vote for her. I would advise any dem or hillary supporter in any state not do do this. it's a scam to give us trump, not to defeat him.

[Demsrule86]

4. You have no real knowledge about if the knowledge if the person you swap with really

does vote the way you agree to.

[TrekLuver]

6. It appears to be run on the "honor system" so you could say hey yeah I'll swap and

then just do what you want anyway. Ohhhhh youth !!!

[JudyM]

15. Voting booth selfies.

[Tanuki]

20. That is illegal in many states. Please don't encourage people to break the law over something

this stupid.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/03/us/politics/voting-selfie.html

"Last week, an extensive review by The Associated Press of the array of ballot selfie laws in all 50 states found that 18 states prohibit sharing photos of ballots. Another, California, joined the list this week.
.......

With only a week until the general election, on Nov. 8, battles were being waged over the legality of so-called ballot selfies in a handful of states, including Colorado and Michigan. The issue was put to rest in California on Wednesday and New York on Thursday, when federal judges refused to allow them.

.....
Because of the muddled laws in several states, some voters are still at risk of breaking the rules. In one high-profile case, the musician Justin Timberlake published a ballot selfie after voting in Tennessee, apparently unaware that doing so constitutes a misdemeanor crime there, punishable by fines and jail time.
Mr. Timberlake, however, is not being investigated for his legal slip-up, according to USA Today.
.....

[JudyM]

21. People can simply check to see if it's legal in their state... This has been in the news.

[brooklynite]

9. Anyone considering doing this should consider the following...

Stein and Johnson's vote tallies, while bigger than 2012, are still going to be inconsequential. There will be no "message" about anger with the two-Party system that the public will pick up. You have two choices for President. Vote for one.

[tarheelsunc]

12. SCAM ALERT: This is a scam site designed to get Clinton voters to vote for someone else. eom

[Tom Rivers]

17. yes exactly!

please any DU poster or lurker thinking of doing this DO NOT. i do not trust stein/johnson supporters. if you support hillary, vote for hillary. if you oppose fascism, vote for hillary. if you care about the future and stability of this country, vote for hillary.

[radius777]

13. Bullshit, the popular vote matters, as far as a mandate,

the higher the margin the better.

Also, with such a crazy election (voter suppression, Trump thugs, hacking) we can take no state or no vote for granted. We need to vote for Hillary/Dems like our lives depended on it. And the last thing we need is to be somehow sending the idea that Stein/Johnson are acceptable or good - they're fascist enablers whose white privilege blinds them to the danger posed by Trump.

[JudyM]

14. K&R. Just read another article on this. DUers in safe states should check this out!

Don Viejo: maybe consider reposting this in Cali forum?

[NastyWomen]

18. PLEASE DON'T FALL FOR THIS

Your vote is precious. Don't entrust any other person to deliver your vote. People are opportunistic assholes and don't ever forget it.

[JI7]

19. This shit has been stupid since 2000