dr.ricky online

Category: Politics

  • The blue finger of democracy

    Blue finger of democracy

    In 2005, when elections were restored to Iraq, voters marked their participation by dipping their index finger in blue ink. Texas forbade the use of mail-in ballots for elections beyond a certain set of strictures, so most are forced to vote in person at a time when COVID–19 cases are increasing at an alarming rate in the state. Poll workers heroically dressed in PPE to allow citizens to practice their fundamental right to vote. Physical contact is limited, and each voter is provided a finger condom, and an alcohol wipe to sterilize surfaces. At the very least, one only needs one finger to interact with the voting machine (I’ll note that the machine isn’t easy to reach from a wheelchair).

    Election Day is July 14, 2020 but to avoid the potential crowds spreading the virus, early voting is advisable. Early voting should be accessible from just about any of the precincts. Go vote.

  • The Texas Primary Elections: by the numbers

    It’s the day after the Texas Primary Elections, which serves to narrow the field for the two major American political parties heading into the midterm elections in the fall. Here in Houston, which sits in Harris County, the results are posted online for the Republican Primaries and the Democratic Primaries as PDF files. A peculiar anomaly in the posting of the election results is how the totals are reported. At the top of each report is:

    Republican: District Voters: 155,798 of 2,249,591 = 6.93%
    Democratic: Number of District Voters: 167,396 of 2,249,591 = 3.72%

    The total number of registered voters match up between the two reports, but while the Democratic numbers are slightly higher than the Republican numbers, the reported percentage is nearly half. Puzzling.

    Most of the news have focused on the individual candidates vying for public office, but the party ballots also included a number of Propositions – statements which appear to reflect the party’s overall priorities and stances on certain issues. The primary election could also serve as a type of referendum on how party affiliated voters feel about them. The wording is distinctly different between the two parties. At least the Democratic Party used short subheadings to summarize each proposition. Voters in the Republican primary are more divided in the Propositions presented, with the topics involving abortion and replacing property taxes with consumption taxes both receiving over 30% against. Given that the wording is designed to appeal to tribal identity, this is pretty significant. There’s a glimmer of hope that even voters don’t want the abortion or “bathroom bill” to remain central to the Republican identity. Meanwhile, the loftier “Rights” wording of the Democrats seem to resonate fairly well with the electorate.

    Stacked bar graph showing the heterogeneity of the results for the Republican propositions vs the relative homogeneity for the Democratic primary

    Republican Propositions

    Proposition Description For Against Total %for %against
    1 Replace property tax with consumption tax 92,468 48,498 140,966 65.60% 34.40%
    2 No governmental entity should ever construct or fund construction of toll roads without voter approval. 130,409 16,904 147,313 88.53% 11.47%
    3 Republicans in the Texas House should select their Speaker nominee by secret ballot in a binding caucus without Democrat influence. 123,396 21,872 145,268 84.94% 15.06%
    4 Texas should require employers to screen new hires through the free E-Verify system to protect jobs for legal workers. 132,206 14,896 147,102 89.87% 10.13%
    5 Texas families should be empowered to choose from public, private, charter, or homeschool options for their children’s education, using tax credits or exemptions without government constraints or intrusion. 120,457 27,276 147,733 81.54% 18.46%
    6 Texas should protect the privacy and safety of women and children in spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers in all Texas schools and government buildings. 130,355 18,026 148,381 87.85% 12.15%
    7 I believe abortion should be abolished in Texas. 91,786 53,209 144,995 63.30% 36.70%
    8 Vote fraud should be a felony in Texas to help ensure fair elections. 139,556 9,248 148,804 93.79% 6.21%
    9 Texas demands that Congress completely repeal Obamacare. 125,942 21,490 147,432 85.42% 14.58%
    10 To slow the growth of property taxes, yearly revenue increases should be capped at 4%, with increases in excess of 4% requiring voter approval. 137,348 9,355 146,703 93.62% 6.38%
    11 Tax dollars should not be used to fund the building of stadiums for professional or semi-professional sports teams. 129,860 18,179 148,039 87.72% 12.28%

    Democratic Propositions

    Proposition Description For Against Total %for %against
    1 Right to a 21st Century Public Education 153,406 5,586 158,992 96.49% 3.51%
    2 Student loan debt relief 147,747 10,830 158,577 93.17% 6.83%
    3 Right to universal healthcare 153,461 6,138 159,599 96.15% 3.85%
    4 Right to economic security 152,653 5,682 158,335 96.41% 3.59%
    5 National jobs program 147,703 8,719 156,422 94.43% 5.57%
    6 Right to Clean Air, Safe Water, and a Healthy Environment 157,466 1,821 159,287 98.86% 1.14%
    7 Right to dignity and respect (antidiscrimination) 153,465 5,179 158,644 96.74% 3.26%
    8 Right to housing 147,590 9,614 157,204 93.88% 6.12%
    9 Right to vote 152,838 5,884 158,722 96.29% 3.71%
    10 Right to a fair criminal justice system 154,559 3,864 158,423 97.56% 2.44%
    11 Immigrant rights 151,231 7,310 158,541 95.39% 4.61%
    12 Right to Fair Taxation 153,060 4,753 157,813 96.99% 3.01%
  • Observations on Primary Elections

    Observations on Primary Elections

    Today was one of the election days in Texas. As a primer for the reader who is unfamiliar with the political set up in America, the scene is dominated by two main political parties: the Republican and the Democratic parties. And before the main elections, each party holds primary elections to install the main candidate that they are putting into the main election for each office. Although the field may have, for example, 14 potential candidates vying for the District 2 Congressional seat (9 for the Republicans, and 5 from the Democrats), by the end of the primary elections, there will be two candidates. This type of hypersimplification extends to much of American politics, even when describing issues that aren’t candidates running for office, such as resolutions or statements of principle.

    Any one voter is allowed to vote in only one of the primary races, but this only serves to narrow the field within that party. The vote to win the actual office doesn’t happen until November, and is completely separate from the primary voting. I have a friend who votes in the primary in the party he will ultimately not be supporting – and this makes sense. If one is aligned ultimately with the values of a particular party, choosing to influence the composition of the opposing party means a long term engineering of overall political values towards the compromised middle, regardless of party name.

    Texas primary election ballots both begin with statements declaring party identity

    But the system is rigged early on to foster tribalist mindsets. Instead of separating party values as an issue to be discussed, voters are asked to identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats first. This subtle language establishes tribes right away, setting up the “us vs them” attitude long before any other issues are described, and thus maintains partisanship first. This nudge is how people can be led to voting against their own best interests, as fear of tribal rejection often overrides even statements of fact. David McRaney did a particularly good podcast episode on Tribal Psychology that is worth checking out. Learning to recognize the signs of tribal separation is an important skill – humans evolved to rapidly segregate into tribes, and this urge colors almost all aspects of judgement.