Should polling be banned?

[antiimperialist]

Should opinion polls on elections be banned so that voters won't give up on a candidate they view as top-notch on the issues because polls find him trailing others by wide margins?

When voting, be aware that this ban would be a violation of free speech.

Vote anyway.

[LittleBlue]

1. Blatantly unconstitutional. You're restricting right to associate?

Asking a question can't be banned.

[wtmusic]

6. Exit polls have been banned in Britain since the 1980s

and no one's the worse for it.

[LittleBlue]

7. Their constitution or ours?

It's unconstitutional here. Britain is irrelevant, and Europe isn't known for its free speech.

[antiimperialist]

9. I'm not sure banning exit polling is unconstitutional

It's banned in many civilized, democratic countries with respectable law codes.

[LittleBlue]

11. What? Their constitutions are different from ours.

That's like saying one doesn't have to pay the estate tax because most civilized countries don't have it.

[ZombieHorde]

2. Ban questions? nt

[Kucinich4America]

3. Ban the goddamned rigged, Repuke owned illegal "voting" machines.

Some polls are good, some are crap. ALL voting machines are shit.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

4. Why not ban even discussing politics?

[Fresh_Start]

5. No

but if you need selfhelp to resist commercials, you're best off not following them personally instead banning them for everyone.

[wtmusic]

8. I would like to hear your interpretation

of why you believe this is a violation of A1. IMO it's not as cut-and-dried and many feel it is.

[LittleBlue]

13. Because the only way to do it is to ban people standing outside

the voting booths and talking with people. Can't ban the media, since the airwaves are restricted, but the Internet isn't.

[wtmusic]

16. I wasn't asking you, but that's ok

Around polling places on election day:

In 8 states a voter may not “display” or “exhibit” campaign materials
In 14 states and the District of Columbia a voter may not “distribute,” “circulate,” “post,” “advertise,” or “solicit” campaign materials
15 states prohibit “electioneering”
3 states apply anti-loitering statutes to election day activities

All heinous violations of freedom of speech, no?

"2. Content based Restrictions on Speech Permissible

Although content-based regulation of political speech in schools has been found to be impermissible, polling places are treated differently by the Supreme Court. Due to the long tradition of free and fair elections in this county, Americans accept and understand that some restriction on speech on election day is important. Courts and the American public generally agree that campaign activities can and should be regulated."

http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4685&context=expresso

[LittleBlue]

19. Those are substantially different from polling

The loitering laws are not there to inhibit pollsters, but voter intimidation. Elections can be regulated. Annoying yard signs can too. But not someone asking who a person voted for. How far away should they be restricted? 100 yards? They'd just wait there. You'd have to prohibit people from asking others whom they voted for in the street.

That's why no serious person has proposed this whackjob idea in the U.S.

[wtmusic]

20. No, they're the same in principle

and they're both capable of influencing the outcome of an election unfairly. Unless you can show me in the Constitution where it says that annoying yard signs can be regulated, or campaign buttons prohibited.

I didn't think so.

[stillcool]

10. I think all polling should be banned..

why should we have any idea what the results might be...especially as seeing that the accuracy of the results don't really matter. Actually I'm not to keen on the whole presidential 'election' idea anymore. Why should a few people accumulate all that money...and run around the country spouting a bunch of horseshit..for the sole purpose of accumulating more money? If some states get their votes ripped off in their state elections who cares? Why don't we just keep to our own? Move all the blacks to one part of the country...and give another section to all other minorities...they can duke it out for themselves...but we need to make sure the mexicans are all in a fruit picking area. Open the border so corporations don't have to out-source and just close the borders around the states. Sound good?

[ZombieHorde]

17. What should the punishment be for asking questions,

and then sharing the results with others?

[stillcool]

18. that should be cool...

as long as you don't cross the border.

[Infinite Hope]

12. Only pointless ones like this. ;) n/t

[defendandprotect]

14. This is just game-playing with idiotic questions intended to confuse the public ==

I think you could question people one by one --- and let us hear what they have to say ---
period!

[defendandprotect]

15. ...btw, not with pre-scripted idiotic questions --- !!!