Reddit – “Windows 10 prompted me to register to vote” (opens in new tab)

Why do you say the 2016 voter turnout was low? It was very typical for US presidential elections in the last century[0]. Even if you only look at the swing states, voter participation was very normal.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_...

If I recall, one cause that was claimed for Clinton's loss was very depressed / apathetic voter turnout. While I seriously doubt the contribution of social media to the vast number of those who abstained, that's the narrative that was pushed: an easy target to blame, and one consisting mostly of employees and leaders with politically sympathetic views.

The rest of the tech industry was implicated as well, which is even less reasonable, but makes more sense in terms of attempting to drum up political support by coercion: help us, or your employees will know you're helping our opponent.

I have English (UK) as language and UK Keyboard - I am not UK or US based though - still get the message.

Oh, I completely agree. It's more a comment on the state of things than a criticism of individual people. Most people would be quite capable of making the change, but like you say they are different from me and have different priorities. And yet we are here because someone wanted to complain about what their chosen OS was doing.

Well, there are other options but for some reason the market stolidly keeps on being centred around two platforms while ignoring the alternatives. For most people those alternatives - whether they be Linux distributions, browser-centred platforms like Google's Chromebook, large-screen keyboard-controlled mobile platforms like Android or iOS or otherwise - seem to be off the radar even though they often would work better than Windows or MacOS for their application.

I would argue the habits of most people are restricted to a browser on the desktop. I doubt their OS and native applications are likely to be a barrier beyond simply how their UI looks.

Which is that? First half sounds like iOS, but latter like Android?

You don't need the terminal one bit to use a linux system the way an average person uses Windows. Install and go. Oh wait, "install" is something users of Windows dont have to do...

What are you talking about?

Is this a Mac vs Windows thing?

I feel like OP was implying people should use Linux.

As a developer you might want to avoid proprietary languages even if they seem to be free as in beer. It's always a tradeoff, so I understand, but now you and your users get served ads in order to develop and use your app.

Even with .net core, how do you make desktop apps for Linux? There are a few half baked solutions, but nothing serious.

This is how it works in France. You have to let the local authority know you intend to vote and they'll put you on the "electoral list" and tell you where it is you have to go vote. It's usually a school or similar not far from your residence. You can't just randomly show up to a voting place.

You can either go to your local town hall or do it over the internet (tick a few boxes, attach a proof of citizenship and residency in the town / district (for Paris) and they'll send you a confirmation).

Every citizen is automatically allowed to vote. Registering basically tells your local county that ‘I live and vote here’ so they’ll send you ballot information and have your name on the correct checklist at your polling place.

Canada is kind of in a middle ground. You need to register to vote, but when you file your taxes there's a checkbox for "Allow Revenue Canada to share your information with Elections Canada" which basically auto-registers you when you file.

>You register to be able to vote? Why isn't every citizen automatically allowed to vote?

Voting isn't a Constitutionally guaranteed right in the US, it's a privilege. Although the Supreme Court and various Constitutional Amendments greatly restrict the power of states to disenfranchise their citizens, states do have that power (for instance convicted felons often lose the right to vote.)

Also, voter registration laws have traditionally been an effective way of suppressing African American and immigrant voters[0] (who tend to vote Democrat) so red states tend to vigorously support such laws.

[0]https://time.com/5855885/voter-registration-history-race/

It's all good.

The difference is subtle and depends on the country, state/province, and even down to the local municipality. I'd have not idea how to correctly title this for, say, South Sudan or East Timor.