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Comment by ballmerpoint | Hacker News Reader

> We schedule elections on specific days, with great ceremony, in part so we can maximize turnout.

Today is a Tuesday and it’s not a work holiday for almost everyone. So what are you talking about?

That is also problematic and a very common critique of American elections, but at least it's a widely-publicized agreed-upon day. It's also not true in much of blue-state America, where you can vote any day you want up to a month before the agreed-on heavily-publicized election day.

I continue to notice how many people are bumfuzzled by this point. It's not like I'm the one who came up with it. Public comment process being problematic is an extremely widely-held position among political thinkers and social scientists. This is not news. It is not a spicy take.

I’m not “bumfuzzled,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. I simply think you’re misrepresenting the American political process—I don’t know why, maybe you wrote yourself into a corner, or maybe you live in a blue state and therefore discount what happens in red states.

Early voting doesn’t prove your point; it’s the opposite of what you were alleging about elections! Not specific days, not a uniform process. Perplexing counter-argument.

No, it's not. Early voting creates (up to) a 30 day window within which everyone can register their opinions. Public comment happens on one specific night that almost nobody knows about, because it is not normal to pay super close attention to public meetings where you live. The people that do do so because they are concentrated special interests.

Take an American at random out of this thread and estimate: how many local public meetings have they attended, in their entire lives? The reasonable guess is zero.

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