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June 15, 2003

Why, yes, you are chopped liver: Tonight’s “QuickVote” at CNN.com asks “Should states be allowed to regulate sex between consenting adults?” I clicked “no,” and was immediately given a pop-up window stating that 727 people had voted “yes” and 0 people had voted “no.”

Just practicing for 2004, I guess.

(Screenshot here.) [11:48 PM]

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Comments on Why, yes, you are chopped liver::

Lori ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:01 AM:

Your vote still hasn't been counted and mine wasn't either. 1146 people seem to think that states should be allowed in people's bedrooms. It just keeps getting scarier.

David Wilford ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:01 AM:

Heh, I just voted 'No' also and was told the count was: Yes - 1032, No - 0.

CNN I expect refuses to accept screenshots as evidence of how you voted, because it could be farked, er faked. How conveeeeenient... ;-)

Darkhawk ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:04 AM:

1167 to 0.

What an . . . interesting . . . running count we're getting in these comments.

Todd Larason ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:33 AM:

1556 to 0. And yes, I voted no.

Beth Atkinson ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:39 AM:

The poll is just counting every vote as "yes," either through misprogramming or some more sinister motive, depending on your level of cynicism. In the spirit of scientific inquiry, I went and viewed the results, which were 1598 to 0. I then voted "no" (which I would have anyway), and then results came up as 1599 to 0. Either very bad programming or the sort of stellar research one can expect from the American Family Association.

Elizabeth Bear ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:42 AM:

Now 1656 to 0.

I presume it's a programming glitch, but it's really aggravating nonetheless.

Lois Fundis ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:50 AM:

I got 1732 yes and 0 no. And not only did I vote no, I suspect that even in 1732 most people would have voted no.

Andy ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:56 AM:

1815 yes to 0 no as of now.

Lois Fundis ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 01:22 AM:

Now this is interesting: since I had two browsers open I decided to try it in the other browser (again voting no, of course), and this time the pop-up box says "Yes 12%, No 88%". Reversed results, but no vote totals, just percentages!

Lois Fundis ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 01:26 AM:

Then I hit "refresh" just to see what would happen and this time I got the vote totals as well as the bar graph (graph won't cut-and-paste, of course):

Yes 12% 94 votes
No 88% 709 votes
Total: 803 votes

Maybe they realized there was a problem and started over.

OK everyone: vote again. Vote early, vote often!

Christina Schulman ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 01:27 AM:

The glitch seems to have been fixed; I'm seeing results of 61 (12%) Yes to 454 (88%) No. 1300+ votes seem to have gone away since Andy's figures.

But I'm in no position to throw the first stone, bug-wise. Nice to see that CNN.com has debuggers on call at this hour.

Alan Bostick ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 01:35 AM:

They must have felt the heat. The count is now Yes: 191; No: 1277.

Looks like at least some of the votes have been lost.

Stefan Jones ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 01:46 AM:

What's all this obsession with recounts? Couldn't people have been satisfied by the initial results?

Bunch a unlicensed-sex-advocating crybabies, that's what you all are!

Kevin Andrew Murphy ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 03:31 AM:

Perhaps we're seeing the test run of the new electronic voting machines.

Right now, the results are showing 12% to 88%, with 730 votes for and 5565 against.

But of course such things are subject to change without notice.*

(* Number-Crunching by Arthur Anderson Accounting, "The Numbers You Want, WHEN You Want!")

andrew b ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 04:29 AM:

What kind of government regulations on sex?

Mandated couplings, at least once a week? Government sponsored matching service for singles?
I'm feeling kinda...patriotic.

I'll go away now.

PDM ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 09:11 AM:

Hunter Thompson said it best: there is no paranoia----only people who are uninformed!

Kathryn Cramer ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 12:52 PM:

>Perhaps we're seeing the test run of the new electronic voting machines

Hey, I was going to say that!

Tuxedo Slack ::: (view all by) ::: June 16, 2003, 03:04 PM:

PDM skrev:

Hunter Thompson said it best: there is no paranoia----only people who are uninformed!

I thought it was William S. Burroughs who said "A paranoid is someone who knows a little bit of what's going on."

James D. Macdonald ::: (view all by) ::: June 17, 2003, 12:19 AM:

Tonight's quickvote is "Do you think the war in Iraq is over?"

So far it's 83% "no."

PG ::: (view all by) ::: June 17, 2003, 01:21 PM:

I wish they had made the question: "Should oral sex be banned?"

No one who votes yes to this question thinks that a state regulation would apply to what she does.

PG ::: (view all by) ::: June 17, 2003, 01:24 PM:

My nomination for the next question:

"What Mission was Accomplished when the President made his carrier landing?"

A. Removing weapons of mass destruction from Iraq.
B. Securing Iraq under American control.
C. The restoration of civil order to Iraq.
D. Ending Saddam Hussin's control over Iraq.

Bill Humphries ::: (view all by) ::: June 17, 2003, 06:56 PM:

PG, The correct answer is:

E. Starting the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign

Kip W ::: (view all by) ::: June 19, 2003, 09:00 AM:

F. Showing that Bush has The Right Stuffing

Xopher ::: (view all by) ::: June 19, 2003, 03:50 PM:

Kip, many of us certainly wish he'd get stuffed.

Stefan Jones ::: (view all by) ::: June 19, 2003, 07:08 PM:

He already is, Xopher.

Mostly, anyhow:

There's that place where Karl Rove sticks his hand in to make Dubya's mouth move.