Aliases & ID's

[Don]

I have come to enjoy Cathy's freewheelin' posts here. It would be nice to hear what she hopes to accomplish for Cary in these trying times.

Please update the sig in you profile to include your real name. I've had to put new rules into effect for the duration of campaign season.

Don,
I have concerns that requiring folks to sign their name to their post will discourage folks participation on this board. Many folks may want to participate in the political debate - and probably have no problem telling YOU who they are - but don't want their friends, neighbors, or bosses to know they are participating on a political blog. We shouldn't let one bad apple ruin the bunch.

I don't believe a signature will solve the problem of folks posting under multiple ID's. Didn't the PVB poster (also known as...well, we all know who it was) sign their name to their posts? Folks like Icorpse have been posting here for quite some time and have earned the right to remain anonymous. My 2 cents.

[dhyatt]

I have come to enjoy Cathy's freewheelin' posts here. It would be nice to hear what she hopes to accomplish for Cary in these trying times.

Please update the sig in you profile to include your real name. I've had to put new rules into effect for the duration of campaign season.

Don,
I have concerns that requiring folks to sign their name to their post will discourage folks participation on this board. Many folks may want to participate in the political debate - and probably have no problem telling YOU who they are - but don't want their friends, neighbors, or bosses to know they are participating on a political blog. We shouldn't let one bad apple ruin the bunch.

I don't believe a signature will solve the problem of folks posting under multiple ID's. Didn't the PVB poster (also known as...well, we all know who it was) sign their name to their posts? Folks like Icorpse have been posting here for quite some time and have earned the right to remain anonymous. My 2 cents.

It probably will cut down on participation and unfortunately members like icorpse are stuck paying the price for those that want to game the system. It's already painfully clear that there is the potential for legal involvement over the use of unknown aliases and the fact that I may know the person behind the alias doesn't preclude stuff like this: (all attempts to register aliases within 5 mins of each other on July 20th) I'm open to any and all suggestions and I'd love to hear them...

There is a new user, J.R.Simon at Cary Politics
To view their profile, go here:
http://carypolitics.org/forums/member.php?u=544
Email Address : jrsimon1000@gmail.com
Birthday :
Referrer: N/A
IP Address: 74.162.145.110

There is a new user, FatJack at Cary Politics
To view their profile, go here:
http://carypolitics.org/forums/member.php?u=545
Email Address : FatJackWilson345@gmail.com
Birthday :
Referrer: N/A
IP Address: 74.162.145.110

There is a new user, p0rn.free.wake.county at Cary Politics
To view their profile, go here:
http://carypolitics.org/forums/member.php?u=546
Email Address : porn.free.wake.county@gmail.com
Birthday :
Referrer: N/A
IP Address: 74.162.145.110

[Don]

Is there a way you can allow new members the right to sign up and participate anonymously pending your review?

For example - they register - provide a real name to YOU that you verify is on the up and up - and then their account is activated?

The three attempts to register fake names - does that IP address belong to an existing CP member?

[dhyatt]

Is there a way you can allow new members the right to sign up and participate anonymously pending your review?

For example - they register - provide a real name to YOU that you verify is on the up and up - and then their account is activated?

The three attempts to register fake names - does that IP address belong to an existing CP member?

That's kind of what I was doing and it isn't as easy as it sounds. I've seen real registrations with names that were unusual and I've seen perfectly normal names that were totally bogus. About the only thing I could think of was to make membership by invitation only - i.e. an existing CP member would vouch for them. However, I couldn't figure out how to prevent someone from vouching for themselves.

The ip address used was not one in current use by an existing member.

[VVActivist]

Is there a way you can allow new members the right to sign up and participate anonymously pending your review?

For example - they register - provide a real name to YOU that you verify is on the up and up - and then their account is activated?

The three attempts to register fake names - does that IP address belong to an existing CP member?

That's kind of what I was doing and it isn't as easy as it sounds. I've seen real registrations with names that were unusual and I've seen perfectly normal names that were totally bogus. About the only thing I could think of was to make membership by invitation only - i.e. an existing CP member would vouch for them. However, I couldn't figure out how to prevent someone from vouching for themselves.

The ip address used was not one in current use by an existing member.

Someone vouching for themselves happens a lot in certain fields.

[VVActivist]

I have come to enjoy Cathy's freewheelin' posts here. It would be nice to hear what she hopes to accomplish for Cary in these trying times.

Please update the sig in you profile to include your real name. I've had to put new rules into effect for the duration of campaign season.

Don,
I have concerns that requiring folks to sign their name to their post will discourage folks participation on this board. Many folks may want to participate in the political debate - and probably have no problem telling YOU who they are - but don't want their friends, neighbors, or bosses to know they are participating on a political blog. We shouldn't let one bad apple ruin the bunch.

I don't believe a signature will solve the problem of folks posting under multiple ID's. Didn't the PVB poster (also known as...well, we all know who it was) sign their name to their posts? Folks like Icorpse have been posting here for quite some time and have earned the right to remain anonymous. My 2 cents.

It probably will cut down on participation and unfortunately members like icorpse are stuck paying the price for those that want to game the system. It's already painfully clear that there is the potential for legal involvement over the use of unknown aliases and the fact that I may know the person behind the alias doesn't preclude stuff like this: (all attempts to register aliases within 5 mins of each other on July 20th) I'm open to any and all suggestions and I'd love to hear them...

There is a new user, J.R.Simon at Cary Politics
To view their profile, go here:
http://carypolitics.org/forums/member.php?u=544
Email Address : jrsimon1000@gmail.com
Birthday :
Referrer: N/A
IP Address: 74.162.145.110

There is a new user, FatJack at Cary Politics
To view their profile, go here:
http://carypolitics.org/forums/member.php?u=545
Email Address : FatJackWilson345@gmail.com
Birthday :
Referrer: N/A
IP Address: 74.162.145.110

There is a new user, p0rn.free.wake.county at Cary Politics
To view their profile, go here:
http://carypolitics.org/forums/member.php?u=546
Email Address : porn.free.wake.county@gmail.com
Birthday :
Referrer: N/A
IP Address: 74.162.145.110

Hmm - all gmail accounts (very interesting indeed!). I ran into someone recently who wasn't who they claimed to be who also uses a gmail account - very sloppy, but very predictable!

"Fat.Jack" - sounds like an Alaskan miner, or someone is trying to make fun of someone else.

"p0rn.free.wake.county"? Someone has some issues....

[politico]

Is there a way you can allow new members the right to sign up and participate anonymously pending your review?

For example - they register - provide a real name to YOU that you verify is on the up and up - and then their account is activated?

The three attempts to register fake names - does that IP address belong to an existing CP member?

That's kind of what I was doing and it isn't as easy as it sounds. I've seen real registrations with names that were unusual and I've seen perfectly normal names that were totally bogus. About the only thing I could think of was to make membership by invitation only - i.e. an existing CP member would vouch for them. However, I couldn't figure out how to prevent someone from vouching for themselves.

The ip address used was not one in current use by an existing member.

But there are clues nonetheless. The ip is currently in use as the server address for a Techno Vision Security System DVR. That particular system has a vulnerability and could have been hacked to obtain the ip address or maybe whoever set it up knew the ip address or maybe someone has loaded a proxy on the server (after hacking it) and whoever was attempting to create these id's was using an anonymizer that just happened to route through it. The art of Internet Forensics - gotta' love it.

[dhyatt]

I moved the discussion to a new thread because it's not really District 'C' related.

A former (and welcome to join again) CP member sent me an idea that might work. I could ask for a voter id # (this is a political site) as part of registration and after verifying that the person is unique and legit, allow them to post using whatever moniker they want. What do you all think of that idea?

[VVActivist]

I moved the discussion to a new thread because it's not really District 'C' related.

A former (and welcome to join again) CP member sent me an idea that might work. I could ask for a voter id # (this is a political site) as part of registration and after verifying that the person is unique and legit, allow them to post using whatever moniker they want. What do you all think of that idea?

That sounds like an interesting idea - except that voter ID numbers are available from the SBOE for any registered voter. You can find out my voter ID# and I can find out yours. Perhaps you could do a phone verification (when you sign up, you provide your name and phone number and until you verify over the phone, you don't get on line).

Or scanning an ID or a cable bill (the same sort of stuff you need to register to vote) and send it to a moderator for verification.

Might be more of a pain to get on line, but it will cut down on the sock-puppets.

[MattD]

Or simply have a disclaimer that Cary Politics is for entertainment purposes and the views/opinions and writings on this blog are open to the public and are not necessarily the views of the owner of Cary Politics.

[d4vendel]

Or simply have a disclaimer that Cary Politics is for entertainment purposes and the views/opinions and writings on this blog are open to the public and are not necessarily the views of the owner of Cary Politics.

I think there is case law that says the owner of a site such as Cary Politics is "publisher."

[politico]

OK - How about this...

I will introduce a new class of 'verified' users to include everyone we know plus a couple of well behaved users such as ICorpse that most of us do not know. Verified users will have the rights and privileges they currently do and may or may not choose to identify themselves. Unverified users will be moderated until they are verified and all the posts will have to be approved before they appear. Additionally, unverified users will not be allowed to edit and/or delete their own posts once they are published. Anybody have any objections and/or comments?

[d4vendel]

OK - How about this...

I will introduce a new class of 'verified' users to include everyone we know plus a couple of well behaved users such as ICorpse that most of us do not know. Verified users will have the rights and privileges they currently do and may or may not choose to identify themselves. Unverified users will be moderated until they are verified and all the posts will have to be approved before they appear. Additionally, unverified users will not be allowed to edit and/or delete their own posts once they are published. Anybody have any objections and/or comments?

Works for me.

[dhyatt]

OK - A verified group is now in place. If you are verified, you'll notice a check mark next to your id when logged in. If I missed you, feel free to ask to be included in the verified group. This can be done by PM or email to me or by using your User Control Panel. ID's in the verified group are not required to use their real names and they have full forum privileges. Those in the registered group (no check mark) will have their posts moderated until they are verified.

[drsnocaps]

OK - So I can post here but can't edit, delete etc... and my post won't show up until Hyatt says it's ok???

[dhyatt]

OK - So I can post here but can't edit, delete etc... and my post won't show up until Hyatt says it's ok???

Yes - That's exactly how it works. Moderators use their User CP and see if there are any posts or threads which require moderation and then approve same as long as they meet forum rules.

[ncary42long]

This works for me as well. I appreciate all you are doing to keep this site lively, informative and honest.

Ruth Merkle
(ncary42long)

[CatherineE]

OK - A verified group is now in place. If you are verified, you'll notice a check mark next to your id when logged in. If I missed you, feel free to ask to be included in the verified group. This can be done by PM or email to me or by using your User Control Panel. ID's in the verified group are not required to use their real names and they have full forum privileges. Those in the registered group (no check mark) will have their posts moderated until they are verified.


Let me see if I understand how this will work. Don Hyatt will know (as will his moderators) who each poster REALLY is but the rest of us won't. DonH, will you be sharing the names of the verified posters (still using aliases) with those of us who are posting under our real names?

I would have responded earlier but was at the CTC meeting tonight. This latest solution of some verified, some not still doesn't prevent the mudslinging that's been prevalent lately. When you did require a real name to be included on a post, the mudslinging became practically non-existent. I had high hopes CP would actually be the go-to website for intelligent political debate here in Wake County that eliminated the toxic vitriol from public debate. You were so close to making that happening.

Why not go in and publish each blogger's ISP xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx on their public account profile? At least we'll know if someone is a sock puppet by matching ISP #s. In the case of spouses blogging, you'll have to make a phone call to confirm two separate individuals for one ISP. As is now, it's too easy for the CP powers to be to let personal/partisan agendas dictate what gets through and what doesn't from newbies.

[ncary42long]

OK - A verified group is now in place. If you are verified, you'll notice a check mark next to your id when logged in. If I missed you, feel free to ask to be included in the verified group. This can be done by PM or email to me or by using your User Control Panel. ID's in the verified group are not required to use their real names and they have full forum privileges. Those in the registered group (no check mark) will have their posts moderated until they are verified.


Let me see if I understand how this will work. Don Hyatt will know (as will his moderators) who each poster REALLY is but the rest of us won't. DonH, will you be sharing the names of the verified posters (still using aliases) with those of us who are posting under our real names?

I would have responded earlier but was at the CTC meeting tonight. This latest solution of some verified, some not still doesn't prevent the mudslinging that's been prevalent lately. When you did require a real name to be included on a post, the mudslinging became practically non-existent. I had high hopes CP would actually be the go-to website for intelligent political debate here in Wake County that eliminated the toxic vitriol from public debate. You were so close to making that happening.

Why not go in and publish each blogger's ISP xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx on their public account profile? At least we'll know if someone is a sock puppet by matching ISP #s. In the case of spouses blogging, you'll have to make a phone call to confirm two separate individuals for one ISP. As is now, it's too easy for the CP powers to be to let personal/partisan agendas dictate what gets through and what doesn't from newbies.

I understand where Don is coming from. I'm the administrator for a Meet-Up Group called the Cary-Western Wake Democrats, and I've had people join who I know were using phony names. So I began asking new members or people who I don't know personally, to provide me with their real names and precinct numbers. Only two people refused to do so. One removed themself from the group and I removed the other. The one I removed went to great lengths to create a fake profile. But her true identity was revealed when she sent me an email signed by the "fake name", not knowing that the message that came to my Meet-Up account had her real name on the header! The moral of the story is, no matter how many aliases you create for yourself, your ISP address will always give you away.

So you finally decided to attend a Town Council meeting, after how many years living in the district?

[CatherineE]

I understand where Don is coming from. I'm the administrator for a Meet-Up Group called the Cary-Western Wake Democrats, and I've had people join who I know were using phony names. So I began asking new members or people who I don't know personally, to provide me with their real names and precinct numbers. Only two people refused to do so. One removed themself from the group and I removed the other. The one I removed went to great lengths to create a fake profile. But her true identity was revealed when she sent me an email signed by the "fake name", not knowing that the message that came to my Meet-Up account had her real name on the header! The moral of the story is, no matter how many aliases you create for yourself, your ISP address will always give you away.

So you finally decided to attend a Town Council meeting, after how many years living in the district?

Ruth, I didn't know there was a quota. :)
I like to attend when there's a topic I may want to address personally in the Public Speaks Out portion of the meeting. Otherwise I prefer to watch it on Cary's BudTV. Were you there this evening? I didn't see you. Hopefully you were watching on Bud.

But I do know what you mean about the meetup groups. I've been moderating the Cary Democrats Meetup group for two years and it's amazing the strange things that happen - sounds like we had the very same experience! I've watched a series of new members who would join the Cary Democrats meetup and then contact my members to try to poach them to join their local group instead. I finally had to make the meetup group private to protect my members from being harassed. That also stopped these "people" from contacting and canceling my scheduled speakers. It's more of a hassle to have to approve each new member but it's worth it.

You should check with the meetup administrators' forum to learn some cool ways to protect your members from marketers, poachers and scammers. You'll need to seed your members list so eventually when these types contact your seed names, you can report/block them without having to make your group private. It's pretty handy.

[Karen]

Perhaps, DonH, you will share the names of verified posters who have posted/mudslung under multiple aliases in the past and what those aliases were/are? :roll:

This policy works for me as well. There are many posters that I personally do not know. I truly do not have a need to know nor want to know their real identities. Most post very respectfully and add a lot to many conversations on this site. I applaud Don for taking that into consideration. And if a poster is unpleasant to me personally I simply choose not to respond. End of story...no need on my part to find out who the person is. I can sleep just fine at night.

Don has run this site for many years and when issues such as this have arisen in the past he has always requested input from others and works very hard to be fair about it. Thanks Don!

My 2 cents

~just "karen"


:angel5:

[CatherineE]

Perhaps, DonH, you will share the names of verified posters who have posted/mudslung under multiple aliases in the past and what those aliases were/are? :roll:

This policy works for me as well. There are many posters that I personally do not know. I truly do not have a need to know nor want to know their real identities. Most post very respectfully and add a lot to many conversations on this site. I applaud Don for taking that into consideration. And if a poster is unpleasant to me personally I simply choose not to respond. End of story...no need on my part to find out who the person is. I can sleep just fine at night.

Don has run this site for many years and when issues such as this have arisen in the past he has always requested input from others and works very hard to be fair about it. Thanks Don!

My 2 cents

~just "karen"


:angel5:

Karen, I can appreciate your sentiment and normally I would agree with you but once you're the target of some of these folks, it becomes a little more important to actually remove the shady elements of potshots. Don has to take care as a publisher that he doesn't find himself in trouble for reckless commentaries that actually libel others. If people know they're required to post their names, they would be more careful in what they say and stick to facts and ideas. It's how the letters-to-the-editor newspaper section has handled it for years. Seems to work.

[VVActivist]

It's nice to be verified - like my vote in North Carolina!

[NewHillBilly]

All this here “IED-ing” should result in at least one of the following:

Verified Clarified Terrified Vilified Deep-Fried & Sanctified.

(dhyatt - as long as I'm stopping by I have to ask - do you also validate parking? Not too much occasion for that here in New Hill)

[dhyatt]

All this here “IED-ing” should result in at least one of the following:

Verified Clarified Terrified Vilified Deep-Fried & Sanctified.

(dhyatt - as long as I'm stopping by I have to ask - do you also validate parking? Not too much occasion for that here in New Hill)
No... but some days I question my own existence and have to validate why I get out of bed in the morning :-/

[Karen]

Perhaps, DonH, you will share the names of verified posters who have posted/mudslung under multiple aliases in the past and what those aliases were/are? :roll:

This policy works for me as well. There are many posters that I personally do not know. I truly do not have a need to know nor want to know their real identities. Most post very respectfully and add a lot to many conversations on this site. I applaud Don for taking that into consideration. And if a poster is unpleasant to me personally I simply choose not to respond. End of story...no need on my part to find out who the person is. I can sleep just fine at night.

Don has run this site for many years and when issues such as this have arisen in the past he has always requested input from others and works very hard to be fair about it. Thanks Don!

My 2 cents

~just "karen"


:angel5:

Karen, I can appreciate your sentiment and normally I would agree with you but once you're the target of some of these folks, it becomes a little more important to actually remove the shady elements of potshots. Don has to take care as a publisher that he doesn't find himself in trouble for reckless commentaries that actually libel others. If people know they're required to post their names, they would be more careful in what they say and stick to facts and ideas. It's how the letters-to-the-editor newspaper section has handled it for years. Seems to work.

We'll have to disagree then.

Just being an observant citizen but it appears being "the target of some of these folks" has worked both ways. It also seems like everyone involved knows each other. And Don is helping to address the apparent problem with known posters who register under aliases by implementing this current plan of action.

As I stated above, most posters who do not use their full names participate in a respectful manner and indeed do stick to the facts and ideas. That seems to work too....

~karen


:angel5:

[johnshaw]

No... but some days I question my own existence and have to validate why I get out of bed in the morning :-/
And for me, there are day where I have no question. I shouldn't have gotten out of bed that morning.:sleepy3:



A thoroughly validated John Shaw of Cary, NC

[dhyatt]

[snip]

That sounds like an interesting idea - except that voter ID numbers are available from the SBOE for any registered voter. You can find out my voter ID# and I can find out yours. Perhaps you could do a phone verification (when you sign up, you provide your name and phone number and until you verify over the phone, you don't get on line).

[snip]

Some good points brought to my attention via email...

Having noted the launch of the Alias and ID discussion on CaryPolitics, I sent you the earlier email recommending the use of the voter ID’s from the Board of Elections to verify posters on your site…. It would seem that if your VOTE is based on this, that it should be good enough to verify your identity for a political website too, or most any other situation where identity is important. It was VERY quickly rejected, and (irony of ironies) by Chris Telesca, whose main position of advocacy is VERIFIED VOTING (ie his user ID, VVACTIVIST, means Verified Voting Activist).

So, in other words, the chief advocate for verified voting on CaryPolitics is against the idea of using the BOE voter registration because it doesn’t well serve to accurately identify individual voters/bloggers! Let me say that again… the chief advocate for verified voting is against the idea of using the BOE voter registration because it doesn’t well serve to accurately identify individual voters/bloggers!!! And nobody challenged that, or found it a breathtaking indictment of the lack of protection for our votes, or even found it to be a worthy topic of discussion in its own right. And NOBODY blinked… Are there no advocates who truly believe in valid and responsible voter identification and verification?

As one who was a recent victim of fraudulent postings at the hands of those who anonymously hide in the dark alleys of politics, it was interesting to me to see (and to be somewhat chagrined by) the fact that there has seemingly been nothing learned from the experience. Far be it for me to expect that those who are seemingly the most politically involved in Wake county have no particular interest in verified identification, and instead are content to hide and skulk about, like a bunch of ne’re-do-wells from a Dickens novel. Both the political discussion in our community, and certainly our votes cast at the polling place, deserve no less than transparency in the light of day.

---DarylB

[VVActivist]

[snip]

That sounds like an interesting idea - except that voter ID numbers are available from the SBOE for any registered voter. You can find out my voter ID# and I can find out yours. Perhaps you could do a phone verification (when you sign up, you provide your name and phone number and until you verify over the phone, you don't get on line).

[snip]

Some good points brought to my attention via email...

Having noted the launch of the Alias and ID discussion on CaryPolitics, I sent you the earlier email recommending the use of the voter ID’s from the Board of Elections to verify posters on your site…. It would seem that if your VOTE is based on this, that it should be good enough to verify your identity for a political website too, or most any other situation where identity is important. It was VERY quickly rejected, and (irony of ironies) by Chris Telesca, whose main position of advocacy is VERIFIED VOTING (ie his user ID, VVACTIVIST, means Verified Voting Activist).

So, in other words, the chief advocate for verified voting on CaryPolitics is against the idea of using the BOE voter registration because it doesn’t well serve to accurately identify individual voters/bloggers! Let me say that again… the chief advocate for verified voting is against the idea of using the BOE voter registration because it doesn’t well serve to accurately identify individual voters/bloggers!!! And nobody challenged that, or found it a breathtaking indictment of the lack of protection for our votes, or even found it to be a worthy topic of discussion in its own right. And NOBODY blinked… Are there no advocates who truly believe in valid and responsible voter identification and verification?

As one who was a recent victim of fraudulent postings at the hands of those who anonymously hide in the dark alleys of politics, it was interesting to me to see (and to be somewhat chagrined by) the fact that there has seemingly been nothing learned from the experience. Far be it for me to expect that those who are seemingly the most politically involved in Wake county have no particular interest in verified identification, and instead are content to hide and skulk about, like a bunch of ne’re-do-wells from a Dickens novel. Both the political discussion in our community, and certainly our votes cast at the polling place, deserve no less than transparency in the light of day.

---DarylB


First off - "verified voting" does not refer to the use of ID to verify the identity of the voter. It refers to a voter being able to verify that their vote was actually recorded for the intended candidate AND that the vote was counted correctly. When you use a paperless DRE touchscreen machine, you have no way of knowing if the machine actually recorded your vote as you intended it to be cast. A paper trail is a little bit better, but not by much: in NC, 9% of the votes cast on those machines aren't recorded at all (making the tape useless in a race where the margin is less than 9%), and all the tapes aren't hand-counted. The tapes would be USELESS in an IRV race especially with votes cast at an early voting site.

And using a voter ID number on a website is not the same thing as using a voter ID number when you show up to an early voting or precinct polling place to vote in person. Two different issues entirely.

[d4vendel]

[snip]

That sounds like an interesting idea - except that voter ID numbers are available from the SBOE for any registered voter. You can find out my voter ID# and I can find out yours. Perhaps you could do a phone verification (when you sign up, you provide your name and phone number and until you verify over the phone, you don't get on line).

[snip]

Some good points brought to my attention via email...

Having noted the launch of the Alias and ID discussion on CaryPolitics, I sent you the earlier email recommending the use of the voter ID’s from the Board of Elections to verify posters on your site…. It would seem that if your VOTE is based on this, that it should be good enough to verify your identity for a political website too, or most any other situation where identity is important. It was VERY quickly rejected, and (irony of ironies) by Chris Telesca, whose main position of advocacy is VERIFIED VOTING (ie his user ID, VVACTIVIST, means Verified Voting Activist).

So, in other words, the chief advocate for verified voting on CaryPolitics is against the idea of using the BOE voter registration because it doesn’t well serve to accurately identify individual voters/bloggers! Let me say that again… the chief advocate for verified voting is against the idea of using the BOE voter registration because it doesn’t well serve to accurately identify individual voters/bloggers!!! And nobody challenged that, or found it a breathtaking indictment of the lack of protection for our votes, or even found it to be a worthy topic of discussion in its own right. And NOBODY blinked… Are there no advocates who truly believe in valid and responsible voter identification and verification?

As one who was a recent victim of fraudulent postings at the hands of those who anonymously hide in the dark alleys of politics, it was interesting to me to see (and to be somewhat chagrined by) the fact that there has seemingly been nothing learned from the experience. Far be it for me to expect that those who are seemingly the most politically involved in Wake county have no particular interest in verified identification, and instead are content to hide and skulk about, like a bunch of ne’re-do-wells from a Dickens novel. Both the political discussion in our community, and certainly our votes cast at the polling place, deserve no less than transparency in the light of day.

---DarylB


I don't buy into the argument. There is a world of difference in HANDING someone your voter registration card at a polling place and TELLING someone what you voter ID number is. Showing the physical card is a whole different level of verification/validation.

As long as your ID is public record, it is too easy to game the system without seeing the physical card.

[johnshaw]

I don't buy into the argument. There is a world of difference in HANDING someone your voter registration card at a polling place and TELLING someone what you voter ID number is. Showing the physical card is a whole different level of verification/validation.

As long as your ID is public record, it is too easy to game the system without seeing the physical card.

I was just about to post the same thing. If voter ID numbers were used, I could look up Chris T.'s number, use that to establish an account with his name, and then most messages supporting IRV and totally electronic paperless voting over the Internet. Not that I would, of course. (but it would be fun:):o))

The only way I can think of is to use phone numbers, with Don H. calling the number (or maybe looking it up in the phone book) to verify that it does belong to the person using it. But that is quite a bit of work.

Considering the work involved, it seems like there should be both verified and non-verified posters. The non-verified would be allowed to post questions and perhaps opinions not related to the election but only verified would be able to post statements of fact.

[chaboard]

I don't buy into the argument. There is a world of difference in HANDING someone your voter registration card at a polling place and TELLING someone what you voter ID number is. Showing the physical card is a whole different level of verification/validation.

As long as your ID is public record, it is too easy to game the system without seeing the physical card.

I'll make the point I usually make when this comes up....voter id cards are a solution in desperate search of a non-existent problem. The cost/benefit ratio for any kind of single-vote fraud via voting as someone else is just so horrendously bad that there's simply no point in even attempting to do it.

[C. Daily]

Why can't we call them a "pen name" instead of aliases. In literature, a "pen name" is an alias for the author's real name. The noun is derived from the Latin adverb alias, meaning "otherwise" and by extension "otherwise known as" and the latter meaning is still used in English, as in: Clark Kent, alias Superman. (text from SOA.com):laughing6: Don seems to have all this under control and we need to thank him for his effort.

[jdcasey]

Earlier this year I had an experience with a BlogStalker -- they created multiple IDs on BlueNC attacking the former WCDP Chair and yours truly. They also lashed out at a few other WCDP volunteers. The facilitator of BlueNC probably still has the IP address of the "problem poster." The writing styles and accusations are very similar to a CP contributor. It is my understanding that this person has attempted to get on BlueNC recently and has been denied.

In addition to CP, BlueNC, and other Blogs -- it appears that this individual likes to create multiple IDs on FaceBook. The first time this happened - it just took a week or two to ID the individual. They have recently attempted to create yet another FaceBook ID "M. Davis".

Some of this information that this person gathers is then twisted and presented in an email/blog from a fellow who calls himself NCDemocrat. He actually doesn't live in NC and obsessively post misinformation about Party Leadership and volunteers.

Good luck managing such individual. I am hoping they follow through on a previous rant and move their political life in a different direction.

Peace --

JD Casey

[VVActivist]

Earlier this year I had an experience with a BlogStalker -- they created multiple IDs on BlueNC attacking the former WCDP Chair and yours truly. They also lashed out at a few other WCDP volunteers. The facilitator of BlueNC probably still has the IP address of the "problem poster." The writing styles and accusations are very similar to a CP contributor. It is my understanding that this person has attempted to get on BlueNC recently and has been denied.

In addition to CP, BlueNC, and other Blogs -- it appears that this individual likes to create multiple IDs on FaceBook. The first time this happened - it just took a week or two to ID the individual. They have recently attempted to create yet another FaceBook ID "M. Davis".

Some of this information that this person gathers is then twisted and presented in an email/blog from a fellow who calls himself NCDemocrat. He actually doesn't live in NC and obsessively post misinformation about Party Leadership and volunteers.

Good luck managing such individual. I am hoping they follow through on a previous rant and move their political life in a different direction.

Peace --

JD Casey

I was one of those WCDP volunteers who was blog-stalked on FB by this person's sock-puppet. Before I figured out who she was, I objected to her flirting with me on line, and she apologized for doing so.

Once I figured out who it was, I couldn't take enough showers to ever really feel clean! ;-)