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Voters turn online poll into forum
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Posted on Oct 06 2000
The CNMI Republican primary on November 4 is less than a month away but there’s still no sign that the two candidates at the top of the ticket will debate or discuss issues in a public forum before the voting starts.
Those who voted in an online poll on the “Latest CNMI news,” a web site operated by Bruce Lloyd Media Services and Saipan Datacom aren’t happy about that.
Over two and a half weeks, participants by a consistent four to one margin said they wanted to hear more about issues from the candidates in either debate or some other forum. The minority agreed with the statement that they already knew enough about the candidates to vote in November.
Mr. Lloyd, owner of the Saipan-based public relations firm bearing his name, said this unscientific poll produced somewhat different results than previous polls pitting candidates directly against each other.
“Clearly the large majority would like a debate, so interest on voting on this question fell off rapidly. What happened is that a lot of people continued to go on the site to use it as forum to complain about stuff like poor cable TV service and to scream at Shell and Mobil Oil for raising gas prices two times while we were doing this poll,” said Mr. Lloyd.
He said it was suggested to him that many people in the CNMI feel they don’t have any other way to express political or other opinions in public except by going online, mostly anonymously. He said he has heard some complaints about the attitude and language of some of those commenting online but “that’s the nature of the Internet and democracy, as far as that goes.”
Mr. Llyod said he is considering some of the less political polling or surveys suggested by visitors to his site.
The next poll, which surveys attitudes toward the performance of the CNMI Scholarship Program, is expected to generate considerable response from overseas students who are virtually all online.
