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In the criminal justice system, a person is "innocent until proved guilty" -- but that does not mean that if a person is found "not guilty", s/he did not commit the crime. An awful lot of people seem to think it does, though, or at least want to use the principle to preclude other people from discussing individuals' actual culpability for crimes. OJ.
In a liberal democracy, a person's vote is secret, but that does not mean that s/he cannot disclose his/her vote, and it also does not mean that it is always improper to ask someone how s/he voted.
The point of a secret ballot is to protect individuals from reprisals that those in power might take against those who voted against them.
It is *not* to preclude public discourse about issues.
If I am listening to someone's opinion about something, I very much want to know something about the person I am listening to. If she is calling for a flat tax, is she rich? If he is calling for universal free child care, does he have eight children? If she is calling for the introduction of private elements into the health care system, does she own stock in an insurance company? If he wants to adopt a school voucher system, is he a religious fundamentalist?
I want to know whether the person I am listening to can reasonably be regarded as speaking out of naked self-interest, to start with, no matter how altruistic or public-minded her arguments might sound. I want to know whether there is potential bias on her part.
I also want to know whether I am listening to a hypocrite: someone who wants the world to do as he says, but does not do it himself. Or who simply talks a good line, but cannot be relied on to follow his own thoughts into action.
If the person does not want to give me such information, that is his/her prerogative and, yes, his/her right. But there is absolutely no rule in the world to say that I can't ASK.
In this particular instance, none of the factors I mention might be relevant -- the question really is simply a matter of interest, of knowing how someone with that perspective looks at the contemporary scene. There are a lot of people in Quebec who had the utmost sympathy for, and in many cases allegiance to, the initial nationalist sentiments and movement, but who have little sympathy for or allegiance to its modern manifestations. Their reasons are worth knowing, as are the reasons of those who maintain a sovereignist, or a particular kind of sovereignist, stance -- to a listener who simply wants more understanding of the issues.
I don't have any problem telling anyone how I voted about anything, and telling 'em exactly why. I have no fear of reprisals from anyone if I do so. (That's not to say that there are others who might not; I know a prominent Liberal who has voted NDP, and I'm sure he doesn't advertise this in Liberal circles, and that's fine.) If I want to influence how anyone thinks about anything -- and don't we all? -- I certainly don't expect not to be asked questions that would give people the information they want in order to assess the things I say.
Wanna know how I voted on Meech Lake? "No". I regarded it as having little to do with the legitimate aspirations of the people of Quebec, and lots to do with power-grabbing by right-wing provincial politicians, and the undermining of the very essence of Canada.
Wanna know why I voted Tory in the 1974 federal election, and Liberal in the 2003 Ontario election? I'll be happy to explain (and in fact have, at DU).
Wanna know how my Montreal anglo brother, who voted "Yes" on the referendum, voted in the last Quebec provincial election? Well, I suspect he didn't vote; I haven't got around to asking him, since we don't talk much. But I know that he, like me, regards the present-day PQ as a right-wing mutant offspring of the movement that originally expressed and worked to further the legitimate aspirations of the people of Quebec. And he'd have no problem saying how he voted, and why.
It is absolutely legitimate to ask how someone voted, if the person you are asking is engaged in persuasive speech about a matter that was an issue in that vote, or has offered to inform you about his/her personal perspective on issues to which that vote is relevant.
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