Last posts on elections

Youth Vote Matters!

2008-10-17T14:01:00+02:00

Elections are a season to understand the country’s political and economical strengths. It is also an eye opener into the voting patterns and how international issues can influence countrywide support for a particular candidate. Election prediction is one way to understand who the most favored presidential candidate is and what the voting ratios for every age group are.There are ongoing political debates in every corner of the media. It is important that young voters receive as much information as possible since according to MTV research, it was found that 70% of young people knew someone who has fought the Iraq war and felt the need to elect the right candidate. It is estimated that more than 20 million youth voters will cast their rights to choose a person whom they think will be worth their vote. Political polls matter for the younger lot and they take every bit of news item seriously. Discussion network sites also encourage healthy debates on political issues to create awareness. In one way, it is a positive trend to see young people concerned about wars and economy. It is more of a promise to the future that the country can sustain its leadership with these socially-conscious citizens.

Election Resources

2008-01-26T17:34:19+01:00

Whether you want to know who's winning the primary races or what differentiates a caucus from a primary, herzogbr.net blog has lots of links to helpful election websites (near the bottom of the posting). CNN's seems pretty complete and easy to read at a glance.

SWEDEN’S ELECTION RESULT – CHINK THE SCANDINAVIAN MODEL ?

2006-09-20T23:13:39+02:00

The results of Sweden’s general election, though revolutionary wasn’t much of surprise. In the days leading to election, it was increasingly getting clear that incumbent Social Democrats party will be ousted from government. The party, led by Prime Minister Goran Persson has been in power continuously for past 12 years. It was overthrown yesterday, by the centre-right alliance under the leadership of Fredrik Reinfeldt, who is set to become the new prime minister.

Local Government Elections

2006-03-03T12:05:00+01:00

Another election has passed and it seems SA's political landscape is virtually unchanged. The ANC (once again) dominated the election with the DA trailing in a very distant second and the other upstart opposition parties registering in the single digits. Sound familiar? If you're noticing a tinge of frustration on my part you'd be spot-on - our local politics at the moment is very stale and seemingly going nowhere! Oh but you say, it was a successful election - no violence, voter intimidation etc? That is a valid point, but if those are the only criteria we assign to what determines whether an election was successful or not, we are selling ourselves well short.

Since I started this blog, one of the main targets of my scorn has been politicians who are divorced from reality. You know who I mean - those fatcats who are content to just sit around surrounded by their yes-men, completely cut-off from the man on the street. These clowns along with their equally damaging curruptocrat buddies have gone a long way in disrupting the flow of services to those who need them most. This election was an opportunity to give the finger to these fools and show them and the party(s) they represent that this type of conduct will not be tolerated in future. Instead what seems to have happened is that people have just decided to abandon the democratic process altogethor and show their vote of frustration by not voting at all. This is not the way forward. Unfortunately for all of us, this is a vicious cycle where people not voting allow the same inefficient clowns back into power which further raises voter apathy....and so it goes on.

Let's take a look at a fine illustration - Merafong Municipality (which incorporates the contentious Khutsong). This municipality, to me, is the best example of what is wrong in SA politics today and serves as a fine microcosm of what is happening nationally. Khutsong was one of the "border" municipalities that was incorporated into a neighboring province - much to the displeasure of those living there. The local residents felt that those in power (local councilors, the national government) were not the slight bit concerned about their feelings on the issue and just unilaterally made the decision to move the municipality. This feeling prompted them to decide to boycott the elections in protest. The result? A 29% turnout rate resulting in the same party as before the election (the ANC) taking control of the protesting Wards. See any difference? I don't. That's because boycotts don't work. If people feel very strongly about an issue they must express this feeling through the ballot box, not by avoiding it. By boycotting this election these residents played straight into the hands of the people they were supposedly "punishing", not the result they as a community or we as a country need!

At the same time there is another message here, that is the fact that people at local level feel like they don't have alternatives. This is the fault of a lackluster opposition that clearly has no idea of how to galvanise and motivate those at grassroots level to reject the incumbent councilors. To put it another way if most people are faced with three choices a) the incumbent b) the opposition and c) not voting at all; and the majority of them are choosing option C then you as an opposition politician have to take a hard look at yourself and ask the question of why you do not represent the desires of these apathetic or boycotting voters. So what came first the chicken or the egg - the unhappy voter or the lackluster opposition politician?

At a +/-50% turnout rate in the election I'll let you decide...

British Election Blogging

2005-05-06T00:50:00+02:00

The BBC feed is fascinating (hat-tip Drudge).Among other thoughts

They speak better English than the Brits on The Office
Computer animations -- actually pretty effective
BBC interviewers can be jerks to government officials.
"Your government did it!""All other parties supported us!""So it's their fault, not yours, eh?"
Making all the candidates for a seat stand in a line while the results are read seems petty
The George Bush parody was high-larious. Best quotes: "Tony Blair and Charley Brown are going to sock it to the King's men!" and "It's like the United States of Britainland over here!"
The Official Monster Raving Loony Party is a real party with real candidates.
Lib-Dems are trying to decapitate the entire Conservative Shadow Cabinet. Good luck Lib-Dems!

Washington State Election Remains Stolen

2005-03-05T15:35:00+01:00

"Rossi Team Issues List of 'Felon' Voters," Seattle Times, 4 March 2005, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002196617_felons04m.html (from The Corner).More news from Kyiv on the Pacific

Attorneys for Republican Dino Rossi yesterday released the names of more than 1,000 people who allegedly cast illegal votes in November's disputed gubernatorial election.The list of alleged felons, people who voted twice and dead people recorded as voting is at the heart of a lawsuit Republicans filed to overturn the November election of Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire.

A quick Times' investigation seems to support the felon-voters claim:

A check by The Seattle Times of 32 of the 1,135 names on the list found one case that appeared to be in error, and one that was unclear. The others appeared to be properly included on the list.

Like the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon race or (possibly) the 2002 Johnson-Thune race, this appears to be another election stolen by the party of Gore.Sigh.

Baghdad Spring

2005-02-22T08:40:00+01:00

"When Camels Fly," by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/20/opinion/20friedman.html, 22 February 2005.By THOMAS L. FRIEDMANTom Friedman continues to be a terrific columnist for the New York Times. From his latest:

It's good news, bad news time again for the Middle East. The good news is that what you are witnessing in the Arab world is the fall of its Berlin Wall. The old autocratic order is starting to crumble. The bad news is that unlike the Berlin Wall in central Europe, the one in the Arab world is going to fall one bloody brick at a time, and, unfortunately, Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa and the Solidarity trade union are not waiting to jump into our arms on the other side.No one is more pleased than I am to see the demonstration of "people power" in Iraq, with millions of Iraqis defying the "you vote, you die" threat of the Baathists and jihadists. No one should take lightly the willingness of the opposition forces in Lebanon to stand up and point a finger at the Syrian regime and say "J'accuse!" for the murder of the opposition leader Rafik Hariri. No one should dismiss the Palestinian election, which featured a real choice of candidates, and a solid majority voting in favor of a decent, modernizing figure - Mahmoud Abbas. No one should ignore the willingness of some Egyptians to demand to run against President Hosni Mubarak when he seeks a fifth - unopposed - term. These are things you have not seen in the Arab world before. They are really, really unusual - like watching camels fly.Something really is going on with the proverbial "Arab street." The automatic assumption that the "Arab street" will always rally to the local king or dictator - if that king or dictator just waves around some bogus threat or insult from "America," "Israel" or "the West" - is no longer valid. Yes, the Iraq invasion probably brought more anti-American terrorists to the surface. But it also certainly brought more pro-democracy advocates to the surface.Call it the "Baghdad Spring."But we have to be very sober about what is ahead. There will be no velvet revolutions in this part of the world. The walls of autocracy will not collapse with just one good push. As the head-chopping insurgents in Iraq, the suicide bombers in Saudi Arabia and the murderers of Mr. Hariri have all signaled: The old order in this part of the world will not go quietly into this good night. You put a flower in the barrel of their gun and they'll blow your hand and your head right off.

Election, Still Stolen

2005-01-27T21:00:00+01:00

"GOP says it found 300 illegal votes," by David Postman, Seattle Times, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002161949_vance27m.html, 27 January 2005 (from The Corner).The Kyiv on the Pacific scandal continues to grow

TUKWILA — The state Republican Party said in court papers filed yesterday that it has found 300 illegal votes and more than 400 that can't be verified in the governor's election.With Christine Gregoire winning the governor's race by 129 votes, Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance says he now has found far more than enough evidence to persuade a judge to nullify the election and call for a rematch between Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi.Lawyers and Republican staffers are continuing to look county by county for votes cast by felons, in the name of dead people or by people who voted more than once, casting second votes either in other counties or other states."I expect this number to literally grow every day," Vance said.

I'm not surprised at the stolen election. I am surprised about how the issue is being kept alive. It is good for democracy that old Democratic tactics are no longer working. From Jim Crow to union thugs Jackson's party has instutionalized tainted voting. It's good they are being called on it.

Election Stealing

2005-01-07T16:55:00+01:00

Friday, January 7, 2005"Dead voted in governor's race," by Phuong Cat Le and Michelle Nicolosi, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/206969_dead07.html, 7 January 2005.Once again, the Democratic Party is stealing an election with dead voters

At least eight people who died well before the November general election were credited with voting in King County, raising new questions about the integrity of the vote total in the narrow governor's race, a Seattle Post-Intelligencer review has found.The evidence of votes from dead people is the latest example of flaws in an election already rocked by misplaced votes and allegations that there were thousands more votes counted than actual voters.

But its not fraud...

County officials say they are investigating the cases pointed out by the P-I. "These are not indications of fraud," said Bill Huennekens, King County's elections supervisor. "Fraud is a concerted effort to change an election."

... because even though widespread...

The state is required by law to send monthly lists of the deceased to county auditors so they can purge those names from their voter rolls. But those lists are sent only every few months. That means thousands of deceased voters may have been sent absentee ballots.

... it is not frauud when Democrats do it

"I called up the elections board and said, 'Can I do it because he wanted me to vote?' " the Duvall woman said. "The person ... said, 'Well, who would know?' I said, 'I don't want to do anything that is wrong.' "

Stolen Election

2005-01-04T17:35:00+01:00

"Gregoire certified as next governor," by Chriss McGann, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/206033_governor31.html, 31 December 2004.Why bother winning, when you can just cheat?

OLYMPIA -- Democrat Christine Gregoire was declared Washington's next governor yesterday, but Republican Dino Rossi refused to quit the race and cited thousands of "mystery voters" in King County as ample ammunition for continuing the fight.The state Republican Party obtained a list of the people who voted in King County as part of a larger request for information designed to show systemic problems with the election.The data showed that 895,660 people voted in the state's largest county. That's a problem, Republicans said, because King County tallied 899,199 votes -- 3,539 more votes than there were voters.

They stole the 1960 Presidential election, tried to steal the 2000 Presidential election, and now are stealing the 2004 Washington Gubernatorial election. God bless the Democratic Party.