2016 - Federal Election

[Outlaw Yogi]

Really?
Does Feminist really mean anything?

Yes.
It means you think it's OK to lie for the cause.
It also means you can express hatred by feigning victimhood.

[skippy]

You have to wonder about corrupt vote counters though and there would be many. They will have a field day with all those empty ballot papers for the lower house.

An update on this. My wife went to training this morning as she is managing a booth on Election Day. Around here many of the booths are small with only a few hundred people voting and they often only have two or three people working at the smaller village booths ( I know this I've worked at a lot myself). Well apparently this year they are increasing security and doubling the workers in some booths so that there is always a person on the actual ballot boxes to ensure that when someone votes that they actually put a ballot paper in the correct box as they leave.

[Neferti]

You have to wonder about corrupt vote counters though and there would be many. They will have a field day with all those empty ballot papers for the lower house.

An update on this. My wife went to training this morning as she is managing a booth on Election Day. Around here many of the booths are small with only a few hundred people voting and they often only have two or three people working at the smaller village booths ( I know this I've worked at a lot myself). Well apparently this year they are increasing security and doubling the workers in some booths so that there is always a person on the actual ballot boxes to ensure that when someone votes that they actually put a ballot paper in the correct box as they leave.

There has always been somebody standing at the ballot boxes when I have voted, making sure you do the right thing. You certainly cannot just go and get your name marked off and walk out either as there is somebody on the door too, watching your every move. However, they can NOT make you mark the ballot paper ... its supposed to be a confidential vote ... so if you write something on it, or muck it up somehow to get an informal vote ... they won't know, provided you fold it and put it in the correct box.

[skippy]

You have to wonder about corrupt vote counters though and there would be many. They will have a field day with all those empty ballot papers for the lower house.

An update on this. My wife went to training this morning as she is managing a booth on Election Day. Around here many of the booths are small with only a few hundred people voting and they often only have two or three people working at the smaller village booths ( I know this I've worked at a lot myself). Well apparently this year they are increasing security and doubling the workers in some booths so that there is always a person on the actual ballot boxes to ensure that when someone votes that they actually put a ballot paper in the correct box as they leave.

There has always been somebody standing at the ballot boxes when I have voted, making sure you do the right thing. You certainly cannot just go and get your name marked off and walk out either as there is somebody on the door too, watching your every move. However, they can NOT make you mark the ballot paper ... its supposed to be a confidential vote ... so if you write something on it, or muck it up somehow to get an informal vote ... they won't know, provided you fold it and put it in the correct box.

Yea at the bigger booths I've always seen somebody next to the ballot boxes but I've worked at a booth where there were only two of us and we were both handing out ballot papers so you couldn't really be sure the papers were put into the box or even put into the correct box.
Apparently they have recognised that and are making sure those small booths are maned as diligently as the bigger ones.
As for what you put on the ballot, yea go for it be as creative as you like.

[Neferti]

Well, I have now voted. Yee Haa. Such excitement.

They ask whether you are eligible to vote early and whether you have voted before. Naturally, I obliged with the obvious reply.

How boring would it be to sit at a desk and (with one finger) type my REAL name incorrectly into the computer ... "geeze, you aren't on the Roll", he said. Yes I am, I checked the AEC site. Blah blah He entered my name incorrectly ... confusing a g with a c. Holy cow.

Eventually, I got given the green and white ballot papers and a lengthy explanation, as though I was totally non compos mentis, on how I should fill the stupid thing out.

I voted INFORMAL and wrote a few words to Turncoat. My daughter who came with me did what I thought was really funny. She filled out EVERY box on both ballots with random numbers. I think she began with 75, then 24 and so on.

Compulsory voting has to cease. Compulsory getting on the Rolls happens in every country that I know of ... it is a tool to track population and so forth. As my daughter said, if we didn't have to vote, we might take more notice and try to make our vote count. She also said that getting fined for not voting means it is really compulsory voting ... unlike what they reckon.

This time, like lots of people, there is little difference between Bull Shitten and Turncoat and people really, really do take notice of who the Prime Minister is and who might replace the current one. In a City this happens. In a small country town it might be different as you would probably"know" your local Member.

Anyway, one down. We in Canberra have yet another compulsory voting in October. Can hardly wait.

[skippy]

We have council elections here in October too.
As for this election, I'm very interested in the informal vote. I believe it will be the highest ever and maybe even enough to have changed the election outcome for the loser.
I still can't get a handle on who will win this. My head tells me Turnbull can't lose yet all the polls say the opposite.

[Black Orchid]

Well I have voted already thank God.

I don't really believe in informal votes at this point in time. Voting informally will still see one of the big two with more power than they deserve and I couldn't complain about the government if I didn't have my say.

Hopefully most people will vote for one of the smaller parties and give them a leg up so that eventually the big two will have some real competition. Only way to do it.

[Neferti]

Well I have voted already thank God.

I don't really believe in informal votes at this point in time. Voting informally will still see one of the big two with more power than they deserve and I couldn't complain about the government if I didn't have my say.

Hopefully most people will vote for one of the smaller parties and give them a leg up so that eventually the big two will have some real competition. Only way to do it.

There were 5 people on my green ballot paper. I just wrote a message to Turncoat. It doesn't matter in my Electorate anyway ... it is Safe ALP.

The Senate ballot paper was a bit different. I was TOLD that I had to pick 6 above the line or 12 below the line, so I chose to vote 1 Liberal above the line ... whether that is informal or not ... who cares. The Senate is NOT Turncoat country. I loath the man.

IF anyone ever says we only vote for our local Member, they are ill informed .... 90% of the population vote for the current PM or the one who might replace him/her. TRUE. Not everybody cares about politics and usually the ONLY time they even think about it is when we are FORCED to vote.

[Neferti]

We have council elections here in October too.
As for this election, I'm very interested in the informal vote. I believe it will be the highest ever and maybe even enough to have changed the election outcome for the loser.
I still can't get a handle on who will win this. My head tells me Turnbull can't lose yet all the polls say the opposite.

Like I said, young people are NOT interested in Politics or Politicians ... it is only us tragics who even THINK about politics that have a view about it.

People who are made to vote (or get fined) view it as who the PM is and the Other Bloke. Some people just don't like what a person LOOKS like! Policies? What policies. My daughter saw the Bob Hawke ad about Medicare and it scared her .... I told her it was a Labor LIE (as it is) ... how many other mothers let their kids think that ad by Bob Hawke is REAL?

I don't care who WINS ... I think Labor would need to win an awful lot of people over since .... what is the difference in the HoR? Abbott got a windfall and a MAJORITY didn't he? Turncoat will lose some and might even gain some .... the swinging voters are the ones and I am NOT one of them.

[Black Orchid]

I chose to vote 1 Liberal above the line ... whether that is informal or not ... who cares.

It is.