General Chat

we've just done our duty ....... and right, and privilege


we went to vote in the municipal election.

it's an at-large system ...........

Mayor .............. choose 1 of 10

City Council .......... choose 10 out of 49

School Board ........ choose 9 out of 29

Parks Board .......... choose 7 out of 31

Plus, 3 referenda allowing the city to borrow money over the next 4 years for various facility and infrastructure work.

The term for the council was changed earlier this year from serving 3 years to 4 years


OH and I work differently .......

........ I wrote out a list yesterday of who I was voting for, checking profiles as well as party affiliations. It took me about 2 hours :-)

OH thought about it during the last few days, decided on a few definites but not written them down ................. and then voted for the full number in the booth, based on some balancing equation that he had.




I've never counted up how many times I have voted in various elections ................. but it is every election in which I have been eligible since I turned 21 in the UK



I figure that I have no right to complain if I have not voted :-D

Thank goodness ours is simpler

I have never missed voting even at council level since I was eligible to vote

I totally agree Sylvia that you can't complain if you don't vote.

Think the Aussies have it right that you are fined if you don't vote.

The Ozzies have a very good system!

we were living down there when there was an election ................. late 1975 or early 1976


OH was at home when a scrutineer came round ................... the scrutineer was insistent that we had to vote. OH was equally adamant that we didn't have that right as we were on a 10 month visa, and had to be out of the country by a certain date.

The scrutineer eventually went off shrugging his shoulders, and saying "on your own heads be it!! Don't blame me when you go to jail!" :-D



There was one thing we did notice .......................... it was the dirtiest election we had ever watched!

It seemed that anyone could get an ad in the paper or on a billboard, saying anything they wanted about a candidate, as long as their signature was at the bottom!


Some really horrible things were said!




There was a very low percentage turnout in the last Municipal Election here in 2011 ................ approximately 35% :-(


Everyone is hoping that it will be higher this year.

You're right Sylvia, there's a lot of mud slinging in Oz.

It's compulsory to vote. I don't agree with that. I figure if you're interested you vote.... that's why there are so many "donkey" votes.

I worked at an election once (never again!)....... and couldn't believe the number of people who came in with bits of paper (showing how to vote) and they couldn't speak English. I wonder who got to them.

I was also amazed at the ballot papers that were rejected or not...... it became very obvious which party the "judge" of scribbled on ballot papers supported.

:-(

It doesn't matter who you vote for... a politician still gets in :-D and suffers memory loss.

:-D :-D

If our Ballot Papers had a box 'None of the above' more people might turn out to vote.

As it stands, the disaffected voter either stays away or spoils their Paper.

It is rare in the UK for turnout at local elections to be as high as 35%. A majority if councils have been run by the same party for donkeys years sometimes more than a century. As voting changes nothing and in any case most local govt power has been taken over by Whitehall there is not really much point in voting.

There is a lot of corruption in UK local government. Most of it involves property deals but it also manifests itself in such scandals as governance in Tower Hamlets and child protection in some Northern cities ( the ones which have been caught out, others to follow ).

So all in all not very democratic at all.

If voting in the UK became compulsory it would change nothing the law would be ignored and if the politicians insisted anything from the election of the "Monster Raving Looney Party" to burning town halls would happen.

If there is one political right the British hold dear it is that of declaring a curse on all of them. Which is why of course the Lewes bonfire parade is ever more popular.

so ........................


unofficial results (still have postal and absentee votes to count)


voting numbers were up by about 10%

4 polling stations had to stay open 45 minutes after closing time because there were so many people lined up

Some polling stations ran out of ballot papers, and had to close temporarily while someone "ran" to City Hall to get extras



Incumbent Mayor won by ca 10,000+ votes

Council

9 incumbents re-elected, 1 new

6 members of same party as the Mayor, and 4 opposing (including 1 Green) .......... so he has a majority


School Board

split!!

4 each of the 2 main parties, with 1 Green holding the balance of power


Parks Board

4 of opposing party to the Mayor
2 Green
1 of the mayor's party





it's going to be an interesting 4 years :-D

doesn't all this give you a headache ?
Do people in Canada really care who runs the parks department ?

They do ?

Explains a lot, Joni Mitchell for instance.

Rollo


Vancouver is the only place in Canada that has an elected Parks Board .................. and, to be honest, it's a pain in the butt at times!



But we have it, so we have to live with it ....................... we might as well be interested in who is elected ........... are they going to encourage more green space, maintain current parks OR will they want to make more of a concrete jungle

It does form a stepping stone for those who want to get into municipal politics, as a place to get their feet wet and their names known.




The elected Parks Board was set up in 1890 as autonomous from Council, and with the mandate for all green space and recreation facilities within the city, and is enshrined in the Vancouver Charter



so I guess we're stuck with it :-)

It´s right that if you don´t vote then you can´t really complain if everybody who says no point me voting because my party wouldn´t get in. Then maybe their party would. I also think it would be good to add abstain as no belief in any of the above ..maybe if that vote came top it would make the other parties rethink !

Rollo yes I do believe people would be happy to vote for who was in charge of parks seeing as this day and age green spaces are at a premium.

Although I can´t claim to have voted in all elections since I have been old enough, often because I didn´t live in a place long enough to vote.
And Yes I have voted for Screaming Lord Sutch and the raving monster loony party simply because I couldn´t vote for anyone else.

:-D :-D :-D :-D

I recently posted on this thread:

"There is a lot of corruption in UK local government. Most of it involves property deals"

Dorset County Council used to be run from some modest offices in the middle of Dorchester, the county town. These offices have been sold off for redevelopment along with the nearby brewery. The council is now housed in a modern castle on the Dorchester ring road more or less impregnable to the general public.

This is what happened next:

http://goo.gl/jtbk7J

Deals and wheels within wheels rarely to the benefit of voters or commonplace right across the UK. People aren't daft they just don't vote. What is the point ?