Forums > Social Chat > Did ya'll vote today??

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earthdreamermember
116 posts
Location: NSW, Australia


Posted:
i went to vote today and saw on the ballot paper the Free Marijuana Prohibition party...nice i hope they get into government!!!

Auspoiboymember
219 posts
Location: Melbourne Australia


Posted:
Yeah i voted today....For those not in the know, its australian elections today.All im willing to say is that Pauline hansons one nation promptly got a 9 on my ballot paper. (being nine candidates on the ballot)CheersAPB

Good on usGood on us all


earthdreamermember
116 posts
Location: NSW, Australia


Posted:
yep...she was no 7 on mine...i heard her interveiw on JJJ and sucessfully convinced me that she has no idea, and wants to instill fear in all australian hearts,...scarey lady..!!

Auspoiboymember
219 posts
Location: Melbourne Australia


Posted:
I can't believe that liberal won again.Now i am just sad!!!!!SAD I TELL YOU!!!!

Good on usGood on us all


earthdreamermember
116 posts
Location: NSW, Australia


Posted:
hopefully the greens and democrats will be hard core on their backs to get some much need changes appenin..i wish we could just be heard tho y' know?

CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
*wonders if being called sad means the same australia as it does in England....*I wouldn't say you were sad APB. More like special. grin*tiptoes away and hides in his favourite hiding place*------------------C@ntusWe are old, we are young, we are in this together, vagabonds and children, we're prisoners forever, with pulses raging and eyes full of wonder, Kicking out behind us again.

Meh


FrenzieBRONZE Member
member
515 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Crazy eh! But at least the greens and democrats had a larger backing than ever before! Soemthing like 17-20% or soemthing i heard natasha say in an interview, and its only gonna get stronger.But i cant believe liberal retained power! Goes to show that the majority of australian voters do seem to be rednecks ...argh

- Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the milk crate -


CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
I hope your green party are better than ours.Come election time everyone goes "I'm gonna vote green cos they care about the planet" etcBut they dont look at the policies. If they did they'd see that the Green Party are basically the conservative party with a greener outlook. They have many extremely right wing policies.They're not Nazi's. Dont get me wrong. But hey're not the fluffy liberals everyone thinks they are.------------------C@ntusWe are old, we are young, we are in this together, vagabonds and children, we're prisoners forever, with pulses raging and eyes full of wonder, Kicking out behind us again.

Meh


FrenzieBRONZE Member
member
515 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Cantus: i havent looked at the policy's of your greens party, but remember they have to be realistic and know they need to appeal to everyone.No good just having a policy of "we will ban all cars" when they know that 80% of the population drives!I think thats what annoys me so much about a lot of socialist distributions and policys, too extreme for them to ever be considered in the real world. A lot of good ideas .. just not conveyed for the majority.

- Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the milk crate -


Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
What's funny is that the Liberal party here is quite the opposite, it is conservative (as opposed to liberal) - time for a name change Johnny...I don't think enough people understand the preference system. If it is explained to the uninformed by next election, then I wouldn't be surprised to see the Democrats do as good if not better than the Nats[This message has been edited by Bendy (edited 12 November 2001).]

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


Auspoiboymember
219 posts
Location: Melbourne Australia


Posted:
When i say sad i really mean derpressed, dissallusioned, down-trodden, disheartened and any other word starting with D (with the exception of dandy.......don't be calling an aussie a dandy boy wink )As for the greens, im not really a fan of either two major parties (labor or liberal, for those not in the know) so Greens and democrat are really my only options, and only in the upper house. My electorate is one of the most strongly held liberal seats in australia, this means that really when i vote im voting for the upper house and trying to get the balance of power firmly in the democrats hands.I don't really have a point to this story, i just suddenly realised i was rambling.CheersAPB

Good on usGood on us all


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
OK APB, I'm curious... What's with the numbering system on your ballots? (9? 7?) Do you rank your candidates?In the US we just vote for one guy. And then the guy who gets the second most amount of votes gets to be president. wink

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


FrenzieBRONZE Member
member
515 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Its not surprising NYC that what only 30% of americans vote (could be wrong on that percentage, just grabbed it from the top of my head..)it really does seem like that votes dont count....is that right? How does it work?

- Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the milk crate -


Rolphmember
22 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
I am sure everyone is pleased that Pauline Hanson had a severe drop in votes.Here we vote for the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (Upper House) For the lower house we number all the candidates in preference, and we pick just one party for the Senate (unless you want to put 46 people in order of preference) I've been paying attention.I hope the greens don't have any nazi policies here.

NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Frenzie,American Gov 101:President- Elected by states by a process of electoral college (which has been under critism for years but not enough to change it) by which each of the 50 states is valued a certain number of electoral votes based on population and the candidate gets ALL of those electoral votes if he wins the state. SO in a large state, like Florida, California or Texas, a small victory for a candidate will secure them ALL of those votes. This allows for the phenomena which occured in our last election where a candidate can get the most american votes (popular vote) and still lose because he didn't get the right vote(electoral vote). [So let's say out of the two largest states, EVERYONE in Texas votes for you and I beat you by just one percent in California, were basically even even though you actually got 74% of the votes in the two states.] In our last election it came down to Florida and was so close the highest courts had to decide which votes counted and which didn't. It took quite a while to figure out that our current president Bush had won the electoral vote despite being beaten soundly by the popular vote. People were upset for a while but thankfuly we joined together and found other countries to hate.Then there's our congress made of Senate (two per state) and House of Representatives (made of a few hundred based on states population.) Each seat in congress is voted on by a direct vote.Both the presidential candidates and congressional candidates come from two main parties, the democrats (liberals) and the republicans (conservatives.) Occationally an independant wins a seat in congress but americans seem pretty happy with our two party system.Yeah, we as Americans don't really like to vote. Heck, we don't even really like to read. Once they put voting chips into TV remote controls those voter turnout %s will jump right up there with the rest of the world I tell ya...As for me? I just do what the big corporations tell me to... Anybody else want a Big Mac? My treat, I gotta go jump start the US economy, it's my patriotic duty.{Feel free to ask any clarifying questions. Real live American online here...}[This message has been edited by NYC (edited 12 November 2001).]

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Upon rereading my post I gotta say...You gotta give me SOME credit for being so unbiased. I mean come on Americans, that's a pretty unbiased take on it all, no? I didn't even bring up butterfly ballots (thats when you spin two ballots in front of you in opposite directions wink) or Jeb Bush.Ben Franklin (US forefather who got a lot of French nookie and flew a kite with a key on it AKA the guy on the $20 bill featured in the recent hip hop hit "It's all about the Benjamins Baby"...) once said something about the US government sucking until you went and looked at all of the other governments in the world. I don't remember, that was back in High School US history class and I was too busy flirting with Caroline D. I wonder whatever happened to her... I owe her like four years of math homework. smile[This message has been edited by NYC (edited 12 November 2001).]

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


odegramember
3 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
Why would anyone bother voting for Hanson? any redneck who doesn't want any 'filthy refugees and their heathen ways' in the country can just vote Liberal... or Labour, it seems. frown God this is depressing.maybe if all the fire twirlers in Oz congregated in one spot we could secede (sp?) and form out own little independant nation of fire fanatics. who knows, Johnny might even ship us out to our own island grin

NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
Hold up Aussies... Now since you rank your votes for the lower house does that mean you're inside the voter's booth going:"Well I really want Bob to win but since I know that everyone else is voting for Bob and I also want Suzie to win so I'll rank her higher than Bob because she needs my vote more"It also seems that you're voting for who everyone doesn't hate rather than who everyone likes. Is that true? Just curious...

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
NYC - well you see the way the preferences work is that everyone votes. Then the candidate with the least number of votes in an electorate is eliminated and the second preference on each of those ballot papers is looked at and the votes divided up amongst the corresponding candidates. Then the candidate with the least number is removed and his/her preferences shared out.This goes on until there are only 2 candidates in the running or one of the candidates has more than 50% of the votes.So you are able to vote for whomever you want, and it is not considered a "wasted" vote. For example, you could vote for an independent member and put your preferred major party as a preference. If you only had one vote and the seat is a "safe" seat, many people would think - "pfft why vote for the independent, they probably won't win". These people then vote for their preferred major party, and by doing so reduce the chances of the independent. By having a preference vote you can say "Well I really want Nat to win, but if she doesn't then I'd like Fred. And if he doesn't, then I guess I'd prefer Kym over Johnny, and I really don't want Pauline in any sort of position to wield power."So you'd then vote:3 Kym1 Nat2 Fred5 Pauline4 JohnnyOh and I mean everyone 18+ votes, EVERYONE. It's illegal not to, how's that for a democratic system!? confused Of course you don't have to actually vote, you can deface the ballot paper etc and it is not counted, or even hand in a blank one.[This message has been edited by Bendy (edited 12 November 2001).]

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


Auspoiboymember
219 posts
Location: Melbourne Australia


Posted:
To further the point.We don't actually vote for out prime minister.All of australia is divided up into electorates. There are something like twenty in victoria. My electorate is called INDI (pronounced indye, so as not to be confused with the music). Each party has somebody stand for that electorate. In indi there were 9 candidates. In kooyong there were only 4. The number depends on whether people want to contest that seat. My electorate was won by the liberal candidate. As the majority of electorates australiawide were won by liberal they form government. The liberal party then elect the prime minister, vice etc etc. So really i don't vote for a leader but for the party to form government.I hope that made some senseCheersAPB

Good on usGood on us all


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
It does APB, that's how most european countries do it too, no?Thanks kids, well explained.I'm kinda glad that EVERYONE over 18 in the US doens't vote. WWF superstar "The Rock" would be going on his third term by now... smileNo disrespect to the People's Champion of course...

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


RavingLunaticmember
286 posts

Posted:
What a very interesting thread..reading about aussie politics and american ones too..over in canada we have the same parties apparently as the australians:democrats. we call them the NDP or new democratic party. they fucked stuff up in our province on the west coast big time.liberals who are anything but liberal, they are more corporate puppets.green party, conservative, but with a "green" outlook.. I think they may be the next government here, at least provincially.and who I voted for: the bc marijuana partyI regret my vote now, the marjiuna party had some real a drugged out candidate in our riding, but I voted for him anyway, because it seemed the most radical and leftist thing I could do..anyway.. I like the idea of all getting together and forming a firespinner party. we could run govt better than they are!------------------~whoosh whoosh whoosh~

~whoosh whoosh whoosh~


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
I'm still almost confused. For us it's:Democrats = Liberals.Republicans = Conservative.A GROSS oversimplification would put Democrats as "higher taxes, more domestic spending, less military, more civil liberties, less corporate interests, more money towards liberal touchy feely organizations.."Republicans as "less taxes so that buisnesses can thrive, more military spending, more effort in crime reduction, let big buisness grow which will put more money in the pockets of Americans so they'll spend more..."(I know, I know, sorry America, that's a horrible way to put it but it's the best I could do on short notice...)Is that the same Democratic and Republican party we're talking about elsewhere?

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
*goes to look up extreme right wing in the dictionary*

Meh


FrenzieBRONZE Member
member
515 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
You only HAVE to vote (ie u get fined if you dont) if you are enrolled.....you can always get by without enrolling in an electorate to vote....But then I see so many countries around the world fighting for democracy and for having a say in who runs their country and so many people in our country and other fortunate countries take it for granted... I would think myself hypocritical for fighting for a free tibet if i didnt even vote for my own nation leader....

- Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the milk crate -


CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
You get fined if you dont vote? Brilliant. They should instigate over here. They'd make millions.Do you have to pay for healthcare?

Meh


FrenzieBRONZE Member
member
515 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
We have medicare and private health cover. Medicare doesnt really offer much and public hospital waiting lists for elective surgery (you'd be surprised what they consider elective) is enormous. They have just gone through a mass push for private health care, including a rebate and stuff.If ya earn over about $35k/year (i think) u pay a medicare levy as well in your tax to help pay for the public system.Im with a private fund cause of all the silly things i do, namely being horse riding and skiing and now fire dancing, cause if i was to injure myself in any of the above, no way i could afford phsyio etc, its all included in my health fund cover

- Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the milk crate -


Bendymember
750 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
It'll be interesting to see if there IS a medicare in 3 years time....NYC - the Australian Democrats are different to the American Democratic Party in the way that they are not one of the "big" parties. The parties don't exactly match, but here is my best effort - excuse the generalisations:Aust Labour is similar to US Democrat (standing for the workers etc)Aust Liberal is most like US Republican (standing for big business etc)Aust. National Party is the "country" party (standing for farmers and rural voters etc)Aust Democrat Party is generally a left wing party (standing for youth affairs, environment, and public services like education/health)Canadian Greens sound a lot like Aust Greens (environmental left)The One Nation Party is a joke.These are roughly listed in popularity too - bearing in mind that the Libs/Nats are essentially one party (a coalition that is our govt), and Greens it seems are more popular in localised regions (cf Democrats who seem to have a wider support-base.The right-most major party - Liberal - is not as far right as it seems the US Republicans are, esp. on the topics of religion/abortion/guns, and left-most major party might be a little more centre than US Democrats (not sure bout this tho).blah - long freakin post - back to work methinks.[This message has been edited by Bendy (edited 13 November 2001).]

Courage is the man who can stop after only one peanut


CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
The cons of moving to Australia are beginning to mount up now. Add those to the fact that no one will actually like me when i get there and things look bleak frown

Meh


Itsgottabmember
244 posts
Location: NZ


Posted:
bendy your comments are interesting cos the media in new zealand are suggesting that paulines policies of a few years ago seem to have creeped into the johnny comes lately party. not suggesting any of home of poi visitors are of her 'mind set' but as a party she seems to have had an impact in the aussie political scene. re the boat people

CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
That is one plus point of going to Australia. If you're not invited you get to meet the SAS. [This message has been edited by Cantus (edited 13 November 2001).]

Meh


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