02-11-2010, 06:09 PM
11
Re: Heated Bebate
Originally Posted by dandysmom
->
Thanks, we need it!Took 8 years of Bush to get us in this mess; now some people expect Obama to have ended the war, fixed the economy,cured our oil depemdence, passed a perfect health care bill, ended DADT and in general brought us into the Promised Land .... in 2 years, with opposition all the way! Puleeez!!!
03-02-2011, 02:06 PM
17
Re: Heated Bebate
Just noticed this thread. You don't get much heated debate here in Australia, as it is considered bad form to argue about politics. It would also be bad form to argue about religion, except hardly anyone here gives that sort of stuff much thought.I worked at a firm where the boss/owner was a German Jew, and me being a bolshie Yorkshirewoman we were able to have lots of fun 'debates'.
Sometimes it was about politics, sometimes about accounting decisions. One argument was about whether Jewish guilt imposed by mothers was worse than Catholic guilt, or the other way round! We were both fine with having an intense, loud discussion as hard accounting decisions had to be made, and the last thing he needed was someone who automatically agreed with him.
BUT - the other staff used to be horrified, and could not understand how I kept my job.
03-02-2011, 10:54 PM
19
Re: Heated Bebate
Yes, here it would have been a case of LibDem voters giving preferences to, say, Labour, and Labour getting their votes if neither Labour nor Tories got over 50%. I suspect Labour might have got in with our system, but I have no way of knowing. I do know they were hated at the end, in many quarters.We have another advantage here - voting is compulsory. Of course, you can turn up and put in a blank ballot sheet, which some do. This system makes it easy to vote, because being compulsory, they have to make it easy, so there are lots of booths, plus an easy-to-use postal vote system.
Before the polls open, party volunteers from all parties witness the boxes being set up and see that they are empty. At the counting in the polling booth, party volunteers see the boxes being opened, and stand around the counting table scrutineering the count, then they ring in the figures to their various party offices. The officials ring in the count to the electoral office. There is no way anyone can fiddle these figures, because they are in the public domain before the ballots are moved anywhere.
The electoral commission changes boundaries when necessary, to ensure an even number of voters in each electorate.
Oh, one other thing. At the polling booths there are party members greeting voters and giving them 'how to vote' cards. It is absolutely bad form to argue politics with your opposition workers - in fact they all get on fine, sharing sandwiches, telling jokes and having a laugh. The only party workers who broke these unwritten rules were ones from fringe, far right racist parties, such as your BNP. Ours was called Pauline Hansons One Nation Party - and they were truly awful!!!
|
|
