Post-Election Suspense
It certainly feels strange, having just experienced the recent long-winded flurry of political activity that was the election build-up, to now see the news containing virtually no material relating to politics. I'm sure I speak for just about everyone when I say that it's going to be fantastic to at last get to know the election results. It's starting to look questionable as to whether they will actually be finalised this Saturday as scheduled, though, if one considers this vaguely concerning situation with the mis-printed overseas ballot papers.
You probably would have taken particular notice of one of the very few pieces of election-related news that were released in the past week, and as such you will be aware that apparently, some or all of the parties' names have been blanked out on a number of overseas voters' printouts of the ballot paper, which they were required to download off the Electoral Commission Web site. Reportedly there have been ten complaints about defects in the paper. When Green Party co-leader Rod Donald caught wind of this, he was understandably concerned, as any slight discrepancy in the counting of votes could cost his party particularly dearly.
It has emerged today that Rod has taken the initiative to write to the Electoral Commission, imploring them to make sure that ballot papers that did not print correctly are set aside. This would
be an easy request for the counters to deliver on, however it could possibly be unfair to some parties and voters. Any papers that are discarded are rendered a wasted vote. Consider the occurrence that the Greens are blanked out on one of these forms, and the voter has ticked Labour. Nulling that particular ballot paper would be like assuming that the voter was going to vote for the Greens, and that because the Greens did not have a listing on the paper, the voter simply chose to vote for the other left-wing party that is likely to gain seats.
The voter in that scenario may have always had the intention to vote for Labour, however, and because of the fact that there was a defect in their ballot paper their vote would, unfairly, not count. It's also a justifiable statement to say that it would be notably unfair to the Labour Party, with them having had a potential vote effectively stolen from them. Of course, considering the outstanding closeness of the electoral race this time around, every vote must be counted. It's important that this happens, in order to move Parliament as far away as possible from becoming a hung one.
At the same time, all measures possible must be taken to make sure that the Greens have received all of the votes that they are entitled to, as their Parliamentary presence hangs in the balance. The left will be in serious trouble should the Greens fall below the five per cent threshold following the counting of the special votes. In the interests of fairness, I am supportive of an in-depth inquiry into the legitimacy of the vote, and I think that we can expect such an investigation if any party ends up feeling hard-done-by. The fact remains, however, that it's still not going to be enjoyable if we have to wait an extra few weeks for the final results.
You probably would have taken particular notice of one of the very few pieces of election-related news that were released in the past week, and as such you will be aware that apparently, some or all of the parties' names have been blanked out on a number of overseas voters' printouts of the ballot paper, which they were required to download off the Electoral Commission Web site. Reportedly there have been ten complaints about defects in the paper. When Green Party co-leader Rod Donald caught wind of this, he was understandably concerned, as any slight discrepancy in the counting of votes could cost his party particularly dearly.
It has emerged today that Rod has taken the initiative to write to the Electoral Commission, imploring them to make sure that ballot papers that did not print correctly are set aside. This would
be an easy request for the counters to deliver on, however it could possibly be unfair to some parties and voters. Any papers that are discarded are rendered a wasted vote. Consider the occurrence that the Greens are blanked out on one of these forms, and the voter has ticked Labour. Nulling that particular ballot paper would be like assuming that the voter was going to vote for the Greens, and that because the Greens did not have a listing on the paper, the voter simply chose to vote for the other left-wing party that is likely to gain seats.The voter in that scenario may have always had the intention to vote for Labour, however, and because of the fact that there was a defect in their ballot paper their vote would, unfairly, not count. It's also a justifiable statement to say that it would be notably unfair to the Labour Party, with them having had a potential vote effectively stolen from them. Of course, considering the outstanding closeness of the electoral race this time around, every vote must be counted. It's important that this happens, in order to move Parliament as far away as possible from becoming a hung one.
At the same time, all measures possible must be taken to make sure that the Greens have received all of the votes that they are entitled to, as their Parliamentary presence hangs in the balance. The left will be in serious trouble should the Greens fall below the five per cent threshold following the counting of the special votes. In the interests of fairness, I am supportive of an in-depth inquiry into the legitimacy of the vote, and I think that we can expect such an investigation if any party ends up feeling hard-done-by. The fact remains, however, that it's still not going to be enjoyable if we have to wait an extra few weeks for the final results.
posted by Gary at 10:30 am
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