How do you vote?

embee

I usually just vote for my #1 preference, then leave all others blank.

In the local elections, I am voting for a dude who is Chairman of the local football team that my dad manages. The rest of the people who are going for Councillor or Commissioners are reprehensible idiots.

European Elections... well, I don't fancy voting for anyone.

sceptre

Originally posted by maxheadroom
I think you're missing my point a bit - Even if - for example - a FF or PD candidate got in on the 7th count, there's no way in hell I'd want my vote attributed to them. If I gave them a really low preference, that could still happen, and then I'd feel awful for possibly helping them win.

Well now - if you give your PD candidate(for example) a 7th preference and there are seven candidates the only way he's getting transfers is if everyone else has been eliminated (in which case he'd be deemed elected already)

There's one paranoid reasonwhy you might choose to mark off all the preferences - if you don't, who's to say some counting guy won't add a 1 to your least preferred candidate and change your previous 1 to a 7?

Victor

Originally posted by Gurgle
He is an advocate of putting proper tarmac surfaces on the roads in the town.

Of course, "proper" roads would have asphalt, not tarmac. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by maxheadroom
I don't quite understand why someone would give the lowest preference to a party / candidate they didn't want to win - just don't put anything in the box, that way there's no chance they might get your transferred vote.

Ah, but who do you dislike more

Villain

Originally posted by Agent Orange
Would you be singing the same tune if the IRA/Sinn Féin injured someone you care about?

Joining a political party is not a decision taken lightly. This guy joined them even though they are tightly linked to an illegal terrorist organisation that has killed and maimed thousands of people.

But hey, I guess it's okay as long as the ickle kiddies get a tennis court, eh?.

Oh so your one of these guys that can't see that Sinn Fein are totally committed to Democratic means and have done a lot of hard work in getting the Peace process to where it is, inculding getting the IRA to decommission a large quantity of weapons.

If you wanna live in the past and see SF as terrorists thats your right, but if we all done that there wouldn't be any peace process.

SF will make large gains in the local elections because there councillors actually get off their ass and do something. People want local issues addressed by there councillors and SF understand that.

Stephen

I won't vote for Sinn Fein while the likes of martin ferris get elected.

Trojan

I vote against based on party, or if I dislike the candidate for some reason. Well, not vote against, just no vote (last time I filled out 1-10, including all parties but FF - yet the rest of you fools still voted them in... sigh).

Actually, that's incorrect, no SF votes either

I usually give the Greens a high vote if possible, unless their candidate is a muppet. I know they've no chance, but I agree with some (but certainly not all) of their policies.

I try listen to The Last Word, Right Hook, etc for the 2-3 months before the elections. Didn't happen this time - I really need to educate myself.

Villain

Originally posted by Stephen
I won't vote for Sinn Fein while the likes of martin ferris get elected.

Fair enough and I can understand he has a previous conviction for gun-running but he has chosen the democratic way.

As I have said:

You can stand still and look to the past or you can move forward and look to the future, I prefer the later

Sleepy

Originally posted by irish1
Oh so your one of these guys that can't see that Sinn Fein are totally committed to Democratic means and have done a lot of hard work in getting the Peace process to where it is, inculding getting the IRA to decommission a large quantity of weapons.

If you wanna live in the past and see SF as terrorists thats your right, but if we all done that there wouldn't be any peace process.

SF will make large gains in the local elections because there councillors actually get off their ass and do something. People want local issues addressed by there councillors and SF understand that.

Yeah, that's right. Pull out the "if Sinn Fein aren't elected violence will errupt in the north again" card... muppet:rolleyes:

Villain

Originally posted by Sleepy
Yeah, that's right. Pull out the "if Sinn Fein aren't elected violence will errupt in the north again" card... muppet:rolleyes:

Where did I say that??

And keep your muppet comments to yourself, if you can't discuss the issues at hand without giving personal insults, I suggest you dont post at all.

Pigman II

Regarding party-based voting the tirst thing I do is give FF/PD zero points. Even if they were outside the voting office handing out 50euro notes I wouldn't change my opinion there. They (FF) are the next best thing to a bunch of stone-masons in this country and I find myself instantly suspicious of anyone who admits they are a member.

Last on my potential list will the LAB/FG because they are just FF/PD in different colours.

I used to be of the 'well I'll vote LAB/FG just to oust the Government' mindset but that rarely works and when it does you're just getting the lesser of two evils anyway so it makes little difference.

IMHO, despite the abundance of profile parties and coalition governments - poltics in this country just boils down to the same thing everywhere elese and just like America and the UK politics in this country (to quote Bill Hicks) is a case of 'puppet on the left, puppet on the right'.

The IRA party don't get any of my vote either purely because they always come off looking like they'd are a potential Nazi-lite party if they ever got any real power.

I was gonna give the Green party something until they spammed my letterbox this week.

So as such I'm gonna give it to the Indo's (if at all) and let the rest go to hell.

Victor

Originally posted by Pigman II
They (FF) are the next best thing to a bunch of stone-masons in this country

FReemasons maybe?

Pigman II

Originally posted by Victor
FReemasons maybe?

Woops, sorry. Freemasons is what I meant. Thanks Victor.