Election Posters

TallGlass

Why on earth (literally) is this practice not banned?

How can we be expected to take our politicians serious on climate change, when they literally print off this rubbish, post it up everywhere and create a load of rubbish in the process.

We are living in modern times, there are countless environmentally friendly ways to contact me and tell me what you've done, rather than post your mug up everywhere with your name. It's creating a **** load of rubbish, and amongst other things, it's ****ing eyesore.

Where can I get a definitive list of candidates in my area not doing this? They'll get my vote, don't care who they are, they'll get it.

I held my nerve earlier walking the dog, while a group of people related to one of the candidates went about littering the place and plastered there face everywhere, in the hope for some reason that would make me give them my vote

Caranica

Posters work, especially for new candidates. There's much research to prove this.

They can be reused/up cycled and usually are, they're too expensive to just discard.

Plumbthedepths

I automatically dismiss any election candidate that litters the place with posters .

L1011

In local elections if you don't put posters up, you basically don't get any votes. If you're a new candidate nobody knows who you are.

You are basically voting for the equivalent of the Monster Raving Loonies (or worse - the few who should probably be sectioned) if you exclude all candidates with posters. Which at least explains how they get any votes at all, really.

The Presidential Election gives the few candidates hours and hours of TV/radio coverage and thousands of pages of print coverage which no local candidate can get so that example does not work.

Some of the Tidy Towns that are getting very beligerant about posters do not seem to realise they're basically helping the long established Councillors with name recognition by doing so. I haven't seen any blatant cases of where said Councillors are involved in the tidy towns being dug up however; but nothing would surprise me!

expectationlost

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

I automatically dismiss any election candidate that litters the place with posters .

you weren't going to vote for them anyway.

greasepalm

Dalkey tidy towns are removing them all,HaHa.

Anteayer

greasepalm wrote: »

Dalkey tidy towns are removing them all,HaHa.

No they're not. Turns out that mightn't be lawful.

vicwatson

greasepalm wrote: »

Dalkey tidy towns are removing them all,HaHa.

Nope, they’ve backed down

Anteayer

I'm not really put out by them. Mostly they get used more than once and compared to what we do every day of the week they're hardly a massive environmental issue.

The only issue I have with them is the leaving cable ties stuck to lampposts and putting them into ESB line carrying posts, which is quite dangerous.

As long as they're put up within reason, they're not a big deal.

I'd rather see posters flying up than the whole thing going online and ending up being subject to bubbles and manipulation.

Politics needs to be somewhat physically visible.

vicwatson

In the Netherlands they put up boards that candidates can stick their waffle on, much neater and less waste

vicwatson

Anteayer wrote: »

Politics needs to be somewhat physically visible.

We have Rte for that - day in day out

greasepalm

Whats rte as no one looks at that,pity i thought the cause of removing posters might grow.

work

Ban posters they are a disgrace on many fronts. Allow some designated area they can put up literature such as outside a town hall. I will make a point of it to any callers and will NEVER vote for candidates putting up posters advertising local meetings...very cynical and manipulative, not the sort of representative I want.

Caranica

greasepalm wrote: »

Whats rte as no one looks at that,pity i thought the cause of removing posters might grow.

That would be theft, the posters are personal property.

spurious

Caranica wrote: »

That would be theft, the posters are personal property.

They are also really expensive. A million years ago, well, more than twenty, when i was involved in that sort of thing, they were about 3.50 each for a full colour one.

Caranica

spurious wrote: »

They are also really expensive. A million years ago, well, more than twenty, when i was involved in that sort of thing, they were about 3.50 each for a full colour one.

Minimum €5 now

shar01

I'd like to see the loophole that allows for the "public meeting" posters to be closed.

If there was some sort of fund to pay for the complete removal of the cable ties.

Wishful thinking, I know.

Sir Oxman

vicwatson wrote: »

In the Netherlands they put up boards that candidates can stick their waffle on, much neater and less waste

That's a great idea.

OldGoat

L1011 wrote: »

In local elections if you don't put posters up, you basically don't get any votes. If you're a new candidate nobody knows who you are.

If the posters are banned for everyone then there is no advantage to be had. Makes it a bit more fair for those who might not have party funding behind them.

wally79

OldGoat wrote: »

If the posters are banned for everyone then there is no advantage to be had. Makes if a bit more fair for those who might not have party funding behind them.

There’s an advantage to the incumbent

Would be tougher for a new candidate to get their name out there

expectationlost

OldGoat wrote: »

If the posters are banned for everyone then there is no advantage to be had. Makes if a bit more fair for those who might not have party funding behind them.

gives advantage to those who can buy billboards/bus ads etc

is_that_so

work wrote: »

Ban posters they are a disgrace on many fronts. Allow some designated area they can put up literature such as outside a town hall. I will make a point of it to any callers and will NEVER vote for candidates putting up posters advertising local meetings...very cynical and manipulative, not the sort of representative I want.

Doesn't leave you anyone to vote for, save the ones who would love to but can't afford them.
On topic don't mind them so much in a campaign except when they're all fighting to get them on the same pole. They alert people to an election and give people some idea who's in it. After is a different story and I'd like to see them gone in 48 hours, not seven days or more.

is_that_so

OldGoat wrote: »

If the posters are banned for everyone then there is no advantage to be had. Makes if a bit more fair for those who might not have party funding behind them.

How would you know there was an election and who's running?

L1011

OldGoat wrote: »

If the posters are banned for everyone then there is no advantage to be had. Makes if a bit more fair for those who might not have party funding behind them.

Except for those who are already elected and hence known. Which was my point.

OldGoat

wally79 wrote: »

There’s an advantage to the incumbent

Would be tougher for a new candidate to get their name out there

Just having a face on a pole is not a good enough reason to vote out an incumbent or to vote in a new player. A photograph on a pole does not get your manifesto before the voters.

Gavin "shels"

L1011 wrote: »

In local elections if you don't put posters up, you basically don't get any votes. If you're a new candidate nobody knows who you are.

That's what knocking on doors does? Didn't see one poster this morning for one of the guys I'll be voting for. However he knocked on the door over the weekend, had a chat about a couple of local issues and followed up with me with a letter in the door (probably I know waste, but only an A4 page). That's how to get votes...

GLaDOS

is_that_so wrote: »

How would you know there was an election and who's running?

Internet
Radio
Television
Leaflets
Newspapers
Knocking on doors

Sleeper12

There was an agreement not to put posters up in Raheny village as the tidy towns judging starts during the election campaign. Posters were up in the village 6 hours before the midnight start time and I see a video of Terence Flanagan team (FG) putting up posters at 3am and waking up residents in the process.

is_that_so

GLaDOS wrote: »

Internet
Radio
Television
Leaflets
Newspapers
Knocking on doors

All of those may not apply to a lot of people and assumes that they access any of them. The majority of voters start to pay attention in last two weeks.

is_that_so

Sleeper12 wrote: »

There was an agreement not to put posters up in Raheny village as the tidy towns judging starts during the election campaign. Posters were up in the village 6 hours before the midnight start time and I see a video of Terence Flanagan team (FG) putting up posters at 3am and waking up residents in the process.

That's all a tad NIMBY. Any village anywhere in the country will be in the same boat and I'd imagine that will be taken into account.

Sleeper12

Gavin shels wrote:

That's what knocking on doors does? Didn't see one poster this morning for one of the guys I'll be voting for. However he knocked on the door over the weekend, had a chat about a couple of local issues and followed up with me with a letter in the door (probably I know waste, but only an A4 page). That's how to get votes...

Same here. New candidate knocked on my door last week. He'll most likely get my number 1 vote.

There are lots of countries that don't use posters at all. A German girl told me a number of years ago that they have nothing like this in Germany. She was amazed at the amount of posters, sometimes several af of same poster on the same lamp post

is_that_so

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Same here. New candidate knocked on my door last week. He'll most likely get my number 1 vote.

There are lots of countries that don't use posters at all. A German girl told me a number of years ago that they have nothing like this in Germany. She was amazed at the amount of posters, sometimes several af of same poster on the same lamp post

They have advertising boards, as a lot of other countries do.

ArmaniJeanss

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Same here. New candidate knocked on my door last week. He'll most likely get my number 1 vote.

There are lots of countries that don't use posters at all. A German girl told me a number of years ago that they have nothing like this in Germany. She was amazed at the amount of posters, sometimes several af of same poster on the same lamp post

Don't they have a party list system for most elections rather than voting for individuals?

L1011

Gavin shels wrote: »

That's what knocking on doors does? Didn't see one poster this morning for one of the guys I'll be voting for. However he knocked on the door over the weekend, had a chat about a couple of local issues and followed up with me with a letter in the door (probably I know waste, but only an A4 page). That's how to get votes...

Not everyone answers the door. No candidate has the time to repeat visit the entire ward to try get everyone - remember that its a part-time job paid as such even for those who are elected.

Sleeper12

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Don't they have a party list system for most elections rather than voting for individuals?

I'd be lying if I pretended to know what system they have. I just know that they don't have the poster mess we have in Ireland

cruizer101

The excuse is used that it would give an advantage to the incumbent which i do understand however there are ways around it.

E.g. In every constituency produce a booklet in which every candidate gets one page that gets delivered to every house similar to referendum commission leaflet.
They can put what they want on that page and they make a contribution to cover the expense of it.
Have designated billboards on which each candidate can put up a single poster

That way everyone gets equal publicity without the need for such wasteful eyesores.

is_that_so

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Don't they have a party list system for most elections rather than voting for individuals?

They do both and you get two votes: one for a person and one for a party. Person vote is FPTP and for a party proportional.

is_that_so

cruizer101 wrote: »

The excuse is used that it would give an advantage to the incumbent which i do understand however there are ways around it.

E.g. In every constituency produce a booklet in which every candidate gets one page that gets delivered to every house similar to referendum commission leaflet.
They can put what they want on that page and they make a contribution to cover the expense of it.
Have designated billboards on which each candidate can put up a single poster

That way everyone gets equal publicity without the need for such wasteful eyesores.

There's that (growing?) junk mail issue for candidates. People will see posters but may ignore election bumph.

Guy:Incognito

is_that_so wrote: »

How would you know there was an election and who's running?

How do you know when anything is on that's not an election?

is_that_so

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

How do you know when anything is on that's not an election?

People are not switched on to elections. Last two weeks is where they even notice and I doubt if many know who half the candidates are.

colm_mcm

greasepalm wrote: »

Dalkey tidy towns are removing them all,HaHa.

I live in Clare and the town I live in has a by-law that bans election and referendum posters.

is_that_so

colm_mcm wrote: »

I live in Clare and the town I live in has a by-law that bans election posters.

Is that legal? The law seems to allow them, with some restrictions.

colm_mcm

is_that_so wrote: »

Is that legal? The law seems to allow them, with some restrictions.

Not sure, but it’s great!

is_that_so

colm_mcm wrote: »

Not sure, but it’s great!

It seems to be based around this initiative and voluntary by the looks of it.

https://greennews.ie/over-100-towns-move-to-ban-election-posters/

El Tarangu

vicwatson wrote: »

In the Netherlands they put up boards that candidates can stick their waffle on, much neater and less waste

These are way better for the environment, as the posters stuck to them are thin paper, rather than the thick plastic posters that need to stand out when attached to a lamppost with cable ties or whatever.

(cable ties - another lovely post-election nuisance...)

OldGoat

So far the only clear reason to having posters on poles is to benefit the candidates running for election and of those candidates only the eventually winners will see any real advantage or gain.
There exists somewhere in the annals of DCC a rule that bans posters from both O'Connell St. and Grafton St.. I want to know how these two roads are exempt and how can I have that ruling applied to my street.

colm_mcm

is_that_so wrote: »

It seems to be based around this initiative and voluntary by the looks of it.

https://greennews.ie/over-100-towns-move-to-ban-election-posters/

Apologies, I thought there was a by-law enacted and didn’t realise there were so many places doing the same thing

GBX

I find them very useful. Handy for under my bike when doing a bit of work on it. Saves the ground getting any dirt or oil on it.

Dub Ste

I hate these things with a passion.

it's not just the fact that look awful, it's what they leave behind when they take them down, the plastic ties wraps.
Lamposts where I live still have them on from the last round of elections, and it looks awful.

They should be colour coded. Every party/ candidate should be allocated a colour, and when they are taken down, if there are any left, they should be fined for each one that is left.
Don't particularly care how much it would cost them to do this, but it's better than leaving them.

AndrewJRenko

Dub Ste wrote: »

I hate these things with a passion.

it's not just the fact that look awful, it's what they leave behind when they take them down, the plastic ties wraps.
Lamposts where I live still have them on from the last round of elections, and it looks awful.

They should be colour coded. Every party/ candidate should be allocated a colour, and when they are taken down, if there are any left, they should be fined for each one that is left.
Don't particularly care how much it would cost them to do this, but it's better than leaving them.

Colour coded ties would mean having blue or red strips running across the candidate's eyes, mouth, neck etc

Sleeper12

AndrewJRenko wrote:

Colour coded ties would mean having blue or red strips running across the candidate's eyes, mouth, neck etc

An improvement for many candidates so