Voter Registrations Possibly Trashed

[anglachel1]

Well, well, well. The Rethuglicans are at it again. While their Xtian adherents rant about the sacred life of embryos, the Republican National Committee is disenfranchising their rivals through the most crude manner possible - destroying Democratic voter registrations

Comments

[mrowe]

You know, there *is* something to be said for a system where you just receive your call-up by post, based on City Hall data on all inhabitants ...

And do people *really* have to declare who they're going to vote for when they register? Isn't that supposed to be between you and your ballot paper?

Yes, it's called civilized

[anglachel1]

You have the option to declare a party affiliation, or say you are unaffiliated. This will restrict some of the primary elections you can vote in.

When you get to a final election (local/municipal, county, state, federal), then you may choose whom you wish and cross party lines to vote. Your party affiliation *is* part of your voter record.

Voting is done by precinct, and is almost entirely volunteer. In most parts of the country, it is run above board and civilly. Wherever you find a large concnetration of poor or minorities, the chances for vote fraud goes up dramatically.

My county is so worried about electronic vote fraud and simple technical malfunction, that it has ordered all electronic machines out of the upcoming election and we will be using paper ballots - fill in the circle Scantrons. We used to use punch cards.

The US voting system is a scandal.

Ang

Yes, I'd have to agree it's a scandal

[mrowe]

Ooh, real voting; I remember those lovely red pencils we used to have here. Now it's all computers:( At least the button you have to press is still red. Some people have expressed concerns over voting machine security, but so far it all appears to be done fairly (i.e. results match trends, no suspicious swings etc.)

Primaries
Here, the members of any particular party, not the public at large, determine who gets to stand for parliament, and comparing beyond that point would be meaningless, I guess, since for example who gets to be prime minister is determined by the parties which end up forming the government.

The only thing on record anywhere is whether or not someone is a member of a particular party (parties have to keep records of course, and I'm certain that the intelligence services do so as well - at least for some parties).

I'm not sure the people who sit in the polling stations here on election day are volunteers or not, but I suspect they are; beyond that, organisation is in 'official' hands.

Re: Yes, I'd have to agree it's a scandal

[megpie71]

The Aussies fill in ballot papers in pencil. There were some computerised voting stations at the last federal election, and there's probably going to be a few for the Canberra local elections this weekend. However, these are located at the major voting centres, and they're also watched like hawks by the AEC.

Actually, the one election day tradition I love is the use of the local public primary schools as a polling place. This means that one of the regular sights is the school P&C (Parents and Citizens Association) holding a sausage sizzle outside the polling place. The folks down in Curtin had a sausage sizzle, and they were also selling drinks and fundraising chocolate. So hopefully one positive thing to come out of the elections will be improved facilities at the school.

*That's* civilised?

[megpie71]

You have the option to declare a party affiliation, or say you are unaffiliated. This will restrict some of the primary elections you can vote in.

When you get to a final election (local/municipal, county, state, federal), then you may choose whom you wish and cross party lines to vote. Your party affiliation *is* part of your voter record.Now, what amazes me about this is that down under here, this sort of stuff is fairly straightforward. If you want to influence which candidate is selected by a particular political party, you have to join the party (ie pay a membership fee) and attend meetings. That gives you a say in the political makeup of the party. But membership in one party or another has absolutely squat to do with your name on the electoral roll