Hard News: Time to Vote
249 Responses
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James Green, in reply to
I'll delete this later. Hopefully there is no snow for the walk tomorrow.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v361/limegreenz/jvote.jpg
2 days old
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Katharine Moody, in reply to
I was a public servant and fervently believe in what that means – serving the public AND the government of the day. What happens when you believe your role is no longer of use in serving the public, but merely serving the government of the day?
Couldn't agree more with the sentiment you express. I too had a short period in quite a senior position in government. I was asked to sign something during a caretaker period that I refused to sign. When the new incoming government (Labour) began governing, it was determined by higher departmental management that my position was no longer required to attend weekly Ministerial briefings. And shortly thereafter, a review/restructure was commenced whereby my role was disestablished. Indeed, dark arts have been operating for quite some time. I'm delighted to think it may all finally be brought to light. The public service must be free again to serve the public without fear or favour.
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Rob Stowell, in reply to
Many thanks to all the public address writers and commenters - so full of great information. You've made me re-embrace twitter and made my working output far less.
LOL, kia kaha and word up to that.
Thanks Russell for the friendly home-turf, and everyone who raised a voice.
I've also been wanting to say it's time we dialled back abuse of journalists and the MSM. I'm maybe biased because I know a few. Some are right, some are left; some are loud and obnoxious, others thoughtful and measured.
But 2 minutes on kiwiblog and you'll read almost exactly the same accusations against journalists many here use; just there it's 'common-knowledge' the media are a bunch of commo-Labour-lovers-at-best.
There are stand-out dorks, sure - and it's fair game to hate on TV presenters for whatever reason (sorry Russell!) :) We all need to watch the watchdogs, and pull them up when they misrepresent or make mistakes.
But the general accusation of systemic bias from both sides is more an indication of how rancorous and divided our politics are than fair analysis of the media.
And crrraaaazzzzzy election. But also revealing, of things we needed to know, and have to keep talking about.
Now, must pop out and vote! -
Rob Stowell, in reply to
the table is to be a politics-free zone and the TV’s not going on until 10pm.
You're not shirking from the hard jobs, Craig :)
I suspect I'll be somewhat restless. A good family dinner - but then what? Definitely worth planning something to avoid those empty hours of mouth-flap between the first results, and anyone having anything meaningful to say. -
krothville, in reply to
You can vote online, she just needs to download the pdf form, get a colleague to witness it, take a photo of her vote, and then upload it. All is not lost!
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Meanwhile, I can’t be the only one enjoying two days in a row of keenly watching returns come in. Although admittedly, at this point it looks like both will go the opposite of the way I’d personally prefer, the excitement for pols geeks is still there.
Although! It’s looking very close at 7/32 in, 50.9% for independence. Was way higher for staying until Dundee just rolled in with 57.3% for No.
Edit: Feel free to shuffle this post to another thread, wasn't sure where was appropriate for scottish thoughts.
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Grant McDougall, in reply to
My son proudly harassed National’s Woodhouse at Uni over his anti-gay marriage stance
Earlier this afternoon I was waiting to cross the Cumberland / Albany intersection. Nat list MP Michael Woodhouse, Nat Dn South candidate Hamish Walker and about 10 Young Nats were there, too.
A van goes by and the driver shouted "F--k you, a--eholes !" at them; to their credit, they had the good grace to politely cheer back.
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krothville, in reply to
OK - I'll bite a bit.
I'm not trying to bait you, I've been on here for years lurking. I was just genuinely curious because I would have thought that the easier it is to vote, the more people would be likely to do it. I was/am interested to hear why that idea might be mistaken.
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Alfie, in reply to
Meanwhile, I can’t be the only one enjoying two days in a row of keenly watching returns come in. Although admittedly, at this point it looks like both will go the opposite of the way I’d personally prefer, the excitement for pols geeks is still there.
I was wondering if I was alone in this... we have BBC rolling in the background and the Guardian interactive updating. I have my fingers crossed for the YES vote.
Although! It’s looking very close at 7/32 in, 50.9% for independence. Was way higher for staying until Dundee just rolled in with 57.3% for No
Actually, 57.3% voted YES in Dundee. I suspect that the big cities may continue to sway the result in that direction. I hope so.
And I'm also sorry if this thread's not the right place to discuss Scotish politics. The most impressive thing is turnouts of 85-90% in many electorates. If only we could achieve that level of engagement here.
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I for one am looking forward to the pundits being silenced for a few short hours tomorrow. Particularly John Armstrong, who so brazenly called for Cunliffe's resignation ... a whole 11 minutes after the "Liu letter" was released under the OIA.
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Greg Dawson, in reply to
Actually, 57.3% voted YES in Dundee. I suspect that the big cities may continue to sway the result in that direction. I hope so.
Of course, I meant Yes, but I suspect my brain went “No to staying in the UK”. The joys of referendum questions :)
And after the next few councils declared, it's looking a lot worse for the independence campaign. They've got a 130k gap to close now. Suspect the polling guess of 54-46% staying in the UK will end up about right.
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Glascow 53.5% yes...
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Greg Dawson, in reply to
But overall result almost certainly going to hold to the 54% No victory...
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Emma Hart, in reply to
I was just genuinely curious because I would have thought that the easier it is to vote, the more people would be likely to do it.
People are posting photos today of really long queues at uni voting booths. While largely I would consider that people who advance vote are people who would vote anyway (advance voting didn't equal higher turnout last time around), those uni booths are one place where it might well make a difference.
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krothville, in reply to
Yes, my friend in Scotland has already conceded defeat, knowing the size of the councils yet to finish counting. Personally, I think it's a real shame, but they did well considering the uphill battle that it was.
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BenWilson, in reply to
It's been massively plugged at Auckland Uni. Every wall has a sign telling you to go vote, most theaters this week had flyer on every desk.
There's still a disheartening number of students who expressed no interest, though. Perhaps it's only science students, who I'm most involved with.
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tussock, in reply to
I was just genuinely curious because I would have thought that the easier it is to vote, the more people would be likely to do it. I was/am interested to hear why that idea might be mistaken.
Chicken Nuggets, eh. When the inventor tried to give them away, people were insulted at the big baskets of chicken scrap meat in batter. So they sold them, which still didn't work well, because obviously they were an inferior product and the customer could afford better.
So they got a marketing person in, and he told them to put them in tiny packets and charge a premium for them. The scrap meat. It worked, and everyone around the world loves chicken nuggets now, because they're so expensive and you get so few of them. It's quite the privilege just to eat their garbage, can't really afford them for the kids.
Lobster is the same. Diamonds. All sorts. Stuff that used to be almost rubbish because it was so common and ugly, and then someone cornered the market for a moment and charged a premium, suddenly it becomes valued.
Those crack-like facebook games that your mum plays, they're designed to specifically restrict when and where you can play. How long you have to wait, how long you can play at a time. Because that makes people play more. Makes you value the time you have.
Voting, people have to value it. Work a bit. Read some policy, listen to some debates, put some time in. Talk to people who care, know someone who's passionate about it. Then organise their time to vote, where, what time of day, who with. You make one part of that just a bit easier, it decreases people's engagement, lowers the effort they put in.Less effort, less money spent, less time spent, people don't value those things as much. For some people, it could tip them into not voting. Which is crazy, because holy shit, pick a government, but there it is. People, whatchagunnado.
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We will walk up to the local primary school to vote sometime tomorrow, might be a sleep in required after a rough and tiring week.
I'm still not sure we've reached peak cray, it has been a truly amazing election and I hope with all my heart that it has inspired more people to vote this time and actually participate. Seriously how could you not want to be a part of this weirdness.
After voting it will be a lazy day and then off to our semi-regular wine tasting evening with friends. Randomly it ended up on election night one year and we've made a habit of it since, somehow tasting wine with friends as we watch what NZ has decided to do makes the whole even more fun.
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Andrew Geddis, in reply to
via Andrew Geddis s.168
The voter, having received a ballot paper,—
(a) shall immediately retire into one of the inner compartments provided for the purpose; and
(b) shall there alone and secretly vote—There is a later bit about being able to take a carer in, but I don’t think you need your children to physically help you to vote…
Yeah - technically you aren't meant to bring your kids into the polling booth … but my experience last time around was that so long as they don't yell out who you are voting for, the people running the place are pretty relaxed about it.
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BenWilson, in reply to
so long as they don’t yell out who you are voting for
And even if they did, presumably they'd be tried as minors and merely hanged, rather than being broken on the wheel like adult electoral law violators.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
And even if they did, presumably they’d be tried as minors and merely hanged, rather than being broken on the wheel like adult electoral law violators.
Surely no more than a public flogging? It's 2014 Ben, jeez.
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Rob Stowell, in reply to
those uni booths are one place where it might well make a difference.
Let’s hope. TEU ran a sausage-sizzle outside the library booth, where we gave sausages to voters any and all, totally non-partisan. They had to at least promise to vote, but most we made vote first. We went through approx 450 sausages, bread, 8 kg of onions, etc. and the queues were right out the door for a while.
Students and free food, eh? -
Just wanted to check - can people who are not enrolled cast a special vote on the day? I do know a whole bunch of people who are that lazy.
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Emma Hart, in reply to
can people who are not enrolled cast a special vote on the day?
You can cast it if'n you want. It won't be counted. One could have enrolled up until today, but not tomorrow.
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I have no comment on the content of this article, but man, the photo they chose for it, that's awesome. Almost worth hanging in a Capture thread - "Unwittingly and/or Unintentionally Revealing Photos of the True Nature of Politicians". Nah, not catch enough a title. But still, check that photo out. Nah, couldn't resist, screen cap'd it.
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