Democracy, freedom and the right to vote!

[FJRider]

Probably be spread the same. As they might not like any of the wankers.
Now say they all went out and voted for the "closest match" like the the rest of the sheep. Now that could make things interesting.
We would end up with a diverse govt that would be even worse than the one we have.

I said ... if they voted for the people YOU didn't want in ... better or worse than NOW ... ???

[bluninja]

I didn't vote due to basically the same as what you have said.
Turns out I am not the only one.......and we are growing.


http://www.elections.org.nz/study/ne...ng-system.html

At what point do we realize that people don't care much for the government. Its currently at 26% on negative voter turn out vs (0.47 x 0.79) 37% for the biggest party in NZ!
More people "didn't vote" than voted for Labour.
Democracy? Most Regimes have more support.

However I do hope my boy has the inspiration to vote. Dreams are fantastic things.

Wow you have such a way with figures. Are you a frustrated closet politician? So 74% voted....26% didn't vote. That seems to me like a big majority chose to vote.

You can't know (except for your own personal reasons) why those 26% didn't vote. Perhaps 25% of the poulation are Jehova's Witnesses or 'fundamental christians' that believe the msutn't vote in politcal elections.

[davereid]

I can't actually understand the numbers, can someone enlighten me ?

I can't follow how National got 47.9% of the vote and get 60 seats. This seems to be one, possibly two more than their exact percentage.

Same appears to apply for Labour.

The Greens I can follow, they got "rounded up" from an actual calculation of 12.74, and I assume NZF got "rounded down" for the same reason.

Anyone know how it works ?

[MisterD]

I can't follow how National got 47.9% of the vote and get 60 seats. This seems to be one, possibly two more than their exact percentage.

Same appears to apply for Labour.

The Greens I can follow, they got "rounded up" from an actual calculation of 12.74, and I assume NZF got "rounded down" for the same reason.

Anyone know how it works ?

It's because of the way that the "wasted" votes affect things. 47.9% is their percentage of total votes cast, the percentage of non-wasted votes will be slightly higher.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Very disappointing to me that so many didnt vote.

But I think a sign of how hated politics and politicians are.

My view is that if you dont vote twice in a row, you lose your ticket. You can get it back if you do, say, military service or something.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Wow you have such a way with figures. Are you a frustrated closet politician? So 74% voted....26% didn't vote. That seems to me like a big majority chose to vote.

You can't know (except for your own personal reasons) why those 26% didn't vote. Perhaps 25% of the poulation are Jehova's Witnesses or 'fundamental christians' that believe the msutn't vote in politcal elections.

unlikely:

http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2006...filiation.aspx

[MisterD]

But I think a sign of how hated politics and politicians are.

I think it's also got a lot to do with the perception that the result was a foregone conclusion. I'm happy to predict a higher turnout next time when the result will likely be a lot tighter.

[oldrider]

I think it's also got a lot to do with the perception that the result was a foregone conclusion. I'm happy to predict a higher turnout next time when the result will likely be a lot tighter.

Add to that the frustration that individual voting feels about as effective as banging your head against a sponge rubber wall!

All that hype brainwashing and expense to end up at almost the same place as you were at the beginning!

People can't be blamed for thinking WTF, why bother and MMP just adds to that frustration!

Politicians today are only accountable and loyal to each other rather than to the voters who give them the right to be there!

Everything changes (big turn out for National and they lose some clout in the house) but everything that matters remains the same!

Referendum? .... What referendum? .... Oh it doesn't really count and isn't binding anyway!

And so the beat goes on! dah de dah de duh!

[Oscar]

I can't actually understand the numbers, can someone enlighten me ?

I can't follow how National got 47.9% of the vote and get 60 seats. This seems to be one, possibly two more than their exact percentage.

Same appears to apply for Labour.

The Greens I can follow, they got "rounded up" from an actual calculation of 12.74, and I assume NZF got "rounded down" for the same reason.

Anyone know how it works ?

It's because there's an overhang (i.e. the Maori party got more electorate seats than their party vote warranted, so there are 121 seats). However it's mainly because of the parties that are excluded because they have not crossed the 5% threshold (like Conservative at 2.8%).

[Oscar]

Add to that the frustration that individual voting feels about as effective as banging your head against a sponge rubber wall!

All that hype brainwashing and expense to end up at almost the same place as you were at the beginning!

People can't be blamed for thinking WTF, why bother and MMP just adds to that frustration!

Politicians today are only accountable and loyal to each other rather than to the voters who give them the right to be there!

Everything changes (big turn out for National and they lose some clout in the house) but everything that matters remains the same!

Referendum? .... What referendum? .... Oh it doesn't really count and isn't binding anyway!

And so the beat goes on! dah de dah de duh!

Do you have a better way?
Nothing that you say is anything more than sour grapes.
The fact that you don't personally agree with the result is hardy an indictment on the system.‎

[Berries]

I think it's also got a lot to do with the perception that the result was a foregone conclusion.

Perhaps opinion polls during the election should be banned. If they say X party has 90% of the vote then it would seem pointless to vote for a different party. If they say Y party has 5% of the vote then you know voting for them is a waste of time. If there were no polls then more people may be encouraged to vote for who they want. I mean, what exactly do they add anyway, apart from filler material for the media to bang on about?

[Oscar]

Perhaps opinion polls during the election should be banned. If they say X party has 90% of the vote then it would seem pointless to vote for a different party. If they say Y party has 5% of the vote then you know voting for them is a waste of time. If there were no polls then more people may be encouraged to vote for who they want. I mean, what exactly do they add anyway, apart from filler material for the media to bang on about?

I agree.
I'm sure that political polling affected the outcome for the smallerparties.
People don't want to waste their vote, and human nature wants to back a winner.

[mashman]

Very disappointing to me that so many didnt vote.

But I think a sign of how hated politics and politicians are.

My view is that if you dont vote twice in a row, you lose your ticket. You can get it back if you do, say, military service or something.

Yay for the non voters

Or perhaps it's a sign of how useless the policies are? after all, politicians come and go, shit policy is forever.

In which case I will be allowed to keep everything that I earn and will not be expected to pay tax, rates, rego, GST etc... Seem fair enough?

[MisterD]

Perhaps opinion polls during the election should be banned.

I think there's a definite case for banning them in the last two weeks of the campaign or something like that. The Star Times running front page headlines on that dodgy Horizon thing was just ridiculous.

[BoristheBiter]

Isn't that the point of voting? To vote for whom you feel will be the right candidate, for the reasons you hold dear at that particular point in time.

And as I have the right to vote anyway I would like. I shall file it with the rest of the last 23 votes. Straight into the bin. A positive vote if there ever was one .

So your what 87 then.

Yay for the non voters

Or perhaps it's a sign of how useless the policies are? after all, politicians come and go, shit policy is forever.

In which case I will be allowed to keep everything that I earn and will not be expected to pay tax, rates, rego, GST etc... Seem fair enough?

Or perhaps your just lazy? had more moaning to do on line? couldn't real care either way and just like trolling?