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Oct. 22nd, 2008
franchised
Oct. 22nd, 2008 05:53 pmSo our by-election is nearly upon us: thankfully our eejit MLA (provincial MP) resigned to run lose for the Tories federally, so he's gone. And while we'll have a full meal deal provincial election next Spring, the Premier has rightly decided to let us replace the eejit. Though in the Spring election the electoral map is redrawn and our current seat splits into two.
But I digress.
Advance polling started today, and with my work schedule going from wonky to fookin' insane I decided to vote today, since I could leave work at a sane time. When I got to the advance polling station, it was more than a bit nutty. There were no signs, multiple tables, and no one giving clear direction. The Returning Officer was trying to wrest control of things, but it was all a bit of a mess. And I felt my snark coming on, though usually the only external feature is Mrs. Egan's Scowl™. Inside, I'm Genghis Khan.
And then I looked around again, but saw an entirely different room. There were all sorts of people queuing up so they could participate in an election. There were others working (a 12 hour day; I've done it) to make sure the voting went according to protocol. There were also two volunteer scrutineers (I'm assuming NDP and BC Liberals), to ensure things went according to the rules (and, no doubt, to compare voters' names with their membership lists, to try and extrapolate how their candidate is doing).
In other words, our democracy was---is--working. No partisan fookwits trying to exploit their opponents, no party hacks gerryrigging the process to exclude anyone. All above board, all in working order.
I'm so lucky to live in Canada, BC and Vancouver.
But I digress.
Advance polling started today, and with my work schedule going from wonky to fookin' insane I decided to vote today, since I could leave work at a sane time. When I got to the advance polling station, it was more than a bit nutty. There were no signs, multiple tables, and no one giving clear direction. The Returning Officer was trying to wrest control of things, but it was all a bit of a mess. And I felt my snark coming on, though usually the only external feature is Mrs. Egan's Scowl™. Inside, I'm Genghis Khan.
And then I looked around again, but saw an entirely different room. There were all sorts of people queuing up so they could participate in an election. There were others working (a 12 hour day; I've done it) to make sure the voting went according to protocol. There were also two volunteer scrutineers (I'm assuming NDP and BC Liberals), to ensure things went according to the rules (and, no doubt, to compare voters' names with their membership lists, to try and extrapolate how their candidate is doing).
In other words, our democracy was---is--working. No partisan fookwits trying to exploit their opponents, no party hacks gerryrigging the process to exclude anyone. All above board, all in working order.
I'm so lucky to live in Canada, BC and Vancouver.