grub's Journal: Election Day, no Diebold in sight.

Canada is having a federal election today. For my non-.ca journal readers I'll fill you in on how it's done here.

Every eligible person gets a voters card in the post. If you don't have one (lost, recently moved, etc) it's not a big deal if you have proper ID. Head off to the polling center, ours was at a school gym a short walk away.

Walk into a gymnasium at the school. Inside was a table for people needing directions and ~10 polling stations scattered around the perimeter, each numbered.

Walk to your designated station as printed on your voters card. Each polling station is a simple table with two (or more) people at each one, those people are witnessness for different parties (my area had 4 candidates (Conservative, Liberal, Green, New Democratic Party). They stroke your name off the list, hand you a paper ballot pre-folded with the simple verbal directions "Mark your choice with an X in the circle."

Walk behind a screen, open the ballot. You see a list of names, black on white with the party name and to the right a large white on black circle for your mark. Make your choice (who sucks less?), fold it back, hand it in. Every witness at that station watches the handoff of the ballot and the deposit into the ballot box.

Apparently the public can watch the actual count of the ballots although I've never done it. Right now on CBC TV they have live updates of the count, to the vote. ie.: a poll which just started the count here had just 8 votes counted when I started typing this.

Within ~3 hours from now they have tallied the ballots and a country of ~30 million people will have a completed election.

Is is that hard? Why do people insist on electronic voting? Because they can doesn't mean they should.

Just wait

[nizo]

Don't give up, our Diebold appointed overlords will be liberating your country soon. You have oil up there for us to save dontchya??? And forests to pillage, polar bears to eat, etc. We must free you from the paper ballot terrorists!!!!

No, I am not jaded, nosireeeeee.

Re:Just wait

[grub]

We have lots of oil. The US is our largest customer. :)

BC can't even change the outcome

[sillypixie]

Well there you go, it's a conservative minority gov't, and the polls haven't even closed in B.C.

How long until the next federal election, you think?

Pix

Re:BC can't even change the outcome

[grub]

You know, I like a minority government. Some good change can come when the government has to appease other parties or risk a non-confidence vote. I wouldn't want the NDP in power (non-Canucks: The NDP are a very left wing party) but I like that they've had influence over the right wingers (non-Canucks: our furthest right party is still left of the US Democrats). I think it helps keep that bit of social conscience which seems lacking in the Conservative party.

If there is a Conservative minority I think it

It's not all green grass and roses in Canadia

[SimianOverlord]

I was really surprised to read some accounts of the on-going war in Haiti, which Canadian officials seem quite heavily involved in [zmag.org]. I thought you guys were all inoffensive mitten-wearers. Is this a big deal over there?

Re:It's not all green grass and roses in Canadia

[grub]

The .ca military tortured and killed a young man in Haiti a while ago. The law is coming down hard on them. How far up the chain of command this type of thing is condoned we won't know.

Last night Pierre Pettigrew lost his seat to a Bloc (separatist) candidate. He was in a heavily Haitian populated area.