wednesday's the day (1 Viewer)

[krystal]

Another point about it being difficult to register is that when you move you have to get your household services either activated or put into your name *anyway* - so how much more hassle would it be to also register your vote?

So what if you're moving every year - does that mean you live without heat or electricity the next time you move because it requires some effort?

 

[krystal]

right. For all you lazy ineffectual bastards - you can do it online here:

http://www.eforms.gov.ie/

or here:
Application forms for inclusion on the Electoral Register, Special Voters List, Postal Voters List and Correction of the draft electoral register are available from all County Councils, Corporations, Post Offices and Public Libraries.

 

[Dan]

Once again, I have to repeat, because there is still some doubt, it is unbelievably simple to register. Go to post office, get form, put name, address, previous address and PRSI no. on form, sign and post the fucker..thats all!! Theres no excuse for not being registered.

Unclealo mentioned about compulsary voting. Me Mudder reckons everyone who doesn't vote should be fined and even though thats a bit extreme, I see where shes coming from. Millions of people around the world would love to have the right to do decide their future in their own countries and we ourselves spent a long time trying to get a vote for each person in this country, and I think its disgraceful that people don't see how important it is.

People who sit around and moan about how things are and then won't even bother to vote piss me off. If its a referendum vote yes, no or undecided. If its an election vote for whoever, if there's nobodies policies you agree with, do something about it or stop complaining. >(

 

[#10-7]

christ people are very narky today...

i'm not talking about moving house, cos you'd obviously re-register, i'm talking about students who go up for the week and come home for the weekend. they probably wouldn't think to change where they vote. y'know?
also no college i was ever in gave out those forms, but its good to hear that athlone are, and hopefully all colleges follow suit.
agreed: people have to get off their arses to get things done, but if their don't know they have to make an effort then they won't.

ps pantone don't be mean, i'm only making a point, and whether i'm wrong or right i'd perfer a discussion more than someone telling me how childish i am, thanks.

 

[krystal]

I'm not narky, I'm aghast.

 

[snap-apple]

kirstie (06 Mar, 2002 11:39 a.m.):

conor (06 Mar, 2002 09:26 a.m.):
i'm just moved out of home last august and me ma didn't register me this year when the forms came 'round so me has no vote...

i feel

hmmm, disenfranchised - thanks ma

I actually can't believe you sat down and typed that - HOW OLD ARE YOU!?
Do you send your washing home to be done as well?? Does she call round to you every day and cook your dinner as well?

zzzing!

ehhh, well i was already sitting actually and i thought it was an amusing anecdote. i had planned to go home and vote this evening and found out at the weekend that i hadn't been registered. i never registered myself before having lived at home until just last august so i had no idea (until now) how one registered, when you had to register, where you could register 'cos it was always something that just happened as far as i was concerned in my blissful ignorance - but now i know better - thank you each and every one of you for making me a better person

sad thing is that i can't say i'd be arsed registering anyways - i care about what happens to some degree but have problems with the political system - i honestly don't think i'd be well informed enough to vote properly on this current one. i've really only heard one side of the story - the no vote - but haven't heard anything about the yes vote except for the fact that ff support it.

for me it's easier tonight to forget about the poxy thing and go to de ma's and get a big dinner and then go watch liverpool v newcastle and have a few pints in the goose with the oul fla

 

[Stuart Little]

Can I just say that I think mandatory voting is a bad idea. Just look at the readership figures for tabloid papers or viewing figures for sky (tabloid tv) one or similar. Listen to the chris barry show.

There are a lot of people out there who are ill-educated, uneducated or just misinformed who would follow popular opinion rather than make informed decisions for themselves.

With mandatory voting a good media campaign could result in landslide victories without real issues being explored, studied or investigated.

For example: Six. Did they get to no.1 cos they're good?
cos the song is good?
did anyone know these people enough to like them before the single came out?

No. But the sheep did as sheep do.
Give sheep a vote and they'll vote for the shepherd without even looking to the field next door for alternatives.

One saving grace of this flawed system is that at the very least the people who are voting gave enough of a shit to express their opinion through the ballot box.

If we make it too easy to vote the imbeciles who form the majority of every population will be calling the shots - without even caring or understanding about the issues.

my $0.02...

 

[snap-apple]

the uneducated/ill-informed are a danger - but also what aboot all the apathetic/indecisive/disillusioned saps like me - do you really want everyone who can't make their mind up or who doesn't care about it that much to vote?
a system that might work would be if everyone had to vote but there was an option to abstain for whatever reason.

 

[anonymous coward]

Stuart Little (06 Mar, 2002 02:12 p.m.):

For example: Six. Did they get to no.1 cos they're good?
cos the song is good?
did anyone know these people enough to like them before the single came out?

A pretty bad example considering the majority of people who bought that single would most likely be children, ie people not of voting age.

But I get your point..........

 

[DogEggs]

oh my god, hag was so right to split this place, i was just reading over all that shit, he didn't seem too bad to me but with the episode fresh in my mind, i think he might have been on to something...

 

[#10-7]

well at least its more interesting than yesterday!

right! now to start another ill judged rant...

 

[egg_]

Dan (06 Mar, 2002 01:04 p.m.):
Millions of people around the world would love to have the right to do decide their future in their own countries

Do we have the right to decide our own future? Do the majority of people in Ireland think that we should be part of the PPF? Is there anybody I can vote for in the next general election that is offering an economic policy that I am even vaguely comfortable with?

Irish 'democracy' is better than being tortured by death squads, but some real say in How Things Are Done would be even better

if there's nobodies policies you agree with, do something about it or stop complaining.

What? Start a revolution? Join Fianna Fail?

 

[snakybus]

Lorcanzo: Don't mind the big lads pushing you around. They always get cranky just before lunch.

Conor: I think it's honourable that you value going for a scoop with your aul lad over voting, but the fact is, if you don't believe in a political system and don't vote for that reason, you can't ever have a part in changing that same system, can you? But I'm sure you know that.

Stuart: Such a lack of faith in people! So what, uneducated people shouldn't be allowed to vote? Be careful there, what you deem to be an educated viewpoint may be stupidity in disguise, and vice versa. There is no question that democracy is a flawed process, but it's probably the one that's the least flawed. Apart from a totalitarian regime in which I am supreme dictator-for-life, but I digress. Australia has mandatory voting. Once you're over 18, you vote or you get fined. And it works.

 

[Stuart Little]

Maybe it would have been better to be more general, in that No. 1 songs are almost invariably shite, the top spot being attained through media campaigns marketing shenanigans and interview spots on cd:uk, no thought or credit is given to the real 'issue', ie music.

All my points still apply.

Anonymous Coward (06 Mar, 2002 02:34 p.m.):

Stuart Little (06 Mar, 2002 02:12 p.m.):

For example: Six. Did they get to no.1 cos they're good?
cos the song is good?
did anyone know these people enough to like them before the single came out?

A pretty bad example considering the majority of people who bought that single would most likely be children, ie people not of voting age.

But I get your point..........

 

[snap-apple]

DogEggs (06 Mar, 2002 02:35 p.m.):
oh my god, hag was so right to split this place, i was just reading over all that shit, he didn't seem too bad to me but with the episode fresh in my mind, i think he might have been on to something...

why did hag split? i missed something... i mean you gotta take it all with a pinch of salt, no?

 

[Keeror]

Do the Australians include "none of the above" as an option on their ballot papers?
That would seem to me to be essential if you have a system where people are forced to vote for candidates they may not care about.
Do you get fined if you spoil your vote?
Can you be excused on grounds of ill health, etc?

In a yes or no referendum, I would think it logical for people who don't care or can't make up their minds to vote no. No meaning no change.

Sure there's bound to be another ballot on the same issue in a few years.

PS is it still "the substantive issue"? I used to love that phrase.

 

[snap-apple]

snakybus (06 Mar, 2002 02:40 p.m.):
Conor: I think it's honourable that you value going for a scoop with your aul lad over voting, but the fact is, if you don't believe in a political system and don't vote for that reason, you can't ever have a part in changing that same system, can you? But I'm sure you know that.

i was going to vote but now i can't so what can i do?

i don't think any of the referenda/ge's in my lifetime have had any impact on the "system" - the only way to change the system is revolution - and i'm too darn lazy...
i bloody hate politics and people that think you have a duty to vote. i'll vote if i f$%"ing want to. my point originally here was that i found i couldn't - which i thought was amusing. to set the record straight i have always voted before but several times have found i just didn't care/wasn't well informed enough.
i read that leaflet that was sent around about this one and fell asleep after about 5 mins. i mean there's a bit that says something along the lines of "the law is currently unclear on this point - the law will remain unclear if the bill is passed"

what a joke!

 

[snakybus]

Keeror (06 Mar, 2002 02:52 p.m.):
Do the Australians include "none of the above" as an option on their ballot papers?
That would seem to me to be essential if you have a system where people are forced to vote for candidates they may not care about.
Do you get fined if you spoil your vote?
Can you be excused on grounds of ill health, etc?

In a yes or no referendum, I would think it logical for people who don't care or can't make up their minds to vote no. No meaning no change.

Sure there's bound to be another ballot on the same issue in a few years.

PS is it still "the substantive issue"? I used to love that phrase.

I don't know, but I can find out from any of the myriad ozzie bastards who pass through my sitting room for six months at a time. As soon as one is getting ready to go, his or her "mate" arrives over ("mond if moh mite stays fir a cuppla weeks") and he sets up camp for an eternity. ("Ah yih! You Orish aa grouse!")

 

[snap-apple]

Keeror (06 Mar, 2002 02:52 p.m.):

In a yes or no referendum, I would think it logical for people who don't care or can't make up their minds to vote no. No meaning no change.

i agree - that's probably why i would have voted - but i can't... d'oh x 100

 

[krystal]

conor (06 Mar, 2002 03:01
i don't think any of the referenda/ge's in my lifetime have had any impact on the "system" - the only way to change the system is revolution -

Yeah. Right.
Do you remember the little referendum we all voted in a few years back - those of us who cared? It was called the divorce referendum. And it was passed and written into law. A pretty huge constitutional and socially indicative change for this country I'd have said.