[Linux-aus] The federal election - what ICT policies have been announced? (fwd)

[Paul Dwerryhouse]

On Sun, Oct 03, 2004 at 09:53:51AM +1000, Anthony Towns wrote:
> Albert Langer, 1996. He was advocating voting the candidates you don't
> like equal last, as a moral stand / form of protest. Which isn't to spec,
> but the vote counters will still use your vote as much as possible, so
> your vote won't actually get thrown away. 

This loophole has since been closed, however, so anyone intending to try
it out next Saturday will find themselves having voted informally:

http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/what/voting/research_2001elections.htm

: "At the 1996 elections Mr Langer indicated that he intended to encourage
: electors to use a form of optional preferential voting. As a result of
: an advertisement published by Mr Langer encouraging the above style of
: preferential voting, the AEC obtained an injunction, preventing him from
: continuing the campaign. Mr Langer defied the injunction and was
: sentenced to jail for contempt of court. The term Langer Styler voting
: arose from Mr Langers high profile campaigns of encouraging electors to
: vote in a form 1,2,3,4,4,4 or similar. In 1998 the CEA was again amended
: so that it was no longer an offence to encourage voters to vote other
: than in accordance with full preferential voting. However Langer-style
: votes would no longer be counted as formal.
: 
: In the 1998 and 2001 elections Langer-Style votes were counted as
: informal. Prior to 1998 these votes would have been counted up to the
: point that the numbering became non-consecutive at which time they would
: have been classified as exhausted. Consequently this type of voting has
: contributed to the rise in informality at the 1998 and 2001 elections."


Paul.

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