Thread: Election stuffup

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Nothing wrong with wearing out a couple of pencils and voting below the line. Then there are no preference deals.

Unfortunately polling stations are only open for the day, so you probably don't have time to vote below the line, even if you arrive before the polls open.

Diana

Have you seen this site?

belowtheline.org.au

Drag and drop to reorder everything, then take a print out with you. The printout will match the ballot order, but tell you what numbers to write down (if that makes sense). Very easy if you wish to vote below the line.

Useful tip - you can vote both above and below the line. Below takes priority, but if you make a mistake they will take above the line.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Nothing wrong with wearing out a couple of pencils and voting below the line. Then there are no preference deals.

Unfortunately polling stations are only open for the day, so you probably don't have time to vote below the line, even if you arrive before the polls open.

Diana

Voting bellow the line is how I have done today and in every election since 1974. I dictate my preferences not the politicians

I couldn't believe it - the white sheet was about a metre long this time! All that was missing was that it wasn't absorbent paper and then we'd be all set.

Originally Posted by Discomark

Thought i'd vote early so I could take advantage of the good weather and head out bush.
Just realised I voted for the Liberal democrats rather than the Liberal party as the first box on the big white sheet is Liberal Democrats. Must say I know as much about politics as I do about Cricket but apparently many many other voters have already made the same mistake in NSW. So careful which box you tick.
Cluey Voter: Step 1 of voting below the line: Order groups

Looks like there were a lot of people in the same boat as you...

NSW sends pro-gun Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm to Senate
By state political reporter Liz Foschia and Mhairi McClymont


David Leyonhjelm Photo: NSW Liberal Democrat Senator-elect David Leyonhjelm (Supplied: baronsp.com)


The man elected to take one of six Senate seats in New South Wales says allowing the general public to carry weapons is one way of curbing gun crime in western Sydney.

Voters in New South Wales have chosen Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm for the Senate after the party appeared in the top left hand corner of ballot papers.

The seldom-mentioned party gained 8.89 per cent of the initial vote allocation, ahead of the Greens' 7.77 per cent.

The party, which believes in social libertarianism, a free market economy and small government now joins a key group of minor party and independent senators set to hold the balance of power after July next year.

David Leyonhjelm is a former vet who runs an agribusiness consulting company in Sydney.

His biography says he has been a member of Young Labor, the Liberals and the Shooters Party since getting into politics in the early 1970's.

He left the Liberals because of John Howard's crackdown on guns following the Port Arthur Massacre, describing it as "a disgraceful attack on law-abiding citizens."
Would allowing the public to carry weapons curb gun crime? Have your say.

He also says it is an "objective fact" that the Sandy Hook school massacre in the United States could have been avoided if teachers had been armed.

Mr Leyonhjelm says a new approach is needed to help tackle the spate of shootings in Sydney.

"What happens is that criminals don't know who's carrying a gun and they're very wary of using a gun themselves because they don't know who's going to shoot back at them," he said.

"In actual fact it's a massive deterrent. You don't make a safer society by taking the guns off the good guys and leaving the bad guys to have the guns."

Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos says he does not believe Tony Abbott will water down gun laws.

"I think if Tony Abbott were answering this question he would say we are not going to water down what we have done on gun laws, certainly not on the gun laws after Port Arthur," he said

"He's made it clear, and certainly in fact we have certain commitments how we stop the importation of guns to try and deal directly with the sort of problems the Liberal Democrat was talking about."


Votes gained in error

Mr Leyonhjelm accepts his party probably gained votes in error, with voters thinking they were choosing the Liberals.

The name has been raised as an issue before - in 2007 the Liberal Party objected and they ran as the Liberty and Democracy Party.

Mr Leyonhjelm the massively-long NSW senate ballot paper may also have pushed votes to the Liberal Democrats.

NSW sends pro-gun Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm to Senate - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Awesome.

It's always a worry when people can get elected in error...

To be honest, it seems like the party name should not be allowed. It's a clear conflict with the Librals if you ask me. This just proves it.

I do not like David Leyonhjelm at all, I cannot understand why the people voted for him
I hope that for the next election they change the name of the party to The Red Neck Party

Originally Posted by Chucaro

I do not like David Leyonhjelm at all, I cannot understand why the people voted for him

I don't think many people actually voted for him. They simply ticked the box above the line for the party. in some cases they may have ticked that box because it was the first one, but the evidence seems pretty clear that a significant number voted for that party because of the confusion about the name.

So the answer to the question of why so many people voted for David Leyonhjelm is that they didn't vote for him.

I hope that for the next election they change the name of the party to The Red Neck Party