I cannot believe that I have woken up and still have this bastard headache! I'm not a headachey person but I've taken 3 Anadin (Ibuprofen make me spazz out) and I hope it'll be gone soon. It's probably just the shock of discovering that most of the country turned out to be greedy white hood-wearing, blue-voting fascists.
So moving on from shitty days and men that should have told you they weren't interested before you wasted an afternoon, let me tell you how this voting malarkey panned out.
I thought I was going to be one of the people actually counting the votes but no, I was going to be one of the spectators instead. The count was held at the Brighton Centre and I had a special ID card so I could get in; we met at the organisers house and walked in with our candidate which was pretty cool. There had been a lot of interest in the Brighton as all of the 4 main candidates were women, plus it looked like we might historically vote in Britain's first green MP.
We got there around 10.15pm and the hall was split up into 3 areas; Hove, Brighton Pavilion and Kemp Town, these were massive squares of trestles for the counters to sit at. All of the support volunteers were given result print-outs and we were to see if we could get a rough idea of how people were voting before the count started. There were people from all the parties in there and we were all out to do the same thing - we were told 'whatever you do, don't touch the ballots!!'
The boxes were opened gradually one by one - they used bolt croppers to open them then tipped them out onto the trestle tables so the counters could put them into bundles of 25. As they put them into piles, we tried to tick off (by reading them upside down!) how many were for each candidate. It was not an exact science but apparently it gives you an idea of how it's going; at one point a ballot paper flew towards us and we all recoiled like vampires in sunlight.
After this, the piles were collected up, checked to see if the amount counted matched the amount there should have been in the box and if not, they were counted again. It was actually exhausting just standing watching people count, possibly because it was quite intense - they counted very fast and you had to try and see as many as you could. We weren't allowed to have our phones on, but I sent covert texts now and again from the loos to keep people informed of how it was looking.
After hours of this, the counters then started to separate them into piles for each candidate, our job was then to make sure they were going in the right pile or if we felt they were spoiled then we could query them. One ballot had been crossed through with the words "ALL THIEVES" written across it which I thought was brilliant! There was a side room where you could pay £2 for a Ribena or £1.90 for a biscuit and the TV was on in there as well so we could see how it was going Nationally.
I thought I was going to be one of the people actually counting the votes but no, I was going to be one of the spectators instead. The count was held at the Brighton Centre and I had a special ID card so I could get in; we met at the organisers house and walked in with our candidate which was pretty cool. There had been a lot of interest in the Brighton as all of the 4 main candidates were women, plus it looked like we might historically vote in Britain's first green MP.We got there around 10.15pm and the hall was split up into 3 areas; Hove, Brighton Pavilion and Kemp Town, these were massive squares of trestles for the counters to sit at. All of the support volunteers were given result print-outs and we were to see if we could get a rough idea of how people were voting before the count started. There were people from all the parties in there and we were all out to do the same thing - we were told 'whatever you do, don't touch the ballots!!'
The boxes were opened gradually one by one - they used bolt croppers to open them then tipped them out onto the trestle tables so the counters could put them into bundles of 25. As they put them into piles, we tried to tick off (by reading them upside down!) how many were for each candidate. It was not an exact science but apparently it gives you an idea of how it's going; at one point a ballot paper flew towards us and we all recoiled like vampires in sunlight.
After this, the piles were collected up, checked to see if the amount counted matched the amount there should have been in the box and if not, they were counted again. It was actually exhausting just standing watching people count, possibly because it was quite intense - they counted very fast and you had to try and see as many as you could. We weren't allowed to have our phones on, but I sent covert texts now and again from the loos to keep people informed of how it was looking.
After hours of this, the counters then started to separate them into piles for each candidate, our job was then to make sure they were going in the right pile or if we felt they were spoiled then we could query them. One ballot had been crossed through with the words "ALL THIEVES" written across it which I thought was brilliant! There was a side room where you could pay £2 for a Ribena or £1.90 for a biscuit and the TV was on in there as well so we could see how it was going Nationally.
Unfortunately, I couldn't stay until the end as I had a lunchtime work deadline - I left around 2.30am and the results weren't called until 5.30 am anyway. I would have loved to have stayed as it was great to be part of something so important - the voting turnout was extraordinary this year. The Green party won which I was very pleased about; we didn't think we'd win but we didn't want the Tories to either. I did feel extremely disappointed that Hove and Kemp Town went to the Conservatives though, as I hoped that Brightonians were better than that.
I now find that after the election, I feel quite apathetic about it; I hate Conservatives and everything they stand for so I'm just going to sit back and let everyone get on with it. As Ro said; when 1% of Labour and Tory votes bought them more than 8 Parliamentary seats and 1% only gave the Lib Dems 2 and a half, there's something wrong with our voting system.
Anyway, I've voted, I've had my say and that's all I can do - I thought the British press were disgusting in the way they tried to force their opinions on the public; the media should be politically impartial, but seeing as most of it is owned by the Tories it kinda proves that Democracy is an illusion... and Simon Cowell can fuck right off.
No one gets their hands on the ballots here unless there is a recount. There was a famous one of course in 2000 for the national election. As far as I can tell it was a farce and highly political.
ReplyDeleteAt the local precincts in Louisville the ballots are read by a reader and after the polls close the poll workers run a tape of the totals. Everything is packed up and taken back to headquarters. One copy of the totals tape is taped to the precinct door for the media and interested parties to read.
The first time I saw that I laughed.
You're becoming more like America every day, even down to an electoral system no one understands, but keeps the elites in power.
ReplyDeleteThat Clegg fellow - he sold out quicker than a 2-bit hooker in downtown Vegas. Doesn't care if he makes a deal with Tories or Labour, as long as he gets to power. Just another pathetic wanker - beware the telegenic smooth talker - we have one over here - worst president ever.
Yeah, most people are fascists. If you have a semi-detached, a boring solid job, 2 teenagers, you'll vote to keep the status quo. Heaven forbid a Paki moves next door - you'll vote Adolf Hitler in.
An interesting insight into how my vote was counted, but two quid for a Ribena that was worth a protest vote on it's own.
ReplyDeleteHere the Conservatives got in, which was no great shock as they always get in where I live. I think you would have appreciated the poster of David Cameron outside my mums house. It was put up one day and the next day someone had written "twat" accross his forehead.