UK General Elections Today

reply to post by blupblup No mate, people have queued for ages & still not got to vote. Yeah, they've had since 7am but if you work during the day, lunch time & evening are bound to be busy right? So the returning officers should have plenty more staff on for those times.

reply to post by Bunken Drum




Well that's fair enough dude... I don't know the Ins-and-outs of this story... I'm watching the alternative thingy on C4 and haven't been watching the actual news...

So how long were they queueing for then?


I can't see why the Station didn't have the staff.... Is this definitely the fault of the Polling station? Will have to look into it more.

Cheers for the info though.

reply to post by blupblup I'm listening on Radio 4 cos I'm supposed to be working Some interviews have said the queues lasted hours. In the rain in Sheffield apparently...
Edit to add: yeah, its down to local organisation to staff the polling stations & organise the whole thing.

[edit on 6/5/10 by Bunken Drum]

reply to post by Bunken Drum



S*** not good.... I'm sure there will be a lot off pissed of people In Sheffield tonight... :shk:

[edit on 6/5/10 by blupblup]

reply to post by blupblup According to the Chair of the Returning Officers' Association, if a constituency result is close, people not being able to vote would be grounds for a legal challenge to the result...

reply to post by Bunken Drum




Oooooo and it gets interesting.

I knew this would be a crazy election and there was gonna be controversy...
I'll be keeping an eye on it for sure.

I Think that the Polling Centre Scandal is a scam! - it has been deliberately manufactured

Polling stations running out of ballot papers (when they know beforehand exactly how many people could vote) !!!!???!!!
Long queues outside the doors at the 10pm deadline when people had been waiting hours ???!!!!???
Polling stations having incorrect details and turning people away when they had a legitimate right to vote.!!!???!!!

We have an electorate commission responsible for ensuring that the voting system runs smoothly

This level of incompetence is unprecidented in the UK -

WHY ........Because people will react angrily and therefore readily accept, without question, a new voting system for the future - I predict either a postal or digital system which will make it much easier for the powers that be to massage and manipulate votes.

They have created these problems deliberately - to cause an outcry for the system to be overhauled and modernised and the change they propose will NOT benefit the people of the UK

Peter Robinson DUP 1st Minister of N Ireland has lost his seat to the Alliance Party, the sister party of the LibDems. Yes! Get out you sleazy right wing bastard!
Also makes a deal between Cameron & the DUP more problematic...

reply to post by Bunken Drum


Thank you for that analysis! Me here in the Caribbean, I have a sense of some of the parties and such, and of course, there are English/British folk here, who don't seem to agree (from my perspective) on what any of it means.

It's looking like Cameron, right now, yes?

reply to post by Esrom Escutcheon Esquire

The likelyhood is the Conservatives will win the most seats, yet it will be a Hung Parliament.

I'm embarassed to admit that I'm only just now becoming aware of this possibility and its potential repercussions. NZ is STILL in limbo, if I'm not mistaken (and I often am, so shout out if that is the case.)

No worries. I'm very interested in this whole procedure. What a time -- if it occurs -- for a hung Parliment, huh? With Greece hanging in the wind? whoof!

reply to post by argentusIt looks like the Conservatives will have the most seats in parliament, but unless they get at least 326, then they wont have a majority. That means that Cameron will not necessarily be the next Prime Minister. If there's no overall majority, Brown will have the 1st opportunity to form a coalition govt. which he could only do with the LibDems &, its looking like, about 10 other MPs.
That said, there's been some odd results so far, so we wont know how its gone for sure until dawn probably.

reply to post by Bunken Drum


Confusing, yet entertaining. So, if Cameron won, but didn't command a majority of seats, and Brown is unable to coalesce a government to present to the Queen (because you all want a change of government) then Cameron would try to get the various seats behind him to form a consolidated government?

does that sound even slightly accurate? I'm not making fun, I really want to know. yes, I've been shaking my head a bit, but the nuances of the interplay between seats and parties and who can vote for whom within their district....... wow. Whoever came up with this system was a chess player. Please note that I did NOT say Machiavellian.

reply to post by argentusWell, its actually potentially even more confusing. Cameron probably would try to do a deal, most likely with some N Irish MPs, to get a majority. However, unless Cameron gets an outright majority for the Conservatives, Brown will remain PM temporarily & will have the 1st chance to form a coalition govt, most likely with the LibDems.
If he cant get enough support, ie more seats in the coalition than the Conservatives' total, then it will be upto Cameron to form a govt, which he could do, in that case, as a minority!
It happens like this because we dont vote for our leader, we vote for our local MP. Even though many people concentrate on the leaders, in actual fact it is the parties that select their leaders & deal with each other to produce a Prime Minister.

Oh yeah, & it is an inherently unfair system. This is why so many of us want electoral reform. Trouble is, only the LibDems are proposing anything meaningful in that respect. They are the smallest of the 3 main parties &, even tho there's been a surge for them in the polls recently, so far it doesn't seem to have translated into many seats.

BBC radio just reported that Labour & the LibDems are already talking! Hopefully that means there's still a chance to avoid a Tory disaster.

The Green Party have their 1st MP! Now that is an indication of a change in British attitudes.

wth did you do ... stupid brits ... (sarcasm)
conservatists?

0 sits for UKIP?

WTH?

Originally posted by Bunken Drum
The Green Party have their 1st MP! Now that is an indication of a change in British attitudes.

Too little too late.

reply to post by Firefly_ Yeah mate, but lets face it, very little ever happens quickly in UK politics. Its just the same old back & forth. Look at how long its taken for the LibDems to get even this far. At least 1 new minor party member is a step in the right direction.

First Hung Parliment since 1974, according to BBC.

Many voters angry over being turned away at poll closing. Link I didn't realize that problem was so widespread. I realize it's law that the polls close at a certain time and no ballots issued after that, however I'd think that anyone in queue at that time, who is able to vote should be able to. Would be a logistical nightmare, I guess, to send some official to the end of the line to proclaim, "this is the end of the voting line."

I haven't heard anything more about the Postal ballot problems.......

y'know......... I think you all need a sports commentator to report election news for the next coupla days....... maybe someone used to horse racing.