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In a packed Dail chamber, Brian Cowen was elected Taoiseach of Ireland after a vote to choose between him, Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore. The vote was won by 88 to 76.
He was nominated by Bertie Ahern himself however it only became quite raucous as Mary Harney seconded Cowen’s nomination and defended the government’s record [...]
Simon had given the most recent account of the phenomenon: the government toying with days of the week and seasons when scheduling elections and referenda for political advantage. Now Bertie has a new twist: a Lisbon vote in June, on a day yet to be scheduled, but in the middle of when many first-time voters [...]
For us here at Irishelection.com one of the big issues of last year was the fact that the election was going to be held on a Thursday and not on a Saturday or at least a Friday to aid the most people to go to the booths. We got 1381 signatures to stop the “temporal [...]
One of the reason’s the government gave against Saturday voting was that it would interfere with people’s religious devotion. So what do they do instead of interfering with religious devotion? They put it on the Jewish festival of Shavuot. For the second time according to Fine Gael. So that means that the religion part of [...]
Niall Murray in the Irish Examiner again goes on about Thursday voting. Making the point.
Seanachie, of the superlative Pleasures of Underachievement highlights something that perhaps should be getting as much prominence as the Weekend vote issue but has, so far, managed to go completely under the electoral radar.
They’ve announced it.
The general election is set to be held on May 24th.
I won’t be voting. This is not because of apathy. This is not because the difference between the two possible coalitions is minimal. This will be because of what one angry disenfranchised voted called Temporal Gerrymandering.
You can sign the petition here Currently1152 signatures including Fianna Fail big wig Senator Mary O’Rourke who issued support in the Seanad previously.
The Dail Debated the weekend voting bill again last night. Again the same fuck up was made. This time by Sinn Fein. You should read the debate it is [...]
This is getting beyond ridiculous. Am I the only one who thinks Comrade Bertski is making a complete mockery of the rules by stalling on naming a date?
Yesterday, bold as brass, he was able to announce that he’s going to wait until the Dáil gets through a lengthy programme of bill-passing before he chooses [...]
Dail Debate of Weekend voting bill is online. Read how Dick Roche’s Christmas’s came at once. You can sign the petition here
You can sign the petition here
Some rebuttal to the Minister as Fine Gael fluffed their lines a little.
Fine Gael are some twats. They had the arguments. They had the people behind them. They had the logic. We set out the points even in bullet form. It was all teed up for them. They could not miss. And what they do. They fuck up. In the debate on weekend voting. They made most [...]
Trevor Sargent mentioned the petition on Today FM today. All though attributing it to rockthevote (who don’t support it). Anyway if anyone ended up here. You can Sign here
Edit: Cian rang in and got the petition mentioned. Already 40 extra signatures.
Edit 2: Fine Gael’s Bill for Weekend voting is being debated in the Dail now. [...]
Update by Cian: I emailed the party whips to request that this bill is subject to a free vote on Tuesday night. This is because an issue like this is beyond party politics and actually materially affects the election, turnout and democracy. If your interested in doing the same the whips are Billy Kelleher (FF), [...]
Stephen Collins in the Irish Times talks about the case against Thursday voting. (Non-free Subs Required). No mention of us though and the petition. (Which has just passed 800 signatures. ). It is nice to see the media beginning to follow up on this issue. Cian was on Clare FM and Highland Radio yesterday talking [...]
In what is possibly a first all the youth parties have agreed on an issue. That issue being the need for a weekend election. In a post on the Ogra Sinn Fein blog. A statement signed by the heads of the 6 main youth parties has called for an weekend election. If you agree with [...]
techPresident – The Future of Campaign Technology: The Ground Game
Irish Parties looking at learning online and database lessons from Obama could do worse than bear this post in mind. Almost as soon as the election is over, improvements and evolution are making some parts redundant and others essential. Get your campaign an i-phone for everyone? Might be better than printing flyers, it goes to show how parties, if they take it seriously, need to keep ahead of the wave - not just follow.
Colman at the EuroTrib give his reasoning on why Lisbon is dead. The Government's incapable handling of the budget cuts are the nail in the coffin.
Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar offers his view on how the SBP Opinion Poll would translate in an election.
Think tank: Time for democracy to click into place
Dan Sullivan gets himself into The Sunday Times, calling for the internet to connect citizens to a more meaningful democracy. Its an argument I agree with wholeheartedly myself. Have a read and let him know what you think.
Colm Burke MEP reckons that we need to get honest and tell people we will be holding a second Lisbon Vote in Oct 2009 with protocols desigend to secure a yes vote.
