Have you changed your vote?

monster · 10-02-2008, 10:25 PM

As far as I can tell, there are an enormous number of people -in pretty much every country- who decide that their loyalty belongs to one partiicular party and they vote that way from the get=go until death. And they just don't bother with the actual ins and outs of politics, it's a done deal.

That means that the real outcome relies on the voters who actually listen to the speaches and read the flyers etc.... and are prepared to change their mind

and in my experience, these are the same people who like to debate politics on the internet. But the people I have debated politics with always claim to never have been persuaded to shange their vote. yet some must

so be honest (it's a strength not a weakness to see and admit the error of your ways...), have you changed your vote (party-wise) since you first started voting?

xoxoxoBruce · 10-02-2008, 10:27 PM

The independents have much power.

dar512 · 10-02-2008, 10:33 PM

Certainly. I tend slightly to the right on money issues and slightly to the left on social issues. Who I end up voting for depends on who the parties put up for election and what the current major issues are.

Flint · 10-02-2008, 10:53 PM

When I was young, I was indoctrinated into the idea that Republicans are just evil.

Then, I heard that a bunch of people thought the same thing about Democrats, and had equally convincing reasons.

And eventually I became convinced. That BOTH of them were right.

So, yes, I've changed how I vote. I changed from believing the bullshit that 50% of people believe, to not believing 100% of the bullshit that anybody believes.

I do not vote Republican OR Democrat anymore. The two-party system is broken.

Both parties are running on "change" in this election. Do you really think you'll get "change" by ping-ponging back and forth between two fixed positions that are gridlocked?

lookout123 · 10-03-2008, 12:20 AM

I don't vote party lines. I'm an independent. I vote for R's or D's as I feel appropriate in important races, I vote for third parties in all other races. yeah, kind of disjointed but it's a start.

Undertoad · 10-03-2008, 01:37 AM

I'm a swing voter in a swing state - I'm the most powerful person in the country.

ZenGum · 10-03-2008, 03:54 AM

Ahhh, preferential voting.

I'm not happy that it is compulsory to exhaust my preferences. But it's better than an all-or-nothing, waste-my-vote one shot system.

Ibby · 10-03-2008, 04:17 AM

I'm not loyal to the democratic party; i'm loyal to progressive social and economic principles.

DanaC · 10-03-2008, 06:55 AM

I've always been on the left. Initially because the answers the right offered seemed cold and lacking in compassion. Then I discovered marxism and took on an ideological form of politics.

My movement has been from the far-left, fringe, revolutionary side of politics towards mainstream parliamentary politics. I have very much changed my views as I have learned more about the world and heard different views expressed. In some things my views have remained as they've ever been, in other things my views have undergone a paradigm shift.

I don't think my views have really been altered at any point by a single speech or debate...but such debates have at times laid the groundwork for a change in view.

That said, I have never voted for any other party than the Labour Party, except in cases of a strategic vote.

ZenGum · 10-03-2008, 07:00 AM

Do you have preferential voting over there Dana?

DanaC · 10-03-2008, 07:02 AM

On Euro elections we have proportional representation. In Parliamentary and Council elections it's first past the post.

ZenGum · 10-03-2008, 07:11 AM

That's a different question I think.

Lets check we're on the same wavelength here.

First past the post means each electorate returns one member, being whoever got the most votes in that electorate.
Proportional representation means each (larger) electorate returns several members, being the several most-voted-for. Hence one could come third or so and still get a seat.

Preferential voting is where the elector marks all the boxes on the ballot paper with numbers beginning from one up to the end, and their vote is first given to the "1" candidate, but if in the first round of counting there is no candidate with more than 50% of the votes, the candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated and their votes are transferred to the "2" candidate, and the process repeats until someone gets over 50%.

Is this how you understand the terms?

It is possible to have combinations of both systems.
Down Under, we have preferential first-past-the-post for the lower house, and preferential proportional representation for the upper house (which is a little more complicated but I won't go into it).

ZenGum · 10-03-2008, 07:14 AM

Hey I need to change my vote! In THIS poll

I thought it was about, have you changed your vote in the US elections, and so I voted that I'm not allowed to vote (pretty silly in retrospect!).

Ahem.

Yes, I have changed my vote. I've swung between Labour, Greens, and Australian Democrats (now defunct centre-left social reformists).

classicman · 10-03-2008, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

The independents have much power.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lookout123

I don't vote party lines. I'm an independent. I vote for R's or D's as I feel appropriate in important races...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I'm a swing voter in a swing state - I'm the most powerful person in the country.

That about sums it up for me.

dar512 · 10-03-2008, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I'm a swing voter in a swing state

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

View Poll Results: have you changed your vote
I'm not allowed to vote	1	3.03%
i choose not to vote	0	0%
yes I have	6	18.18%
no I haven't	26	78.79%
Voters: 33. You may not vote on this poll

10-02-2008, 10:25 PM	#1
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	Have you changed your vote? As far as I can tell, there are an enormous number of people -in pretty much every country- who decide that their loyalty belongs to one partiicular party and they vote that way from the get=go until death. And they just don't bother with the actual ins and outs of politics, it's a done deal. That means that the real outcome relies on the voters who actually listen to the speaches and read the flyers etc.... and are prepared to change their mind and in my experience, these are the same people who like to debate politics on the internet. But the people I have debated politics with always claim to never have been persuaded to shange their vote. yet some must so be honest (it's a strength not a weakness to see and admit the error of your ways...), have you changed your vote (party-wise) since you first started voting? __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-02-2008, 10:27 PM	#2
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	The independents have much power. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

10-02-2008, 10:33 PM	#3
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,968	Certainly. I tend slightly to the right on money issues and slightly to the left on social issues. Who I end up voting for depends on who the parties put up for election and what the current major issues are. __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

10-02-2008, 10:53 PM	#4
Flint Snowflake Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dystopia Posts: 13,136	When I was young, I was indoctrinated into the idea that Republicans are just evil. Then, I heard that a bunch of people thought the same thing about Democrats, and had equally convincing reasons. And eventually I became convinced. That BOTH of them were right. So, yes, I've changed how I vote. I changed from believing the bullshit that 50% of people believe, to not believing 100% of the bullshit that anybody believes. I do not vote Republican OR Democrat anymore. The two-party system is broken. Both parties are running on "change" in this election. Do you really think you'll get "change" by ping-ponging back and forth between two fixed positions that are gridlocked? __________________ **************** There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio**

10-03-2008, 12:20 AM	#5
lookout123 changed his status to single Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Right behind you. No, the other side. Posts: 10,308	I don't vote party lines. I'm an independent. I vote for R's or D's as I feel appropriate in important races, I vote for third parties in all other races. yeah, kind of disjointed but it's a start. __________________ Getting knocked down is no sin, it's not getting back up that's the sin

10-03-2008, 01:37 AM	#6
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I'm a swing voter in a swing state - I'm the most powerful person in the country.

10-03-2008, 03:54 AM	#7
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	Ahhh, preferential voting. I'm not happy that it is compulsory to exhaust my preferences. But it's better than an all-or-nothing, waste-my-vote one shot system. __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

10-03-2008, 04:17 AM	#8
Ibby erika Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: "the high up north" Posts: 6,127	I'm not loyal to the democratic party; i'm loyal to progressive social and economic principles. __________________ not really back, you didn't see me, i was never here shhhhhh

10-03-2008, 06:55 AM	#9
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	I've always been on the left. Initially because the answers the right offered seemed cold and lacking in compassion. Then I discovered marxism and took on an ideological form of politics. My movement has been from the far-left, fringe, revolutionary side of politics towards mainstream parliamentary politics. I have very much changed my views as I have learned more about the world and heard different views expressed. In some things my views have remained as they've ever been, in other things my views have undergone a paradigm shift. I don't think my views have really been altered at any point by a single speech or debate...but such debates have at times laid the groundwork for a change in view. That said, I have never voted for any other party than the Labour Party, except in cases of a strategic vote.

10-03-2008, 07:00 AM	#10
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	Do you have preferential voting over there Dana? __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

10-03-2008, 07:02 AM	#11
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	On Euro elections we have proportional representation. In Parliamentary and Council elections it's first past the post.

10-03-2008, 07:11 AM	#12
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	That's a different question I think. Lets check we're on the same wavelength here. First past the post means each electorate returns one member, being whoever got the most votes in that electorate. Proportional representation means each (larger) electorate returns several members, being the several most-voted-for. Hence one could come third or so and still get a seat. Preferential voting is where the elector marks all the boxes on the ballot paper with numbers beginning from one up to the end, and their vote is first given to the "1" candidate, but if in the first round of counting there is no candidate with more than 50% of the votes, the candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated and their votes are transferred to the "2" candidate, and the process repeats until someone gets over 50%. Is this how you understand the terms? It is possible to have combinations of both systems. Down Under, we have preferential first-past-the-post for the lower house, and preferential proportional representation for the upper house (which is a little more complicated but I won't go into it). __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

10-03-2008, 07:14 AM	#13
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	Hey I need to change my vote! In THIS poll I thought it was about, have you changed your vote in the US elections, and so I voted that I'm not allowed to vote (pretty silly in retrospect!). Ahem. Yes, I have changed my vote. I've swung between Labour, Greens, and Australian Democrats (now defunct centre-left social reformists). __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

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