Reuse it or lose it

The power of preferences lies
in the pencil of the people.

The whole election process is an interesting affair. I've been able to learn a whole lot more about what State governments do...and don't do. I've had the chance to meet lots of interesting people who I wouldn't normally bump into, let alone get to hear their perspectives on life and I’ve had the chance to try and put across The Greens policies through the mass media.

What has become glaringly obvious is that it is really hard to get the message out what Greens policies are. Thank goodness for the internet I say, as more people are taking personal responsibility to look at the policies for themselves they can see that often what is reported can be so far from the truth you wonder how it can be called ‘journalism’.

Towards the final stages of this election it is also becoming apparent how the process of electing representatives also gets sidelined.

Everyone wants to know who are you preferencing? What is not made clear to the voting people is that it is their choice, their preference not any party ‘ticket’. In the State election there is no registered preference ticket. The How to Vote cards are a recommendation only.

What ever someone marks on their voting slip, that’s what is counted. If you only mark one box, your vote stops after that vote is counted. If you mark 2 or 3 or more boxes then your vote keeps on getting counted over and over again until it stops at the person with the most, or second most votes, it is the most powerful reuse strategy about.

In Lake Macquarie numbering the squares is the best way to make sure you get the government you want.

After much consideration about the merits of the other candidates The Greens are recommending on their How to votes that Greg Piper, a progressive independent be preferenced and then the Labor Party. Following this strategy sends a clear message to the Labor Party that this electorate does not want to be taken for granted anymore but it also is saying that if it came down to Labor or a Liberal coalition, we’d be better off under a Labor government.