European elections problems
The Netherlands have been used to electronic voting for years. But because of minor concerns, the whole process is now back to the middle ages. And then problems arise.
I took this picture in a voting station in Rijnwoude. They were counting the ballots. This one was put on the "faulty votes" pile. Anyone can see what the voter intended. And yet, the vote wasn't counted.
I wonder what else went wrong. Apart from the horrendous win by Mr. Wilders. Politics seems to be in the hands of the populists now. The question is, can populists be trusted to be good politicians? Time will tell.
– Hayo
Discussion
Eric said: on 05 Jun 2009 08:07:20
De grens tussen wat wel en geen intentie was is niet duidelijk. Er mogen geen interpreatieverschillen zijn. Daarom terecht afgekeurd.
Volgende keer toch maar eerst naar één van de vele Pearl-achtige zaken.
Hayo said: on 05 Jun 2009 08:48:16 Wat ik vooral erg vind is dat deze Archaïsche methode dit soort rare fouten in de hand werkt. Met stemcomputers was dit nooit gebeurt (en was er bijvoorbeeld ook een hele duidelijke knop "stem blanco" terwijl je nu maar moest gokken dat als het vel leeg genoeg bleef het als blanco geteld werd).
Rogier said: on 05 Jun 2009 13:24:40 Aren't all politicians populists?
Hayo said: on 05 Jun 2009 13:35:24 No.
Rogier said: on 05 Jun 2009 13:53:19 Yes. No. maybe.
Hayo Bethlehem said: on 05 Jun 2009 13:59:58 Hahahah ;) Well, they shouldn't be. It's not really how it's supposed to work. But nowadays, most are, so yes.
Rogier said: on 05 Jun 2009 14:19:55
But who cares about politicians anyway?
The netherlands (and almost every other industrialized country) are run by the lobbyists.
It's really scary, e.g. if you look at car and medicine legislation; most members of the euro parliament are just sock puppets controlled by the car industry, the pharmaceutical industry, etc..
Rogier said: on 05 Jun 2009 14:23:15 But perhaps that's just me, being cynical ;)
Hayo said: on 05 Jun 2009 14:24:38
Thats a very good point. And still, I think i'd rather have the industry be responsible for legislation (by informing politicians in the way they want it), then by the whims of people like mr. Wilders.
Maybe we really do need a new system.
Rogier said: on 05 Jun 2009 14:35:28 Yes, I was thinking something along the line of Rogierism TM ;)