Hacker News Reader

Comment by davegardner | Hacker News Reader

Just one of many good reasons to vote Greens in the senate.

Or pirate party!

The Pirate Party could be the best party on the ballot, however if it wants people to vote for it, it should consider a non-churlish name. I can relate to a lot of the Pirate Party's policies in the UK, but struggle to take them seriously with such a silly name.

Same deal for the Sex Party. Their civil liberties platform is actually very sensible.

I voted for them last time, and I'm voting for them again. Be aware that voting for the sex party is almost a donkey vote in all but Victoria though. Make sure you vote below the line.

I always vote below the line. Preference deals are an abomination of democracy.

I've always wondered about people's reactions (or lack thereof) when this was first put into practice. It seems to me that the results can only be negative. It just encourages lazy & uninformed voting and perpetuates the problem of money in politics -- the more $$ you have, the more signs with your name on them you can buy; the more signs you have, the more people have heard of you, and the more blind votes you get.

If you do know the names of the members that comprise a party, then you can just as easily vote for the members specifically by name (and if you're too lazy to do this then how did you manage to haul your carcass to the polling booth?) If you're so ignorant that you don't know the names of the members that comprise a party, maybe you shouldn't be blindly casting a vote for them.

Seriously! What's wrong with "The Techno Freedom Party" or something like that? If only these party leaders would spend 5 minutes reading about how to effectively market themselves to voters, they'd realize how politically suicidal they've been by giving themselves a party name that sounds like a practical joke. I think they'd be surprised how many people would get behind them & their policies if they stopped preaching to the choir and made an effort to appeal to the voters who don't already know about them.

yes to the pirate party. Even tho they are unlikely to garner any actual majority, giving them your vote means that they could potentially affect policy.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com