tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30590907.post5650227300761591571..comments2023-09-10T04:44:04.723-04:00Comments on Cooking in someone else's kitchen: A political rantAmandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16642836504821695236noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30590907.post-44361928692847423512010-05-06T22:52:55.517-04:002010-05-06T22:52:55.517-04:00I have been feeling exactly the same as you Amanda...I have been feeling exactly the same as you Amanda and have been watching our British election closely. I used to do an overseas vote but I am afraid I gave up after a few years of living here because it always seemed like an awful lot of work to stay registered in the UK. I should be ashamed really because I am very politically opinionated and still don't get a vote here in the States being the eternal green card holder that I am. I have to say though I feel awful every election, both here, and in the UK, knowing that I haven't contributed anything, however small towards the outcome. Well done for doing your part!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30590907.post-79152662622440158192010-05-04T10:33:50.770-04:002010-05-04T10:33:50.770-04:00For such a fundamentally important part of living ...For such a fundamentally important part of living in a democratic society, it does seem that the process can suffer from maladministration all too often. A three-way marginal, Kevin? It's almost worth the train fare...Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16642836504821695236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30590907.post-60275926859695866812010-05-04T03:18:48.608-04:002010-05-04T03:18:48.608-04:00Two observations: one is that the UK postal vote s...Two observations: one is that the UK postal vote system isn't really designed to handle overseas votes, as you've observed. Or rather, it wasn't adapted to do so when expatriates were included some time during the last Conservative administration. The deadline for registering was 15 days before the election, which gives little time to handle the applications and turn around the forms. My own council warns that postal votes may be sent out 4 working days before the election, which would be a challenge to return in time even if you were in the UK. The system was designed for those who were elsewhere in the UK, at a time when the postal system was more reliable.<br /><br />Second, I can empathise. I applied for a postal vote for the first time and learned this weekend that my application had not been successful, which effectively means I'm disenfranchised unless I make an 800 mile round trip and lose a day's work on Thursday. There are a large number of people in the same position as me according to the person I spoke to in the council offices. What's more, their IT systems have been down all week, so they haven't sent out letters to people telling them that their application was too late, and the council website is offline so there's no announcement there. Judging by the amount of campaign literature we've received, I think our constituency is now a 3-way marginal so I'm doubly discontent. <br /><br />That's my rant over as well!Kevin Ashleyhttp://dablog.ulcc.ac.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30590907.post-54713492486306492592010-05-03T15:37:57.889-04:002010-05-03T15:37:57.889-04:00We were living in Switzerland, when the New South ...We were living in Switzerland, when the New South Africa had its first free and fair elections. Was told I could vote with my SA passport. When it came to making a cross - I couldn't vote without an ID book. But my chose-to-be-SA husband did. And what mattered then, were the people who voted for the first time in their lives.Diana Studerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12286066768376135880noreply@blogger.com