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No right to vote in EU Ref


mick
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As a citizen of the United Kingdom we each have a democratic right to vote so imagine my surprise when I turned up at my local polling station yesterday evening to be told I could not exercise my right because I "had already voted"!

Now this was no ordinary election, it was the EU Referendum, an important decision making process that will affect all of our lives, and perhaps the whole of Europe, for decades to come. Instead to me it's now become a joke, a complete farce.

We had waited until evening to visit the polling station as it's on our nighttime dog walking route. There were two temporary porta-cabins being used as the polling station and each had a handwritten and barely legible 'address' list affixed to the outside adjacent to the entrance door indicating into which cabin you needed to go to place your vote. At first I initially thought the right one as I saw our street address but then noticed it only went to a certain number, so it was the left hand cabin we wanted.

We had both taken along our polling cards and Pam went in first while I waited outside with the dog. I then went in after Pam had placed her vote and handed my polling card to the young lad sitting behind the desk who immediately gave me a bemused look but said nothing to me. He indicated to his colleague, who seemed to know what his bemused look meant, who then asked me to confirm my name. I did so, only then to be asked if I had already voted to which I obviously replied I had not. But apparently, they said, I had. For some unknown reason my name had already been crossed off their 'two' lists and so they were unable to offer me 'another' voting slip. So much for a UK citizens democratic right to vote!

What an absolute farce of a system when you can visit a Polling Station without a Polling Card, require no ID to confirm your identity, and the whole process relies purely on some lad with a lead pencil getting it absolutely right each time someone enters his cabin to vote. In this day and age, and for such an important decision making process, wouldn't you expect something more than a pencil mark on a sheet of paper to record those who have voted?

And also the address list affixed to the portacabin adjacent the entrance door, in this day and age again, why on earth should there be a scrawled handwritten list and not a printed laminated notice? Doncaster you certainly did us proud! Utterly unprofessional. Is this how things are/were in your area?

It's the UK for God's sake. We're now supposedly going to be better off on our own but we're still relying on lead pencils and sheets of bloody paper!

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I can see how that happens Mick. My wife and I are the only ones with my surname in this ward. When we went in yesterday, it would have been so easy to cross one of us off instead of another. Imagine how it would be with a name like Smith.

My own wife is Russian by birth, but a naturalized Brit, so she is entitled to vote. I have a friend who married a German girl. They have lived and worked in Britain as a married couple and raised their children with no claims for benefits. She is only allowed to vote in local elections. There is something wrong there too.

It is certainly time for a more foolproof method of recording something so important, but Britain has an unfortunate habit of inventing something that they give to the world, then sit back content that it works and doesn't need change.

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We were a little more professional in the fact that ours was typed rather than handwritten, but I agree it's a joke. Funnily enough I said to my wife when we left how easy it would be to walk in and say my name was "joe bloggs, 123 Normal Street" and take someone else's vote

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shaung75 said:

....Funnily enough I said to my wife when we left how easy it would be to walk in and say my name was "joe bloggs, 123 Normal Street" and take someone else's vote

That's the ironic thing. As we approached the polling station with polling cards to hand the guy standing outside the door said to us "You don't need your cards" to which Pam replied along the lines of "but then how do you know who we really are?" I'm sure they must have thought I was trying it on after that.

I was so taken aback at not being allowed my vote that I never queried whether they had correctly crossed Pam's name off after she had voted just before me or whether they had crossed mine by mistake. Either way, in my opinion it's a seriously flawed system that needs addressing as soon as possible. In other situations such an error could have the likelihood of resulting in a void ballot.

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As in the past l worked a lot of unsocial hours and shift work for many years l've had a postal vote. I'm sure when l registered for it l must have had to prove who l was but since then beside signing in the box no one as ever quired me to prove who l am. I can see how people can easly rig votes if they wanted to.

Without getting political l have always belived that voteing should be compolsary, with a "none of the above "box for those who wish to use it. But then l see a bit of the Jeremy Kyle show and think perhaps not.

Hope your going to complain, one vote may not make a differance to the end result but you still have a right to use it as you see fit.

Working this week and as one of the ever decresing band of native workers still there l have to say that not every one was happy about the vote this morning.

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In Australia it's compulsory to vote. You go to the polling station a school or church hall and they have desks with people sitting behind them with letters of the alphabet hanging of the front like A-E, H-L and so on. If your surname falls into one of those categories you say who your are by stating your full name and address whereupon the person sitting behind the desk puts a small pencil dot next to your name. They also ask if you've voted already on that day. You can say no I haven't voted multiple times if you want to but if you get caught it's a heavy fine with a jail sentence.

You are then given one long piece of paper in which you put numbers above the line in order of preference. You can decide to fill out the bottom part with every loonie party listed on it. You then fold up your ballot paper and put it in the box near to the entrance of the hall and then go about your business. It is Illegal not to turn up and have your name crossed off the list and you will receive a $500 fine for committing the crime of not voting. You can also do a pre poll vote if you wish and many do.

Roy.

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It was on the news here today that everyone who voted to leave in the referendum is being looked upon as brain dead morons. That statement shows how disconnected the EU is from reality. The EU thinks that the British people are very ungrateful. After all look what they've done to you oops for you all these years.

But if people feel that they have no say in their future and they can't get rid of people who control their lives due to these people being appointed and not elected then when a referendum comes along with the choice to vote in or out many will choose out. One woman said it would be wrong for Britain to leave and not stay and reform the EU. Well that's not possible. The EU has to want to reform for changes to be made. But the EU has no intention whatsoever of reforming they're quite happy with it the way it is.

The same thing is being said about Donald Trump. People in the US are saying don't let the bull lose in the china shop. The trouble is it isn't their china.

Roy.

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mick said:

...As a citizen of the United Kingdom we each have a democratic right to vote so imagine my surprise when I turned up at my local polling station yesterday evening to be told I could not exercise my right because I "had already voted"!...

I defiantly don't want to interfere with British politics, but if your vote has been misused by somebody else, that sounds like fraud to me, and one can ask them selfs "how legal is the referendum"? :o

Here in Belgium this is not possible, we all have an identity card with an electronic chip, that is used to register, even the vote is now done by computer and registers to a national server.

Of course if someone tempers with the computer system it self, nothing can be secured 100%.

But in that case it would be fraud and computer crime on a very high level, not some random person who claims to be someone.

Also every citizen older than 18 must go to vote.

If not you can get a severe penalty, and can cost you a lot of money.

But at least all citizens have voted.

There can be exceptions made, like being abroad, sick or mentally unstable, but this must be registered and verified before the actual vote.

But what ever, I still do hope that there will be a new referendum for Britain.

Because how I see the news here, this referendum was more a power battle whit in the conservative party and a protest vote of the people, with consequences that the people didn't know of, and will come with a very high prise to pay.

But like I mentioned, I'm non British, and I respect what ever is decided.

Perhaps one last word to the EU and It's system, I only got this to say " To many politicians".

We should had introduced the American system in the first place, where every state has his representatives in the European government.

Now every country can have several governments, they claim taxes to pay for their own depth they make, and claim it to te EU.

Buy NO politician is going to raise that question, because who want to fire him self.

Think about that.

Cheers,

Danny

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I'm not going to get into Politics for obvious reasons, but Pandora's box has been opened, and there is nobody here or in Europe who knows how to handle the erupting sh!tstorm. Hopefully it will bring about reform in our own political system and in Europe's system, but I fear that this is going to rumble on and on for many years to come.

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What gets me is when the remain camp thought they were going to win by 52% to 48% then everything was just great and that would have been fine to win by that majority, however........ now the tables have turned and the result is the same but they have have lost 48% to 52% they are demanding another go. We live in a democracy everyone who was eligible was given the chance to cast their vote as we do in any elections and then we live by the results, they may not always be what you voted for but that's the way it works. I'm sure that if the result had been the other way round then the remainers would have said to the leavers that it was "tough" and to "suck it up" and "get on with it" there would have been none of this "lets have another go" rubbish! And if we have another go and they lose again do they get another go and another go etc etc until they get the result they want! :evil::evil:

Sorry rant over :)

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Also on the TV here is the old "Home Rule" Scots saying that they only agreed to stay in the UK because the UK was in the EU. So the SNP now wants another referendum citing that 62% of Scots voted to remain in the EU which means that 38% voted to leave but they're to be ignored. But it will be like last time. A messy divorce. If they want independence then they have to fund themselves. The British treasury won't bank roll their independence. They won't be able to use the Pound as their currency. No doubt North Sea oil and gas will be claimed by the English leaving them tourism and whiskey as their only exports. Of course there's no guarantee that the EU would want them. I would have thought that Scotland's inclusion in the EU would have meant that England and Wales would also be part of the deal The SNP has a habit of changing it's position if it disagrees with something. To be told by the EU to shut up do as you're told would not go down well with them. Alex Salmond case for independence fell apart when he announced that he would be keeping the British pound as the currency and that Westminster would be funding their independence to which Westminster answered 'no we won't'.

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Quote"Also on the TV here is the old "Home Rule" Scots saying that they only agreed to stay in the UK because the UK was in the EU. So the SNP now wants another referendum citing that 62% of Scots voted to remain in the EU which means that 38% voted to leave but they're to be ignored. ------- No doubt North Sea oil and gas will be claimed by the English leaving them tourism and whiskey as their only exports. Of course there's no guarantee that the EU would want them. I would have thought that Scotland's inclusion in the EU would have meant that England and Wales would also be part of the deal -----" end shortened quote. (what about Northern Ireland)

Sadly it shows the Anti English situation of many Scots (But by no means all) they seem to miss the irony of demanding Independance for Scotland from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but demanding to stay in the EU. I know Why The SNP want it, the economics of Independance are doubtful, so they would like all the EU subsidies to make it work. I suspect even if they got independance from the UK while the UK was in the EU Scotland would still be required to pay these increased fees..

As I was taught at School in Inverness, the majority of North Sea Oil arriving in Scotland actually comes from the Norwegian Sector due to it not being economically possible to run a pipe line to Norway ( there is a dirty great trench in the North Sea by their coast) . So Norway has already had most of the tax revenues.

When Most Scots are asked to draw the maritime border between Scotland and England, they draw a horizontal line from just north of Berwick (some from as far south as Newcastle), But international law is, it continues out in the general direction of the border!!! if you do that 70 miles off the coast of Aberdeen you are in English waters!!!

The only way Scotland could be a member of the EU would to be to rejoin in their own right, then they would have to pay full membership fees which would be considerably higher than they pay now, due to the discount that Maggie Thatcher got for the UK.

I suspect a great many Labour voters voted out, because all their lives they have been taught to vote against the Tories, and with the Remain campaign being led by Cameron and Osborne they weren't going to vote that way.

The Labour party has over the years moved from being a party of the workers, who outside their own interests are often More right wing than the Tories in many ways, to a party of Left wing intellectuals ( the Corbyn Wing) and professional Politicians ( was the Blairite wing).

The Tories have long moved into the professional Politician arena, fewer are the old countryside elite, and were split on the EU anyway.

Ironically with the Scots independance the UK has been led by people who could have a Scottish passport (if there will be such a thing) from 1997 to the present day as Blair, Brown, and Cameron all have Scottish heritage.

Oh and Traingeekboy, Because my First name is so unusual I often get it reversed with My Surname as that can be used as a first name. Also My middle name is also normally used as a surname so I sometimes get double barrelled instead..

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Spain has announced that they will use their right of veto to say no to Scotland's inclusion in the EU.

Talking to my nephew in law who's from Perth Scotland he said any separation from England would be disastrous for Scotland and England as the two countries are now so intertwined. He also said that the SNP is being typically Scottish or "tight fisted" and they want independence but they don't want to pay for it. So what they really want is not independence but dependence. Independence is being independent or going it alone. If the average Scottish worker pays 20% of their pay in tax and takes 80% home, then under independence they'll have to pay 80% in tax and only take 20% home.

The SNP knows that Scotland can't afford independence or can't afford to go it alone that's why they want to remain in the EU so the the EU pays for their independence. But it would appear that there are some countries in the EU that aren't prepared to pay for Scotland's inclusion in the EU. Perhaps they have enough monetary problems of their own.

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