The Elections Thread - 7 May 2014

Which party you will vote for in the 2014 election?

  • ANC

    Votes: 13 2.8%
  • DA

    Votes: 379 81.9%
  • COPE

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • EFF

    Votes: 14 3.0%
  • FF+

    Votes: 13 2.8%
  • IFP

    Votes: 2 0.4%
  • NFP

    Votes: 2 0.4%
  • ACDP

    Votes: 5 1.1%
  • AGANG

    Votes: 8 1.7%
  • Other

    Votes: 27 5.8%

  • Total voters
    463
As far as I know they are not counted.

Well technically they are counted and listed, but when the division of seats come into play they are not counted so ultimately you are giving more votes to the majority.

But someone like ghoti or Paul can confirm this as I'm no expert.

Can you explain your logic here. I've often heard people say that not voting means giving more votes to the majority but that statement doesn't make any sense to me at all and nobody has ever been able to explain why they think that.
 
Can you explain your logic here. I've often heard people say that not voting means giving more votes to the majority but that statement doesn't make any sense to me at all and nobody has ever been able to explain why they think that.

Especially if you were going to vote for the majority party.
 
Can you explain your logic here. I've often heard people say that not voting means giving more votes to the majority but that statement doesn't make any sense to me at all and nobody has ever been able to explain why they think that.

Not talking about non-voting, but about spoiled ballots.

Ballots gets counted...

50% = Party 1
40% = Party 2
10% = Spoiled

But when it comes to getting seats in parliament those spoiled ballots fall away...

So 50% now becomes 55% and more seats in the house.


I assume that when people refer to the same thing with regards to non-voting they specifically mean that if you don't agree with the majority vote then you should be voting for the opposition at the very least, otherwise the scales never change.

By not voting you don't really add votes for the majority, but you certainly don't change the scales in any way and things remain exactly the same, unlike if you voted for the opposition where you would at least break the majority's share somewhat.
 
Can you explain your logic here. I've often heard people say that not voting means giving more votes to the majority but that statement doesn't make any sense to me at all and nobody has ever been able to explain why they think that.

Not simply when people don't vote, but specifically people that would not have voted for the majority party.
 
Not talking about non-voting, but about spoiled ballots.

Ballots gets counted...

50% = Party 1
40% = Party 2
10% = Spoiled

But when it comes to getting seats in parliament those spoiled ballots fall away...

So 50% now becomes 55% and more seats in the house.

The 40% also increases to 44% then. The ratio between the two remains the same.
 
The 40% also increases to 44% then. The ratio between the two remains the same.

Just an example.

When it comes to seats in the house and more parties being involved it's a different story.

It's also about the majority having the 2/3 majority vs not having it.
 
Just an example.

When it comes to seats in the house and more parties being involved it's a different story.

It's also about the majority having the 2/3 majority vs not having it.

All parties will still gain equally, and it will have no effect on 2/3 majority or not (just like not voting at all) - unless 2/3 majority claim explicitly states that it's 2/3 of votes cast and not 2/3 of seats, but I doubt that.
 
You should see our municipal accounts in Cape Town. It's huge.
I agree biometrics. Never in the history of me owning property in the Cape has there been such an imbalance between what we have to pay for rates, water, sewerage, refuse and electricity and what people earn. This past December saw my highest ever utility bill, now exceeding my bond. While I have my own business and can absorb a bit extra, what the heck are the salaried people doing to survive?

The DA may have Cape Town and the Western Cape, if I may be politically incorrect and say it, only because of the coloured people, they should still not take us for granted. We may have no ETolls yet, but add up those bills and you can virtually say we are being overcharged and overtaxed.
 
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All parties will still gain equally, and it will have no effect on 2/3 majority or not (just like not voting at all) - unless 2/3 majority claim explicitly states that it's 2/3 of votes cast and not 2/3 of seats, but I doubt that.

I believe there is just such a rule which gives the ruling party even more power if they have 66% of the seats as they can then make all decisions amongst themselves effectively.

Which means if the votes converted to actual seats changes from 64% to 66% that there's a huge issue.

At the moment the only reason the ANC doesn't absolutely get away with even more stuff is because they don't have the absolute majority.

But I'm no politician. I just do my part by voting and I can't understand why it's so hard for other people do simply do the same.
 
I believe there is just such a rule which gives the ruling party even more power if they have 66% of the seats as they can then make all decisions amongst themselves effectively.

Which means if the votes converted to actual seats changes from 64% to 66% that there's a huge issue.

At the moment the only reason the ANC doesn't absolutely get away with even more stuff is because they don't have the absolute majority.

But I'm no politician. I just do my part by voting and I can't understand why it's so hard for other people do simply do the same.

It depends on the wording of the rule. But I doubt it makes any difference. It will probably be 2 thirds of the seats, and it's not like they will leave 10% of the seats empty if 10% spoil their votes. They will just adjust it so that all seats are full, which completely negates the effect of the spoiled votes.
 
Simple math people

65% ANC
30% everyone else
5% spoiled

Oh woops, spoiled votes get no seats, new ratio:
68.5% ANC
31.5% everyone else
 
Simple math people

65% ANC
30% everyone else
5% spoiled

Oh woops, spoiled votes get no seats, new ratio:
68.5% ANC
31.5% everyone else

And that's the same ratio that it would have been had they not voted at all...
 
And that's the same ratio that it would have been had they not voted at all...

/facepalm

But if they had voted for "everyone else" the ANC would not have 2/3 majority... This is what people mean when they say no vote or spoiled vote is essentially a vote for the status quo.

And yes, of course this assumes that the spoiled/no shows would have voted for someone else, which is not always the case. Its an example to prove a point, but go ahead, keep dissecting it so that you may continue missing the point
 
It depends on the wording of the rule. But I doubt it makes any difference. It will probably be 2 thirds of the seats, and it's not like they will leave 10% of the seats empty if 10% spoil their votes. They will just adjust it so that all seats are full, which completely negates the effect of the spoiled votes.

Which is exactly what I've been saying.

Spoilt ballots are only counted for statistics, in actual seats they are completely disregarded making it pointless.
 
/facepalm

But if they had voted for "everyone else" the ANC would not have 2/3 majority... This is what people mean when they say no vote or spoiled vote is essentially a vote for the status quo.

And yes, of course this assumes that the spoiled/no shows would have voted for someone else, which is not always the case. Its an example to prove a point, but go ahead, keep dissecting it so that you may continue missing the point

The most recent posts were all about spoiling vs not voting, and not about voting for somebody other than the ANC. I'm sorry if you couldn't keep up with that Archer.
 
Since I last checked this thread earlier today ... the DA has fallen from 80% to 79%
 
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