2014.05.25 01:00 - Voting Symbols, and Another Working Day

The Guardian for this meeting was Wol Euler. The comments are by No Self.

Wol Euler: buongiorno, qt
Qt Core: Hi Wol :-)
Qt Core: Just got back from voting
Wol Euler cheers!
Qt Core: now i even know what they do to the third name if all threre are of the same sex, they'll just ignore the third
Wol Euler: third being lowest on the ballot? or do you write the names in yourself?
Qt Core: the three names you write (if you want) beside choosing the party
Wol Euler: do you write theparty name too?
Qt Core: no, on the ballot there are all the party logos, each one with three lines near for the names
Qt Core: you can put an x on the logo and/or write the names
Wol Euler: so the rule would work to the advantage of parties who came higher up on the printed ballot
Qt Core: lately laws changed from very strict to "the vote should be explicit enough to be understood"
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: surely a good thing, one should not need a university educated mind to use a ballot form
Qt Core: somewhat, there are night camping before the place where you have to "deposit" parties logos


--BELL--

Qt Core: the ballot look like this (with actual colored party logo instead of numbers and with a blue/gray bacground color: http://www.po-net.prato.it/elezioni/...30517091850256
Qt Core: this was the 2009 one: http://www.prefettura.it/FILES/Alleg...FAC-SIMILE.pdf
Qt Core: and google has a eu election doodle too!
Wol Euler: cute!
Wol Euler: i hadn't seen that before, thanks :)
Qt Core: here in italy voting buildings are guarded by military or military police (carabinieri) during elections days, is it the same in Germany ? (i've heard it is not so in Ireland for example)
Wol Euler: I don#t believe so, certainly I've never been aware of them
Wol Euler: perhaps it depends on the district ...
Wol Euler: but there are so many independent observers, and everyone has cameraphones ...
Qt Core: here they make it very visible
Qt Core: you have to deposit them before entering the cabin when you vote
Wol Euler: I suppose so that people wouldn't conceal them in the booth to record their neighbours voting
Qt Core: independent ? here each party has their own observer as law prescribe, with party badges
Wol Euler: okay, I meant non-police, non-state people
Qt Core: strangely my electoral certificate was in its place, in past two or three elections i found it averywhere but not there ;-)
Wol Euler: heheh
Qt Core: i sadly found i was one of the youngest person voting, but maybe 9:30am is too early for yougsters
Wol Euler: it would be interesting, perhaps worrying, to see a breakdown by age group ...

--BELL--

Qt Core: as they register specifically that one vote it should be available, even if they usually only speak about geographical areas
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: perhaps there should be a tax penalty for not voting ...
Qt Core: in some state there are penalties for not voting, on several level
Wol Euler: I approve of that :)
Qt Core: i just think that losing the right to whine about what politicians do is enough (as i think that you lose whining right if you don't vote)
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: if there were a way to enforce that ...
Wol Euler: "show me your voting card or shut the fuck up"
Qt Core: even if it don't really work as you can just not make a sign in the ballot or make two and invalidate it
Wol Euler: yes, that's true ... or vote for the first three parties starting at the top left
Wol Euler: I guess what we want is a way to make people behave sensibly in the common interest.
Wol Euler: well, good luck with that :)
Qt Core: when there was the first election in italian republic, in 1948 my mother grandmother came home all proud saying that as she didn't want the big bad communist to win she cancelled all of them, putting an X on every logo with the hammer and sickle...
Wol Euler: ha!
Qt Core: that was the second time wome voted, the first time a little earlier to chose between monarchy and republic
Qt Core: +n

--BELL--

Qt Core: even before that in milan dialect saying that something was a republic meant saying it was a mess...
Wol Euler smiles.
Qt Core: i'm a little worried that the next eu parliament will be divided almost equally between right, left and anti-eu and will be unable to make anything as everything will be voted 1/3 for 2/3 against
Wol Euler nods.

Wol Euler: I'm worried at the apparent strength of hte lunatic right-wing
Qt Core: it seem that they didn't so whell in Netherlands
Qt Core: but may become the first party in France
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: "because fascism worked so well the first time around." Really? What on earth are they thinking?

Qt Core: as we say here in italy "at least with Mussolini trains were on time"...
Wol Euler: as though that were all that mattered!
Wol Euler: what fascism really offers is an excuse for why things are going wrong, which makes it all "not our fault".
Qt Core: order and normalcy, what else matter ? ;-)
Wol Euler: only trivial stuff like rights and freedom and privacy and not being arrested by secret police for violating secret laws.
Wol Euler: but who cares about that, right?

--BELL--

Wol Euler: anyway, it's anohter working day and I have to start getting ready
Wol Euler: enjoy the day, qt!
Qt Core: sometimes i wonder if i'm to naive thinking we could get to a real EU state if not even a world one without something traumatic like a ww3
Qt Core: have fun Wol
Wol Euler: we'll have to continue this convrsation
Wol Euler smiles.
Qt Core: :)
Qt Core: sure
Qt Core: bye then
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: bye for now, qt