UKY: UK Election v Mock Election

I didn't realise that. Sorry.
I assumed it was the same as for other EU citizens.

I think the Irish thing predates the EU connection. I had the idea it goes back to the origins of the Republic.

There's a big Facebook poll as well.
http://www.facebook.com/democracyuk

I voted in my first proper UK election this morning! I wanted to get the full experience so I went in to the polling station instead of doing the postal thing. It was really empty - more staffers than voters, but an old man at the door gave me a big smile when I said it was my first time!

Observations:
1. Said old man was staffing the door, but was covered in Lib Dem badges and a big yellow teeshirt. Made me think how in the states any party affiliation has to be X feet away from the polling place.
2. No one was canvassing in the area outside my polling station, but thhat might be because the current MP's a shoe-in. Even in my boondocks polling station in the States, there would always be at least 5-10 people handing out flyers to everyone going in to vote.
3. I'm used to the machine-readable weird voting ballot papers with flipbooks and hole punchers (in PA, anyway). I thought it was quite sweet that you just get two bits of paper and write big Xs in pencil!
4. The voting booths/stands were very similar to the ones I'd used in the states

When I got into the office, the guys were talking about voting in their countries, so I learned that in Switzerland, they all write out "oui" or "non" on their ballots and people have to go back and decipher their handwriting later! And in Oz, voting is mandatory so everyone gets the day off work and voting turns into a big ol bbq at the school. And you get paid $200 to help herd people at the polling place so loads of students get beer money by helping people vote... AND the bbq! Sounds brill. Let's take Australia's voting system instead of their immigration system.

I voted in my first proper UK election this morning! I wanted to get the full experience so I went in to the polling station instead of doing the postal thing. It was really empty - more staffers than voters, but an old man at the door gave me a big smile when I said it was my first time!

I just voted at the polling station this morning (it was my third election though). Our polling station is in the local Scout Hut round the corner from my house and the process is always very low key and simple. I got there and an older man and woman were standing outside the hut, ticking off voter numbers, then I went in to see a table with 3 people sitting at it, ticking off names and handing out voting slips. There were 5 small voting cubbies off to the side and three boxes for votes on the table. There were only 2 other people voting when I went in... I just marked the ballot, put it in the box and walked out . The whole thing, from leaving my house, walking to the polling station, voting and walking back home took less than 10 minutes .

Has anyone done the votematch type site and been surprised by the result? I was, hugely.

I was. The result came up conservative but did say that it was very close to lib dem. That's a first for me! 

Can anyone vote by post, or do you have to have a disability, be away home, etc?

I know someone who is voting by postal vote, and it seems from the way  he spoke that he just couldn't be bothered to walk to the polling station. But he suffers from a disability (mental  illness) so I don't know if he that gives him special permission to vote by post.

I also like the requirement that coverage of each party is balanced, at least in theory.  I'm not sure how well it works out in practice, because I don't watch enough TV to get a good idea of how much bias there is in reality.  But it seems to be a good idea to strive for on the face of it.

Well if you are a Scot in England, you might argue there is HUGE biased towards the SNPs, at least the bf does :-)  And to be honest, I am starting to take a notice in the language they use a times. 

It took me ages to figure out who exactly I would vote for if I were eligible.   It was very difficult getting my head around these things.  I don't even get the US system half the time, let alone a brand new one! 

No party was a perfect candidate for me. I was on the border for two. What were people's top issues to consider? For me it was immigration, education, the environment, and the economy.  I think if I wasn't thinking about immigration, my ultimate "vote" (that is my UKY vote, lol  )  would have ended up somewhere else. 

Can anyone vote by post, or do you have to have a disability, be away home, etc?

I know someone who is voting by postal vote, and it seems from the way  he spoke that he just couldn't be bothered to walk to the polling station. But he suffers from a disability (mental  illness) so I don't know if he that gives him special permission to vote by post.

It used to be the case, I think, that you needed a specific reason for a postal vote but not any more, in trying to get more people voting then anyone eligible to vote can have a postal vote.
I registered this time for a postal vote because I wasn't sure if we may be on holiday or not, as it happens we aren't - and I much prefer going to the polling station to make my vote - feels more like I'm part of the democratic process, particularly as for the last week I've been watching election coverage knowing it's pretty irrelevent now to me what anyone says!

As an aside, and correct me if I'm wrong, but in the US I heard that the postal votes are only counted if the number of postal votes exceeds the majority result of the present votes casts, whereas in the UK they are counted together.
i.e. In the US If the votes show a 5,000 majority and there are only 4,000 postal votes then they don't bother counting the postal votes.

My DH went in last week to find out about voting since he would be on the rig today and obviously couldn't go in to vote and they told him to bad so sad.  He was suppose to go in last month or something but he had no idea so he doesnt get to vote.

He may not get to vote but he sure has a lot to say ;-P haha

DH reported last night that he hadn't received a polling card, although he'd filled in the paperwork last October. (probably delivered to the wrong house) We'll see if he gets to vote.

Not long left... I'm finding it terribly interesting that our results are not the same as the national poll results shown on the BBC site.

I can't see our results on this?  Or will all be revealed later?

Or maybe I shouldn't have voted here (UK Yankee), because I can vote here (UK)?

I can't see our results on this?  Or will all be revealed later?

I was just going to post this Mrs. R.  Once again, you beat me to the post! 

I was just going to post this Mrs. R.  Once again, you beat me to the post!  

Ha!  Fastest fingers in Yorkshire.  A colleague at work today was just (yet again) admiring my speedy touch typing abilities.