Thread: Your preferred voting method from AFG or BFPO location?

Hobo_Ken,

Are you playing Devils Advocate or The Cnut here? Just want to be sure.

Is it too much to ask for a system to be put in place to provide the vote, for the THOUSANDS of people put out by their (or their spouses/parents)service to this nation?

Not just 9,000 in Afghan, but those in the Falklands, Sierra Leonne, Belize, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, America, Austrailia, Qatar, Kosovo, Bosnia or on board Her Majesties Ships and Auxileries. Not to mention a whole raft of spouses, and UKBC.

I am chuffed to NAAFI breaks that you've got your sh1t in a sock, and a myriad of cronies who you can trust to vote for you.... others aren't so lucky. Perhaps a fast ball tour, or an extension to a tour. Perhaps their ship runs on to a rock near Aus....

Like I say, to much to ask? Or shall we just prey the postal system works or we have freinds to vote for us?

Bearing in mind it has taken over a month for a letter (correctly addressed) to reach me in Germany....

Voting has started in Iraq today. In that third world country with no recent history of democratic elections they have put in place a mechanism to allow all their armed forces a chance to vote early. This allows the AF to be deployed on the election day to provide security.

What a sorry indictment of the UK Government, that they cannot put in place a system that allows its servicemen a way of voting.

Maybe the Iraqis could pop over and give us Brits a bit of 'regime change'

I agree it says a lot about just how much the political classes are interested in democracy.

The Government does now recognise that proxy voting is not a realistic option for everyone.

ARRSE link

As Chocolate Frog pointed out, we have JPA - it's exactly the sort of system for the job, and already established. Failing that, what about Ebluey?

I note from the "Silence in the Ranks" paper the various methods that the Australian Army put into practice during their elections.

Australian Defence Force personnel deployed in the Middle East are casting their votes for this weekend's election in a major administrative and logistic exercise that underlines the importance of the activity.

Commander of Australian Forces in the Middle East, Brigadier Peter Hutchinson, said ensuring all troops were able to vote has been a top priority for him and his staff.

"Voting is a right for all Australians, and not withstanding the complexities of making this happen across a number of countries - including in Iraq itself - we are confident we are doing all that we can to ensure everyone has th opportunity to participate in the election" Brigadier Hutchinson said.
…"You can imagine the complexities involved in getting postal ballots and absentee votes to troops who are located in many different parts of Iraq, particularly given the security environment we operate in and the changing operational circumstances that we deal with."
…"For the sailors on board HMAS Adelaide, for example, an Australian consular official from Dubai will be flown on to the ship and run a polling booth so all of the ship’s company can submit an absentee vote.�


"Meanwhile in Baghdad, some personnel will have their postal ballots delivered by members of our Embassy Security Detachment who will deliver them by armoured vehicle," Brigadier Hutchinson said.

The troops in the Middle East have been able to follow the election campaign through a number of means,
including by access to news media through the internet and regular communications with families at
home.
77 Australian Government Department of Defence media release 07/10/2004.
44
"Obviously most people have been interested in the progress of the election campaign, and work tempo
permitting, many have tried to follow it in some way or another through things like the internet.�
"I have certainly encouraged the troops to take an interest in the campaign, and to take part in the
election process just like any other Australian. The ability to vote is one of the great democratic
rights we enjoy – it is in a way why we are here rebuilding Iraq," Brigadier Hutchinson said.

Why can't we have in places such as Germany or Cyprus, polling booths authorised and run by Electorial Officials.

To me it is no different to the UK , having some offical sat in the local school ( who doesn't ask for ID I might add , unlike the Northern IReland Elections where you must show your ID - But that is another story)

We need longer for postal votes to count aswell. As the Australians managed to get ballot papers delivered to their soldiers in Iraq, a strange idea but potentially, you could have an overseas postal ballot as such. Say the ballot papers were sent out to theatre (in plenty of time I might add) then you could have polling booths on an elected day at main Camps ( say a few days before the offical election day to ensure that the votes got back to the UK in time, or even these results could be relayed by secure means back to the UK)
. MEanwhile those deployed in FOBs etc could have their voting paper delievered to them, they could make their mark and then the papers could be returned to say Camp Bastion for example.

If other countries manage to do this, then why can't we. The system is antequaited and I deserve my right to vote by secret ballot.

For now I will have to make do with a postal ballot registered to an English address. I have also long held the suspicion that the governemt are not keen to grease the wheels when it comes to service voting as they are afraid of the results that would come back.

I voted OTHER - Why don't we have polling booths on UK bases in Cyprus & other places around the world? I'm sure the guys in the Faulklands arn't going to be able to get there balot papers in on time.