This is a non-partisan public service announcement.

Any residents of Greater London who, for whatever reason, are not yet
registered to vote and wish to do so in the forthcoming elections for
the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly on 1st May "must
register by midnight 16th April 2008"...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/..._feature.shtml

In practice I'd think this means that anyone wishing to do a last
minute registration needs to visit the office of their borough's
Electoral Registration Officer tomorrow *in person* during their
office opening hours.

Note that as well as British & Commonwealth citizens, as this is a
local election it is also open to citizens of EU member states who
live in Greater London.

More info at the 'London Elects' website he
http://www.londonelects.org.uk/registering_to_vote.aspx


This thread will now descend into partisan bickering... (and I ain't
going to get involved!).

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008, Mizter T wrote:

This thread will now descend into partisan bickering...

GO BRIAN, GO BRIAN, GO BRIAN, GO BRIAN GO!

(and I ain't going to get involved!).

Awww.

tom

--
There is no latest trend.

"Mizter T" wrote in message
...

Any residents of Greater London who, for whatever reason, are not yet
registered to vote and wish to do so in the forthcoming elections for
the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly on 1st May "must
register by midnight 16th April 2008"...

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...yor/article.do

An important read, this - seems it's pointless voting for anyone other
than Ken or Boris!

Ian

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008, Ian F. wrote:

"Mizter T" wrote in message
...

Any residents of Greater London who, for whatever reason, are not yet
registered to vote and wish to do so in the forthcoming elections for
the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly on 1st May "must
register by midnight 16th April 2008"...

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...yor/article.do

An important read, this - seems it's pointless voting for anyone other
than Ken or Boris!

Well, not quite. But it's pointless using your *second* vote for anyone
other than Ken or Boris, or using it at all if your first vote is for Ken
or Boris - assuming that it's Ken and Boris who make it through to the
second round, that is.

To me, this seems elementary. I'm surprised to read comments that a lot of
people don't understand the system; perhaps it hasn't been publicised well
enough.

tom

--
There is no latest trend.

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...

Well, not quite. But it's pointless using your *second* vote for anyone
other than Ken or Boris, or using it at all if your first vote is for
Ken or Boris

Got it.

To me, this seems elementary. I'm surprised to read comments that a lot
of people don't understand the system;

Well, I had no idea that that was the position - and I'm *really*,
*really* clever. ;-)

But now I know...well then, it's just the one vote for me.

Ian

On Apr 15, 7:42 pm, "Ian F." wrote:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...-details/Don%2...

An important read, this - seems it's pointless voting for anyone other
than Ken or Boris!

Terrible piece from Gilligan (quelle surprise). He implies that it
won't make a blind bit of difference whether Ken-or-Boris wins on
first-preference votes or second preference votes.

This is rubbish. If the first-round outcome were 33 Ken / 33 Boris /
32 Brian / 2 nutters, and the second-run outcome were 51 Boris / 40
Ken / 9 nobody, then this would make a massive difference to the three
parties' positions, strategies, and behaviour over the next few years
- both in London and nationwide - compared to a first-round outcome of
51 Boris / 40 Ken / 7 Brian (with no second preferences cast) / 2
nutters. But the final outcome would be the same.

So vote for whichever party you most support as first preference,
because *that will determine how important they are perceived as being
in London*. Just remember that if you don't have one of Ken or Boris
*somewhere* down on your paper, it's unlikely to make much of a
difference to the final result.

[I assume the reason for Gilligan's hatchet-job is primarily that he's
worried people will vote for left-wing parties first and Ken second to
punish Labour while keeping Boris out. In fact, this is still a Very
Sensible Thing To Do if you're left-wing and dislike current Labour
policies, but don't want a right-wing buffoon in power...]

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:48:40 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008, Ian F. wrote:

"Mizter T" wrote in message
...

Any residents of Greater London who, for whatever reason, are not yet
registered to vote and wish to do so in the forthcoming elections for
the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly on 1st May "must
register by midnight 16th April 2008"...

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...yor/article.do

An important read, this - seems it's pointless voting for anyone other
than Ken or Boris!

Well, not quite. But it's pointless using your *second* vote for anyone
other than Ken or Boris, or using it at all if your first vote is for Ken
or Boris - assuming that it's Ken and Boris who make it through to the
second round, that is.

But if it isn't, it will be Paddick and (Ken or Boris); therefore if
your first vote is for Ken or Boris and you care between the other and
Paddick (either way), you should still cast your second vote.

"James Farrar" wrote in message
...

But if it isn't,

But it will be.

Ian

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:57:21 +0100, "Ian F."
wrote:

"James Farrar" wrote in message
.. .

But if it isn't,

But it will be.

Almost certainly.

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008, James Farrar wrote:

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:48:40 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008, Ian F. wrote:

"Mizter T" wrote in message
...

Any residents of Greater London who, for whatever reason, are not yet
registered to vote and wish to do so in the forthcoming elections for
the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly on 1st May "must
register by midnight 16th April 2008"...

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...yor/article.do

An important read, this - seems it's pointless voting for anyone other
than Ken or Boris!

Well, not quite. But it's pointless using your *second* vote for anyone
other than Ken or Boris, or using it at all if your first vote is for Ken
or Boris - assuming that it's Ken and Boris who make it through to the
second round, that is.

But if it isn't, it will be Paddick and (Ken or Boris); therefore if
your first vote is for Ken or Boris and you care between the other and
Paddick (either way), you should still cast your second vote.

That's quite a good point, actually. I'd say the chances of Brian getting
through are slim, but if you have voted for Ken or Boris in first place,
you might as well use your second to choose between Brian and whoever beat
your first choice.

We should just have a complete ordered ballot and do Instant Runoff Voting
[1], really. That's actually much easier to understand from a voter's
point of view.

tom

[1] And in case any other electoral system loonies are reading this, yes,
i know IRV is flawed and that Schulze's method is better, but you'll never
get people to accept a system that only the high priests understand.

--
william gibson said that the future has already happened, it just isn't
evenly distributed. he was talking specifically about finsbury park. --
andy