Elections, Elections, Elections

[Stuart Galbraith]

On 9/19/2021 at 6:03 PM, DB said:

One could search and replace "Russia" with some other former superpower here, along with the name of the party and president and it would all look weirdly familiar.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58614227

Except in Russia's case, it was, and presumably still is, possible to get 120 percent of the regional vote in some areas....

[Ssnake]

Just 120%?

I'm disappointed, the enthusiams is slipping.

[Stuart Galbraith]

It used to be 200 percent, but they closed the Felix Dzerzhinsky lunatic asylum, so what can you do?

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 26.09.2021

Iceland's ruling coalition to hold majority, early results show

Iceland's government is expected to gain more seats in the parliamentary elections, according to provisional results. But whether Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir's party will still lead the coalition is in doubt.

Iceland's ruling coalition was poised to retain its majority in Saturday's elections even as Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir's party suffered losses, partial results showed.

It remains to be seen whether the three-party coalition that governed the island nation for the past four years will stick together.

After more than a third of votes were counted, Jakobsdottir's Left-Green Movement, the agrarian center-right Progressive Party, and the conservative Independence Party held 41 of the 63 seats in parliament.

These results, if confirmed, would give the left-right coalition eight more seats than what it won in 2017.

Four years of stability

Jakobsdottir led the first government that completed a full term after a decade of crises.

The island nation held elections five times between 2007 and 2017 due to a series of scandals and deepening mistrust of politicians.

While the prime minister herself remains popular, her party has been losing support.

So far, eight parties look set to enter Iceland's 1,100-year-old parliament, the Althing, giving the parties numerous other coalition options.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/icelands-ruling-coalition-to-hold-majority-early-results-show/a-59312593

[Ssnake]

I traveled all of the interweb for Banshee's live ticker covering the Grosstag's election. And all I got is a message about Iceland.

[BansheeOne]

You know what happens when you start election tickers too early ... 

Quote

Fact check: German TV channel's election rehearsal goes awry — and is used as bait

By Stephanie Burnett, Uta Steinwehr | DW FACT CHECK | 19h ago

TV viewers in Germany watching a popular quiz show were left flummoxed when a news ticker appeared to show the projected results of the German election two days before polls opened. Far-right leaders seized the moment.

German public broadcaster Das Erste has apologized for "accidentally" airing the "fictitious" projected election results — but the gaffe has since been used to fuel baseless claims of election rigging.

What happened?

During Friday's broadcast of the quiz program "Gefragt — Gejagt" (Asked — Chased), a news ticker appeared describing the projected election results. Video clips have since circulated on social media that show the ticker, also known as a crawler, appearing for 7 seconds before disappearing from view.

The erroneous ticker listed the center-left Social Democrats as pipping Angela Merkel's conservative party CDU with 22.7% and 22.1% respectively, while the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with 10.5% trailed the political powerhouses  — as well as the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (13.2%). The crawler disappeared before figures for other parties were displayed.

Facebook and Twitter users, including lawmakers and supporters of AfD and apparent bots, had been quick to jump on the baseless suggestion that the incident revealed the broadcaster's intention to rig an election.  "Why was there a mishap? The puppets were told the election results weeks ago — they just happened to fade in too early!" wrote one user.

[...] 

But Das Erste and ARD — an umbrella organization of Germany's regional public broadcasters that work on TV channels like Das Erste — have insisted it was an error during a technical test gone wrong.

"During today's edition of @GefragtGejagt, a ticker with fictitious projected figures was seen for a few seconds. It was a test that accidentally went on air. We apologize for that," read the Das Erste tweet Friday night.

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/fact-check-ard-afd-false-claims-german-election-news-ticker/a-59309887

People comparing their figures to actual results is gonna provide lots of entertainment still to come. 😁 

Edited September 26, 2021 by BansheeOne

[Ssnake]

I suppose these reactions could just as well be covered in the Culture Wars thread. Just from the right-wingers in this case, using every opportunity to whatever promises to delegitimize the democratic system that stubbornly refuses to see "their" 'truth'.

[BansheeOne]

People have cargo-culted on the popularity of election fraud claims from the US for some time of course, disregarding the fundamental differences of the systems. Not that there aren't errors, glitches and actual attempts at fraud at all; I think somewhere in the German elections thread is a post of mine summarizing three or four cases of postal ballot harvesting at the state level, and I actually share some of the concerns about increased mail-in voting, because despite all safeguards it's inherently less safe.

But compared to the US with 50 different systems, including ID requirements or not, no automatic voter enrollment (and disenrollment) from a general citizen registry, but an unholy mix of voting machines, public ballot collection boxes and above all, partisan-controlled supervision, we come off looking like a congress of notaries. As evidenced by the fact that it makes the national news when one Berlin polling station opens late due to a problem with electronic locks, another has a batch of ballots for the wrong district delivered, and the CDU candidate folds his ballot the wrong way, showing his vote to the world as he casts it. 

Quote

German election: Armin Laschet commits voting gaffe

By Alex Berry | 1h ago

One of the men who could end up being Germany's next chancellor folded his ballot incorrectly, accidentally revealing to the world who he had voted for. Officials have said his vote is still valid.

The chancellor candidate for Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrts (CDU), Armin Laschet, sparked a last-minute controversy on Sunday while casting his ballot for the Bundestag election from his hometown of Aachen in western Germany.

Pictures shared widely on social media showed the conservative candidate incorrectly placing his ballot into the box.  According to German Federal Returning Officer, ballots must be folded in such a way so as to hide what the voter marked.

As can be seen in the photos, however, Laschet had folded his paper the wrong way around, leaving it clear to see that he had, unsurprisingly, voted for the party he is leading.

Laschet's ballot is valid

The way Laschet voted contravened the system of the secret ballot. The local returning officer should have prevented the ballot from being cast.

However, the Federal Returning Officer cleared up the issue after a "well known politician voted, as expected, for his own party." They concluded that they could not see any attempt to influence the election in the mistake.

The account went on to explain that in the case that someone mistakenly folds their ballot the wrong way, then they should be given a new one, but "if the ballot paper is already in the ballot box, it can no longer be picked out and is valid."

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/german-election-armin-laschet-commits-voting-gaffe/a-59314829

[lucklucky]

Local elections in Portugal. We don't have regions except Madeira e Açores islands that are not contested at this time, so the elections are for all city Mayors and below local subdivisions (parish). They have local but also national outlook specially in Lisboa the capital.

 

Surprisingly Lisboa are still uncertain, being closely disputed by the Social Democrat  against the incumbent Socialist mayor.  Edit: Now confirmed the Social Democrats victory over the Socialist Mayor.

Coimbra another surprise with Social Democrat defeating the Socialist mayor

An ex. Prime Minister ex. Social Democrat now independent also defeated another Socialist Mayor in a medium city (62000 hab)

-------

The dismal Social Democrat(PSD) leader will certainly not be expelled about this better than expected result.

The Socialist Government got a warning. Will have to decide if the continue to get support from extreme left.

Modern Marxists the Left Bloc did not advance.

Old Marxists the Communists lost cities to the Socialists.

The sometimes called Christian Democrats(Conservatives) also did not loose, so another dismal leader(less so than the one in PSD)  will probably continue.

The Right continue to reinforce slowly but got no big advance. 

The Libertarians seem to have lost their gas.

Independents( real and apparent)  continue to have good results. An independent was re-elected for the 2nd most important city Porto.---

Edited September 27, 2021 by lucklucky

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Czech election: Opposition wins surprise majority

32m ago

The opposition coalition appears to have secured a slim majority, overtaking Prime Minister Andrej Babis' ANO party. One opposition leader says his Pirates and Mayors grouping aims to start talks on forming a government.

The Czech center-right and liberal opposition groups have won a majority in the lower house, narrowly defeating Prime Minister Andrej Babis' centrist ANO party in Saturday's parliamentary election.

Together, a liberal-conservative three-party coalition won 27.7% of the vote, while Pirates and Mayors, another opposition group, got 15.5%.

The two alliances have won a combined 108 seats in the 200-member lower house, according to the Czech Statistics Office.

The Pirates and Mayors coalition leader Ivan Bartos said they will begin talks of forming the next government.

The ruling ANO party, led by populist billionaire Babis finished in second place winning 27.2%.

"Ano" means yes in the Czech language. Babis, a Euroskeptic, was hoping to secure a second term in office despite a turbulent first term with many scandals.

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/czech-election-opposition-wins-surprise-majority/a-59457738

Meanwhile next door in Austria, probably no new elections, but an upset nontheless. 

Quote

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announces resignation

31m ago

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said he plans to step down, with the country's foreign minister to take his place.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Saturday announced that he would step down amid allegations of financial impropriety against his office.

Kurz said he would move to parliament as leader of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). Foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg will replace him as chancellor, he said.

"My country is more important to me than myself," Kurz said in a televised statement.

"What we need now are stable conditions,'' he told reporters in Vienna. "So, in order to resolve the stalemate, I want to make way to prevent chaos and ensure stability."

What are the allegations against him?

Earlier this week, Austrian prosecutors said the chancellor and nine other individuals were being probed for bribery after investigators carried out raids on the offices of his ruling party.

Though the ÖVP backed him against the allegations, the junior coalition partner, the Greens, demanded his resignation on Friday, arguing that he could no longer remain as chancellor.

They called his party to nominate an "irreproachable person" to replace him.

Kurz and his associates are accused of using public funds from the Finance Ministry to "finance partially manipulated opinion polls that served an exclusively party political interest" between 2016 and 2018.

In 2017, Kurz took over the leadership of the right-wing ÖVP and subsequently became chancellor as the head of a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ).

He and nine other people, as well as three organizations, are under investigation over the alleged offenses, prosecutors said.

Announcing his resignation on Saturday, Kurz insisted again that the accusations against him "are false and I will be able to clear this up… I am deeply convinced of that."

https://m.dw.com/en/austrian-chancellor-sebastian-kurz-announces-resignation/a-59458714

[TonyE]

18 hours ago, BansheeOne said:

Meanwhile next door in Austria, probably no new elections, but an upset nontheless.

😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪

[BansheeOne]

Well, some are saying he will be back. In a strong Austrian accent. 

Over in Prague, seems that President Milos Zeman had to be admitted to intensive care after a talk with defeated Prime Minister Babis. 

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Iraq: Sadrists lead in parliamentary election

By Gasia Ohanes | 11.10.2021

Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's party has won the most seats, according to initial results. The elections experienced low turnout, particularly among youth.

Populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's party took the most seats following parliamentary elections in Iraq, according to initial results and remarks from government officials on Monday.

A Sadrist official told AFP news agency that the party has won 73 seats out of 329 in total. 

Elections marred by low turnout

Few Iraqis headed to the polls on Sunday, as the country held its first parliamentary elections since a mass youth-led protest movement took the nation by storm in 2019.

The elections, which took place amid a widespread election boycott by anti-government activists, didn't generate much enthusiasm among Iraq's young population.

Only 41% of eligible voters cast their ballots, Iraq's electoral commission said Sunday night. The lowest turnout, somewhere between 31% and 34%, was in Baghdad, Iraq's capital.

The full election results will be released within the next 24 hours.

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/iraq-sadrists-lead-in-parliamentary-election/a-59463066

[BansheeOne]

On 10/10/2021 at 6:44 PM, BansheeOne said:

Over in Prague, seems that President Milos Zeman had to be admitted to intensive care after a talk with defeated Prime Minister Babis. 

Quote

Czech President Zeman unable to perform duties: official

2h ago

The speaker of the Czech Senate has said there is little chance that Milos Zeman will return to the office in the coming weeks. The president was expected to choose the next government.

Czech President Milos Zeman is currently unable to carry out his official duties due to his health, the speaker of the Czech Senate said on Monday. 

Zeman, who is 77 years old, has been in Prague's military hospital since October 10, and little about his health status has been revealed by authorities. 

Speaker Milos Vystrcil said Zeman's prognosis is "very uncertain" and it's very unlikely that he will be able to return to work in the coming weeks. 

The Czech leader's hospitalization could spark a political crisis, as the European country recently held legislative elections. It's up to the Czech president to ultimately appoint the next prime minister.   

Zeman's office has declined to provide details on the president's condition or diagnosis.

What happens if Zeman remains incapacitated?

If the Czech president isn't able to perform his duties due to his illness or other reasons, his presidential powers are assumed by the current prime minister and the speakers of both houses of parliament.

The new speaker of the lower house would be the one with the power to select the country's next government and prime minister.

The new parliament is expected to meet on November 8 to elect the speaker and other officials.

https://m.dw.com/en/czech-president-zeman-unable-to-perform-duties-official/a-59541495

[Angrybk]

Austria stuff is crazy for USAians who basically think it’s just like Germany but more hills and flowers or whatever https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/17/world/europe/austria-sebastian-kurz-scandal-chancellor.html

[Ssnake]

LOL.

Quote

the cozy, sometimes corrupt, relationship between right-wing populists and parts of the news media.

From what I've understood so far is that Kurz continued exactly the same corrupt practices that his predecessors in the office invented. Cozy and corrupt it probably is, but it's only happenstance that the party in power is conservative-populist rather than liberal-populist. The issue is the extraordinarily strong influence of the Austrian state on the economy that enables (any) government to buy favorable headlines. The main difference is, Kurz got caught, Feynmann was not.

[Ssnake]

1 hour ago, Angrybk said:

Austria stuff is crazy for USAians who basically think it’s just like Germany but more hills

Well, one saying there is that the left bank of the Danube marks where the Balkans begins.

[lucklucky]

In Portugal  Socialist minority Government until now supported by Extreme Left  got the budget rejected.

The Extreme Left(Communists and Left Bloc(modern Marxists)) got a big hit in local elections and this is the consequence, they were being eaten by the alliance with Socialists. 

Parliament most certainly will be dissolved by the President and we are going to elections.

[lucklucky]

A "bloodbath" for Democrats in Virginia race.

Youngkin Elected as State Governor changing from Democrats

Republicans also won several other positions in the state.

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by lucklucky

[BansheeOne]

So Winsome won some? 😁 

[R011]

6 hours ago, lucklucky said:

A "bloodbath" for Democrats in Virginia race.

Youngkin Elected as State Governor changing from Democrats

Republicans also won several other positions in the state.

 

Bloodbath may be overstating.  The margins were close, something like 52% to 48% and the Republicans only got a single seat majority in the lower house of the Legislature.  Still, an interesting change.

[rmgill]

On 10/18/2021 at 5:47 PM, Ssnake said:

Well, one saying there is that the left bank of the Danube marks where the Balkans begins.

So anything south of Regensburg? 🤔

[DKTanker]

2 minutes ago, R011 said:

Bloodbath may be overstating.  The margins were close, something like 52% to 48% and the Republicans only got a single seat majority in the lower house of the Legislature.  Still, an interesting change.

A state that went for Biden by 10 points just a year ago.  A state that hasn't seen a statewide election go to a Republican in over ten years.  A campaign in which the evils of white supremacy was the feature issue for the McAuliffe campaign.  The McAuliffe campaign also had the current POTUS and FLOTUS as well as Obama making stops and rallies during the past week.  In contrast Youngkin campaigned with no A listers.  

[sunday]

They will find more "lost" votes next time.

[BansheeOne]

57 minutes ago, DKTanker said:

In contrast Youngkin campaigned with no A listers.  

I've seen some reports suggest that this may have contributed to his win, as association with the (post) Trump GOP would have done more harm than good in purple Virginia. I think what worked for him was mostly things working against the Democrats (or arguably, the latter working against themselves), both at the national level with the less-than-stellar start of the Biden admin, and the local fight over the school curriculum issue where the case of the father whose daughter got assaulted by an allegedly gender-fluid schoolmate served to make people up to and including the "Washington Post" come down for parents having a say; even though, and maybe because, it was actually just thinly connected to the greater ideological conflict about Critical Race Theory, preferred pronouns and such.