• Re: electoral contortions, Could a "Mitch McConnell" happen in the UK ?

    From Jethro@jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com to uk.legal.moderated on Sun Aug 2 09:45:04 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:19 +0100, JNugent wrote:

    On 02/08/2026 03:24 AM, John Levine wrote:

    According to Adam Funk <a24061a@ducksburg.com>:

    Arguably in the 2000 presidential election Ralph Nader's Green Party
    candidacy cost Al Gore the election, on ths theory that Nader's 2.8
    million votes would otherwise have gone to Gore.

    STV (or a similar system) would have fixed that.

    Agreed. I used to live in Cambridge, Mass., which uses STV for its city
    council and school committee. For all the moaning and groaning about
    how hard it is to understand, it worked fine and allowed groups of
    candidates to collect support from all over the city without dividing
    it into districts.

    WHen I lived there, you wrote down numbers from 1 to whatever on a
    paper ballot,
    which were then counted by hand which took a week. Since then some
    clever guy from MIT arranged to count them by computer so they know the
    result the same night.

    I live in New York which allows fusion voting, where a candidate can
    be nominated by several parties and the votes are combined. Along
    with the Dems and Reps we have the Working Families party which pulls
    the Dems to the left by threatening not to cross-endorse the
    candidates, and the Conservative party that does the same to the
    Reps.

    How does that work on the ballot? Are there two entries for the same
    person with different party names? Or one entry with both parties
    attached?

    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party
    you voted for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with
    enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic ballot
    access next time.
    Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election:

    https://lfweb.tompkins-co.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx? id=4092526&dbid=12&repo=TompkinsCounty

    QUOTE:
    This site canrCOt be reached lfweb.tompkins-co.org took too long to
    respond.
    Try:

    Checking the connection Checking the proxy and the firewall Running
    Windows Network Diagnostics ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT

    It might think you are a bot ...

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jon Ribbens@jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu to uk.legal.moderated on Sun Aug 2 12:52:35 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On 2026-08-02, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:19 +0100, JNugent wrote:
    On 02/08/2026 03:24 AM, John Levine wrote:
    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party
    you voted for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with
    enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic ballot
    access next time.
    Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election:

    https://lfweb.tompkins-co.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?
    id=4092526&dbid=12&repo=TompkinsCounty

    QUOTE:
    This site canrCOt be reached lfweb.tompkins-co.org took too long to
    respond.
    Try:

    Checking the connection Checking the proxy and the firewall Running
    Windows Network Diagnostics ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT

    It might think you are a bot ...

    It looks to me like that website is blocking all connections from
    non-USA IP addresses.

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jethro@jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com to uk.legal.moderated on Sun Aug 2 16:05:26 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 12:52:35 +0000, Jon Ribbens wrote:

    On 2026-08-02, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:19 +0100, JNugent wrote:
    On 02/08/2026 03:24 AM, John Levine wrote:
    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party
    you voted for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with
    enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic
    ballot access next time.
    Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election:

    https://lfweb.tompkins-co.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?
    id=4092526&dbid=12&repo=TompkinsCounty

    QUOTE:
    This site canrCOt be reached lfweb.tompkins-co.org took too long to
    respond.
    Try:

    Checking the connection Checking the proxy and the firewall Running
    Windows Network Diagnostics ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT

    It might think you are a bot ...

    It looks to me like that website is blocking all connections from
    non-USA IP addresses.

    Ah, well I wouldn't see that.

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Adam Funk@a24061a@ducksburg.com to uk.legal.moderated on Sun Aug 2 18:32:40 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On 2026-08-02, John Levine wrote:

    According to Adam Funk <a24061a@ducksburg.com>:
    Arguably in the 2000 presidential election Ralph Nader's Green Party
    candidacy cost Al Gore the election, on ths theory that Nader's 2.8
    million votes would otherwise have gone to Gore.

    STV (or a similar system) would have fixed that.

    Agreed. I used to live in Cambridge, Mass., which uses STV for its city council
    and school committee. For all the moaning and groaning about how hard it is to
    understand, it worked fine and allowed groups of candidates to collect support
    from all over the city without dividing it into districts.

    The detailed explanation of how the ballots are allocated is
    complicated, but...


    WHen I lived there, you wrote down numbers from 1 to whatever on a paper ballot,
    which were then counted by hand which took a week. Since then some clever guy from MIT arranged to count them by computer so they know the result the same night.

    ..."mark your first choice '1', second choice '2', etc., until it
    doesn't matter" is simple.


    I live in New York which allows fusion voting, where a candidate can
    be nominated by several parties and the votes are combined. Along with
    the Dems and Reps we have the Working Families party which pulls the
    Dems to the left by threatening not to cross-endorse the candidates,
    and the Conservative party that does the same to the Reps.

    How does that work on the ballot? Are there two entries for the same
    person with different party names? Or one entry with both parties
    attached?

    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party you voted
    for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic ballot access next time. Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election:

    https://lfweb.tompkins-co.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=4092526&dbid=12&repo=TompkinsCounty

    Interesting, thanks. (As Jon pointed out, the website works from a US
    IP address but not a UK one.)

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Adam Funk@a24061a@ducksburg.com to uk.legal.moderated on Sun Aug 2 18:33:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On 2026-08-02, Jon Ribbens wrote:

    On 2026-08-02, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:19 +0100, JNugent wrote:
    On 02/08/2026 03:24 AM, John Levine wrote:
    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party
    you voted for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with
    enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic ballot >>>> access next time.
    Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election:

    https://lfweb.tompkins-co.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?
    id=4092526&dbid=12&repo=TompkinsCounty

    QUOTE:
    This site canrCOt be reached lfweb.tompkins-co.org took too long to
    respond.
    Try:

    Checking the connection Checking the proxy and the firewall Running
    Windows Network Diagnostics ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT

    It might think you are a bot ...

    It looks to me like that website is blocking all connections from
    non-USA IP addresses.

    I think so: I got a timeout without a VPN but it worked through Texas.

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Levine@johnl@taugh.com to uk.legal.moderated on Sun Aug 2 17:51:49 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    According to Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu>:
    On 2026-08-02, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:19 +0100, JNugent wrote:
    On 02/08/2026 03:24 AM, John Levine wrote:
    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party
    you voted for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with
    enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic ballot >>>> access next time.
    Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election: ...
    It looks to me like that website is blocking all connections from
    non-USA IP addresses.

    That's annoying although typical as there is a myth in the US that if
    we let Europeans visit our web sites the GDPR will kill us all.

    This should work:

    https://www.taugh.com/Ulysses_Sample.pdf
    --
    Regards,
    John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
    Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jon Ribbens@jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu to uk.legal.moderated on Sun Aug 2 17:57:51 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On 2026-08-02, John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> wrote:
    According to Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu>:
    On 2026-08-02, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:19 +0100, JNugent wrote:
    On 02/08/2026 03:24 AM, John Levine wrote:
    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party >>>>> you voted for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with >>>>> enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic ballot >>>>> access next time.
    Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election: ...
    It looks to me like that website is blocking all connections from
    non-USA IP addresses.

    That's annoying although typical as there is a myth in the US that if
    we let Europeans visit our web sites the GDPR will kill us all.

    This should work:

    https://www.taugh.com/Ulysses_Sample.pdf

    That seems weird and unfair. Why don't candidates join like 50 groups
    so they appear 50 times on the ballot?

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Levine@johnl@taugh.com to uk.legal.moderated on Sun Aug 2 20:02:29 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    According to Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu>:
    On 2026-08-02, John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> wrote:
    According to Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu>:
    On 2026-08-02, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:19 +0100, JNugent wrote:
    On 02/08/2026 03:24 AM, John Levine wrote:
    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party >>>>>> you voted for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with >>>>>> enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic ballot >>>>>> access next time.
    Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election: ...
    It looks to me like that website is blocking all connections from
    non-USA IP addresses.

    That's annoying although typical as there is a myth in the US that if
    we let Europeans visit our web sites the GDPR will kill us all.

    This should work:

    https://www.taugh.com/Ulysses_Sample.pdf

    That seems weird and unfair. Why don't candidates join like 50 groups
    so they appear 50 times on the ballot?

    If a party isn't qualified from a previous election, they have to
    submit a petition with 15,000 signatures for statewide or national
    office which is expensive. I'm surprised that the Larouche party,
    followers of deceased crank Lyndon Larouche, managed to do it.

    In practice I don't think appearing on multiple lines helps a candidate
    much beyond a small boost for people like me who are sympathetic to one
    of the well-known minor parties.
    --
    Regards,
    John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
    Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Adam Funk@a24061a@ducksburg.com to uk.legal.moderated on Thu Aug 6 15:01:01 2026
    From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

    On 2026-08-02, John Levine wrote:

    According to Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu>:
    On 2026-08-02, John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> wrote:
    According to Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu>:
    On 2026-08-02, Jethro <jethro_UK@hotmailbin.com> wrote:
    On Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:19 +0100, JNugent wrote:
    On 02/08/2026 03:24 AM, John Levine wrote:
    The same name appears on multiple lines so they can tell which party >>>>>>> you voted for. It doesn't matter for the candidate, but parties with >>>>>>> enough votes statewide are "qualified" which gets them automatic ballot >>>>>>> access next time.
    Here's the ballot I used in the 2024 general election: ...
    It looks to me like that website is blocking all connections from >>>>non-USA IP addresses.

    That's annoying although typical as there is a myth in the US that if
    we let Europeans visit our web sites the GDPR will kill us all.

    This should work:

    https://www.taugh.com/Ulysses_Sample.pdf

    That seems weird and unfair. Why don't candidates join like 50 groups
    so they appear 50 times on the ballot?

    If a party isn't qualified from a previous election, they have to
    submit a petition with 15,000 signatures for statewide or national
    office which is expensive. I'm surprised that the Larouche party,
    followers of deceased crank Lyndon Larouche, managed to do it.

    I'm surprised they are still around. I had a look and they have a very
    weird set of policies, including changing A4 from 440 to 432 Hz
    (IANMTU). Restoring the separation between commercial and investment
    banking might be a good idea, but I think that's the only thing I've
    seen on their list that isn't crazy.


    In practice I don't think appearing on multiple lines helps a candidate
    much beyond a small boost for people like me who are sympathetic to one
    of the well-known minor parties.

    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2