This election thingy

harpistic

I voted around 10.30am, great to see a queue there even at that time!

grenners

Woman outside polling station working for Labour taking down names and addresses of those who voted so that they will not bother those people later this evening when they go house to house rounding up voters. I don't think that sort of thing should be allowed. I didn't help her. They are clearly a lot more organised than the other parties.

Arkady

You'd prefer they bothered people unnecessarily? It's called 'telling', it's a long established practice and it's a healthy way of achieving turn-out. It's disturbing that there wasn't anyone from any of the other parties, usually you'd expect the Lib Dems to be there at least, and often the Greens too.

grenners

I think in some communities it can become voter intimidation. If you don't want to vote why do you want someone you know knocking on your door and bullying you to do so. Anyway only Labour were there 8 am this morning.

Arkady

Maybe it can Grenners, but I'm pretty sure Stroud Green isn't one of those communities.

checkski

YAY!!

grenners

I'm quite sure you are right but I think any campaigning on election day should be illegal. Anyway it's over for now......its a hung parliament so we might be back at the polls sooner than our PM had planned.

Papa

I liked the fact that the only teller outside the polling station was for Labour.
Gloriously, pointless but a wonderful mark of commitment and local grassroots democracy in action
After all, it's hardly as if Corbyn was going to lose his seat and they needed to go door knocking for late support and wheel the old folk out to vote.

krappyrubsnif

I think you may be talking about my wife Grenners. I know she can be intimidating so I have deployed her as a secret weapon for Corby.

Come off it, telling is an age old practice and so long as they stay within the rules, there's nothing undemocratic or intimidating about it. Common sense. Get real.

grenners

Well she was certainly not intimidating, i could not imagine a less intimidating encounter. I just feel people should be left alone on voting day. Its the principle im making a point about not the person involved. In a lot of countries this is illegal.

Arkady

But you haven't explained why you have the principle, and 'I just think' is usually considered to be am insufficient reason.

I wouldn't want to live in a country where election observers and grassroots methods of getting out the vote were illegal. It would be an abdication of proper scrutiny. Such countries are often not really democracies at all. I've done both telling and election-day doorknocking in the past and it seemed to be warmly received - many people had simply forgotten that the election was on that day, or thought that the polling station had already closed, or just ending up voting when they hadn't intended to bother. It's not like you can actually make them vote, let alone vote a particular way.

Ali

Well both of the local seats now have massive majorities. 30,000 in Hornsey

I guess Supreme Leader will need to be dragged out of No 10 eventual, dead lady walking!

Borris for PM anyone, bet his phone is red hot !

grenners

Because I don't want someone poking my nose into my business and don't think they should do that to others. I wouldn't want someone turning up and saying hey I understand you have not voted! Perhaps Stroud green church hall is a bad example but in tower hamlets police enforced a 30m exclusion zone around every polling station to ensure no party activists caused intimidation.

grenners

http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-news/police-guard-every-polling-station-13145748 in fact this article says the practice of exclusion zones is now recommended nationally. In some places people there will be big pressure to look like you have voted for the right person and if people don't want to bother that's their business. All I'm saying is that polling day should be sterile.

Arkady

Argument from the extreme, there.

grenners

..........and having just looked this up the person in question may have broken code of conduct regulations under the electoral commission as she was within the grounds of the polling station........

Arkady

It's up to the station supervisor whether tellers can be on the grounds. They're never allowed inside the building though.

grenners

........well the electoral commission document I just read said not in grounds ......anyway Point being on polling day we don't want a gang of people outside working out what people are doing and trying to influence them by sending people to persuade them out of their homes and that's not an extreme view. Its just a view.

Next time Arkady you need a bigger gang outside the station to out play Labour.

Arkady

"we".

I didn't say it was an extreme view, but that you were arguing from the extreme, i.e. giving an extreme example to evidence your argument.

Good luck in your campaign to change this established and useful custom. For consistency's sake you'll need to ban exit polls as well of course.

grenners

Thanks.

krappyrubsnif

Who's that guy who does paintings on the Internet on request? I'd like him to do one of Theresa May as a lame duck snuggling up to an Irish terrorist in a beret and sunglasses, in a wheatfield. Any further embellishments?

krappyrubsnif

The White Lion is more serving a Labour flavoured gin.

grenners

I think Corbyn is the terrorist snuggler. But she is a lame duck. My bets are we get a new leader with even less of mandate mid brexit negotiations and back to polls early next year.

maclondon

What exactly is a Labour flavoured gin? Best outcome from this is that the young are now engaged politically - politics can change things (such as Brexit). The key is whether everyone who came out and voted stay engaged.

I am calling it the REVENGE of the SNOWFLAKES!

gardener-joe

...

grenners

Who Chang?

miss annie

A member here a few years ago - don't ask.

tosscat

Was there not a pre-Chang as well? Who was that?

grenners

Obviously you guys are looking for a new victim.

miss annie

Was it that Steve bloke? @tosscat