Do you vote in municipal elections?

Forums: Local Politics, Politics, Elections, Voting, Citizenship
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I don't consider myself a political person, which is part of the reason you won't see me in the political threads here, but I do recognize that voting is a citizen's responsibility in our society.

Here in British Columbia, tomorrow is municipal voting day in our various towns and cities. My wife and I have tried to gather as much information as we can, so that we can vote in an informed fashion for our next mayor and city councillors. It's important for us that those elected act in a fiscally prudent way, to keep our property taxes in line.

Do you go out to vote locally in your town or city?

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Type: Discussion • Score: 5 • Views: 2,736 • Replies: 21

[+3] - nimh - 11/15/2008You're making ever less sense Finn. In your manic urge to be seen as clever and snide, you've ended up just getting incoherent. So... I'm Dutch, and I live in Hungary. I moved here three years...

@Reyn,

always

the hamburgers are big on rights and responsibilities. I learned about political involvement at quite a young age from them. They probably thought I wasn't paying attention, but I was.

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Voted for everyone but the last one... always worth it.

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Thanks for replying, Beth and nimh. Is it typical in your areas to have very low voter turnout?

I've just heard the statistics for the Vancouver area, and apparently, it's around 26%! That's an awful lot of folks who don't vote.

In my opinion, if you don't vote, you can bitch about the amount of your property tax bill. In the last election, we had a slate of candidates that supported a very expensive set of projects in our community. I'm not supporting any of those, with the exception of one. That's because she is very strong for other issues that I have an interest in.

I try to keep up with what's happening in our local newspapers, but I found the coverage of the individual candidates in tomorrow's election quite lacking.

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@nimh,

The mystery of nimh...

How can this be if he is in Hungary, Germany or any other place outside of the US?

Or is he simply relating what he did when the Budapest elections came along?

Oh yes -- absentee ballots.

The Character is fraying at the edges Old Son.

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@Reyn,

As a general rule: yes.

I usually vote a straight NY Conservative Party ticket,
tho sometimes I vote for Libertarian Party candidates.

David

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@Finn dAbuzz,

In municipals elections, nimh certainly could vote in e.g. my town, if he was registered here. Personally: he's older than 16 and an EU-citizen.

I always vote in our local elections.

The outcome depends on regions (and states): generallly a is about 60%. (In the second round for mayors, if there is one, it's usually a lot lower.)

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@Walter Hinteler,

Nimh and his young ward Walter Hintler

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@Finn dAbuzz,

You're making ever less sense Finn. In your manic urge to be seen as clever and snide, you've ended up just getting incoherent.

So... I'm Dutch, and I live in Hungary. I moved here three years ago. Until I moved here, I voted in every municipal election. Check. Now I can no longer vote in municipal elections back home, only in national ones; but I can vote in the municipal elections here. Didn't do that last time though - hence not having voted once. Check.

So your point was?

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@Reyn,

Reyn wrote:

Thanks for replying, Beth and nimh. Is it typical in your areas to have very low voter turnout?

I've just heard the statistics for the Vancouver area, and apparently, it's around 26%! That's an awful lot of folks who don't vote.

Sure is. Municipal elections in Holland actually still get a sizable enough turnout, even if it's gradually falling - I think it's usually around 60% or so.

Turnout in national elections is higher (around 75% I think? I should look it up..); while it's lower for provincial elections (which get turnouts of something like 50-55%, I think) and elections for the European Parliament - I think turnout for those dropped to something like 35% last time.

And they're all on different days. The good part of that is that national elections just involve casting the one vote and you're done, which probably helps avoid all the mess that seems to surround American elections, with their hour-long (or five-hour long..) lines and ballot confusions. The bad part is that the incentive to come out for the other elections is lower, and people have to go vote about once a year. Still, turnout for all of them except the EU ones is roughly on a par with those for the US elections so the comparison aint bad.

Reyn wrote:

In my opinion, if you don't vote, you can bitch about the amount of your property tax bill.

Agreed..

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I was rather surprised to learn that you have a separate day for municipal elections--although that's simply because i hadn't thought about it before. In Ohio (and every other part of the United States in which i have lived) it is extremely rare, and always an exception, to have more than one voting day per year. Therefore, in the first week of November, i always vote. There will always be municipal and county offices, initiatives, referenda, etc. to vote on. In even numbered years, there will always be a vote to be cast for the member of the House of Representatives, two out of three times a Senator to vote for, and every four years, all of the state officers to vote for, and the Presidential election.

But in my experience, all of these ballots are cast on the same day each year--the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

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@Reyn,

Always, for decades, in either Los Angeles or northern California, but not here in NM yet. I'm a little slow to catch on the the machinations here as I don't take the newspaper, and just read local news via google news - and I just recently found I can do that.

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@ehBeth,

Quote:

They probably thought I wasn't paying attention, but I was.

glad to hear it wasn't in vain <SMILE>

while voter turnout for muni election isn't very high - about 35-40 % we have always made it a point to vote .

in canada , federal , provincial and muni elections are practically never on the same day .
elections are usually very simple : you vote for the person of your choice .
since we don't vote for judges or dogcatchers , the process is always quick and easy .
referenda are almost unknown in canada .

one thing i remember about german elections is that they were always on a sunday - if i recall correctly .
it was really "an occasion" : the whole family would get dressed up in sunday best , walk to the polling station , meet and greet neighbours on the way , vote , go for coffee and dessert or at least icecream after the votes were cast .
hbg

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@nimh,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

Nimh and his young ward Walter Hintler

Why?

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nimh wrote:

And they're all on different days. The good part of that is that national elections just involve casting the one vote and you're done, which probably helps avoid all the mess that seems to surround American elections, with their hour-long (or five-hour long..) lines and ballot confusions. The bad part is that the incentive to come out for the other elections is lower, and people have to go vote about once a year. Still, turnout for all of them except the EU ones is roughly on a par with those for the US elections so the comparison aint bad.

We've - like most (if not [nearly] all) European countries - vote on different days .... and years.

Next year, however, our state government wants the EU election and the municipal/district election to be hold on the same day. That will be an advantage for some parties .... like the here governing conservative-liberal coalition. (At least that's what is speculated.)

Certainly it is an disadvantage for people like me: counting the votes takes longer. Wink

(Europe was usually done in 15 minutes due the rather small turnout [less than 50%]; municipal/district takes a bit longer, since you can vote more personal: up to 30 minutes.)

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@Walter Hinteler,

for walter :

are elections in germany still held on sundays ?
is it still a day to dress up and make it a special occasion - coffee and cake after the voting ?
just testing my memory <GRIN>
hbg

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

....I was rather surprised to learn that you have a separate day for municipal elections....

Yes, Nov 15 seems to be the day. It's every 3 years.

Also, I believe there are fixed dates federally and provincially. We're due in BC to have an election next May. So, we've had a lot of voting lately.

------------------------

Thanks to all for posting your thoughts on this topic!

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@hamburger,

hamburger wrote:

it was really "an occasion" : the whole family would get dressed up in sunday best , walk to the polling station , meet and greet neighbours on the way , vote , go for coffee and dessert or at least icecream after the votes were cast .

That's relly nice... people should do that again.

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Yes, I vote in all elections...our {Missouri} municipal elections are held each year in April. I am currently serving my 4th term as an alderman of my teeny, tiny town...I am known as "The Scotsman, from ward II", I represent about 350 people...and no, I didn't leave any zeros off...300 + 50....big time politician, I am, I am.

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@2PacksAday,

I hope u vote for FREEDOM,
whenever it comes up; that and low taxes.

David

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Do you vote in municipal elections?

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