Comment

Comment by Catch 22 on May 3, 2011 at 1:08pm

Congratulations to Elizabeth May for her historic victory. Catch 22 is proud to have  done our part to help. While the voting system still denies Green voters of their fair share of seats, at least those voters will finally have a voice in Parliament.

Comment by Dianne Radmore on May 3, 2011 at 12:59pm

Jay, I was not successful, unfortunately. So I am glad May didn't need 'my' help, afterall!

 

Votepair matched me with someone in a non-swing riding with someone equally confused with the match, and they went on to find someone somewhere else. At least twice I thought I had someone, and for one reason or another it didn't work out.

 

In one instance via an NDP friend, the person discovered that they were not actually in May's riding the night before the election. They had just moved in the last year and hadn't realized they just on the otherside of the boundary for May's riding.

 

My hope ran out Monday morning when someone called to tell me they had someone for me on Saltspring who normally votes NDP, but were going to be voting Green this time. THey didn't want me to call the people, and to just accept that this would work. I simply thanked them for all their efforts. This person (like several NDPers I talked to) just didn't get it...a swap is just that..an agreement to exchange votes. The people I was being told about were already voting Green, not agreeing to do so in exchange for me voting NDP for them in another riding! I do hope the NDP understand the Vote swap thing better next time around, so it has a better change of working in a timely fashion.

 

And so, in the end, I took a calculated risk by voting Green afterall, and making that vote count for Green candidate Sue Moen. I say 'calculated' because although I knew it was risky, the polls had indicated that the NDP candidate was several thousand votes ahead of the Cons on Sunday nite. Someone asked me how I would feel if she lost by "three votes", and I said I wished the NDP would look to getting people out who DON'T vote, instead of looking to blame Greens for vote splitting.

 

The only reason May was even in the running is becuase of those of us who have voted Green for so long. I was willing to vote differently if I could make my vote count where it would matter most in this election, so all I can say is I did my best to try and make that happen, and in the end I voted for what I believe in and my conscience is intact! The NDP could blame the Liberals, just as easily as they could blame the Greens for Duncan's win, but with May now in Parliament, maybe there is some hope for proportional representation on the horizon for this country!

Here's the comparison:

This was culled from the Fairvote.ca website earlier this morning:

The actual seats won and leading for each party:
CON 167, NDP 102, LIB 34, BQ 4, GREEN 1

If the seats were won in proportion to the votes that were cast, the numbers would look like this:
CON 122, NDP 95, LIB 59, BQ 19, GREEN 13

Comment by Jay Stevenson on May 3, 2011 at 11:58am

Dianne, I hope it finally worked out for you. It would be interesting to know how many people successfully swapped. People here in SGI were flocking from all parties to Elizabeth all by themselves, as the numbers now show. Even the most optimistic of us were underestimating -- I was a scrutineer and her tally was awesome  to watch just growing and growing as each ballot was unfolded -- so there were fewer NPDers to work with than I expected. That, plus the lack of a real "system" on this site (I know it was not Catch-22's intention to offer swapping), and the fact that it's hard to demonstrate that swaps are genuine, meant that we were largely stymied. I'm so sorry that Ronna did not take Vancouver Island North, but at least there is a large NDP team about to take on one of the hardest political jobs I can imagine: trying to keep Harper accountable and prevent him from dismantling the remains of Canada's social and environmental protections. Good luck to us all.

Comment by Dianne Radmore on May 2, 2011 at 1:40am

Yes, Cindy! Please email me at fireweedbc@gmail.com with the contact info and let me know if it is too late to call the person...I can also provide my own home phone number for a connection this evening. Thankyou!

Comment by Cindy Lee on May 2, 2011 at 1:20am

Dianne, I know someone who will swap a vote, and vote Green in Saanich Gulf Island, if you vote NDP in Vancouver Island North. Is that what you are looking for?

 

Comment by Dianne Radmore on May 2, 2011 at 1:15am

Arrrghh! I can't believe it!! My Saanich vote swap turned out to be in the NEXT riding...they had just moved there and didn't realize they were just outside the Saanich boundary! So I'm back to looking for a swap...Elizabeth is still down about 1000 in the polls, although gaining steadily since this morning. Ronna Rae Leonard is ahead by about 3000...but that's still tough to call I think. If someone out there i Saanich is willing to swap, please get in touch right away!!

Comment by Kathy Page on May 1, 2011 at 6:33pm

Yanny, I have been almost sure to vote green since this started, even though it's not something I'd normally do. So if you swap with me you won't be making a new vote but since I am sad not to vote NDP, so  if you can do it  that would be great!

 

Comment by Patricia Frances Brown on May 1, 2011 at 3:57pm

My daughter is in the Burnaby riding where the NDP candidate is the recommended catch.  She and her partner are willing to vote NDP, in exchange for two Green votes in the SGI riding.  Any takers?

Comment by Yanny Barney on May 1, 2011 at 3:36pm

Vancouver Island North constituent seeking SGI NDPer to vote-swap with!!!!

Comment by Yanny Barney on April 26, 2011 at 11:23pm

I am a fellow Catch22 Riding constituent seeking vote-swapping partner.

I would like to register a Green vote in your Saanich-Gulf Islands riding in exchange for a NDP vote in my North Vancouver Island riding. Any takers??

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 12
• Next ›
• Page