I went up to the Federal Liberal Leadership Delegate Selection Meeting in Edmonton Strathcona last night only to find out that I wasn't on the delegate ballot in Edmonton Strathcona.
Not sure what to do, I spoke to the Local Returning Officer at the meeting. He said that I would need to call the central Federal Liberal Office in Edmonton. I called them. They didn't have my Edmonton Strathcona delegate registration form on file. I had sent in the delegate form before the deadline. It appears that they had no record of me registering to be on the ballot as a Gerard Kennedy delegate in Edmonton Strathcona.
Quite lame.
As someone who paid $5 to be part of this leadership selection process, I am quite displeased.
Though I wasn't sure if I would have the funds available to attend the leadership convention in Montreal this November, it looks like I won't have to worry about that now.
After talking with a friend, it appears the same thing also happened to a Stephane Dion delegate in Edmonton Strathcona (who apparently personally handed in his delegate registration form), as well as numerous problems of members not being on the voters list and hence not being able to vote.
As well, the confusing ballot was split in to two pages (one with leadership candidates and one with delegates) was extremely confusing. The explanation on the second page detailed that you could only vote for 4 youth (2 male and 2 female), 2 adult males and 2 adult females, 2 male seniors and 2 female seniors. With 30-40 listed delegates on the ballot, this process is a case study in ridiculousness. I wouldn't be surprised if I checked the wrong box and accidentally voted for Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae, or Pat Buchanan. It's a perfect case for a one-member one-vote system.
Though I understand that a leadership election is a huge endeavor, the importance quality, transparency, and accuracy is paramount. The price for not having one is huge.
It's legitimacy.
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That's a shame. I've heard of weird stuff like that going on here in Ontario too. The unorganization of this process is ridiculous!
ReplyDeletePat Buchanan bahahahaha, nice one.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience Dave, hopefully I have a better one when I vote tomorrow. (oh no not on the sabbath!) Why the Hell wouldn't they like give you an ID or a decoder ring or something so you could prove you're a delegate.
Yeah Dave, that definetly sucks about you not being on the ballot even. We had some problems like that here with the U of O Young Liberals (DSM last night, one delegate for Iggy, one for Dion, one for Rae and one for Kennedy, though it's on appeal), and we had one of the Iggy female delegates listed as a male, and one of the Dion male delegates listed as a female. A study in rediculousness indeed.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Katherine Harris in Florida might be able to give us some direction?
Seems typical. I recall the fiasco that was the provincial Liberal leadership when Grant Mitchell won...not to mention the last few federal candidate nomination processes that were practically "Stalinesque."
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that Dave. The Winnipeg South ballot today was like an hour late opening and almost cost my friend's vote as he had to get to work. My name did make it onto the list though. Right under the other 5 Kennedys running here.
ReplyDeleteHappened to me too, I was fuming.
ReplyDeleteIf one were the paranoid sort, one might think it was deliberate--repercussions for your "insufficient partisanness." Which would be rather crappy.
ReplyDelete"you could only vote for 4 youth (2 male and 2 female), 2 adult males and 2 adult females, 2 male seniors and 2 female seniors"
ReplyDeleteSerious?? Talk about quotas gone haywire.
I agree, the ballot form was much too complex. It took me 10 minutes to vote. When I arrived the two boxes to either side of me were occupied. When I left they were still occupied, buy the same two people.
ReplyDeleteIt is appropriate that you be irritated or even downright furious about the ommission of your name. If this was a general election the Court would probably invalidate the result over something as serious as a name left off the ballot.
The Liberals force gender parity in delegate selection?
ReplyDeleteThat seems very odd to me.
Sucks that you were left off the ballot. I know a lot of people were left off the ballot in Ontario, since anyone who signed up before April and did not renew was declared ineligible to be a delegate (since at the time they tabulated who could run, those people were not officially members of the party, even if they could renew and vote at the DSM).
ReplyDeleteAlthough you should be glad there were only 30-40 people on the ballot. Some ridings in Toronto and Ottawa I think had 150-200 people on the ballot. It would take you a good half hour to make sure you voted for everyone you wanted to.
"It is appropriate that you be irritated or even downright furious about the ommission of your name. If this was a general election the Court would probably invalidate the result over something as serious as a name left off the ballot."
ReplyDeleteIs there some sort of process for doing this kind of thing within the Federal Liberal party?
"It's legitimacy"
ReplyDeleteThis is key.
Like Ken mentioned, the shotty results of the 1994 Provincial Liberal race that elected Grant Mitchell dogged him for the entirety of his time as leader. Get it right, or regret it later.
dave,
ReplyDeletedo not despair. many people from the dion, and volpe camps were missed from the ballot also. i would have voted for you gladly. there is still a strong chance you may be approached by one of the campaigns to replace one of their delegates who cannot go. i would say it is quite possible you could still go. wait 1 week before you buy the kleenex.
That's a crying shame. After faxing in my form to two different numbers (Kennedy's own 1-866 fax number and the LPCA office in Edmonton), I tried to check a few days later to see whether my form had been received. I never received any feedback from anyone. It was not until yesterday when I was handed the ballot that I saw my name among the delegates. Only then did I know for sure that my form had made it through.
ReplyDeletelol, liberals. little do they know youre going to commence an all-out blog assault.
ReplyDeletei hope you made a big "do you know who i am, bitches?!" scene at the meeting.
oh shit im logged in as my ho. that last comment was me.
ReplyDelete-ainge lotusland
Woah, I'm not sad, just a little pissed off.
ReplyDeleteainge/alex,
ReplyDeletei was there when dave voted and i can say he handled the situation properly and with class. he did not yell, he did not make a scene. he treated the returning officer politely.
go dig for a story somewhere else.
kl
OK, so you did not make it to the list.
ReplyDeleteNow the question, Who are the delegates from EDM STR??
Names please.