A tale of two elections
The London mayoral contest
Zac Goldsmith was selected today as the Conservative’s mayoral candidate by an online ballot.
The Richmond Park and North Kingston MP won with 70 per cent of the 9,227 votes cast using an online primary system.
There were no reports of irregularities.
The Trade Union Bill
The government won’t allow union members to vote online during strike ballots on the grounds that it is “not safe”.
This, despite the fact that a recent Speaker’s Commission on digital democracy for parliament recommended that by 2020 secure online voting should be an option for all voters.
Many companies already use online voting to let shareholders vote in corporate ballots.
It looks a lot like one rule for the Tories and another for trade unionists.
James Bloodworth is the editor of Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter
18 Responses to “Tory hypocrisy over use of online balloting”
Mark Myword
Electing Zac Goldsworth as a candidate for a private organisation (the Conservative Party), who will then stand in a ballot which is NOT run on line, is quite different from balloting on strike action. The strike ballot provides immunity to strikers for breach of their contracts of employment, and immunity to the union for any liability for tortious damages caused to those innocent parties who suffer because of the strike. These immunities are a considerable legal privilege, not available to any other section of society, the process for awarding them should be as secure as possible.
blarg1987
Yet PLC’s have on-line balloting and can cause severe damage to the economy based on policy decisions and individuals who are voted in.
However no concern has been raised over this concern with regards to on-line balloting.
The article has a valid point, the argument is hipper critical unless applied to all ballots.
janlog
It is basically saying that in some way the union will manipulate its members’ votes, ie trade unions are deeply untrustworthy, unlike all other votes cast using an on line system.
More Tory propaganda to add to the pile.
Sean Garrity
Tories hypocritical?
Surely not, you will be telling us the Pope is a Catholic next.
David Lindsay
I don’t know why Zac Goldsmith bothers with elective politics. He could just buy a tabloid, which would give him far more influence.
Still, he was expelled from Eton, so he cannot be all that bad. And he is a Vane-Tempest grandson; that bloke on the horse in Durham Marketplace is one of his mother’s ancestors. It is just a pity that he is not as pro-coal as his father was.