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”
blarg1987
How Many PLC’s have been sued for closing down businesses to offshore them just to save money resulting in large scale damage to the regional economy?
And remind me how many have been sued again for crippling the UK economy following the financial crisis?
northwing
The Tories are also refusing to allow workplace ballots, demanding a far higher threshold and turnout that they are willing to accept themselves (they are even contemplating handing fire services over to Police and Crime Commissioners who were elected on a turnout of less than 15% in some cases, whilst demanding the likes of the FBU gain a 40% of the eligible vote in favour of industrial action), demanding re-ballots, limiting picketing and charging unions for the costs of any investigations into alleged irregularities.
They are also intending to legalise hiring strike-breakers, bringing in legislation to undermine union funding and limiting the unions’ right to campaign against them. If they could get away with banning unions and strikes they would, of that there is no doubt.
It seems they will tolerate no opposition whatsoever and along with their tolerance of trade unionist blacklisting by donor organisations, their reported aim of establishing Tory unions has a rather chilling echo of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront.
JAMC
No method of voting is completely secure – and postal voting is one of the least secure methods of all.
Electronic voting, properly implemented, would be a considerable improvement in terms of security. But then, this isn’t about actually raising turnout, is it… This is about gerrymandering the law on strikes to make them near-impossible.
I for one am with Len McCluskey – if this change in the law goes ahead, I have no intention of obeying it.
JAMC
To quote Blackadder III…
“Look at Manchester, population 60,000, electoral roll 3.”
JAMES MCGIBBON
The trade unions should be encouraging members to vote. Less than 50% voting especially to strike seems rather onerous.