Tag Archives: straight choice

Leaflet monitoring website goes Antipodean

Good to see that The Straight Choice website has been picked up in Australia and is being used in the federal election coming up there:

The idea was spawned following the Lindsay pamphlet scandal, in which Liberal Party volunteers distributed bogus election pamphlets claiming to be from “The Islamic Australia Federation”, which was later found not to exist.

The pamphlets claimed the Labor Party candidate would support clemency for convicted terrorists and the construction of a mosque in the area. The husband of then Liberal candidate for Lindsay Karen Chijoff and the husband of outgoing Liberal MP Jackie Kelly were

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A straight choice? Does this squeeze message hold water?

Under our First Past the Post voting system, the squeeze message is a legitimate one, used by all parties when it’s to their benefit.

Voting for the third (or lower) placed party in the seat is, they all argue, a wasted vote. Those lower placed parties will say otherwise, but it’s a fair tactic. Lib Dems would say that under a better voting system, tactical voting wouldn’t be needed.

But in this election we’re seeing a new twist on the theme from the Labservatives, and it’s a bit of a stretch to see how it could be honest or …

Posted in General Election | Also tagged , , , and | 12 Comments

The Straight Choice needs your help

The Straight Choice is an online collection of election literature from across the country, aiming “to create a live visualization of the flood of party political leaflets as they are delivered across the country during an election campaign”.

Whilst the origins of the name may grate with those Lib Dems who don’t wholly accept Peter Tatchell’s account of the 1983 Bermondsey by-election, the idea is an excellent one from the people who brought you sites like They Work for You, Public Whip, Planning Alerts and What do they know? (the last allowing …

Posted in News | 9 Comments
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