Thursday, July 31, 2008

Slates and the Local Elections

Time is running out for groups to organize slates for the local elections. They need to be in existence with at least 50 members by the first week of August to be able to get their name on the ballot. I know of no group from the centre right that has managed this. I am not certain anything happened with the NDP side of the spectrum.

The only group I know of that has managed to get things in place for a slate are the Greens. As far as I understand it, they will be able to have Green Party on the ballot in most of Greater Victoria if they want to.

I am curious to see how much having a party affiliation on the ballot will effect the SD 61 election, I can see the Greens winning most of the seats if they have their name on the ballot. We saw how well it worked in the city of Victoria in 2005 for the Greens, I suspect if there are obvious Greens on the ballot in Saanich, the Greens will be able to win there.

The only other group I know of is Gregory Hartnell's Concerned Citizens Coalition. I am not sure they have the member numbers needed, but if they do it should boost their chances if they spend some money and campaign hard.

The only other group out there is the Saanich Civic League. I wonder if the people behind it here in Victoria are interested in making a civic NDP. After all their publicity in relation to the first meeting, there has been nothing to be heard from them. The Saanich Civic League may also just be a still born child.

I wish political affiliations would come to local elections in Victoria. We need them to boost the voter turn out and make the elections competitive. But alas this will not happen in 2008, we will have to wait till 2011....

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