How to vote in a bye-election

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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I had an interesting discussion with a voter who lives in Dublin Central and he wasn't sure which way to vote. He was thinking of FG, FF, Lab and Greens and stopping.

I said that was probably the equivalent of not voting as none of them has much chance of getting elected.

There are three candidates who have a chance of winning and a few more who have little chance.
It is very likely that the winner will come from Soc Dems, SF or Hutch.
He does not want Hutch to get elected, so he has to vote for the Soc Dems and SF , no matter how much he dislikes them. Otherwise, there is a risk that Hutch would benefit from his "not voting"

So he should vote
FG
FF
Lab
Green
Soc Dem
SF

It galls him to vote for SF but it would gall him more to see Hutch getting elected.
 
It's very different from a general election where three or four seats are to be filled.

If you vote FF, FG, Lab, Green , you can probably stop as your vote is very likely to be fully used by the election of one of them.

You can of course vote the whole way 1 to 13, but the effect of your later preferences is tiny.
 
If he is a savvy FG FF supported and wants to keep Hutch out he should go all in and Vote 1 SF 2 and 3 FG and FF, That way he will kill two birds with the one stone,

1 He will be sending a message to FF FG to do more in Dublin Central before the next General Election cutting into SF support before the next election,
2 keeping Hutch out,
Well this is how PR is done Down the Country you only have to look at the fuel protest to see it works Lots of FG and FF types out protesting come next Election The will be out Canvasing for FG and FF When the go in to vote the well vote SF after FG/FF just to keep FG and FF working that little bit harder for them ,
 
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Democracy has its faults, but it is still the best of what's around. If people wish to use their vote as a protest, then so be it. We have enough politicians promising secure futures (and fail in their attempts). If you think Mr Hutch can do a better job, then if you so wish vote for him. As far as I'm concerned elections are for choosing the best person for the job not voting just for eliminations.
 
Brendan
To quote Enda Kenny your friend has to lend his no 1 vote to Soc Dens or SF if he wants to stop Hutch,
leaving it up to the pr system is a sure way of getting hutch elected,
hutch is going to get transfers from all over the place and your friend better make sure the Soc Dems or SF are well in front from the get go,
voting as you suggested in no 1 post is one sure way of getting lots of the wrong sort of press for Dublin Central even if Hutch fails to make it,
 
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Well done to Soc Dems and Daniel Ennis, impressive win.

Bad day for the governing parties in Dublin Central, particularly FF. Bad day for SF and Mary Lou. I reckon she will lead them into next GE but without forming a government as the lead party her days will be done.

The Hutch's overall vote appears to have declined from his last campaign - probably the best outcome overall there. :)

It's worse for FF and SF in Galway West. FG did well, as did Labour and Soc Dems
 
galway said:
hutch is going to get transfers from all over the place
Click to expand...
Looks like he got next to nothing from all candidates that were eliminated before him, except for Stenson.

Sinn fein didn't do well on transfers either. (Both counts) Considering they are meant to be the main opposition, that doesn't bode well for them in general.
 
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