"We’re both people who spent most of our childhoods in the American West; we’re used to smiling indulgently at the rolling hills that people back east call “mountains.â€
Mate, you should come to Australia and see our mountains. Then you will know 'indulgence'.
d
Vicki@49: No, only 15 of the 53 member states have LQDNs. Thirty-two are republics and five have independant Crowns (Eg the King of Tonga)
d
Sorry, we're getting waaay off track here, but are you sure the Church of Scotland is Established? Also, the British Monarch is not the Head of the Church of Scotland. It's presbyterian, it doesn't have anyone in a position of governing authority.
The Australian implementation is intended to operate in accordance with the spec, but was not adequately coded and its exception handling failed spectacularly in 1975. The Oz constitution says all executive power is vested in the Monarch and exercised by the GG. No mention of the Exec Council, the PM, Ministers, Cabinet etc. It's all 'hallowed tradition', which conservative parties naturally chuck out the window as soon as it suits them.
Alex@20: There's been *no* change to the Au GG's powers since 1975, it's still all implicit and most commentators agree it's not possible to codify the GG's existing powers (which are probably more extensive that those of HM in the UK).
Emma@25: Whitlam never tried to dismiss the GG, but it seems clear the GG was afraid he would which is why he dismissed the PM *without warning*. (Another serious weakness in the Au system. The GG holds office at the pleasure of the PM AND the PM holds office at the pleasure of the GG. Don't blink. Just. don't. blink.) The Speaker of the House did contact London immediately after the Dismissal seeking HM's intervention, but was advised HM had no authority as all her Executive powers are exercised by the GG.
Alex@35: The GG is not demoted when HM is in Australia, HM is promoted by statute (The Royal Powers Act 1953) so that she can exercise all the powers of the GG *but* only on the advice of the Federal Executive Council (ie a subcommittee of Cabinet). The uncodified reserve powers remain with the GG.
d
Graydon @50: "The question of whether the governor general has the technical right to refuse is easy; she does. It just hasn't been exercised ever, so far as I know; the last actual fight over this kind of thing predates the Glorious Revolution."
More recent Crown v Parliament struggles: William IV and the Reform Acts in the early 1830s, and his appointment of Peel as PM in 1834 against the wishes of the Commons majority.
In the Australian State of Queensland in 1989 the then Premier was facing a leadership challenge in his party room during a Parliamentry recess and he went to the Governor asking for/recommending the dismissal of some of his 'disloyal' ministers. The Governor refused because he was not certain the 'new' Government would have the confidence of the House (that is, that the governing Party would not split) and he threatened to recall Parliament to test it.
There's also the famous events of 1975 where a Government that enjoyed confidence was dismissed by the GG. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_constitutional_crisis_of_1975
I do recall something about the Crown moving against Provincial minority Governments in Canada, but I cannot locate where I read that.
d
Zoe as Curly
Wash as Laurey
Jayne as Annie
River as Jud
Shepard as Aunt Ella
Mal (in drag) as Ali
Simon as Gertie
Inara as Will
Kaylee as Farmer Carnes
"It was the smallest plat book I had ever seen"
OK - here's another question from your newly annoying Australian friend. What's a plat book?
d
"Voters are registered by precincts, which are the electoral quanta: all other electoral units are built up of precincts."
Ah-ha! This is a piece of info I never knew and makes it all a bit clearer. We don't have precincts and for a Federal election, there'll be about 90k voters in a Division and 20 or 30 polling places. A voter can go to any of them and get a ballot paper for their division, or if they are away from home, they can go to any polling place in their State and cast an absentee ballot (where an issuing officer will hand-write the candidates on a special blank ballot).
LMB wrote:
"there is plenty of time to validate the qualifications for office of each candidate, check names on petitions for "third-party" or independent candidates, and print ballots."
I knew about your long lead time. Here, you can get your name on the ballot if you get your forms in 23 days before polling day. I couldn't work out how you deal with the *issuing* problem. But Precincts make it sound a lot easier.
"In the general election, I will vote for a county commissioner, constable... justice of the peace... county judge and sheriff... a state representative and senator and district judge, as well as state district judge and US Representative... several state-wide offices such as supreme court justices and various commissioners... and a senator, president, and vice president on the federal level."
JESR: "There may also be several elections in a year- not just primaries and general elections but special school elections and bond issues for other taxing districts."
Boy, you people do a lot of voting. I'm surprised the administration of it is so... hap-hazard. :^)
thanks for your comments, I appreciate your time.
d
Let me refine my question a little.
Americans vote for Local, State and Federal representatives all on the same day, along with judges, board members and some other public office holders. Do you get a separate ballot paper for each office? Or are all the offices combined on the one paper somehow?
As two people who live in the same Federal district may live in different State and Local districts, how do the polling officials know which combination of ballots to give to a voter? This complexity suggest to me that a voter might also be restricted to casting their vote at one of only a couple of different polling places.
thnaks!
d
From this distance (Australia) American election seem very, very strange. Can someone point me to a source that explains how voting works over there? I understand primaries, caucuses, conventions, Electoral colleges and all that, but I don't understand what happens on polling day.
And is it really the case that the elections are administered directly by an elected member of the government?
thnaks!
d
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| 2008 | 11 |
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