vedana.net

NZ elections

Ok, it's been an interesting night of NZ election coverage on One. Could any of you Kiwis explain to me what "the worm" is, and how it enabled United Future to come out of nowhere and take 9 seats in Parliament? And, why did the Greens do so poorly? Is the Labour coalition gonna leave the Greens hanging out to dry over the GE issue? If so, that's tragic.

But dig this- the Govt here runs its own results site. Screw the big media, get the info straight from the source! Does this happen back home? I've no idea, but I doubt it...

This entire process has fascinated me, as NZ uses an MMP electoral system, quite different than our own twisted setup. See, with MMP, smaller parties actually get a chance to participate in the legislative process, where in the US they're shut out completely by the good old boys. Why is voter turnout so low in the US? Because its alternative-thinking citizens know that their votes hardly mean a thing in the end (thus the Bush presidency and me hearing The Doors in my head...)

Uggh, this post probably goes over my monthly quota for blog political content. Any more and y'all would probably run away screaming. No more anytime soon, I promise.