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Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label election. Show all posts

Friday, 24 June 2016

Live: As UK chooses to leave EU, calls for referendums surface

Britain has voted to leave the European Union to take greater control of its economy and its borders, shattering the stability of the continental unity forged after World War II.

The decision launches what will be years of negotiations over trade, business and political links with the E.U., which will shrink to a 27-nation bloc.

Official results released early Friday show the ‘Leave’ side prevailed 52 per cent to 48 per cent in Thursday’s vote, which had a turnout of 72 per cent.



 The U.K. is the first major country to decide to leave the bloc, which evolved from the ashes of the war as the region’s leaders sought to build links and avert future hostility.

Financial authorities around the world have warned that a British exit will reverberate through a delicate global economy.

Live updates (time in IST):

4:55 p.m.: Slovenia’s prime minister says Britain’s exit from the European Union will eventually help consolidate the bloc.

Miro Cerar said that the British vote to leave the EU will cause “a short period of relative uncertainty of international markets.”

Cerar added that after that it will lead to “further consolidation of the EU and encouragement to its renewal.”

“It is time to refocus seriously on our common future, in particular on those concrete elements to the benefit of our citizens which bond us and make us stronger,” Cerar says.

4:53 p.m.: Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said that “what we have to do here is not business as usual, but look at the real concerns of citizens.”

Mr. Koenders warned of two short-term dangers — “those who want to take Europe apart, and the others saying we have to all at once go to even more Brussels, even more integration.”

4:50 p.m.: Austria’s chancellor says Britain’s decision to leave the EU shows the necessity for reforms, particularly in boosting European economies, stemming unemployment and improving working conditions.

Christian Kern says the EU needs “a reform process with a clear direction” that will be supported by citizens of member countries.

Rising disenchantment with the EU in Austria contributed to the strong showing last month of a euroskeptic populist candidate who came within a few percentage points of winning presidential elections.

4:45 pm: Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon says a new Scottish referendum on independence is “highly likely” because of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

4:15 p.m: No need for haste on pulling Britain out of EU: Leave campaign leader Boris Johnson

4:00 p.m.: German Chancellor Merkel voices “great regret” at British decision to leave EU

Ms. Merkel says Europe shouldn’t draw “quick and simple conclusions” that would create further division.

3:50 p.m: Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, visiting Scotland the day after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, hailed the move, saying voters “took back their country.”

3:45 p.m.: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says the EU will have to react quickly to Britain’s decision to leave.

Fico, whose country is taking over the rotating EU presidency in July, says the bloc’s key policies have to change.

In a Friday statement Fico says- “Huge numbers of people in the EU reject the EU’s immigration policy, there’s big disappointment with the economic policy.”

3:30 p.m.: The European Central Bank says it is “closely monitoring financial markets” in the wake of the British vote to leave the European Union.

The chief monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro currency says that it “stands ready” to provide additional credit to financial institutions if they need it to do business.

It also said it was staying in close contact with other central banks.

1.32 p.m.: European Parliament calls special session on Tuesday.

1.31 p.m.: Bank of England chief Mark Carney says bank can provide liquidity in foreign currency if needed.

1.14 p.m.: The British government has a "democratic imperative” to call a referendum on whether Northern Ireland should leave the United Kingdom and unite with the Irish Republic, the Province's Irish nationalist Deputy First Minister says.

“The British government now has no democratic mandate to represent the views of the North in any future negotiations with the European Union and I do believe that there is a democratic imperative for a 'border poll' to be held,” Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness told national Irish broadcaster RTE.

“We are now in unchartered waters, nobody really knows what is going to happen. The implications for all of us on the island of Ireland are absolutely massive. This could have very profound implications for our economy

1.06 p.m.: Matteo Salvini, Italy's most prominent far-right politician, also hails the Brexit vote as an example his country should follow. "Cheers to the bravery of free citizens," the leader of the anti-immigration, anti-E.U. Northern League wrote on Twitter. "Heart, head and pride beat lies, threats and blackmail. THANKS UK, now it is our turn #Brexit".

12.55 p.m.: “The cabinet will meet on Monday, the governor of the Bank of England is making a statement about the steps it is taking.”

12.54 p.m.: “There is no need for a precise timetable today, but we should aim to have a new prime minister in place by the start of Conservative conference in October,” Mr. Cameron says choking back tears.

12.54 p.m.: “I will do everything I can as prime minister to steady the ship in coming months, but I do not think it would be right for me to captain that ship.”

12.53 p.m.: “This is not a decision I've taken lightly but I do believe it is in the national interest to have a period of stability and then the new leadership required,” he said.

12.53 p.m.: Cameron announces resignation.

12.52 p.m.: I fought this campaign with head, heart and soul, says Cameron.

12.51 p.m.: We must prepare for full negoatiations with E.U. with the involvement the Scottish, Weslsh and Irish, says Cameron.

12.50 p.m.: David Cameron says, “We trust the people with big decisions.”

12:40 p.m: Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says British Prime Minister David Cameron must move urgently to stabilize the pound, which was trading around $1.3706 Friday morning after plummeting to a 31—year low.

Mr. Corbyn also says Britain’s main opposition party will oppose any emergency budget or expansion of Britain’s austerity program resulting from the Thursday vote to leave the European Union.

The Bank of England says it’s ready to take “all necessary steps” to help keep Britain stable after voters chose to leave the 28—nation bloc.

Mr. Corbyn says British manufacturing depends on trade with the EU and called for careful steps to preserve British trade. He and other senior Labour figures had urged voters to remain in the EU.

12:35 p.m: "Today on behalf of the 27 leaders, I can say that we are determined to keep our unity as 27," says European Union president Donald Tusk.

12:26 p.m.: Dutch parliamentary party leader Geert Weilders calls for Netherlands to hold referendum on its EU membership

12.07 p.m.: UKIP leader Nigel Farage says the European Union is dying after Britain votes to leave.

12.01 p.m.: U.K. Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn says Britons feel very angry at way marginalised by successive governments

11.55 a.m.: U.K. Electoral Commission declares Britain has voted to leave European Union.

11.45 a.m.: Official results show the ‘Leave’ won by 12,69, 501 votes (52 per cent).

11.40 a.m.: RBI watching all markets, including currencies, and will provide liquidity wherever necessary: RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Brexit impact.

11.40 a.m.: Top European Union officials are hunkering down in Brussels trying to work out what to do next after the shock decision by British voters to leave the bloc.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is hosting talks on Friday with the leaders of the European Council and Parliament, along with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country holds the E.U.’s rotating presidency.

The four will try to agree on a European position on the vote, which could see a member country leave the bloc for the first time ever, ahead of a summit of E.U. leaders in Brussels starting on Tuesday.

Parliamentary leaders were meeting separately, and European commissioners the E.U.’s executive body could hold separate talks later.

11.30 a.m.: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen says there should be a similar referendum about E.U. membership in France after Britons voted to leave the 28-nation bloc.

“A victory for Freedom,” Ms. Le Pen tweeted. “We now need the same referendum in France and in EU nations.”

11.20 a.m.: India well prepared to deal with short and medium-term consequences of Brexit, says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

“Aim will be to smoothen volatility and minimise Brexit impact on the economy in the short-term, the FM says.

11.05 a.m.: Now that voters have chosen exit, will more referendums follow suit? Social media averse on this:

10.56 a.m.: Tally by the BBC shows Britain has voted to leave the 28-nation European Union.

10.40 p.m.: Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says he regrets Britain's decision to leave the E.U., calls it a "sad day for Europe".

"The early morning news from #GreatBritain are truly sobering. It looks like a sad day for #Europe +the #UnitedKingdom," Mr. Steinmeier tweeted.

10:36 a.m.: Voters in Wales and the English shires have backed Britan’s exit in large numbers.

10:35 a.m.: London and Scotland voted strongly to stay in the EU but the remain vote has been undermined by poor results in the north of England.

10.30 a.m.: Dutch anti-immigration leader Geert Wilders has called for a referendum on the Netherlands' membership in the European Union after Britain voted to leave the 28-member bloc.

“We want be in charge of our own country, our own money, our own borders, and our own immigration policy,” he said in a statement.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com

Wednesday, 18 May 2016

Trump, Clinton campaign will be nasty—and that's good news

As the presidential election looks to be featuring two of the most polarizing candidates in modern American politics, we can expect a hard sell of potential stories and ads to try and make Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton more appealing. But the real deciding factor will once again be an avalanche of negative advertising, designed to tear down the policies and besmirch the personal behavior of the other side. Already, commentators are expecting an historical use of negative campaigning. And voters should be thankful for this.

Appropriately, negative ads and campaigns get a very bad rap. They turn off voters, demonize opponents for perfectly acceptable policy disputes and coarsen the political culture — all of these are legitimate complaints. But negative campaigns are still a breath of fresh air compared to the toxic potential of positive ads.

 Positive campaigns may be loved in theory, but in reality they are not idealized "Lincoln vs Douglas" debates, with each side courteously presenting their argument. They are instead frequently issue-free, focused on the perceived personal benefits of the candidate's previous career and sunny pictures of family.

By now, with a stream of embarrassing sex scandals hitting the papers—and with a grandfatherly former Speaker of the House now serving time due to his action related to sexual assaults—we should hope that voters won't buy into the tightly controlled stories about happy political families. But those stories, and the other inspirational pieces about rising from nothing to seek high office, are all part of the same problem of positive campaigns: They are really designed to tell as little as possible about a candidate's actual policy.



Even when they do manage to deal with issues, positive policy proposals are presented in a facile manner, frequently with untruths and a complete unwillingness to face up to the likelihood of success versus failure. Donald Trump's critics have loudly proclaimed that most of his ever-changing policy proclamations are impossible to carry out.

Trump and his supporters have said the same about some of his competitors' plans, and will undoubtedly try to use the same arguments against Clinton. The only way for voters to actually judge these arguments is negative campaigns. Positive ads will not expose the elisions. Only negative ones have any hope of blasting holes and exposing the policy weaknesses of a candidate's pie-in-the-sky plans.

But that is not the biggest benefit of negative ads. They are simply more truthful and fact-based than negative ones. Vanderbilt University Professor John Geer, the author of In "Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns," has noted that negative ads may be unpleasant but they end up presenting vastly more factual information—60 percent more on average—than the shiny happy positive variety.

What negative ads do is present a strong policy contrast for voters, giving them a chance to draw a real distinction between the two candidates. Negative ads distort information—context is always left out and they take the absolute worst possible interpretation of any action by an opponent. But they are usually very issue-based and much more precise and detailed than the positive and glowing ads in favor of a candidate.


Source: http://www.cnbc.com

Monday, 16 May 2016

Live: Chennai recorded lowest polling in TN

 Tamil Nadu witnessed brisk polling in 232 Assembly constituencies with over 25 per cent voters exercising their franchise by 11 a.m. Over 300 companies of paramilitary personnel are involved in election duty. The polling will continue till 6 p.m. today.

There were also reports of polling machines developing technical snags in Tirunelveli and Theni districts.

Stalin demands CBI inquiry into distribution of money

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer M.K. Stalin demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged money distribution in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur constituencies where the election have been postponed. Mr. Stalin alleged that a senior minister including Chief Minister Jayalalithaa were involved in the irregularities.

 Rajinikanth ducks query on cash distribution

Superstar Rajinikanth urged people to vote, saying it is the duty of all citizens to exercise their franchise.

 Live updates:

6.22 pm: Harbour constituency posted lowest turnout -- 53 per cent.

6.21 pm: Police arrested a man who attempted to damage ballot unit with a rival in a polling station in Ramnad district but polling was not disrupted.

6.20 pm: One person was arrested with Rs. 10,000 cash for trying to distribute cash to voters, says EC.

6.19 pm: 'Exit polls can be released after 6 pm today.'

6.18 pm: One polling officer died during polls. A presiding officer was changed in Madurai contituency.

6.17 pm: Polling by and large peaceful in the State, says EC

6.14 pm: Pennagaram has recorded the highest voting in the state -- 85 per cent.

6.13 pm: Actual polling percentage expected to be known by 8 pm, says Mr. Lakhoni.

6.11 pm: TN EC chief Rajesh Lakhoni addresses the press. Chennai has recorded lowest polling.

Overall turnout in Tamil Nadu till 5 p.m. 69.19 per cent.

6.00 p.m.: Voting ends in 232 constituencies. Those who reached the queue by 6 p.m. were issued tokens to cast their votes.

5.49 p.m.: Turnout till 5 p.m.: Coimbatore district: Mettupalayam 73 pc, Sulur 74 pc, Coimbatore South 58.94 pc, Valparai 69.80 pc, Thondamuthur 57.93 pc.; Coimbatore north 57 pc; Singanallur 59.80 pc.

Madurai district voter turnout till 5 p.m. 67.68 p.c.; Tiruppur district 69.17; Tirunelveli district 67.86; Namakkal district 77.63 per cent;

Source: thehindu.com

Tuesday, 10 May 2016

New election technology could bring end to searching voter lists, speed up result times

Elections Ontario wants to introduce new technology for the 2018 election to speed up the process for voters, get faster results and use fewer staff.

The agency says it successfully tested e-poll books and vote tabulators in the February byelection in Oshawa, with about 90 per cent of electors and poll officials supporting the changes.

The e-poll books replace the paper-based process where polling officials have to manually search through names, and would allow any poll worker to serve a voter.

Elections Ontario says the e-poll books mean electors will get a ballot within about one minute of arriving at the polling station.

The byelection pilot project with vote tabulators showed they could provide 90 per cent of the results within a half hour of polls closing if used across Ontario.

Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur knows the government would have to act quickly if it wants the new technology in place for the 2018 vote because it would take two years to implement the changes.
Current staffing model 'unsustainable'

"We are seriously considering the advice," she said. "We know it was very successful in the byelection, and we need to modernize our voting system."

It would cost $36 million to introduce the new technologies, but that would allow Elections Ontario to hire fewer staff, addressing its biggest challenge: finding enough people to work a 14- to 16-hour day in a polling station.

"The current staffing model is unsustainable in the long term," chief electoral officer Greg Essensa said in a news release.

 "The number 1 concern I hear from returning officers across the  province is that they are unable to find the staff required for polling day," he said.

Elections Ontario said it hired 76,000 poll officials for the 2014 election, and would need about 100,000 for the election planned for June 2018 because the number of ridings will increase and because of population growth.

However, the agency believes it could cut the number of staff required by about 41 per cent if the new technologies are in place, and would save about $16 million in staff costs over three election cycles.

The number of electors served by a poll -- currently 300 to 500 -- could be increased to 2,000, which means they would need about 31,000 fewer staff for election day.

The province could save another $28 million if it shared the vote tabulator technology with Ontario municipalities.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca