Talk:Langer vote

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[edit] where does this name come from?

the name "langer vote" is not used in any of the references. at the time i recal it being commonly called "optional preferential voting". are there any examples of the current article name ever being used? & might be more appropriate as merge with Optional Preferential Voting?  ⇒ bsnowball  14:12, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm no authority, but I believe the Langer vote was a way to force an Optional Preferential Vote, in a system which did not support OPV. I do not believe a merge is prudent, but maybe a See Also to Optional Preferential Voting. Parasite 03:17, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

. langer publicised the fact that opv was valid on federal senate votes. what caused the media attention was that publicising this fact was illegal, hence the court case. (strange but true, i asked an aec officer at the time, was told it was valid but asked not to tell anyone that he'd told me that.) the act has since been changed, opv is now invalid in all federal elections. this episode probably only needs mentioning in article on langer & is more notable for the oddity of legislation making it illegal to inform people about that legislation. & again, is there a source for the name you've given it? as i said the term 'langer vote' wasn't used (at least as far as i know)  ⇒ bsnowball  11:19, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Refer to Hansard on JOINT COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL MATTERS, held Monday, 9 December 2002

Mr MELHAM—Yes. I am particularly concerned about that. Your research paper has a breakdown of what we call the Langer votes, which we can summarise as a deliberate vote of one and then a repetition of twos and then there is the non-sequential numbering, which is basically accidental—repetitive numbering. Parasite 03:55, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Albert Langer

Albert Langer, back in the 1970s was a very fat, very radical Maoist, from a very rich family. I think that it is ironic that a man who supported a dictator who was about as interested in civil liberties and the niceties of voting as Stalin, should have ended up, in an accident of history, as a sort of Pickwickian martyr. Optional Preferential voting is now largely the rule in Australia just about everywhere, so his quixotic campaign has largely been won. He did spend some time in jail for his deeds, which was unfair, but then hardly anything like what the Great Helsmen would have done to him. And he still works in a Post Office somewhere, so I suppose he hasn't "sold out". We can grant him so much. And he was a lot of fun back in the 70s too. I have to admit that. Someone who, when asked by a magistrate to what date he wants his case aduourned replies "After the Revolution!" has got to be given some credit. Myles325a 13:48, 31 March 2007 (UTC)