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It happened here in New Zealand. The winning margin in one of the MP electoral races was 6 votes. We had to wait for the special votes to be counted before we discovered who won.
I've heard of similar close elections at various places in the United States.
The difficult may take time, the impossible a little longer.
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Ashton-Under-Lyme General election 1986 - tied - returning officer given casting vote
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Member 10707677 wrote: 6 votes.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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No 0 votes - according to Wikipedia there are also several tied ones in Canada - one of which was decided on a coin toss and a US senate election.
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OriginalGriff wrote: but if you don't vote, you can't complain about the government you do get...
Of course you can. Whether I vote or not we'll still get the same exact government. My one vote won't change the outcome, therefore even if you don't vote of course you have the right to complain.
But I do get what you are saying. You certainly should try and do something about it and voting, although near useless, is doing something.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Agreed, You don't vote. You have no right to complain. I vote so I get to complain and loudly.  I do so alot.
Those that can do, those who can't do teach, those who can't teach clean, those who can't clean sell, those who can't sell lawyer, those who can't lawyer legislate, those who can't legislate well lets just stop there before we start digging a hole
To err is human to really mess up you need a computer
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Nagy Vilmos wrote: encourage the ones who may give you hand up as well.
As well as them, you mean?
Half of them have got ventriloquists' hands up their @rses.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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You under estimate the amount of graft in politics. They've all got at least one person yanking their chain, though more often it's several in different directions. And they like it!
veni bibi saltavi
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Sure they like it, because they can play the "yankers" off against each other for profit.
It used to be that any politician caught out as not being completely above reproach was forced to resign (presumably primarily for the sin of getting caught, and making the unwashed masses look in directions that no politician wants them to look in), but nowadays they all but give them medals for being self-serving, immoral scum.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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"Parties won't bother..." There's lots of talk of voter apathy, but less about politician apathy. Where I live, there were council elections but NOT ONE election communication even MENTIONED them, let alone naming their candidate or explaining their local policies. There was so much hype over the general election that it hadn't even dawned on me there were local elections until I looked at my polling card on the day. Without any info about the candidates I was deprived of ANY choice. Had a rant at the exit poll people as far as a I dared without getting "security" called...
Seriously, if the candidates can't even be bothered to put "vote for me" in print, there's something (else) broken with this system.
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In Asia they use elections to make babies
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I may never step in a polling booth again... 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Quite possibly, and viewing the matter from a geopolitical standpoint, it may be that "relations" between China and the U.S. are strained because China calls elections "erections" and vice versa.
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Somewhere in my vast collection of lapel buttons I have one that says:
Nobody can fix the economy.
Nobody can be trusted with his finger on the button.
Nobody's Perfect.
VOTE FOR NOBODY!
At times such as these, the sentiment acquires extra resonance.
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I always thought we should have a "No Confidence" vote on the ballot. If we don't like either/any of the idiots on there, they should be forced to bring us new ones till they get to one we actually like. As an added bonus, if a politician is part of an election where "No Confidence" wins, they are never allowed to run for any office ever again and their campaign funds are forfeited to charity.
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Didn't get it the first time. 
Slow day yesterday. Slow read today.
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What bothers me is not the morons, but the active criminals which public service seems to attract. The best person for any elected post is someone who is competent who really does not want the job. If you really want the job, you are either looking for a free financial ride (read graft/misappropriation of funds), or you are unsuitable because of your lust for power.  It's a really rare person who is both competent and altruistic and wants the job to do active good. Even when such a person is elected, they find that everyone around will actively work against them for wanting to change the status quo.
Machiavelli probably said it best: (paraphrasing, this is not an exact quote) "Beware my prince, for if you wish to enact change, you will get indifferent support from those with something to gain, and active resistance from those with something to lose."
Fletcher Glenn
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Just think what the US would be like if ALL the politicians were being paid minimum wage and retired on Social Security.
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Would that stop the graft and misappropriation? More likely, it would in increase it.  Sorry for being so cynical, but I have been around for a long time.
Fletcher Glenn
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Me too. But it's a give and take world. The PAC's would be feeding them their graft and sustenance and we would have Social Security fixed and minimum wage would be a respectable income.
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Another thing about political motivation is that there should be no sense of frustration or upset in defeat. Instead, rejoice that democracy has allowed a majority decision to be reached and quietly put your policies away, since they're not wanted. Of course, you can roll them out next time around as circumstances may well have changed, alternative policies demonstrated not to have had desired outcomes, etc. This is something that really concerns me about the SNP. Having had the majority of Scots people living in Scotland say they don't want devolution, for a moment there (until reality kicked in) I expected Alex Salmond to not only resign, but immediately disband the SNP; now all of a sudden they have 1/12 of the nation's seats, founded primarily on a premise that most of their own country rejected... bizarre.
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Emptying all the little empties never quite emptied the big empty, but I kept on trying for lack of anything better to do.
Had to stop frequently to wash the slippery off my hands, though: memories have a lot in common with eels, you know; whatever that stuff on their surface is that helps them wriggle ... well, I wouldn't quite call it "slimy," but ...
And, you are going to lose some ... memories ... you really meant to keep in the process ... you know ... like "collateral damage" where innocent civilians get taken out.
That's how I lost my last ten birthdays, and why I can't remember my telephone number.
Which wouldn't be a problem if people didn't keep bringing it up ... the birthdays I mean.
Who to believe ?
The friend who says you got drunk, and were arrested walking naked on the freeway shouting you were a moth ? ... Or, the friend who says you had a heart-attack and spent the birthday in the ICU in a coma ? Or, the friend who claims he loaned you a hundred-bucks the day of the birthday to buy the steaks and beer ?
Not to mention the ex who now claims you apologized to her at the birthday, and agreed to up the alimony ?
Unfortunately, I also can't remember who I told what I can't remember to.
That's why I am writing this down, now.
Leaves me wondering what kind of friend would pass the butt-print of my amnesia around to all my other friends: if that isn't revenge porn, I don't know what it is.
«To kill an error's as good a service, sometimes better than, establishing new truth or fact.» Charles Darwin in "Prospero's Precepts"
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BillWoodruff wrote: whatever that stuff on their surface is that helps them wriggle ... well, I wouldn't quite call it "slimy," but ...
It's called a "protective mucus layer" and a single Hagfish can convert 20 litres of water to mucus surprisingly quickly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagfish[^] and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2EOP3ohnE[^]
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Wow, that's one amazing fish ! The next video up on YouTube after the video you linked to was a live video in the open ocean showing 14 attempts at eating a hagfish by various predators: all failed: [^].
«To kill an error's as good a service, sometimes better than, establishing new truth or fact.» Charles Darwin in "Prospero's Precepts"
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They are considering using the slime to make clothing: apparently it's made of stretchy fibres which are as strong as silk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21954779[^]
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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