{"id":9563,"date":"2021-05-03T16:52:59","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T15:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9563"},"modified":"2021-05-03T17:07:42","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T16:07:42","slug":"the-weird-and-wonderful-world-of-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9563","title":{"rendered":"The Weird And Wonderful World Of Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF DEMOCRACY <\/strong><\/p>\n

When you rock up at the community centre to cast your vote in the Senedd Cymru elections, you might come across people exercising their right to vote for the very first time. Not everyone welcomed the idea of extending the vote to 16 year olds, but the Welsh Government hope that this move will encourage young people to engage with the political process. An estimated 33,000 foreign nationals can now also take part provided they meet certain legal and residency requirements. Our politicians of course, will be looking to attract voters both old and new. All told they will spend more than \u00a31 million, encouraging us to turn out and especially to vote for them.<\/p>\n

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Things have moved on quite a bit since democracy first got going in 5th century Athens, when women, slaves and foreigners were excluded. We took some time to catch on to the idea of democracy. Until the Reform Act of 1832 certain \u2018rotten boroughs\u2019 in the pockets of rich landowners, elected two Members of Parliament even though there were few or even no actual voters. Dunwich in Suffolk, which as a result of coastal erosion had almost fallen into the sea and Old Sarum in Wiltshire, which consisted of two or three houses, were classic examples. This situation was even more absurd when you consider that until 1832 new industrial towns like Manchester with a population of 60,000, did not have a single MP.<\/p>\n

In the rare event there was a properly contested election those who could afford to stand came up with some cunning plans to make sure voters turned up and voted for them and it wasn\u2019t just in Britain. In 1758, George Washington, then a young candidate for the Virginia House of Burgesses, bought a huge round of drinks on Election Day. Washington spent his entire campaign budget \u2014 \u00a350 \u2014 on 160 gallons of liquor served to 391 voters. The custom of buying votes with booze was perhaps not surprisingly a British tradition imported to the American colonies. In Wales we had one of the finest examples. A celebrated contest took place in Carmarthenshire in 1802 between James Hamlyn Williams and William Paxton. The election was said to have cost Paxton a total of \u00a315,000. This included 11,070 breakfasts, 36,901 dinners, 25,275 gallons of ale, 11,068 bottles of spirits, 8,879 bottles of porter, 460 of sherry, 509 of cider and gallons of milk punch. The contest became known as \u2018Lecsiwn Fawr\u2019 (the Great Election). In spite of these efforts, Paxton was defeated and spent two years settling his debts! Things are a bit different today and in some US states such as Utah, buying any alcoholic beverages on the day of the election is actually prohibited. Indiana recently abolished this rule, but they have their own interesting take on elections where the sheriff is called to haul you out of the voting booth if you take too long \u2013 reckoned to be a maximum of three minutes.<\/p>\n

A record $14 million was spent by the candidates during the 2020 US presidential election campaign. In the UK the spending limit for each candidate standing for election as an MP is \u00a38,700 plus 6p per registered parliamentary elector. The current Senedd Cymru elections will cost our politicians a pretty penny. In 2016 even the Monster Raving Loony Party spent \u00a38,808! This may not have gone down well if it was in Ohio where they have a clause that prohibits idiots from voting \u2014 no, really. It reads, \u201cNo idiot, or insane person, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.\u201d Some US voters recently went so far as to suggest that this clause should apply to presidential elections as well!<\/p>\n

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THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF DEMOCRACY When you rock up at the community centre to cast your vote in the Senedd Cymru elections, you might come across people exercising their right to vote for the very first time. Not everyone welcomed the idea of extending the vote to 16 year olds, but the Welsh Government hope that this move […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334,128],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2uf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1837,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1837","url_meta":{"origin":9563,"position":0},"title":"Musings of A Political Teenager","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st December 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 PLAY HARD, WORK HARD Being 16 means that the ability to vote over the decisions made in our country is currently unavailable to me. It\u2019s unfortunate that I was unable to voice my opinions in a more political way over the summer than simply conversing with those who\u2019d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Play Hard Work Hard"","block_context":{"text":"Play Hard Work Hard","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=274"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7111,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7111","url_meta":{"origin":9563,"position":1},"title":"February Parish Church News","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"February Parish Church News \u00a0 Last Christmas, the Parochial Church Council decided that the chosen charities for the collections at the Wenvoe Community Carol Service and the \u201cWaiting for Jesus\u201d service, would be shared between the Neo Natal Unit at the UHW and the Food Bank in Barry. The money\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "St Mary's Parish Church News"","block_context":{"text":"St Mary's Parish Church News","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13850,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13850","url_meta":{"origin":9563,"position":2},"title":"NOTICE OF ELECTION","author":"Alan Williams","date":"2nd December 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"VALE OF GLAMORGAN NOTICE OF ELECTION ELECTION OF A COMMUNITY COUNCILLOR WENVOE COMMUNITY COUNCIL \u2013 ST LYTHANS WARD \u00a0 1. Nomination papers must be delivered to the Returning Officer no later than 4pm on Tuesday 12 December 2023. 2. Nomination papers may be delivered to the Returning Officer at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Community Council Elections"","block_context":{"text":"Community Council Elections","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=269"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3760,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3760","url_meta":{"origin":9563,"position":3},"title":"September’s Events","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th September 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 September saw a quickening of the pace in activity in the church. People are so used to thinking that the church is only used on a Sunday that it may come as a surprise at the other times that services take place. During the month the Eucharist has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Messy Church"","block_context":{"text":"Messy Church","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=117"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9614,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9614","url_meta":{"origin":9563,"position":4},"title":"Searching Desperately for a Treasurer","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"o WOMEN\u2019S INSTITUTE Hopefully all members, their families and friends are safe and well. May is the time of the year when we would normally hold our Annual Meeting. It is really important that members are aware that we are still searching desperately for a Treasurer to re-place Jayne so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Womens Institute"","block_context":{"text":"Womens Institute","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=37"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4364,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4364","url_meta":{"origin":9563,"position":5},"title":"Gertrude Jenner – Suffragist","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th March 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"REDRESSING THE BALANCE \u00a0 On occasion of her death in April 1894 at the age of 69, the popular Evening News, while recognising her great charitable work, described Wenvoe\u2019s Gertrude Jenner as a picturesque, eccentric and pathetic character. 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