Robert: In observing your enthusiastic questions as to Orkney politics, the silence of the respondents is deafening. Elsewhere in the free world, the mere mention of government would draw a flood of opinions and soiled language. Unchanged as those dear islands may physically be, through all these thousands of years, with ancient rocks still standing and caves of old intact and the surf pounding away on those spectacular photographed shores we enjoy seeing, the change in the political flavour cannot be denied, even from afar. It has progressed from clashing swords to cashing hordes {of travelers cheques}, and the representation weakened along with it. Colonial Orkney rages on, defended in the mighty house of democracy with but one voice for seventy islands. Well, OK I guess. This is unique in the world to be sure. But our gracious Orkney hosts could well be frustrated with such a minimalist representation on the big kilted island to the west, where all those other mainisle folks factually make decisions for wee Orkney. The one representative must be a virtual voice in the wilderness. I picture his seat in the back left corner, beneath the sign pointing to the washrooms. So it might take munching time before the envisioned verbal onslaught occurs. Perhaps the last advocate of Orkney independence was set adrift in a leaky longboat, or failing to come home from the pub, was found strangled in a ditch, the Sinclair scarf still tight around his objectionable voice box. When the Brits imposed their style in Africa and in islands in the Americas, in time the frustrated locals stood up, and not without bloodshed in some cases, and declared eventual freedom with hardwon independence. While this may not have been a good thing for Uganda, for example, the folks living in Turks and Caicos, Barbados and The Virgin Islands, seem to be happier. I recall the USA having a little tussle back then too. They felt that far afield decisions didn't protect the local interest. Hopefully, the chains will fall and Orkney lips and hearts will be free to speak with their normal eloquence and reservation, and your excellent points on this "topic" will get the air play it deserves. Seems most other British Islands, taken by force or by a mere imperial presence, have gone their own way. Orkney seems unique in this regard. Therefore the issue of governance is intriguing, perhaps moreso to we colonials than locals, based on our success after the weaning and their life under the dictatorial thumb of Tony the Tiger or Prince Charles. Good luck.................stephen November 28, 2003, at 03:03 PM, robert@scarth.net wrote: > On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 10:20:24 EST, Juanelan@aol.com wrote: > >> >> How does Election Day work in Orkney? >> WHo gets out the vote? What is the local political structure and > heirarchy? >> Are government workers allowed to help 'encourage' people to vote? >> And is there a, er, ahem, a column on the card that they would want >> to >> encourage? >> Who registers people to vote there? What is the lag time between > residency >> requirements and registration? >> .... >> Now, how are the elections runs in Orkney? What is the dedicated > politcal >> make up? >> > > For the UK Parliament Orkney joins with Shetland to send one MP to > Westminster, but each send their own MSP to the Scottish Parliament. > All > three representatives are Liberal Democrats and all have among the > safest > seats in the whole country. Orkney and Shetland have had a Liberal > representative in the UK Parliament for the last 50 years and as things > stand it looks like we will for the next 50 years. Because things are > so > unlikely to change there is very little electioneering in Orkney (I > haven't > been in Orkney for the last few elections, but I can't imagine things > have > changed). You probably wouldn't notice there was an election until you > turned on the TV. > > The rules governing the elections are the same as for elsewhere in > Scotland > and the UK; whoever gets the most votes wins. For the Scottish > Parliament > there is an additional complication. As well as voting for a member to > represent your area you vote for a party, then additional MSPs are > allocated so that overall the proportion of MSPs for each party > reflects > the proportion of votes for each party in this second vote. This is > called > "The Additional Member System". > > There are also MEPs - Members of the European Parliament, in > Strasbourg. > There are 8 such MEPs for the whole of Scotland and they are elected > by a > mechanism that only three people have ever understood - one of whom is > dead, the second has gone mad, and the third has forgotten. Nobody has > the > faintest idea who any of the MEPs are, in fact after the last european > election I was shocked to discover that I'd lost my seat - I'd been an > MEP > for 5 years and didn't know! > > Robert > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >