I have a longstanding fascination with small parties. And I don’t mean the US Green Party. It once had a candidate reach 2.7% of the nationwide vote. I mean really small.
This interest (like my fascination with most things electoral) goes back to when my mother was an election precinct Inspector for almost every election when I was a kid, and one of her duties before the election was to post the list of qualified write-in candidates outside our garage/polling place. That meant parties like Prohibition, Socialist Workers, etc.
Jewschool has a nice compilation of information and website links to the parties running in the Israeli election. An especially interesting contender:
Party for the Struggle with the Banks / Halev: Their website says “You thought Hamas was dangerous? That’s nothing compared to the banks!â€
Ukraine’s Central Election Commission lists several interesting tiny parties, none of which came even close to 1% of the vote. For instance: The Party of Putin’s Politics (apparently for those for whom Yanukovych was too much of a sellout); the Ukrainian Party of Honor, Combating Corruption and Organized Crime; and at least four greenish parties (The Party of Environmental Protection, a party called Green Planet, the Social-Environmental Party “Union.Chornobyl.Ukraine”, and, of course, the Green Party of Ukraine). Bringing up the rear, with 0.02% of the vote was Ahead, Ukraine.
Both countries’ voters have the option of voting for a pensioners’ party, but only Israelis have the possibility of expressing their support for Men’s Rights.
‘Scottish Wind Watch’, a fine ambition for anyone contesting an election, received 0.6% of the vote (7,255 votes) in Scotland in the European Parliament election in 2004.
Seed planted by Lewis Baston — 28 March 2006 @ 07:45
Wind Watch have nothing on Lord Biro, arch nemesis of Robert Kilroy Silk and leader of the Church of the Militant Elvis Party.
Seed planted by Paul Davies — 29 March 2006 @ 02:05