No more corflutes?

Did I really read those words? The state government is going to ban those election corflutes? Really?

What on earth will it be like without those election corflutes out on all the "stobie" poles or cluttering up fences and railings? 

For those of you in Upover and elsewhere I need to explain. You no doubt know what a corflute is although you may know it simply as a plastic election poster. It will have the name of the party on it and it will exhort you to vote for "the Grey party" or the "Pink party" or some other party. Some will have a photograph of the candidate or the leader of the party. Yes, standard election materials and practices in many parts of the world. 

Here they get plastered on "stobie" poles...those unsightly steel and concrete poles that carry electricity along the older suburban streets of this city. (The newer areas have finally gone underground.) The poles themselves are dangerous, many a person has been killed or injured driving into them. Corflutes add to the problems they cause.

At election time it is not unusual to see a corflute on each pole along the busier roads. At the last election there seemed to be even more than usual. Some poles had two corflutes - for opposing parties. In some places, where they could be reached easily, the usual graffiti appeared and people plastered opposing views over them.

Most people I know are infuriated by them. It does not encourage them to vote one way or the other. They want to be rid of the things. I could not agree more. 

I would also be rid of the a-frames which litter the streets - and I would do that at all times and for all businesses as well. They are another danger.

And I would go further still. I would ban all the "how to vote" cards - deemed necessary because of our iniquitous "compulsory preferential voting" system. If you do not know how you intend to vote and in which order to put the candidates to make your vote count then why are you voting at all? Yes, I know. It is compulsory to attend the ballot box. It still does not mean you should need to take three or four "how to vote" cards from eager volunteers as you enter the polling station...and then just put them in the bin as you leave. We need to be rid of such things.

I suggest political parties should be allowed just one lot of election material. They should be required to state their policies in plain language on one just one sheet of paper - paper that can be recycled. The amount they spend on other advertising (including social media) should also be limited. If we did this then political parties or would-be politicians would have to be a great deal more careful about getting their message across.

It won't happen. You can't have people actually knowing who or what they are voting for can you? But at least now we might be rid of those wretched corflutes.