“Humans elect leaders on the basis of the promises they make. We [vampires] try to elect ours based solely on the strength of their character.” 
― Darren Shan, Palace of the Damned

“The ruling power is always faced with the question, ‘In such and such circumstances, what would you do?’, whereas the opposition is not obliged to take responsibility or make any real decisions.”
― George Orwell

“Every election is determined by the people who show up.”
― Larry J. Sabato, Pendulum Swing

500,000 ElectionBuddy Ballots and counting… and with it the top 5 500,000 fact list

• The hex colour is a Cherry Red… http://www.colorhexa.com/500000
• Bob McKenzie passed the500,000 twitter follower mark
• Speleothems Reveal 500,000-Year History of Siberian Permafrost
• On the election front…  big elections like the one in Hawaii have issues too
• And on the voting front…  in 1966, Serviceman were seen casting 500,000 ballots for the US president election…

Thanks to all the loyal users… next stop, 750,000 ballots!

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

― Abraham Lincoln

If you haven’t already devoured the U.S. election coverage like a Thanksgiving turkey drumstick, I came across some oddities about elections that you might find interesting.

Forget the red versus blue states and who won Florida — the real information you need is all here. Earlier this month we blogged about some unusual indicators that historically seem to predict who will win the election.

In this blog we discuss important issues like what’s up with an election on a Tuesday? And why is it rare a politician is photographed wearing sunglasses?

Last question first. Politicians are almost never photographed wearing sunglasses, especially during election campaigns and even at leisure because style consultants tell them people won’t trust them as much.

President Obama plays golf with the sun glaring in his eyes, and this summer, Governor Mitt Romney was photographed on the back of a jet ski, bare-eyed, though his wife Ann wore sunglasses.

Sunglasses, though a fashion must if you want to look cool, are considered a barrier between them and you (every heard the expression, “Eyes are the windows of the soul?”).

And elections on Tuesdays? Why not the weekend? And why November?

One easy answer is because it’s federal law in the United States; a law that dates back to 1845.

In the early decades of the union, most Americans made their living as farmers and lived in rural areas. Planting fields and crops took precedent in the summer, but by November the harvest was over. The weather was still dry and mild enough to allow travel over dirt roads and making a trip to a polling station meant an overnight trip via horseback.

Another good reason for having a November election — it’s far enough from April 15 that voters have forgotten about the last tax-day and haven’t started worrying about the next one.

In case you haven’t heard, there’s an election coming up in November.

With two candidates in the U.S. Presidential Election who couldn’t be more different, where or how do you look for inspiration on how to vote? There’s so many issues to track and in this age of sound-bite journalism, it’s even harder for the average person to make informed decisions. So you may want to look for inspiration from some unusual places to help your decision-making.

Here’s an overview of some strange methods to predict the U.S. election winner:

1. 7-Eleven Cups: Back in 2008 the convenience store chain 7-11 lets customers pick between two different coffee cups: One featuring the Democrat, one featuring the Republican. This is the fourth election that’s featured the cups, and in the three previous elections (2000,  2004, 2008)  7-11 cup sales prophetically predicted the winner. So far 7-11 shoppers have “voted” for Obama who is leading with 60 per cent.

2. Washington Redskins: Starting in 1936, if the Washington Redskins won their final home game before a presidential election, the incumbent party won that election.

If they lost their final home game before the election, the incumbent party lost. These Redskins predictions held true for 15 straight elections… until the 2004 election, when the Redskins lost their last home game and George W. Bush won anyway.

3. Height: Since 1900, taller candidates have lost to a shorter opponent only eight times. For the record, incumbent Obama is 6-foot-1 while his rival Mitt Romney is 6-foot-2.

4. Last Name Length: Starting in 1900, the candidate with more letters in his last name has won 15 times and lost seven times. (Three times the candidates had the same number of letters.) This didn’t hold true in 2008 as Obama beat McCain in the election, despite having one less letter in his last name. What will happen in 2012?

5. Hair: In the TV era of presidential elections, the candidate with better hair has almost always won. This year is particularly tough to handicap as neither candidate is follicle-challenged. If the amount of hair on a cranium is important, Romney wins. But does he win or lose points with you knowing that he doesn’t colour his hair?

I find it ironic that the election is held during November, which more recently has become Mo-vember and men around the world let hair on their upper lip grow. Will either man grow a mustache? And would you vote for either one of them if they sported a handlebar moustache or something Tom Sellick-like?

To read more strange election predictors, read the blog at 11points.com. And check back for updates on this and other elections.

With the U.S. Presidential Election only six weeks away all kinds of pundits and experts are coming out with their opinion on who is going to win or they’re busy analyzing the latest poll results from all angles.

Voters are taking this seriously too and rightly so — the economy is still struggling and people are wondering who is the best person to lead them out of this quagmire. Still, this election seems to have more of a circus atmosphere than year’s past — is this a trick or a treat? It depends on your perspective.

No one can blame you for leaning towards the trick side. How else can you explain countless articles and polls on which candidate is selling more Halloween masks or the best pumpkin carved with a candidate’s face!

While a fun and light exercise, a poll showing who is leading in mask sales isn’t the best indicator of who will win the actual election. President Obama is leading with about 58% of the sales (on average) over his rival Gov. Mitt Romney according to buycostumes.com and other costume sites, but will that sway you to vote for him?

At least the company selling the masks are up front about this election — it CAN be bought. Buy a mask and you get to vote; it’s that simple! And I hate to give more free advertising but their site is just plain awesome with a map of the U.S. that shows who is leading by state, graphs showing day-to-day trends and even which vice-presidents’ mask is more popular.

Have fun with this and give us your feedback on which mask you like better!

For 250,000 Albertans, the provincial election is going to be the first time they get to vote and the election is shaping up to be on the most exciting in decades.

Early polls have two political parties tied in terms of popularity, most of the parties have new leaders and a new party is in the race this time so this election is much more exciting than previous ones. And students can play a pivotal role in who the election’s winner will be.

The Students’ Unions at the University of Alberta, University of Lethbridge, and University of Calgary want you to pledge to vote, so check out www.getoutthevote.ca to see how to register as a voter and how you can rally fellow students to vote as well.

A study from Elections Canada reports that that the decline of voter turnout among youth nationally is a long-term trend that started in the 1970s (only 44% of youth in the 18-24 age bracket voted in the 2008 federal election).

This is your chance to reverse the trend!

With the school year end near, thoughts turn to elections whether it’s from prom queen, this year’s grad theme or the grad class song.  Or maybe it’s time to start plotting your personal election strategy for next year’s student council vote.

The Electionbuddy team wants to help you win — running for student office can be a rewarding experience and even though it will add to your workload you will one day marvel at the role you played and how you affected student’s perception of their school.  We thought it would be cool to share this video on how to win a student election courtesy of wikiHow.

And we hope you think of electionbuddy.com for managing the election process.