It's election time again ... and for whom I voted is a secret .... isn't it?
Well, not really.
Everytime I vote the same thing happens. I watch in horror as my name is marked in the electoral list with a number, that number is then transfered to another sheet of paper which has a list of numbered ballot papers and I get handed the corresponding numbered paper to vote with.
So as usual, last night, I asked the registry officer ...
"someone can see for whom I voted by checking the corresponding numbered ballot paper from the number assigned to me in the electoral list"
... and once again the same typical response ...
"Yes, but I'm assured that all these list are kept secret and they are only there for disputes."
... however, this time there was a new twist ...
"In the future there is talk about some other mechanisms of ID checking."
Gasp, I hope not! Don't tell me our voluntary ID cards, which you'll need in order to get a new passport, are going to be required for voting in our anonymous and secret elections which make it possible to find out for whom you voted?
By the way I voted Liberal Democrat, saves anyone the bother of looking it up.
Which party will I vote for in the future? That depends upon if ID cards are introduced and if they start using those in elections.
If they do, then I'll be voting for our new masters, as a loyal and dedicated servant of "The Party" in our perpetual war against the axis of evil.
Chant after me, "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY", "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY".