Photograph Source: JJ Harrison – CC BY-SA 4.0

They can be a serious lot in New Zealand.  They got upset at – forgive this author such reference – the use of a rule in cricket back in February 1981 which led to expressions of misty anger from the Prime Minister of the day, Robert Muldoon.  While permissible within the laws of cricket, sides are generally not meant to bowl underarm.  This, Greg Chappell’s Australians did.  “I thought it most appropriate that the Australian team was dressed in yellow,” Muldoon fumed.

Recently, mild tempers were stirred by what could be regarded as a form of ballot interference, this time regarding the vote for the country’s most famous Bird of the Year competition.  On this occasion, the competition, run by the conservation group Forest and Bird since 2005, had an elevated importance, being badged as a vote to identify New Zealand’s Bird of the Century.

While electoral and voter interference has become the stuff of mania since the 2016 US election, inducing fits of spluttering concern against those mischievous meddlers in Moscow and Beijing, some New Zealanders could be justified in showing irritation at the vigorous, external advocacy by the Anglo-American comedian, John Oliver, for the pūteketeke.  Also known as the Australasian crested grebe, Oliver had detected a loophole in the voting rules, which permitted anyone with a valid email address to cast a vote.

Oliver made a stirring promotional pitch on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show, and expressed admiration on his own HBO show Last Week Tonight.  “They are weird puking birds with colourful mullets.  What’s not to love there?”  He also admired their “mating dance where both grab a clump of wet grass and chest bump each other before standing around unsure of what to do next.”

If billboards and an advertising campaign are measurements of love, then Oliver had it in feathery abundance as the bird’s self-appointed campaign manager.  Billboards celebrating his special avian choice made their appearance in Wellington, Paris, Tokyo and Mumbai celebrating this “Lord of the Wings”.

The comedian’s background in this enterprise was, in many ways, fitting.  Both the United Kingdom and the United States have made it something of a corrosive specialty swaying foreign elections and doctoring ballots over the decades.  “This is what democracy is all about,” declared Oliver, “America interfering in foreign elections.”

Nor was Oliver venturing into a competition of virginal innocence.  Fraud and idiosyncrasy have been prevalent themes.  In 2018, 300 fraudulent votes were cast by Australians attempting to rig the result in favour of the shag.  In 2019, accusations were made that Russian votes (of course) had played a spoiling role, though a spokesperson for Forest and Bird, Megan Hubscher, regarded them as legitimately cast by Russian ornithologists.  “New Zealand actually shares birds with Russia,” she plausibly reasoned.  In 2020, 1,500 fraudulent votes were cast for the kiwi. The following year, the competition was won by the long-tailed bat, prompting calls that the election had been stolen.

The voting that followed in 2023 was truly global in nature: 350,000 ballots cast from almost 200 countries during a frenzied bout of campaigning.  At one point, the voting verification system crashed, delaying the result by two days.

There were also instances of blatant voter fraud.  A supporter of the eastern rockhopper penguin (“hipster penguin” to Oliver) cast 40,000 votes for the bird.  Another, based in Pennsylvania in the US cast 3,403 votes, with one arriving every three seconds.  Both mercifully failed in having their efforts count.

The number for the pūteketeke was a lopsided tally of 290,000 votes, leaving the kiwi in second place with a paltry 12,904.  The next three placements were the kea, kākāpo and the fantail.  Nicola Toki, the chief executive of Forest and Bird, was gingerly diplomatic about the result.  She described the pūteketeke as being “an outside contender for Bird of the Century but was catapulted to the top spot thanks to its unique looks, adorable parenting style, and propensity for puking.”  Toki and her colleagues were “not surprised these charming characteristics caught the eye of an influential bird enthusiast with a massive following.”

The incoming New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, did not seem too troubled either. “Congratulations to the campaign manager @iamjohnoliver [John Oliver] and all those who gave their support to the pūteketeke,” he posted on the platform formally known as Twitter.

Many did not share that view.  Umbrage was taken at Oliver’s derisory remark at one of the country’s most recognised birds, the kiwi, as “a rat carrying a toothpick.”  Supporters of the kākāriki karaka, or orange-fronted parakeet, countered with their own billboard campaign sporting such lines as, “Dear John, don’t disrupt the pecking order.”

While the whole thing seemed like an indulgence, notably given the daily news digests of war, famine and societal failure, Toki could take heart at a bird campaign that had been globalised.  At home, the country’s native species (politicians, take note) are struggling; 80 percent have made their way to the dreaded threatened species list, and the Department of Conservation is having its budget cut.  “We promised controversy but didn’t quite expect this!  We’re stoked to see the outpouring of passion, creativity and debate this campaign has ignited.”  Sadly, passion and awareness are not always politically convertible currencies.

The post Rigging Avian Ballots: New Zealand’s Bird of the Century Competition appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Binoy Kampmark.

Recently, mild tempers were stirred by what could be regarded as a form of ballot interference, this time regarding the vote for the country’s most famous Bird of the Year competition.  On this occasion, the competition, run by the conservation group Forest and Bird since 2005, had an elevated importance, being badged as a vote to identify New Zealand’s Bird of the Century.

While electoral and voter interference has become the stuff of mania since the 2016 US election, inducing fits of spluttering concern against those mischievous meddlers in Moscow and Beijing, some New Zealanders could be justified in showing irritation at the vigorous, external advocacy by the Anglo-American comedian, John Oliver, for the pūteketeke.  Also known as the Australasian crested grebe, Oliver had detected a loophole in the voting rules, which permitted anyone with a valid email address to cast a vote.

Oliver made a stirring promotional pitch on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show, and expressed admiration on his own HBO show Last Week Tonight.  “They are weird puking birds with colourful mullets.  What’s not to love there?”  He also admired their “mating dance where both grab a clump of wet grass and chest bump each other before standing around unsure of what to do next.”

If billboards and an advertising campaign are measurements of love, then Oliver had it in feathery abundance as the bird’s self-appointed campaign manager.  Billboards celebrating his special avian choice made their appearance in Wellington, Paris, Tokyo and Mumbai celebrating this “Lord of the Wings”.

The comedian’s background in this enterprise was, in many ways, fitting.  Both the United Kingdom and the United States have made it something of a corrosive specialty swaying foreign elections and doctoring ballots over the decades.  “This is what democracy is all about,” declared Oliver, “America interfering in foreign elections.”

Nor was Oliver venturing into a competition of virginal innocence.  Fraud and idiosyncrasy have been prevalent themes.  In 2018, 300 fraudulent votes were cast by Australians attempting to rig the result in favour of the shag.  In 2019, accusations were made that Russian votes (of course) had played a spoiling role, though a spokesperson for Forest and Bird, Megan Hubscher, regarded them as legitimately cast by Russian ornithologists.  “New Zealand actually shares birds with Russia,” she plausibly reasoned.  In 2020, 1,500 fraudulent votes were cast for the kiwi. The following year, the competition was won by the long-tailed bat, prompting calls that the election had been stolen.

The voting that followed in 2023 was truly global in nature: 350,000 ballots cast from almost 200 countries during a frenzied bout of campaigning.  At one point, the voting verification system crashed, delaying the result by two days.

There were also instances of blatant voter fraud.  A supporter of the eastern rockhopper penguin (“hipster penguin” to Oliver) cast 40,000 votes for the bird.  Another, based in Pennsylvania in the US cast 3,403 votes, with one arriving every three seconds.  Both mercifully failed in having their efforts count.

The number for the pūteketeke was a lopsided tally of 290,000 votes, leaving the kiwi in second place with a paltry 12,904.  The next three placements were the kea, kākāpo and the fantail.  Nicola Toki, the chief executive of Forest and Bird, was gingerly diplomatic about the result.  She described the pūteketeke as being “an outside contender for Bird of the Century but was catapulted to the top spot thanks to its unique looks, adorable parenting style, and propensity for puking.”  Toki and her colleagues were “not surprised these charming characteristics caught the eye of an influential bird enthusiast with a massive following.”

The incoming New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, did not seem too troubled either. “Congratulations to the campaign manager @iamjohnoliver [John Oliver] and all those who gave their support to the pūteketeke,” he posted on the platform formally known as Twitter.

Many did not share that view.  Umbrage was taken at Oliver’s derisory remark at one of the country’s most recognised birds, the kiwi, as “a rat carrying a toothpick.”  Supporters of the kākāriki karaka, or orange-fronted parakeet, countered with their own billboard campaign sporting such lines as, “Dear John, don’t disrupt the pecking order.”

While the whole thing seemed like an indulgence, notably given the daily news digests of war, famine and societal failure, Toki could take heart at a bird campaign that had been globalised.  At home, the country’s native species (politicians, take note) are struggling; 80 percent have made their way to the dreaded threatened species list, and the Department of Conservation is having its budget cut.  “We promised controversy but didn’t quite expect this!  We’re stoked to see the outpouring of passion, creativity and debate this campaign has ignited.”  Sadly, passion and awareness are not always politically convertible currencies.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Binoy Kampmark.

“Shame on yous!” … these are the three powerful words Julie Soso, former governor and candidate for the Eastern Highlands regional seat, had to say for the newly elected members to Papua New Guinea’s Parliament — all men so far.

Soso, Carol Mayo (Vanimo-Green Open), Albertine Ehari (Kerema Open), Shelley Launa and Mary Maima (Simbu Regional), Dr Julianne Kaman and Sarah Garap from Jiwaka-based Meri I Kirap Sapotim (MIKS), an NGO, yesterday joined more than 100 women leaders from Enga and Jiwaka in condemning the manner in which the national election 2022 was conducted.

The women leaders say violence, bribery, vote rigging, controlled voting, threats compounded with selective counting and manipulation of numbers in counting centres involving the PNG Electoral Commission officials “killed all aspirations” women had to get into the National Parliament in this election.

• READ MORE: ‘Enough is enough’: the fight to elect women to Papua New Guinea’s men-only Parliament
• Women battle for seats in PNG parliament
• Papua New Guinea hasn’t had a woman in parliament for five years. This election may deliver change
• Other PNG election reports

“Young men who are supporters of contesting candidates used violence as a means to intimidate voters at polling stations,” said Dr Kaman said from Jiwaka.

“Many women and vulnerable voters gave up and went away.”

She was supported by Launa and Maima, who said the candidates and their supporters “came to fight, not to vote”.

“They told us that the regional votes were ‘pipia votes’ [‘rubbish votes’] and they sold the ballot papers,” Launa added.

‘Hired thugs’
Not only were the women and vulnerable voters confronted with candidates and their “hired thugs” who took away the ballot papers to mark themselves as voters, they were also confronted by husbands and sons who had taken bribes.

“Campaign was good. It was at the polling booths [that the intimidation happened],” Albertine Ehari, who stood for the Kerema Open, said.

“The husbands and sons took bribes from the candidates and they took over the voting from the mothers and young girls. Many gave up.”

In the Southern Highlands, the only female candidate for regional seat, Ruth Undi, and her supporters were left wondering what had become of their votes.

“There were outside ballot papers that were brought in by the disciplinary forces and we voted.”

Undi’s campaign manager, Jamson Mange, said from Mendi yesterday: “Her supporters voted for her, they came back with their reports and we are surprised that these votes are not registered on the tally boards.”

Mayo, a candidate for the Vanimo-Green electorate, said she went up against candidates with money and cargo.

“How come I have not scored any votes? There is selective counting here, the counting was controlled and manipulated,” Mayo added.

Violence on higher scale
Violence in elections in Enga is nothing new but it was on a higher scale in this election.

“We have not voted ever since because men use force to take away the ballot boxes and mark the ballots in hideouts,” an Enga woman leader said.

The women leader is among 98 others from Porgera, Kandep, Wapenamanda, Wabag and Lagaip districts who joined 40 other women leaders from Jiwaka province, who are petitioning the PNG Electoral Commission to cancel all the writs and hold fresh elections.

The women did not want their names released because they were placing their own lives — and that of their families — in danger by taking their grievances to the PNGEC and the media.

“Declaration of candidates in the Highlands is questionable. How did they get 50.1 percent of the total votes when more than 50 percent of the voter age people did not vote?” the head of MIKS non-government group, Garap, asked.

“Candidates there did not come through free, fair, participatory, non-violent elections.”

Soso remarked: “These were promoted and accepted by leaders that are now getting ready to go into government and Parliament.

Exploiting the system
“They knew the election system was poor, they knew they would use the system to get in.

“They should be ashamed of themselves,” Soso added.

The women have demanded immediate steps to be taken to make the 2027 national election safe and free for them.

Among measures proposed include a biometric system to carry out the Common Roll, the National Identification Project, and to conduct polling in the 2027 election.

Ehari said: “Elections shouldn’t be about how much money candidates or parties are spending during or before the vote.

“It should be about people working together to choose the right leader and work together to bring practical and agreed development.”

• Papua New Guinea is one of just four countries in the world without a single woman in Parliament. The 167 women who contested this year’s elections represented less than 5 percent of the total number of candidates.

Peter Korugl is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

“Shame on yous!” … these are the three powerful words Julie Soso, former governor and candidate for the Eastern Highlands regional seat, had to say for the newly elected members to Papua New Guinea’s Parliament — all men so far.

Soso, Carol Mayo (Vanimo-Green Open), Albertine Ehari (Kerema Open), Shelley Launa and Mary Maima (Simbu Regional), Dr Julianne Kaman and Sarah Garap from Jiwaka-based Meri I Kirap Sapotim (MIKS), an NGO, yesterday joined more than 100 women leaders from Enga and Jiwaka in condemning the manner in which the national election 2022 was conducted.

The women leaders say violence, bribery, vote rigging, controlled voting, threats compounded with selective counting and manipulation of numbers in counting centres involving the PNG Electoral Commission officials “killed all aspirations” women had to get into the National Parliament in this election.

• READ MORE: ‘Enough is enough’: the fight to elect women to Papua New Guinea’s men-only Parliament
• Women battle for seats in PNG parliament
• Papua New Guinea hasn’t had a woman in parliament for five years. This election may deliver change
• Other PNG election reports

“Young men who are supporters of contesting candidates used violence as a means to intimidate voters at polling stations,” said Dr Kaman said from Jiwaka.

“Many women and vulnerable voters gave up and went away.”

She was supported by Launa and Maima, who said the candidates and their supporters “came to fight, not to vote”.

“They told us that the regional votes were ‘pipia votes’ [‘rubbish votes’] and they sold the ballot papers,” Launa added.

‘Hired thugs’
Not only were the women and vulnerable voters confronted with candidates and their “hired thugs” who took away the ballot papers to mark themselves as voters, they were also confronted by husbands and sons who had taken bribes.

“Campaign was good. It was at the polling booths [that the intimidation happened],” Albertine Ehari, who stood for the Kerema Open, said.

“The husbands and sons took bribes from the candidates and they took over the voting from the mothers and young girls. Many gave up.”

In the Southern Highlands, the only female candidate for regional seat, Ruth Undi, and her supporters were left wondering what had become of their votes.

“There were outside ballot papers that were brought in by the disciplinary forces and we voted.”

Undi’s campaign manager, Jamson Mange, said from Mendi yesterday: “Her supporters voted for her, they came back with their reports and we are surprised that these votes are not registered on the tally boards.”

Mayo, a candidate for the Vanimo-Green electorate, said she went up against candidates with money and cargo.

“How come I have not scored any votes? There is selective counting here, the counting was controlled and manipulated,” Mayo added.

Violence on higher scale
Violence in elections in Enga is nothing new but it was on a higher scale in this election.

“We have not voted ever since because men use force to take away the ballot boxes and mark the ballots in hideouts,” an Enga woman leader said.

The women leader is among 98 others from Porgera, Kandep, Wapenamanda, Wabag and Lagaip districts who joined 40 other women leaders from Jiwaka province, who are petitioning the PNG Electoral Commission to cancel all the writs and hold fresh elections.

The women did not want their names released because they were placing their own lives — and that of their families — in danger by taking their grievances to the PNGEC and the media.

“Declaration of candidates in the Highlands is questionable. How did they get 50.1 percent of the total votes when more than 50 percent of the voter age people did not vote?” the head of MIKS non-government group, Garap, asked.

“Candidates there did not come through free, fair, participatory, non-violent elections.”

Soso remarked: “These were promoted and accepted by leaders that are now getting ready to go into government and Parliament.

Exploiting the system
“They knew the election system was poor, they knew they would use the system to get in.

“They should be ashamed of themselves,” Soso added.

The women have demanded immediate steps to be taken to make the 2027 national election safe and free for them.

Among measures proposed include a biometric system to carry out the Common Roll, the National Identification Project, and to conduct polling in the 2027 election.

Ehari said: “Elections shouldn’t be about how much money candidates or parties are spending during or before the vote.

“It should be about people working together to choose the right leader and work together to bring practical and agreed development.”

• Papua New Guinea is one of just four countries in the world without a single woman in Parliament. The 167 women who contested this year’s elections represented less than 5 percent of the total number of candidates.

Peter Korugl is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.