BBC via Ballot Access News (excerpt):
Germany’s Pirate Party won seats in North Rhine-Westphalia, making it their fourth state parliament.
The Pirate Party has grown in strength recently with its calls for transparency and internet freedom.
Nationally, Sunday’s election will not change the balance of power, whatever the outcome, but opposition leaders warn it may send an important signal ahead of national elections expected in late 2013.
Left out
Official results give the Social Democrats (SPD) 39.1%, the Christian Democrats (CDU) 26.3%, the Greens 11.3%, the Free Democrats (FDP) 8.6%, the Pirates 7.8% and the Left, 2.5%, reported AP news agency.
The FDP, the CDU’s national coalition partner, performed better than expected, increasing their vote by nearly two percentage points and thereby giving the lie to speculation that they might fail to win seats.
The Left, which won 11 seats at the last election in 2010, failed to pass the 5% threshold and are out of the state parliament.
When the CDU and FDP recently lost elections in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, Mrs Merkel’s party scored its lowest tally there for 50 years.
North Rhine-Westphalia has a history of influencing national politics.
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Boston Pride Tomorrow!
Friday, June 8, 2012:
“Massachusetts Pirate Party” Thanks!
Boston Pride is Tomorrow!
Saturday, June 9th, we will march in the Boston Pride Parade to show our support for civil liberties and Bradley Manning.
We have a whole crew of people to march in the parade, and we want you to join us! Friends and family are of course welcome as well.
Starting by 10:30am we will meet in front of 915 Boylston Street across from the Hynes Convention Center.
[Lake: Boston Marathon finish area ??????]
Marchers should meet us by 11:30am to get ready as the parade starts promptly at noon.
We will also be at the festival, so if you don’t want to march, we could use your help at the table telling people about the Pirate Party.
You can volunteer anytime between noon and 6pm.
It helps us to plan our table schedule if you sign up in advance, but feel free to show up at the festival.
So come dressed in your favorite pirate gear if you want, be loud and show your support for the Pirate Party.
NF
Wikipedia sez
In April 2009, the party was fined 2.5 million Euro for filing incorrect financial statements, resulting, according to Deutsche Welle, in “serious financial trouble” for its administration.[45]
On 23 September 2009, four days before the federal elections, German police raided the Berlin headquarters of the NPD to investigate claims that letters sent from the NPD to politicians from immigrant backgrounds incited racial hatred. The NPD leader in Berlin defended the letters saying that “As part of a democracy we’re entitled to say if something doesn’t suit us in this country”.[46][47][48][49][50][51]
The 2011 banning attempt
In 2011, authorities were reportedly trying to link the party, and specifically 30-year-old national organization director Patrick Wieschke, to the “so-called Zwickau terrorist cell”. This raised the possibility of another effort to outlaw the party. Zwickau had been implicated in a string of murders and the November robbery of a savings bank in Eisenach. Authorities were also pursuing a gun case against Ralf Wohlleben, former deputy chairman of the party’s branch in Thuringia, though the latter case was reportedly unlikely to translate into a national-level challenge to the party’s legal standing.[52] The likelihood of success of renewed banning attempts has been questioned, given the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has over 130 informants in the party, some in high positions, raising the question of whether the party is effectively controlled by the government.[53]
I am actually a bit surprised that the NPD didn’t do anything. With all the turmoil and economic problems I am gratified that the voters didn’t go in that direction.
It’s also worth noting that the Pirate Party uses Approval Voting for its candidate nominations. It won 18-20 seats in North Rhine-Westphalia.
It appears that the Pirates are a fun bunch and they “stole” lots of votes from the Left Party, which has recently seen lots of internal bickering and has been, well, no fun at all. This will prove temporary for the Pirates if they don’t broaden their platform and program, which consists of little more than calls for internet freedom and transparency.