european election 2009

Only the better part of two days and we will know the results. And while I liked discovering so many new things, mostly because of being the political editor at eurOut.org, I will be relieved when political life won't be dominated by the Elections anymore.

I admit, mostly it was my own fault. Apparently politicians believe that it's sufficient to reach out to voters 2 or 3 weeks before the elections? What about all those voters using "vote by mail"? Don't they have the right nor need to be informed too?

Thanks to Facebook and twitter I probably got more than the normal share of campaigning information, some sources proved very valuable and I'll keep following them.

The other part I cannot really grasp is why is everything different in France? All other countries have one national list; the French have 4 or 5 lists for the bigger regions. And it's so complicated to get information. There hasn't been a single poster in my community. Wednesday my girlfriend received material by mail and mine arrived yesterday! How am I supposed to build an opinion in such a short time frame?

Oh and the postage was paid, something on the letter says it's been sent from the mayor's office. Does this mean my tax money is being used to send material for parties whose names I refuse to write?

Thanks to the campaigns by D66, GroenLinks and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen I learned enough of the campaigns and have known for quite some time who will get my vote.

Tomorrow I'll make my first voting experience in France; I only hope I don't mess up ;)