Aussie Pirates Just Miss Election Ballot

ppauAustralian pirates hoping to emulate their European counterparts and elect a pirate have had their hopes dashed today. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Pirate Party had their bid to get on the ballot rejected.

In a press release today the region’s electoral commission revealed that the pirate group fell short of the 100-member requirement by just 6, after 16 of the 110 names submitted failed checks. As a result the party will not be listed on the ballot for the October 20th election.

The rejection isn’t going to stop the 6-week old state party from running candidates through. Instead of running them as ‘Pirate Party Candidates’, they will be running as unlabeled independents. “The ACT has three electorates,” Glen Takkenberg, the territory’s Registered Officer told TorrentFreak, “and I’d like all Canberrans to have the chance to vote pirate.”

Meanwhile it’s the opposite story in Russia, where attempts to register the Pirate Party were thwarted by the Justice Ministry and backed by a judge who objected to the name. As a result of changes in the law following the December 2011 elections, the Russian Pirate Party was finally allowed to register under its proper name, and did so in an event June 30th.

That also means it’s almost possible to circumnavigate the globe entirely (albeit at 60°N) and stay in countries where the Pirate Party is officially recognised.

Finally, another success in for the Pirates in Italy. Back in April we reported on how a group was attempting to use the Pirate Party name, for an un-Pirate Party purpose. The judge saw through that, and ordered the ‘fake’ Pirate Party group (called pirateparty.it and run by Marco Marsili) to stop, and to refrain from using the name or domains that implied that they represented the Pirate Party.

Marsili appealed and last week the courts affirmed (Italian, translation) their earlier judgement. Any further violations of the name will carry a fine of €500 as well as a €200/day fine for any delay in complying. Signor Marsili was also ordered to pay all costs.

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