Meine Stimme geht an …

Attracting Youthful Voters.

Next Sunday, Weimar citizens will be facing their third election of the year—it started with the local elections just after Obama’s visit in June; followed by state (Länder) elections in August, and now the Federal (Bundes) elections in September.

I have no vote in any of the elections; no vote for the Mayor, the Governor, or the Chancellor.

So in reality, my opinion doesn’t really matter much and any German coming to ask me my opinion should take it with a grain of salt.

That said, here’s my opinion: Vote Piraten.

I realize that my friends and colleagues make not a representative sample, but many of them have said to me that they would vote for the Pirate Party but that it’s pointless because the Pirate Party will not receive enough votes to get a seat in Berlin.

The party needs to get 5% of the vote in order to gain seats in the Bundestag—and given the apparent sympathy for the party, it seems to me that if everybody who said they liked the idea of the party actually voted for the party, then it would easily make the threshold.

And honestly, I think the Pirate Party’s platform makes a clear case for protecting civil liberties and promoting the very creativity that drives economic growth

The German Pirate Party:

• Opposes dismantlement of civil rights in telephony and on the Internet;
• Opposes artificial monopolies;
• Opposes citizen surveillance;
• Favors the civil right to information privacy;
• Favors freedom of information;
• Favors reforms of copyright, education, computer science, and genetic patents;
• Favors governmental transparency; and
• Has the coolest logo of any political party on the planet.

Flying the flag for you.

Now that last point isn’t really a reason to vote for the Pirate Party, it’s more just an observation. The Germany Pirate Party has its roots in the International Pirate Party, which originated in Sweden. The Swedish Pirate Party has seen success in a short 3 years: Now Sweden’s third largest political party by membership, it now has a seat in representing Sweden in the European Parliament.

I’d really like to get my hands on a Pirate Party flag or banner as I think it’s really cool, but since I’m not clear on the specifics of German election law, I’m hesitant to ask for one. I’d guess that they would want a donation and since I’m not German, I doubt they can accept a donation from me. Certainly in the parallel universe known as the United States, donations from non-citizens to political parties are illegal.

>>Elsewhere: Freedom not Fear 2009; on why the GLBT community should be voting Pirate.