Paul Weston: Kapow and Batman decides poll by Gold Coast protest vote

“Bam! Pow! Zap!” Could it be that Batman will determine the vote in State election? In a marginal Gold Coast seat, voters want a super hero rather than Annastacia Palaszczuk or Tim Nicholls.

“BAM! Pow! Zap!”

Could it be that Batman will determine the vote in this month’s State election?

In a marginal Gold Coast seat, voters want a super hero rather Annastacia Palaszczuk or Tim Nicholls.

On the main road out of the Pacific Pines to the Pacific Motorway, a corflute of Gaven LNP MP Sid Cramp has been redesigned to register a protest vote.

Mr Cramp’s name is crossed out, his face covered with the famous black mask and “Vote 1 Batman” written alongside it. The discovery stopped your columnist.

Vote One for Batman — a LNP MP Sid Cramp corflute after some art work.

What will the protest vote be? How many people will intentionally fail to fill out their how-to-vote forms? Is this likely to impact on the final result?

The answers to those questions, in order are as follows — “growing”, “a lot more” and “possibly”.

Mr Cramp won by just more than 900 votes in 2015. The informal vote was about the same.

The counting took days after the poll with the lead changing several times between Mr Cramp and Labor’s Michael Riordan before all the preferences were distributed.

Dr Alex Douglas, who held the seat as an LNP MP, PUP member and independent, has researched the informal vote and its impact.

Gaven candidates Michael Riordan ALP (black shirt) and Sid Cramp LNP (blue shirt) during the tense 2015 vote count. Picture Glenn Hampson

Informal voters are a mix of anarchists, those who resent being compelled to vote, others who hate both the major parties and small number who make a mistake on their ballot forms.

Overall this accounts for four per cent of the total vote. That percentage will most likely will increase by two per cent in this poll.

Political insiders regard the 2017 State poll as a “transitional election” because voters must fill out all preferences on their voting papers. There will be more mistakes, more frustration.

This block of six per cent vote of the total vote — it could help get a candidate across the line. How should a candidate approach a Batman voter?

Labor Gaven candidate Meaghan Scanlon — along with Sally Spain, the seat will be contested by three candidates unlike the seven in 2015. Photo by Richard Gosling

“You’re better off leaving them alone. You’re not trying to encourage them or discourage them,” Dr Douglas replied.

“It’s thought the majority of angry voters will vote against the Government, (Pauline) Hanson and Tim Nicholls. Are there many angry people? There’s a lot of them.”

So here’s the thing about a democracy. If you want to support Batman, drive 10 minutes up the road to Movie World.

As Catwoman once remarked to Batman, “I’m not just pussyfooting around this time”. Make your vote count in electorates like Gaven City or lose your right to criticise your future MP.