Latest news with #publicvote
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
What to know about Mexico's first-of-its-kind judicial elections
NewsFeed What to know about Mexico's first-of-its-kind judicial elections Mexico will hold its first nationwide judicial elections on Sunday, becoming the first country with judges selected entirely by public vote. What are the advantages and dangers? Al Jazeera's John Holman explains.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘It is time to ask if the rules allow abuse': broadcasters call for overhaul of Eurovision voting after Israeli near win
Broadcasters across Europe are challenging the Eurovision song contest voting system, after an overwhelming public vote in favour of Israel's entry saw it narrowly miss out on victory in a tense finale on Saturday. The contest was ultimately won by Austria's JJ with Wasted Love. Finland's Yle Entertainment said: 'We will ask the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) whether it is time to update these rules or at least review whether the current rules allow for abuse.' Spain's public broadcaster called for a 'complete review' to avoid 'external interference'. Ireland's RTÉ has requested a breakdown of the numbers, and the Netherlands and Iceland are also among those to have raised issues. Director of the competition, Martin Green, said it is taking the concerns 'seriously'. Israel's song, New Day Will Rise, submitted by the Israeli public service broadcaster Kan, comprehensively won the public part of the vote, after scoring points from 34 of the 38 national and international phone votes. Its performer, Yuval Raphael, was a survivor of the terror assault on the Nova musical festival. The previous Israeli entry finished second in the public vote, earning fifth place in the 2024 contest. Kan had previously been forced to change the lyrics of entry October Rain, which was deemed to directly reference the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack inside Israel. Performer Eden Golan instead sung the retitled Hurricane. Public Spotify and YouTube streaming data shows that Raphael's track lags far behind other competitors in terms of popularity. New Day Will Rise was the 19th most popular song from this year's competition on Spotify in the week of the event, yet scored the maximum douze points from 13 national public votes. Israeli government social media channels have been encouraging people to vote for its representative the maximum 20 times permitted. The Israeli embassy in London posted to social media during the final, encouraging people to vote 20 times for Raphael. The Israeli marketing appears to encourage people to submit multiple votes without even having listened to the song or watched the show. This is not currently against Eurovision's rules. Belgium's broadcaster VRT provided data to community news site which also appeared to show a disparity between numbers of viewers and voters. Their statistics indicated that the number of votes cast from Belgium had increased from 1.3m in 2023, to 2m in 2024 and then 2.2m in 2025. However, the show had only about half as many viewers in 2025 as in 2023, as Belgium did not make the final. Dutch broadcaster AvroTros issued a statement this week saying that it attaches 'great importance to the apolitical and binding value of the Eurovision song contest' but that it is 'increasingly influenced by social and geopolitical pressures'. The results have delighted some quarters. The Jewish Chronicle described the 2025 result as a 'rebuff' to anti-Israeli activists and media pundits, writing that 'Eurovision fans ignored the relentless campaigning against the Jewish state'. Ewan Spence, senior editor at ESC Insight, which reports on Eurovision all year round, told the Guardian that there are potential issues with any future Israeli victory while the Gaza conflict continues. 'If Kan wins the Eurovision song contest under the Israeli flag, it would be expected to host the following year, which would raise significant security challenges. 'If the contest had to be hosted elsewhere in partnership, the reputation of Eurovision inside Israel would be damaged, and the co-host broadcaster taking on that challenge would face reputational PR issues.' German broadcaster ARD would most likely be the first port of call for the EBU approaching someone to co-host alongside Israel, the way the UK co-hosted on behalf of Ukraine in Liverpool in 2023. However, Benjamin Netanyahu's administration, which has been seeking to privatise Kan, would almost certainly apply pressure for the contest to take place in Israel itself. Broadcasters would be under pressure to boycott a contest hosted or co-hosted by Israel while the conflict in Gaza continued. Some in the Eurovision community believe the contest has been affected by changes made by the EBU to accommodate Israel's participation. The volume of the crowd in the arena appears to be mixed lower now, to prevent TV broadcasting boos for Israeli acts or pro-Palestinian slogans, and stricter rules were brought in on fans having flags inside the arena. There was a security incident during Raphael's performance that led to a Eurovision staff member being hit with paint, and on the day of the contest pro-Palestinian demonstrators clashed with police in the centre of host city Basel. Spence said: 'If Kan had won Eurovision on Saturday, the song contest would have faced an increased loss of engagement from community media and the wider fanbase.' Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez explicitly called on Israel to be expelled from Eurovision on Monday, directly comparing the situation with that of Russia's exclusion from international events, saying: '[Russia] had to leave international competitions and could not take part … Therefore Israel shouldn't either, because what we cannot allow is double standards in culture.' The EBU has been contacted for comment.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Eurovision: Israel's result prompts questions over voting
Israel's success in the public vote at last weekend's Eurovision Song Contest has prompted calls from a string of countries to examine the results and voting Yuval Raphael came top of the viewer vote on Saturday with her ballad New Day Will Rise, but finished second overall to Austria when jury scores were also taken into in Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Iceland and Finland have since raised concerns or questions about the public vote, with some requesting an organisers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said the vote had been independently checked and verified, that they took any concerns seriously. Israel was ranked joint 14th by the national juries, but shot up the leaderboard thanks to the results of the phone and online the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom were among the countries whose viewers awarded Israel the maximum 12 points, with Ireland and Finland giving broadcaster RTE has asked for a full breakdown of the voting from came after Spanish broadcaster RTVE said it would request an investigation of the results and a review of the televoting can currently vote up to 20 times each by phone, text or Segers, a Flemish MP, said: "A system in which everyone can cast up to 20 votes is a system that encourages manipulation."Whether this manipulation occurred in our country and all other participating and non-participating countries must be investigated." Political tensions A spokesperson for Flemish public broadcaster VRT said: "We have no indication that the counting of the televotes wasn't carried out correctly, but we are asking for complete transparency on the part of the EBU."The question is above all whether the current system guarantees a fair reflection of the opinion of viewers and listeners."Finland's YLE said: "We will definitely ask the EBU whether it is time to update these rules or at least examine whether the current rules allow for abuses."On Tuesday, Dutch public broadcasters Avrotros and NPO issued a statement saying the contest was "increasingly influenced by societal and geopolitical tensions".Israel's involvement "raises the question of whether Eurovision still truly functions as an apolitical, unifying, and cultural event", they said. In response, the contest's director Martin Green said organisers were "in constant contact with all participating broadcasters" and "take their concerns seriously"."We can confirm that we have been in touch with several broadcasters since Saturday's Grand Final regarding voting in the competition," he will now be a "broad discussion" with participating broadcasters "to reflect and obtain feedback on all aspects of this year's event", he said."It is important to emphasise that the voting operation for the Eurovision Song Contest is the most advanced in the world and each country's result is checked and verified by a huge team of people to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns."An independent compliance monitor reviews both jury and public vote data to ensure we have a valid result."Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote was recorded in all countries participating in this year's Grand Final and in the Rest of the World."Eurovision News, which is operated by the EBU, said an agency of the Israeli government paid for adverts and used state social media accounts to encourage people to vote for the Israeli Green said that did not break the rules.
Irish Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
RTÉ requests breakdown of Eurovision public votes after high points awarded to Israel
RTÉ has requested a breakdown of this year's Eurovision Song Contest's public votes, despite the contest organiser stressing that its voting system is the 'most advanced in the world'. It comes as the Irish public awarded 10 points to Israel and follows a request from Spain's public broadcaster, RTVE, for an audit 'to avoid external interference and manipulation'. Spain awarded 12 points to Israel through its public vote, the highest amount available. Belgium's broadcaster, VRT, has also raised concerns over voting after it too awarded 12 points to Israel. READ MORE The jury votes from Spain and Belgium, meanwhile, awarded zero points to Israel. Ireland's second-highest number of points available through the public vote (10) was awarded to Israel, while its jury awarded Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael seven points. Ms Raphael won the public vote with her song, New Day Will Rise, with Israel receiving the most votes from the public out of any country. However, it came second in the competition's final on Saturday which was won by Austria after its contestant, JJ, received 436 points through both jury and public votes with his song Wasted Love. A spokesperson for RTÉ confirmed on Tuesday evening it has requested a 'breakdown in voting numbers' from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and its voting partner Once. [ Israelis hail Eurovision second-place performance through prism of Gaza war Opens in new window ] Noting that members of the public can vote up to 20 times, RTVE's president, José Pablo López, said this can 'incentivise imbalances or manipulation' and called on the EBU to 'evaluate the role of bots and improve their detection and prevention tools'. Mr López said since Saturday's final, delegations including Spain have expressed 'grave concern' about Israel's participation, alongside 'the transparency, legitimacy, and perceived integrity of the current voting system'. Eurovision director Martin Green said organisers remain in 'constant contact with all participating broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest and take their concerns seriously'. 'We can confirm that we have been in touch with several broadcasters since Saturday's grand final regarding voting in the competition,' Mr Green said. He said the voting operation for the Eurovision is the 'most advanced in the world'. 'Each country's result is checked and verified by a huge team of people to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns. An independent compliance monitor reviews both jury and public vote data to ensure we have a valid result,' Mr Green said. 'Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote was recorded in all countries participating in this year's grand final and in the rest of the world.' Mr Green said that now the event has concluded, there will be a 'broad discussion' with broadcasters on all aspects of this year's event in Basle 'as part of our planning process for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest next year'. A spokesperson for RTÉ said it 'looks forward' to participating in the discussions and review. It comes as earlier this month, the public broadcaster's director general, Kevin Bakhurst, sought a discussion on Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest .
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
States rejects proposal for chief minister public vote
The States Assembly has rejected an "entirely unworkable" proposal to have the position of chief minister elected via a public vote. In a States meeting on Wednesday, former chief minister Deputy Kristina Moore proposed the role should be elected through an Jersey-wide vote, held in parallel with the general election. Ms Moore said the change would boost public engagement in the elections and "offer the electorate a greater level of transparency".The assembly rejected the proposition by 43 votes to one. Ms Moore was the only member in favour. She said: "Accountability of the role of chief minister within the public arena is lacking as voters do not have a say on who should be elected to the role. "Voters should be provided with the opportunity to indicate their preferred candidate for chief minister during the voting process." 'Presidential system' Ms Moore added it was possible under her proposal that an individual with no political experience might be elected."If this were the case, it is anticipated that the electorate would have made the decision based on the clear leadership qualities of the candidate who would be supported by the professional civil service in the transition," she said. Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache said the idea was "entirely unworkable.""There is a fundamental distinction between a presidential system and a ministerial system," he Kirsten Morel added the proposition would "turn the election into a presidential election".He said: "In an island of 100,000 people there is no place for a presidential election. "It would be damaging, it would be divisive and it would ultimately turn the island in many ways against each other, I fear."
