Australia Strips The Sex Out Of Politics

All of Australia is in shock today as news has come down that the Sex Party has been officially stripped of its standing as an official political party. The Australian Elections Committee made the decision after reviewing the party's membership and determining that it didn't have enough members.

According to The Huffington Post (link below), Sex Party co-founder Robbie Swan released an official statement vowing to fight the decision.

Under Australian law a political party must have either an elected representative in the federal parliament or 500 members to keep its registration. The Sex Party has one lawmaker in the Victoria state legislature, but none at federal level. 

Swan rejected the AEC's finding that it had fallen below the 500-member threshold.

The Sex Party is primarily comprised of young people who change addresses frequently, do not have home phone numbers and are much more transient than traditional party voters, Swan said.

"They are gaming the system against minor parties," he said on the group's website.

The group is perhaps better known for their antics than fielding viable candidates, but at least they're out there attempting to change the system. 

The group is well known for its energetic performance on election day, where its presence at some inner-city polling stations in Sydney and Melbourne often seem to match those of the major parties.

Young activists sporting shirts emblazoned with cheeky slogans such as "The Australian Sex Party: where you come first" or "We're serious about sex", are known to follow voters for entire city blocks in a bid to secure their vote.

While the ruling will not prevent the party from fielding candidates, it ensures that they won't get said candidates onto a ballot, which effectively squashes their chances at maintaining visibility among voters. Hopefully they can get this straightened out and get Yahoo Serious or Paul Hogan onto the ballot this fall, or whatever.

Via The Huffington Post