is it really so wrong for me not to vote?

stelfox

Beast of Burden
okay, i know people died for my right to vote etc...
well actually that's crap, because no one ever went to war so i could vote at all, granddad...
i know universal suffrage is one of the great privileges of our democracy, hence the reason that many feel obliged to use their vote.
the problem i have, though, is that while there's plenty of talk among analysts of voter apathy, there is never any mention of abject voter disgust - and that's what i'm feeling.
i was thinking about a lib-dem vote, being the sort of traditional labour supporter marginalised by years of blairite rule, but then i look at that shower of inept also-rans and i realise that i really do not want to vote for them - or anyone else.
galloway can go fuck himself and i'll be buggered if i'm voting for a bunch of people who despite their wooly jumpered cuddliness i wouldn't trust to organise a piss up in several breweries, so that's the greens out, too.
in short no party is representing me or any of my views (and even if there was i probably wouldn't believe them), i am appalled at the sub-middlebrow banality of all the campaigning i have seen and i want no part in this at all.
i am not voting not out of apathy but out of frustration and anger - thoughts?
 
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Rachel Verinder

Well-known member
I used to get irritated by the Tories using that old Belloc meme of "holding on to nurse for fear of something worse" vis-a-vis vote for us 'cos we might be crap but the other side is EVIL!

But when faced with Michael Howard and his cronies, suddenly I understand the attraction of this train of thought.
 

Rambler

Awanturnik
I'm one of those people who believes that voting is a matter of responsibility, that it's something that we should make use of, and I'll be voting on Thursday. But given the playground level of debate in this election, as well as the only marginal difference between the two main parties on most of the main issues, I can quite understand anyone not wanting to vote. I'd encourage you to do so, of course, but given the choices on show, it's pretty hard to make a case. One thing I would suggest Dave, of you haven't already, is check that there's not a BNP or similarly nasty candidate standing in your area. Even if you can't find something to vote for, there's still plenty to vote against - and you can be damn sure that BNP supporters, like all extremists, vote.
 

gabriel

The Heatwave
the trouble with not voting for non-apathetic reasons is that your non-vote will contribute to a low turnout figure and consequently be simplistically assigned to 'voter apathy' (as you highlight re: analysts' focus on apathy over conscious abstention)

a spoiled ballot is (i think) counted differently. whether that's an issue to you or not is another matter...
 
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Rambler

Awanturnik
We don't have this option, but I've heard that some countries have a 'none of the above' option - ie a registered non-vote. Does anyone know more about this, and is it different from spoiling your paper in a UK election?
 

john eden

male pale and stale
People also died for your right not to vote.

Spoit papers - don't really get totalled up in any rigorous/national sort of way. They get shown to the election agents/candidates for each party, though. Apparently a mixed bag of:

1) people misunderstanding the form (ie voting twice, ambiguous crosses, etc)
2) dissent (yer actual anarchists, "none of the above" and suchlike) and
3) generic green-crayon-mentalism.

I think France has a "none of the above/RON (reopen nominations)" option, but I could be making that up.
 

mms

sometimes
what's the country where if the majority of ballots are spoilt all the candadates have to stand down in place of new ones ?
that's a boss idea
 

sufi

lala
apathy : my2p

Benjamin Franklin said:
'Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.'
...is about the long & short of it : I vote for DINNER :p
 

Woebot

Well-known member
get out there and vote stlfx you lazy bastard!

i suppose you can always vote for some loony, maybe thats more constructive than not voting at all?
 

Rambler

Awanturnik
I read the Loony manifesto the other day, and found I agreed with about half of it - which is more than most other parties manage. Not sure that their plan of supporting the economy by abolishing tax and placing everything on "a horse at the 3-30 at Haydock Park at odds of at least 12/1" is sustainable in the long term, but you can't have everything. What's more, they actually would advocate a 'none of the above' box on the ballot paper: http://omrlp.brinkster.net/NoneOfTheAbove.asp
 

martin

----
I will only vote for a party that offers the following policies ;

* buying me a swanky pad in Butler's Wharf
* bringing back hanging for all people caught wearing shorts and sandals in London
* ditching the Olympic bid in favour of a three-week Belgian beer, curry and dub festival
* public holidays on John Peel's birthday, St Patrick's Day, St George's Day, St Andrew's Day, St David's Day, the day before Xmas Eve, Tommy Vance's birthday, Ramadan, Diwali, Yom Kippur, the day after New Year's Day, Pancake Day and the day the Highgate Vampire was eliminated
* all private car clamping companies to be disbanded immediately, and their directors imprisoned
* more funding for libraries

Otherwise, they can all fuck off
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Er, everyone should be voting just to keep the c*nting Tories out of office. It's human nature to feel disgusted with the incumbent government, but, given the way in which the Conservatives have played this campaign, an abstention in this election is a tacit admission that you don't care if bigotry triumphs. Jesus, vote Green if you have to, despite their being *shivers* hippies.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Oh, and I support the motion on Tommy Vance's birthday being declared a public holiday, with all news broadcasts on that day being voiced in the style of the man himself.
 

Jim Daze

Well-known member
"and i want no part in this at all."

better go and live abroad then, isn't it inescapeable and by having no part in it you noy only give away your right but possibly give the edge to the conservatives or worse. ;)
 

Woebot

Well-known member
realised the man hadnt posted me my effing balot card

also that the polling station was in neither of it two usual locations.

wandering around late at night (clutchiing my passport) looking for it. well, at least i tried ;-)
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
Big news of this election: the system itself doesn't really work well enough any more. How can we live in a world where John Humphries -- JOHN HUMPHRIES!! -- can't vote because someone has impersonated him via postal vote?

Fixing this is going to require a new look at legal identity and the stage will be set for the boggest political issue of the 21st century -- personal identity and personal data ownership and usage.

Mark my words, it starts now and will be the driver of much of the election after next.
 

Rambler

Awanturnik
Just so we're all clear for next time around - you don't need a polling card to vote. You just need to be registered.

[That;s not a dig at you Matt, more at twats like Richard Littlejohn in yesterday's Sun]
 

sufi

lala
...so what's the judgemental about the apathists now?
was it ok to abstain? was anything acheived by tactical slackness?

& how come no-one mentioned 'Third Term, Third Reich' this time round??? :D
 

mms

sometimes
i voted lib dem and they got in over labour who lost the seat in the area.
now that prick at the front of the conservatives is resigning and big tony is a bit brown trousered too.
although we don't live in a democracy at least that's a result right there at the end of the day
 
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