Is voting Lib Dem really a wasted vote this time round?

I came across this chart which illustrates how the LDs suddenly start getting more seats when their vote % goes up - I was trying to explain it earlier, but this chart does it a lot better.

theamberrevolution.com/The_Amber_Revolution/Blog/Entries/2010/5/5_analysis_of_a_wi n.html

The pollsters will have been considerably underestimating the youth vote for the LDs since they weight a lot against youth turnout (and mostly use landlines too.)

of course it is a waste, they cannot possibly take power, all they can do is couse a lot of backdoor conniving in parliament.
Dont believa all of their lies, they are no different from labour, they just lie about it, and do you really want to legalise drugs and prostitution, they want to.
They will still have a nuclear deterrent, they just dont know what yet, or its cost.
Dont waste your vote.

It would be a slightly wasted/careless vote if someone didn't bother to understand what they were voting for in their rush to vote against the status quo. Waiting until May 7th when your new PM is Nick Clegg before finding out what he's actually going to do with the country for the next five years... now that would be a little remiss.

I agree that any note actually cast, whoever it's for, is one not wasted.

I just got tweeted this article and I was

Not so much at the tiny (though admittedly bigger than last month) possibility that the LDs could win outright, more that NC as prime minister is actually the outcome that people are happiest with (see table at bottom of page).
And yet, it's the outcome least likely to come from our voting system.

No problem, WebDude.

I'm thinking of voting LD this year.

Apologies - I must have confused you with someone else.

And, erm, which UKIP thread did you mean...?

I've never voted nor ever will vote UKIP.

That doesn't mean I want to join the Euro though. Actually I know plenty of Labour voters who don't want to do that, either.

OK, abride, you've declared your current position (UKIP, though others posting in that thread said you had been pro-Conservative before that).

Yup, and about joining the Euro. And granting amnesty to approx. two-thirds of a million of illegal immigrants.

LD's are reaching a critical mass point where enough people are openly pledging support and those people who previously thought it was a wasted vote will step up and vote for them.

If Clegg performs well on Thursday and local campaigning goes well, this could well be a very excitng election. I think they need to say more about the Trident plans though as that could well be their undoing.

Pronoia - not voting - or at least spoiling the ballot paper - means your objection is lost

If you don't vote, it does not go against the Conservative candidate the way a vote for any other party, even the Monster Raving Loonies, would. In any stronghold, it would take a lot to eject the incumbent - fraud, expenses, or something the constituents would hate, whether in MP's private life, or ignoring local feeling (eg on plans to close a hospital, or similar). With 50% at last election, they probably need to lose half their votes to be beaten (never know, it could go Lib Dem!)

Maybe this time it won't 'shove the Tory out' but if voter turnout hit an all time low (eg 5%) do you think any party would say "it was hardly democratic, we need to have a second election" - no, they'd accept victory wherever they could and if one party had a big majority they'd say "bu@@er the dumb public who didn't vote". It's just the way that UKIP or BNP could get in, in some areas.

Depends on your constituency.

Plus david Cameron wants you to think it is, cos he thinks that people voting LD will help Labour to stay in.

As I have now taught my children to deface pics of DC in the paper - you can see shat I think of this opinion

I live in a Conservative stronghold.

I really do not want the tory party to get in.

Labour garner about 25 per cent, Lib dem about 18, and tory about 50 per cent.

Who would be best to vote for to shove the tories out?

I cannot see any point in voting at all.

I hate the phrase "wasted vote" - as PandaSam has indicated, the numbers are recorded and the people's wishes will be there for future use.

Not just of importance to those who may lose some of their "safe" majority, but imagine if 65% of people voted for the Lib Dems but only 15% of the seats end up with Lib Dem MPs.

We know that the "first past the post" method is undemocratic, and the bigger the count of votes for the Lib Dems, the clearer that becomes, even if they don't win the majority of seats overall.

I noticed another website has a poll (taken Friday after TV debate), self-selecting, so far from a scientific sample, just like MNs, that put the Lib Dems on 71%.

Maybe (since the voters were students) some won't be eligible to vote, or won't actually vote, but an interesting result all the same!

PandaSam - the forecast that the Tories aren't going to get a majority based on what they're polling at the moment isn't LD "lies and spin" - it's generally accepted. That's why I said "the Tories are out of majority territory at this point."

I for one will only ever vote for the party that I want to see in power. All this second guessing what everyone else is going to do is frankly ridiculous.

"people should start voting locally and getting the best service from their mp. "

Not if they want to see an end to labour they shouldn't.

It really annoys me how people on mn feel the need to push their views on others. I'm a Tory, work for them and always voted for them - but the op didn't ask for lib dem lies and spin "tories are well out of majority territory" As if!

If you want to vote for a particular party you should; regardless of how much difference it makes nationwide. A sitting mp will certaintly take notice if they see their majority dropping to another party.

Why not email the three main candidates in your constituency and ask what they would do for you - you may find that you like one person over another regardless of their party; people should start voting locally and getting the best service from their mp.

The sad thing is that LibDems actually poll a very large percentage of the vote nationally, but come second in so many places they end up with a tiny number of seats relative to the vote.

Lewisfan, if you don't want the Tories in (which you don't ) you need to vote Labour (sorry)

You can ignore the notional 2005 results - it's just to take into account of boundary changes since 2005 that have made some constituencies more LD/Con/Lab, but they haven't made much of a change here.