to want voting to be compulsary?

[darleneoconnor]

Low turnouts are shameful.

Victories are hollow if less than half the electorate vote at all.

Can anyone who didn't vote please give me a good reason why?

I'm not suggesting throwing people in jail for not voting but the threat of a small fine (like the census, tv license, not updating DVLA details) would surely up voting numbers and make our country much more democratic?

If people don't want to vote for anyone, then turn up and spoil the ballot paper.

fair and transparent?

Yeah. That'd be great, wouldn't it? I'd love that.

I think politicians like voter apathy. It means that nothing ever changes.

Labour / tories (and very rarely the lib dems) all much of a muchness. all knowing that they just wait a term or two for their turn.

and once you're in, you normally get a few terms because typical voter behaviour is to vote in the same lot several times until they piss enough people off for long enough that they vote the other lot in in protest. then the same happens.

this system works very well thank you for both government and opposition.

imagine having to offer real solutions, real change, real options? nah, they just want to hang around in their club, taking turns to be gang leader.

We still need to vote though because my god if they thought that they stood a chance of getting away with taking the vote off us on the grounds that we had demonstrated that we didn't want it - they would!

Voting is important but I wouldn't support the idea of making it compulsory. We have the RIGHT to vote. That doesn't mean we must. I like the idea of online and phone voting, might make people more likely to do it, a la 'I'm A Celebrity Talent in the Jungle with the X Factor' or whatever. Maybe with a premium rate phone number, the proceeds of which can be used for a good cause.

We have a choice here of a rich guy who thinks that only people like him matter and that we should let most poor people starve except the ones who clean his house - if we run short of servants we can let some immigrants in. They are cheaper anyway.

Another who is exactly the same, but thinks he is better than the rich guy because he didn't go to public school.

One who will solve all the problems by sending the black people 'back where they came from' and one who says it will be okay once we impose sharia law. There are a couple of others I could vote for and they vary a bit.

There's generally a "if we all become vegan it will solve everything" and a "sing Kombaya and praise the lord" candidate. There's even one whose entire plan for government seems to be "let's stop cutting down trees" A nice idea, but what do you do on day two and what will they write the law down on if not paper?

The loons at the bottom end share being loons. Those at the top end share being well paid for their services in little brown envelopes and an immunity to all those pesky little rules about where/how you drive and who you sleep with.

onagar - wouldn't that make an 'abstain' box all the more important? It clearly shows people want someone else.

An abstain box would be something yes, but how about going further and having more choices.

#Abstain

#Vote against a particular candidate who you feel is the worst of the lot.

#Vote against the current system of voting. (I know that sounds daft, but how else can you find out if people want a change)

Darlene..I tend to agree. The feisty Aussies cope with compulsory voting.95 per cent turn out.

H. Wilson and Tony Blair missed a trick. It would have benefitted Labour at that time. ( Thatcher-Cameroon would have gone for it if it would have benefited the Lava party...sorry about that it just amused me.)

All the fuss about yesterdays results; I assume it was a roughlly one in three
people voting.

Its ok saying "I am not interested." But the politicians are interested in us; and are doing things to effect our lives.

Doncaster has a cracker. Is she your MP? no names, she could be a film star

A brainy one at that.

No, I agree. there is a lot of potential for change in the system.

in fact, the AV referendum should not have been AV or tough shit. It should have been AV, current system, neither.

and if enough people chose neither, they should have explored that.

but they deliberatly chose an option that they know people won't want, so that people will say no to it, so that they can claim people don't want any change in the voting system.

In Belgium it is compulsory.

YANBU. I think it should be mandatory too. People who don't vote are mainly people who can't be bothered/don't understand. People who want to make a point will spoil their ballot. I think people would make more of an effort to find out about the parties/candidates/issues if they knew they had to vote.

Yes YABU.

I particularly remember when DD was few weeks old and there was a European election. I really really wanted to vote but just couldn't make it out of the house that day - it's the only election I've never voted in. I'd have really fucking resented it if the state could have fined me for not going to vote, without actually giving me the support I would have needed to do so.

Agreed bit it aint gonna happen in my lifetime

HerBEggs - there would obviously have to be something put in place for people who can't vote for whatever reason so that they don't get penalised imo.

Spoiling a ballot paper doesn't make a point. Accidentally spoilt ones are not differentiated from deliberately spoilt ones in the statistics.

"None of the above" would send a message.

I think if there were a "none of the above" option on the ballot card, more people would turn out anyway, in order to put on a cross on that.

However, my question would have to be, what are those who want none of the above, doing about what they do want? And in the RW, what would happen? No MP/ Councillor that constituency/ ward?

I didnt vote I didnt have time

Just out of interest, to all those who do want to make voting compulsory, do you really want a bunch of ignorant people who are very easily led by other ignorant people, making decisions about who runs the country? I'm thinking BNP here, and a conversation I had with a young man prior to the last general election whose dad was voting (much to this guy's shame) BNP, but had also told his wife to do the same. She was happy enough to go along with that.

And to the person who wants 10 year olds voting - really? Really? Aren't 10-year-olds a bit too impressionable to be making decisions like that? Can you imagine what the backlash would be against teachers influencing kids? Or parents effectively getting two votes because they can tell their kids what to do? Parents fighting over who gets to influence the kid because as it is, their votes cancel each other out?

I can totally see that in an ideal world it would be fab if the entire voting population were a group of informed, educated people who all had the good sense to learn about the candidates and vote accordingly. In reality, and I know that this will be badly received by many, there are a lot of extremely ignorant people out there and if they choose not to bother, then I'm certainly not losing sleep over it.

I think there are enough people from the various social strata prising themselves off the sofa at the moment. Many of you will disagree.

And again, ideally, proportional representation should work, but it doesn't. I come from a country that has it and omg, there were a lot of, erm,interesting MPs resulting from the "joke" vote, or the "can't be bothered with the two main parties vote so I'll take anyone else" vote. I suppose you could argue that that IS representational, however I'd hate for the "Freak Joke Party" candidate to be my MP.

And (one more point and I'll shut up) what is the point of an "abstain" vote. Just who is going to sit up and take notice of that???? The newly-elected government delighted that they got in (probably) for that very reason?

Instead of 'none of the above', 're-open nominations' (RON)is sometimes used in elections.

if RON wins, it re-opens the nominations, encouraging independants and new candidates to stand. it incurs the cost of running another election, however.

But what is teh point of people who don't give a stuff being forced to pick a candidate at random?

YABVU. I don't agree with forcing people to vote. Forcing people to vote is hardly democratic.

And I didn't vote yesterday,none of my family did, because we were sitting all evening,in hospital,and part of the day,with my dying grandmother. Do I get a pass for that? Or should I still be fined?

I think everyone should vote. I never understand why people don't .

But I have an intense distrust of people who want to make everything compulsory. They are always bossy fuckers.

If we want everyone to feel engaged with the process I would rather ban people who think that 'don't you think David Cameron is too posh to understand ordinary people' or 'why was Gordon Brown so grimy' constitute political discussion.

We indulge in childish, petty , yah-boo, class ridden, bigoted political nonsense and then get all sanctimonious when people don't give a crap.

Oh I am so sorry Letthereberock.

Yes and while you are at it jail them for not voting labour. Or just get a life.

I didn't vote because i'm not on the electoral roll.

Thankyou,Pagwatch.
I'm not trying to hijack the thread. I think everyone who can vote should,but sometimes things,other than deciding to vote,prevent one from voting. I was all set to vote yesterday,until we got that call to say her condition had deteriorated. After that voting was the last thing on my mind.

But even if people don't have such excuses, I don't believe that it's right to force others to vote,even if I can't understand why people wouldn't want to do so.

Spoiling the ballot just lumps you in with the people who haven't mastered holding a pen yet.

"None of the Above" lumps you in with those who don't care or don't know. It would only serve to please a handful of MNers. (guess how much I care about that?)

An Abstain option would be better, but pointless as it wouldn't achieve anything either.

Voting against a candidate and/or the current system is better and adds to the involvement in the whole process.