Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

To think that younger people don't vote..

71 replies

Latara · 23/05/2014 10:48

Just that really.

I'm 37 and I always vote but I'm the only younger person I know who does bother voting. And I know lots of people...

Do younger people (eg.the under 50s) really not bother voting or is it just in my area (SW)? Please prove me wrong!

It's not surprising that UKIP have been successful when they appeal to mainly older voters (IMO) and older voters (pensioners mainly) are those who vote most.

The real winner of this election is 'nobody' who 'nobody' voted for I reckon.

OP posts:

jessiemummy28 · 23/05/2014 12:39

I'm 29, in the SW and I vote at every election. So does my husband (also 29), and all our friends of a similar age.

Owllady · 23/05/2014 12:39

I'm in my 30s and my h is in his early 40s. I have always voted but didn't vote yesterday because I really didn't know who to vote for as I don't believe any of them. My husband sporadically votes, mainly because he works long hours so we applied for a postal vote which he didn't use as he is sick of it all as well.

No one gives a shit about people like us.

iK8 · 23/05/2014 12:39

Every vote I have ever cast in any election has always been for a losing candidate, even where they were the previous incumbent!

Are they wasted votes? No. More people turned out for the other candidates and that's the way it goes sometimes. It also means I can say "well I didn't vote for this bunch of twunts".

CheeryName · 23/05/2014 12:40

Its not a massive inconvenience to vote. I have a postal vote as am often away on work trip at election time. I just cross a box and stick it back in the post. Easier than doing it online and forgetting my password tbh!

Xihha · 23/05/2014 12:41

sadly it seems to be the younger people (under 25) on my fb that are posting about having voted for UKIP here it's the over 30's I know who didn't vote because 'it's always been a tory area, voting won't change that' - well yes it will actually and that is why my new borough Councillor is from UKIP

TheCunkOfPhilomena · 23/05/2014 12:41

I was just reading this thread feeling all smug about being considered young by the OP but then certain posters have made me feel old again, you buggers.

I have been not so subtly encouraging people to vote and from the responses I have had, a lot of younger (by younger I mean under 50) people voted yesterday.

The turnout here was up from 29% to 38% PLUS we no longer have a sodding UKIP member on our council. There is loads more to be done and I think online voting will have a huge impact but I would also like to see fines for those choosing not to vote and also a box for 'None of the above' on the ballot paper which would be recorded and published.

jessiemummy28 · 23/05/2014 12:42

Also, the majority of over 50's I have spoken to re the elections told me they were voting for UKIP as a 'protest vote' (granted, this is just my dad and his friends so not at all a representative sample!) whereas the younger people I know have voted for the policies they believe most closely resemble their own views.

iK8 · 23/05/2014 12:43

You've just described what I was trying to say Owllady. It's those in 30s/40s who feel disengaged and unrepresented. Many younger people still have the passion of ideology and aren't so jaded. Many older, baby boomers have done well out of the status quo so have an incentive to preserve it and feel their vote matters.

It is a bit depressing.

ChubbyKitty · 23/05/2014 12:50

Yy ik8 and owllady - my dad in his mid-40s didn't vote yesterday, as he just didn't see the point. I think you might be right, none of the parties do much specifically for that age group.

Owllady · 23/05/2014 13:06

Oh well that's made me feel old :o your dad you say
My parents are in their 50s and haven't really had a fair deal either the last few years or so. Ordinary hard working folk who have been shafted alongside their children by an industry they don't even understand, let alone know anyone who works in it. If people are disillusioned it really doesn't take a genius to work out why.

And by the way, I have teenagers in my 30s, I think I can still be described as a young mum :o

FidelineandFumblin · 23/05/2014 13:09

37 is "younger"!? Fabulous!

YouTheCat · 23/05/2014 13:10

But if you think you aren't getting a fair deal that's all the more reason to vote.

Owllady · 23/05/2014 13:11

I know, I do understand that youthecat but I honestly couldn't relate to any of them. :(

Floisme · 23/05/2014 13:13

NO Jessie, it's not a representative sample

5Foot5 · 23/05/2014 13:29

Yes my 18 year old voted for the first time yesterday. She was extremely chuffed when the voting cards arrived a few weeks ago and has been reading all the leaflets that dropped through the door (apart from the UKIP one which she transferred straight to the bin thus saving me the bother and the BNP one which got picked up by a pair of tongs to drop in the bin)

CurlyBlueberry · 23/05/2014 13:34

I am 25 and have voted in every election I could. So has my husband and I would bet most of my friends have voted too.

LittleprincessinGOLDrocks · 23/05/2014 13:57

I'm 29, DH is 33, we both vote and have every election since we turned 18. My sister and her husband vote too, they are in their mid 30's.
My in laws however never do, BIL, SIL and my PIL (who are both over 50). They just "can't be bothered!" to go to the polling station... the one directly opposite their house, that they happily walk past to get to the shop for a bottle of pop / milk etc.
Most of my facebook friends do seem to vote, most had statuses up yesterday saying things like if you don't vote don't moan.

I took my children with me this year and explained to them why voting was important. DD 7 was very interested, especially as one of the candidates is married to one of the teachers at her school. So DD was asking what he had promised to do, and whether I voted for him. As it stands I did, because I agree with every one of his policies for the local election.
I hope that by taking the DC and explaining to them why I feel it is important to vote, when they come of age they will vote too.

jay55 · 23/05/2014 14:02

I couldn't vote, moved and my registration didn't get processed in time(but sorting the new council tax bill could be done quickly).

If going to a polling is a massive inconvenience do a postal vote.

Callani · 23/05/2014 14:02

I'm 26 and I voted and so did most of my friends but we're all quite vocal politically so I don't think we're a representative bunch.

Turns out it didn't help though seeing as we've apparently elected a UKIP councillor in my ward anyway - guess it makes it all the more important to get the moderates voting in the general election!

Nasturtium89 · 23/05/2014 14:10

I'm 24 and didn't vote. I am ashamed! But nor do I complain about politics, I don't understand it - I really really want to! But I just can't. I know I'm stupid. They all seem to be the same though. However, from what I've read about UKIP they do seem the worst. But I just do not understand how me not voting has any bearing on the overall scheme of things? I'm just one vote! I voted once but I just voted for anybody. Today I'm thinking I should have gone and voted, maybe for the Green Party. But only because I don't know anything about them, whereas all I know about all the other parties seems to be bad.
Also how do I know where to go and vote? I ran past 3 polling stations yesterday, how do I know which one is mine? Do I need to take something with me or just turn up?
Jeez I am such a moron :(

Nasturtium89 · 23/05/2014 14:11

Also, I am registered for a postal vote so can I still vote if I send it off today? If I can find the form?

SmiteYouWithThunderbolts · 23/05/2014 14:15

I'm 29 and have never missed a vote. DH is 37 and definitely voted yesterday although I'm not 100% sure he's made it out to every election. He also thinks online voting is the only way to encourage better turnout.

To think that 2/3 of the electorate just doesn't bother to vote makes me feel slightly ill.

toolonglurking · 23/05/2014 14:16

I have a postal vote, which is really easy and removes any excuse anyone may have to not vote.

Also, I am 29 and live in Scotland.

Voting is important. If you don't join in, then you don't get to have an opinion - in my opinion!

Artandco · 23/05/2014 14:20

I'm mid 20s and voted. As did dh and all friends and family we spoke to. I always do

Fasttouch · 23/05/2014 14:22

One of my colleagues is 25 and voted for the first time yesterday, he said he never felt the need to before. Although liberal at heart he feels the conservatives have done a good job.

He only used his vote as a tactical one to keep ukip out.

Flip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread