AIBU?
MrsHathaway · 08/06/2017 18:49
A person who spoils is a person who bothers to turn up and engage with the process: a person worth targeting next time.
A person who doesn't vote at all isn't worth their while.
And I imagine the profanities and drawings of cocks lighten the mood slightly during counting, which must be stultifying.
LadySalmakia · 08/06/2017 18:50
It's not stupid, it's a valid form of protest. I'd rather the disaffected went and spoiled their ballot to show that it's a conscious refusal, instead of just not show up and therefore not being counted at all.
Write a treatise or your shopping list on it, doesn't matter, don't just not show up.
millsbynight · 08/06/2017 18:53
Many years ago as a student, not in this country, I volunteered to count ballot papers in an election. People write all sorts of stuff on their ballots, or draw pictures. Some vote appropriately but still draw a little picture or a short message like "hi dickhead!" Others very obviously spoil their ballots like PP said above with people writing "fuck your politics" "suck my cock" or just scribbling all over the paper.
BellyBean · 08/06/2017 18:53
the speaker is Buckinghamshire's mp and none of the main parties oppose him. He doesn't vote so people are understandably frustrated at not having a proper vote for a representative.
It has been noted they have the highest level of spoiled ballot papers so someone is obviously paying attention.
FatGirlWithChocolate · 08/06/2017 18:54
I had 4 candidates to choose from today (much less than usual). I didn't want to vote for any of them, none of them stand for me, for various reasons. My vote counts for absolutely nothing because the incumbent party in this area has a very large majority and is always re elected every 4 years. So, for the first time, I put my cross in all 4 boxes and wrote "nobody decent to vote for". Maybe it was stupid, but it's how I felt, and it will be just as effective as picking the best of a very bad bunch in my area..ie: both actions are equally ineffective.
44PumpLane · 08/06/2017 19:02
YABU- it is not the same at all as not voting.
You have specifically gone out of your way to participate in the democratic process, you've turned up at a polling station. It means you want to express that none of the options available to you are satisfactory. It is a statement.
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