To instigate a mass ballot spoiling?

[NobodyToVoteForNow]

With the local elections a few weeks away, and with a heavy heart, I've had to admit to myself there's literally no political party that recognises women as a distinct sex class with distinct legal protections under equalities legislation. And of course the added racism of the two main parties rules them both out anyway.

Knowing that candidates often have to help officials decide what spoiled ballots 'mean' - (do they represent a vote cast for a particular candidate or not?) gives me hope that this is a small way to get the message across at a local level.

I'm going to spoil my ballot with a hashtag that demonstrates the bitter irony of this occurring a hundred years since female suffrage. I'm a bit short on catchy slogans though, so if anyone else is thinking along similar lines, perhaps we could pool our ideas and come up with something fitting?

@AstraiaLiberty you don't get to vote on a single issue basis. That isn't how representative democracy works. You vote for a party and your vote is an endorsement of what that party stands for. You don't get to disclaim responsibility by telling people you don't support their views on other issues.

Your vote counts towards their overall tally of support. It gives them funding, it gives them media exposure.

If you vote UKIP you ARE racist, sexist, ableist and homophobic. Bury your head in the sand all you like but there is no way around that simple fact. As the suffragettes themselves said - deeds not words. It is your actions that count, not your cowardly excuses for them.

I've considered this. Although drawn properly so it looks like a female symbol not a stick man...

Although I like the idea of putting xx in the box as then it's more likely to be looked at as ambiguous.

How many of you have contacted your local MP's and expressed your dissatisfaction with how things are going and stating that you'll only vote for someone that'll action things??

Because they're not psychic, they'll be overrun with "real" issues that people have actually raised with them - if more people are complaining about potholes, then of course they'll campaign based on potholes.

Given that a hell of a lot of MNers don't think there's a problem with Women's Spaces being eroded, why do you assume your MP does??

@Catspaws Do you agree with every single policy your chosen party has, then? And if they change a policy, do you immediately agree with the new one, because questioning The Party is just not on?

In a democracy I can vote for whichever party I like for whatever reason I like. You don't have to like my reasons, or the way I vote. That's how democracy works.

If you vote UKIP you ARE racist, sexist, ableist and homophobic

It's much easier to sling insults than to think about why people might choose to vote for a party you dislike.

Exactly Illustriously! There's no point waiting for polling day and risking utter twats be elected. Make your views known now and email your candidates, sign petitions, be vocal. Spoilt ballots are not the answer because nobody bothers to collate reasons why they're spoilt.

Vote for the least worst candidate and campaign for your cause separately.

I think spoiling ballot papers is a complete waste of everyone's time. The voter's, the candidates and the counters. Pointless.

Ok, let’s start with facts.

Have UKIP ever formally made a policy statement on the definition of a woman? Could anyone link? Has any other party done this?

I have done a count, and I thought I would let you know... those spoilt ballots don't get read. They just get put in a pile.

No one will read your peace symbols or hashtags.

It's just a wasted vote.

Why waste your vote and risk letting someone awful in? At least speak to the candidate(s) who might otherwise be ok first - you might be surprised. In the UK we vote for individuals as well as parties, and the ones who get elected have a bigger influence on policy within their party than the ones who don't.

All of the parties standing local to me think woman isn't a biological reality.

Have you spoken to the candidates? This is for a local election.

@Catspaws Right. But presumably you'd say that your vote for Labour means that you are 'endorsing' their Brexit stance, even if you disagree with it? Because I wouldn't.

With self-ID in place, how can you accurately measure the pay gap? What will it mean for pregnancy discrimination law if it's accepted that 'men get pregnant too' and we have to talk about 'pregnant people'? Talking about abortion has been called trans-exclusionary as it mentions biology. In the long term, self-ID and its consequences may affect all of these issues.

I'll tell all the UKIP voters I know that they're all racists, shall I? The only thing that I think they all do have in common is that they're all working-class. They're not all white. It's interesting where the acceptable targets are.

This is all irrelevant anyway as I cannot vote UKIP regardless of whether I'd choose to or not. There is no UKIP candidate in my local area. I won't vote for a party that supports self-ID. So I'll be spoiling my ballot.

Ive written to my MP twice on this issue. He agrees with me

@AstraiaLiberty yes - because I support labour I support the stances they take, even when I don't like them. That's how it works. When you pledge your support to a party by voting for them you are voting for everything they stand for, not just the bits you want to pick and choose.

If Labour took a stance which I found completely unacceptable, I wouldn't vote for them. I would have the morality and courage to put my principles first and refuse to endorse something I couldn't support simply because in other areas it would benefit me.

Now, please tell me how literally one or two trans activists saying 'talking about abortion is trans-exclusionary' is as damaging to women as actually being prevented from accessing abortions. I'm dying to know.

Please also tell me how many transwomen and men there would need to be to have a statistically significant impact on data relating to the pay gap.

Please tell me what the impact of saying men can be pregnant will be on pregnancy discrimination laws? Please tell me how using the phrase 'pregnant people' is more damaging to women than a policy which gets rid of paid maternity leave.

Please tell me why you think legalising marital rape is an acceptable pay off for a party disagreeing with self-ID.

By all means text your UKIP voting pals and tell them they are racist. But please don't fall into the trap of thinking that UKIP voting is synonymous with being working class when the vast majority of the working class DON'T vote UKIP and when every leader UKIP has ever had has been wealthy and white.

Damn right you're being U. You want to waste your democratic voice because some people you don't like are getting much-needed rights?

Grow the fuck up.

When you pledge your support to a party by voting for them you are voting for everything they stand for, not just the bits you want to pick and choose.

I don't agree with this.

We don't pledge any support for a party by voting for them.
And certainly don't vote for everything they stand for.

When I vote for a party I'm saying that I want them to represent me because I consider them as better representatives than others.
Not even MPs stand by all of their party's policies. It's ok to disagree with the party leadership.

Trans identified people already have the same rights?

What are these rights a small number of people (IME) keep saying they don't have, I'm really intrigued.

But it's, shall we say, stupid to vote for one given party due to a single issue and disagree with the rest.

If Labour took a stance which I found completely unacceptable, I wouldn't vote for them. I would have the morality and courage to put my principles first and refuse to endorse something I couldn't support simply because in other areas it would benefit me.

You mean like erasing the concept of 'women'?

BiologyNotBigotry great sticker design.

For everyone saying 'it's a wasted vote - the candidate you don't want will get in', I have to agree with those who are saying they don't want any of these biology-denying bigots in power. They're all as bad as each other. That's the whole point.

Those of us who feel this way have three choices as far as I can see:

1, hold our noses and vote as we normally would, ignoring that party's misogyny/misogyny & racism

2, stay at home as an historical re-enactment of a point in time when women weren't allowed into polling stations.

3, Say a silent apology to the suffragettes and spoil our ballots.

The third is, at least, a deed. And unlike the first and second, it doesn't make me feel completely impotent. People will see it, if only for a split second. And the more there are, the harder they will be to ignore.

Spoiling votes is always a political statement. It's why the number of spoiled votes is announced.

I understand your frustration but your ballot paper will go to landfill and no one will give a scooby that you spoilt your ballot paper, it would nt matter if 75% were ruined, the winner would just take his or her seat.

Vote LibDem as they want PR and that at least may give you more of a say in future and then you can vote for a party you do want (if the libDems are nt your cup of tea)

It's why the number of spoiled votes is announced.

But it's not said why.

There are other options, including participating actively in party politics, demonstrations, activism in specific situations.

@TERFragetteCity I mean, I don't agree that that's what's happening but yes, if that issue means you can't support labour then don't support labour.

But for the love of god, do you really think someone can claim to support women's rights and still vote UKIP? Surely it's just obvious how nonsensical that is?

@Lweji of course it's ok to disagree - but that doesn't magically mean the party doesn't have your support on that issue. We don't vote on an issue by issue basis, and you have to accept that when you vote for a party the consequence of that might be that they put into action policies you don't support. If the policy in question is so abhorrent to you that you can't remotely accept it, then you shouldn't vote for that party. Because you can't say 'yes I voted UKIP but my vote only counts for self-ID, all the other stuff is nothing to do with me'. You can't pick and choose when your support means something.

I think the point is to achieve a critical mass of spoiled ballots - votes somebody could have had, had their party not endorsed an anti-woman position. A lot more candidates lose elections than win them. Lots of them will be wondering why. To whoever said nobody will know why they were spoiled - that's why we need to organise a campaign to accompany this action.