To not vote?

[Newbie1999]

Prob been done to death, but I’m just not sure I can bring myself to vote for any of them.

Reduce the safety of the safe seat candidates and have a voice

Sorry, Happy but in some safe seats that really doesn't work. My seats has been Tory since 1885. They could put up a cauliflower with a blue rosette and still walk it. He had 60% of the vote last time with second place candidate on 20%. It would need half of all Tory voters to suddenly decide to switch to one other candidate, and for there to be only one other candidate to even remotely make that a possibility. It's simply not going to happen.

Which is the worst party on the ballot paper? Vote for one of the others.

How about framing it as voting for "least worst' instead of "best" candidate / party.

Vote for the policies you believe in.

There are still regimes today where people can’t vote.

Please vote, even if you spoil your paper, you should vote

“The power lies with the people that turn up”

I would never not vote. But I'd rather spoil my ballot I think. I actually think that's more of a protest vote now than simply voting for someone else.

Yes. If you're struggling who to vote for, vote Labour. Because...

They'll stop UC which will reduce child poverty

Do you have any idea how poverty affects attainment and future prospects? And how it links to crime!

More prison staff so hopefully prisoners aren't locked up for 23hrs a day, breeding only resentment

More police to help victims.

It stands to reason there will be more resources, including, women's refuges

After the last 9yrs id honestly thought we'd win this election, that common sense would prevail. That after the last 9yrs no one wanted a tory government. Yet it seems like the turkeys are voting for Christmas

I struggled to imagine why thatcher kept getting in years ago despite entire communities including my own, hating her and beyond devastated by her policies. Now I'm beginning to see. It's idiots who will continue to vote, or not, and leave this country in the hands of a buffoon and a party that has destroyed it

Go speak to refuge staff, food bank staff, probation officers, police, nurses, doctors, school teachers, social workers, drug and alcohol support - and then come back and tell me you'd be happy on 13th December to wake up to the news the buffoon and his party have got in.

And women died for your vote. For years we were seen as too stupid to do so. Have you not watched suffragette?

Voting is a privilege, not a right. Don't vote if you don't want to, but don't then complain if further down the line votes are removed. It is not as unlikely as it seems. Democracy is a very fragile thing. We tend to take it for granted in this country and we shouldn't.

"but don't then complain if further down the line votes are removed"
Never going to happen.

Madein1995 My voting Labour will have no impact whatsoever on whether the Tories get back in. That's the issue. With PR, it could have an impact on who governs. In my constituency, my voting Labour will still result in a Tory MP.

Some ideas for those of you who are struggling to make a decision this time around:

*Vote for the least worst candidate?
*Vote tactically to prevent your worst -case candidate getting in?
*Vote for the policies not the people?
*Vote on local issues, not national politics?
*Vote on one issue only - eg. environmental commitment or Brexit policy?
*Give your vote to a politically aware 16-17 year old, or someone who lives and works here but is a foreign national and doesn't get to vote?
*Vote for a crackpot independent to help them secure enough votes for their deposit be returned? Variety is the spice of life, and it certainly brightens election night.
*Vote for your preferred party even if they have no chance in hell of winning? Opposition parties get a payment from central government to help them provide an effective opposition - I think it's about £30 per 200 votes - google "short money".

But please do vote. Play a part in the biggest decision made in a generation. People died to secure your right to vote - and around the world still die for theirs. And as others have pointed out, you'll have no right to complain at whatever happens next if you don't bother to vote.

My DP hasn’t voted and tore his postal vote up. It really pissed me off as it’s such a petulant thing to do and I feel like he now can’t complain about any government policies if he couldn’t even be bothered to vote.
I’ve voted Green which most people will tell me is a wasted vote. They are the only party whose policies I like though

I think there is also an issue with some voters feeling disenfranchised, not through being in safe seats, but because a party has chosen not to stand in favour of another party to try and oust a sitting MP. You might be a dyed in the wool Green and totally support their policies and discover the Greens aren't standing. And there may be policies in the "preferred" candidates manifesto you fundamentally disagree with.

It's another reason why PR needs to replace FPTP.

YABU.

It would be good if the people who voted Leave because they “wanted a change” applied the same principle to this election!

Voting for a party that will never get in in a million years is better than voting for nobody. If nothing else, it sends a message to that party that it may be slightly worth campaigning in your district next time, and a message to the bigger parties that it might be worth including their policies on their manifesto next time.

@BertrandRussell I guess the difficulty for them (and I'm not one of them!) would be that the only way we're guaranteed to leave is if we stick with the current government.

I am not enamoured with politics at the moment at all but I couldn't bring myself not to vote.
My choice is based on national policies and my local candidates- I'm not a fan of the party leader and I don't agree with all of the national policies but I think I could live with the general direction they are aiming for and I actually like the local candidate and after talking to him think he'll do a fairly good job as my representative. There is one party I prefer their national general direction but the local candidate is such a let down and is shipped in from elsewhere to fill the post, so has zero local connection so on balance I decided I couldn't vote for them.

Be grateful you're actually allowed to vote at all.

YWBVVU not to take advantage of that privilege

It's idiots who will continue to vote,

Rhetoric like that won't win friends (or voters)

"It would need half of all Tory voters to suddenly decide to switch to one other candidate, and for there to be only one other candidate to even remotely make that a possibility. It's simply not going to happen."

How do you know? I, too, live in a rock-solid Conservative area. The local Conservative party are terrified that their candidates will lose their seats this time around and are throwing all they can at the opposition.

It's not working. If anything, it's angering the local voters.

YABU. Voting should be compulsory. I'm not a great fan of Johnson at all and Corbyn isn't my favourite person but I will be voting, not voting is saying that I don't care who is PM and I do.

If you don't vote then you can't complain about the outcome as you did nothing to try and alter it.