To ask if you have voted yet?

[AllaMova]

Today, Wales and Scotland are voting for who will govern their National Parliaments and England are voting in their local elections.

I voted this morning and it was super quick. I was in and out in two minutes.

Have you voted yet?

No, not yet. But i will be later on. I usually take my dd with me in order to instill a sense of civic duty in her growing up. I'm in England.

I’ll be going this evening. It seems to be a close one between our local independent party and reform here.

"civic duty" yes, this.

You haven’t even touched on answering the question here. Why is it ok to spoil a vote but note ok to not vote?

Just to clarify, I never once said I couldn’t be bothered to vote, just that I have chosen not to. I’m interested to know why you don’t agree with my choice but if I turned up and spoilt a vote you would think that’s ok?

Yes. I’m in Scotland and had a postal vote this time as I knew I wouldn’t be able to get to the polling station.

I do believe that we all have a duty to vote, even if you just spoil your ballot paper, but there’s not much going for any of the parties just now, is there.

My last couple of votes have been solely to get/keep one party out and I find that really sad.

well I don't think I can put it any more clearly than I have. You don't have to agree with me or my logic.

That is very likely to be me too. It doesn't feel right, but that's my only option

I have. Reasonably brisk at the polling station.

Yes, in Scotland. DS1 came along too for his first Scottish Election vote. Our list votes will cancel each other out though as I voted for Ash Regan and he voted Green.

Eh?

A spoiled vote is counted and sends a message that you are unhappy with all the options. I've never done it, but I can see that it's better than just not voting.

Presumably your not voting because you're disenchanted by the whole lot of them. So why not spoil your voting slip so that that message reaches the powers that be?

Won’t get there till about 5 ish. I’ve been trying to decide between two candidates but I’ve made up my mind now.

I can see why it is okay to spoil a vote but not okay to not vote.

When you vote often the candidates think you are voting for them. A positive vote. Often, people are voting for the least worst. So not exactly a stunning positive vote for a person.

But not voting at all is a disgrace. There was a time when people could not, or many could not. The right to vote was not gifted out of any sense of ‘let’s be nice’. It was hard fought for. If you lost that right you would wish you had it.

Yes, there was no one else there. I think people expected a bigger turnout for these local elections. But I'm not sure there will be, at least here (West Surrey Council elections).

I voted this morning (Scotland) luckily we have an excellent MSP so it was an easy choice. I always vote, even if it is for the least bad candidate rather than one I actually want. It’s people who don’t vote that lead to things like Brexit imo.

Yes it was very quiet at polling station. I live in an area that is staunch labour so waste of time. I voted Reform.

If I lost the right to choose, yes of course I would not be happy. Someone upthread likened it to the right to have a termination and I view it exactly that way. I do not want to have a termination, but I definitely don’t want my choice to have one to be removed.

I've never voted anything other than Labour, but I'm seriously considering voting reform.

Why? Mostly because the mobs of violent communist jew haters need to be stopped.

You need a little chat with Farage’s school mates.

No - no elections in my county.

I completely agree.
Id rather people weren’t bullied in to voting if they’re not political and/or don’t know who to vote for. I think it needs to be a carefully thought out decision. Not something you do on a whim.

My DM voted in the Brexit referendum and when I asked which way she voted, she said “I didn’t really know which way to vote so I just picked one” 🤦‍♀️

This also isn’t true. People have the right not to vote and still have the right to moan.

I agree but I think everybody who is entitled to vote should take some time to carefully think out that choice. How can anybody be "not political"? Politics affects everything, in our lives and in the lives of the people we care for.

Yes, 9.45 this morning, I was the only voter in the place. We had two votes for county council and one vote for local council.

I always vote both local and GE.

Ah. My apologies.