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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that voting should be compulsory, with a £1000 fine for failing to cast your vote.

153 replies

HecatesTwopenceworth · 22/05/2009 08:49

Bloody voter apathy drives me crazy! If you don't vote you have no right to moan about the state of things. 17.5% turnout in Salford.

17.5%

Outrageous.

I think that voting should be compulsory, but there should be an additional box on the form to allow you to abstain, if you do not wish to give any of the candidates your vote, and that you have longer to vote - so there are sessions over several days, to allow people time to vote around their commitments.

But not voting should not be an option imo, even if your vote is I Wish To Not Vote (cos you're all bastards)

Go on. Hit me...

OP posts:
2Shoesy · 22/05/2009 09:29

imo all women should vote, when you think how the suffragettes suffered to get us the vote

oliverboliverbutt · 22/05/2009 09:29

YABU - no one should be forced to vote or fined because they haven't.

I think if more people stopped voting for these fucktards they complain about all the time, maybe someone would (have to) appear that spoke for them.
we keep on voting for people who a) we don't like b) who do not seem to be on our side and c) who keep fucking everything up.

I find that utterly confusing.

Ivykaty44 · 22/05/2009 09:32

The suffragetts also got the other 1 in 3 men the vote - but they didn't protest to force everyone the vote. we are lucky to live in a country which is a democracy and get the choice.

Jux · 22/05/2009 09:34

You don't need an additional box for people who think they're all crap and don't really want to vote, they can spoil their papers by scrawling all over them, leaving them blank, writing no in all the boxes etc etc etc

I agree that people should vote, but I think £1000 is too much, and I'm not sure a fine is the right way to go, though I can't think of anything else right now.

Original poster
HecatesTwopenceworth · 22/05/2009 09:34

well I was actually joshing with poopscoop there, Ivykate. Enjoy your toast.

OP posts:
throckenholt · 22/05/2009 09:35

well we may be in a recession and have a minor scandal about a few people fiddling the system - but in the great scheme of things we have a pretty well run country - reasonably safe, clean, healthy - for which our system and the people who run it are responsible. So just opting out and saying they are all a bunch of wasters so I am going to ignore them is hardly going to be a proactive way of improving the things that aren't quite perfect.

fizzpops · 22/05/2009 09:35

Perhaps people should be better educated about what it means to NOT be able to vote, and how the vast majority of us at one point would not have been able to vote rather than fining people for not doing something which they will continue to feel is pointless.

I have to say there is a good deal of irony in penalising people for refusing to partake of their democratic rights.

I do feel very strongly that it is wrong to take for granted something for which someone else struggled so hard.

KingRolo · 22/05/2009 09:36

"You should not be forced to vote if there is no manifesto that you agree with."

Maybe people would then be inspired to come up with their own manifestos, form their own parties and we'd see real democracy in action.

Original poster
HecatesTwopenceworth · 22/05/2009 09:37

I see your point fizz, but tbh I see it as a duty. A responsibility we have, rather than a right we can choose to reject. And I totally agree about educating people.

OP posts:
daftpunk · 22/05/2009 09:38

i always vote..but don't think it should be made compulsory.....if you don't vote you have no right to moan about the government...if you can't spare 10 minutes of your time every 4 years ...you deserve all you get.

Ivykaty44 · 22/05/2009 09:39

Yes but then Jux - you end up looking like a looney that is incapable of voting. rather than being able to actaully say - your all crap o I am not voting for you.

Tee2072 · 22/05/2009 09:40

Part of Democracy is the ability to decide to not vote. Its my choice whether I want to vote or not. Certainly not the politicians.

Saying that, I do vote, just not in the UK, as I am not a citizen. I vote by absentee ballot in the US.

poopscoop · 22/05/2009 09:46

oh soz hecate - you are absolutely right, i did not read the post properly (need emoticon with very thick glasses)

Yes, in that case, there should be a box saying all above are wankers.

crokky · 22/05/2009 09:46

YABU!

I don't vote. It is not because I can't be bothered - I certainly can be bothered, but I would like to tick a box abstaining. If there was such a box, I would do that.

Politicians from all parties have shown themselves to be outright liars. Many of them have no morals whatsoever. The ballot paper should read:

Red liar [ ]
Blue liar [ ]
Yellow liar [ ]
Other liars [ ]
OR
I do not wish to vote for liars [ ]

I think the argument that women should vote because of Pankhurst etc would make that lady turn in her grave. She fought for change so that women could vote. She didn't fight so that women could be FORCED to vote for people who are dishonest (as opposed to being forced not to vote previously).

IMO politicians have told so many lies that there is no way to tell them apart. I have no idea which party/person to vote for. The newspapers report things in a manner to suit them at the time. Truth and honesty have disappeared so I can't vote.

OrangeFish · 22/05/2009 09:49

I think that is good that vote is not compulsory, that way the ones who take the trouble to vote are the ones who care about the issues discussed.

edam · 22/05/2009 10:01

Spoiling your ballot is quite dangerous as all the parties will argue about whether you were actually trying to vote for their man.

Makeda · 22/05/2009 10:01

But you don't need to have a box for abstaining - write it yourself on the ballot paper! If enough people turned up and spoilt the paper it would send a much stronger message than not turning up.

jellybeans · 22/05/2009 10:03

YABU up to the potential voter.

LittleMissNorty · 22/05/2009 10:04

must be quite intersting sorting out the ballot papers at the end of voting. My DH once wrote "whats the fucking point" across a ballot paper (parish council election!).....bet that made someone .

Spoiling ballot papers is a (protest) vote in my book

Ivykaty44 · 22/05/2009 10:04

But it is just counted as a spoilt paper - and no one cares as it wasn't a vote against there party so why would they listen.

KingRolo · 22/05/2009 10:09

The only person who sees the spoilt paper is a local volunteer. The candidates don't see it do they? Not a very effective protest in my opinion.

Makeda · 22/05/2009 10:09

Having said that, while I think everyone should vote, I don't think that they should be forced into it with the penalty of a fine.

shinyshoes · 22/05/2009 10:10

YABU, I am 34 and never voted, I don't agree with any of the party agendas, they are mostly out for themselves, I want Gordon Brown out but who will we get, David Cameron, it's which one of the lesser two evils isn't it?.

So if I don't vote again in the next general election I won't be moaning about the state of the country, i'll keep my gob shut. But it's a CHOICE, MY CHOICE

InternationalFlight · 22/05/2009 10:10

Completely and utterly disagree.

Voting should be compulsory only when it's compulsory for politicians to tell the truth, people to be given clear choices and education in which party will do what, and various other factors are in place to ensure that it's actually reasonably easy to know whom you wish to add your support for.

I have an IQ of 135 or so, and ABSOLUTELY NO F*CKING IDEA who to vote for, because I can't decipher politics at all...it seems a farce to me, a little game for those who wish for power. I'm not surprised people don't vote.

It also means I have to be on the electoral register, which means my ex could find me, and that's not something I relish the prospect of.

Oh and no, i can't get a special exception without either a court order (we've never been to court, and I don't want to provoke him by suggesting it) or a police statement and the same applies.

Makeda · 22/05/2009 10:11

Rolo if there were enough would they be counted in the sense that the turnout would be high but the proportion of real votes would be low?