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AIBU?

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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:
onagar · 22/05/2009 12:54

If there is a box to say you don't choose any of the candidates then it should mean something. Perhaps a vote for no candidate at all or for a referendum on the method of picking them.

The way it works now I imagine that if 90% of the country refused to vote then one or the other of the gangs would gain control anyway.

smugaboo · 22/05/2009 13:26

Ok, so I get why the right to vote is central to democracy, but why is the right not to vote? Why is this a democratic principle?

Democracy seems to me to be about the right to participate in our political processes - not the right to opt out of them. Democracy is about participation more than personal choices. Democracy is as much a political model as socialism or communism - we are not entirely free -to say we are is self-delusion. We live within the confines of our political system = democracy.

LittleOneMum · 22/05/2009 13:32

Er... I think you'll find that the sufragettes campaigned for choice (i.e not being allowed to vote meant women had no choice). If you choose not to vote, that's no less a choice. Just because we have the choice (which I am grateful for) it does not mean we have to vote.

foreveroptimistic · 22/05/2009 13:33

Forcing people to vote will not make them interested in politics. The type of people who choose not to vote because they can't be bothered to vote unless they are voting for X factor or some other reality show drivel will just tick a random box. They won't suddenly be researching the manifesto of each party and becoming regular viewers of question time.

On the 4th June I will be voting in our local council election (ind candidate) but I shall not vote for the European candidates because I have no faith in any of the main parties at the moment. It is my right to decide whether I want to vote or not.

mayorquimby · 22/05/2009 13:44

"Democracy seems to me to be about the right to participate in our political processes - not the right to opt out of them."

can you not see that they are exactly the same thing? it's like saying to someone you have the right to work, and then forcing them to work. the right to do something just means that if you wish to avail of something or participate in something you will not be stopped from doing so. not that you are compelled to do it.

smugaboo · 22/05/2009 14:12

Yes they are the same thing - philosophically only. I am saying that democracy in practice is not about personal choice carte blanche. It is about the right to participate in the political process. You attribute civil liberty to a political system that does not entirely tolerate it.

Ah, mayorquimby, you have been a worthy adversary but it is time for sleep. I am languishing in the antipodes and my bed is calling me. Goodnight

fizzpops · 22/05/2009 14:14

Choosing not to do something with good reason has the same effect as choosing not to do something for no reason at all. It just looks like you don't care.

If you never use your local park you can't complain when they pave over it. If you don't vote then you can't complain if your vote is taken away from you.

I can't imagine that Suffragettes got the vote for women and then thought, 'Well I suppose I could vote but really after all that hunger striking and so on I can't be bothered'.

There are so many places in the world where people are still fighting to be allowed a democratic vote. I am not a particularly political person (I vote for what I consider to be the lesser of the evils) and I abhor all the name calling and general blather that accompanies any political discussion but I have always found it exhilerating to vote because I can and because I am determined not to take it for granted.

mayorquimby · 22/05/2009 14:21

night smugaboo.
by the way i'm an avid voter.

pingping · 22/05/2009 14:24

Yep lets all vote for which corrupt party is going to spend our money Jheeze I always vote but I doubt I will bother anymore

AbricotsSecs · 22/05/2009 14:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

womma · 22/05/2009 14:25

I agree with other posts on here - people died for me to have a vote and I will always vote because of that.

Tortington · 22/05/2009 14:28

i vote as i think it counts. Working class people fought hard for me to have this right and its disgusting not to honour that.

that we the masses could affect change.

I do think a lot of it is about education. I do know that a lot of people don't register to vote becuase they don't want debtors finding them - this ofcourse affects lots of poor people. But you can opt to not be on a public list (ithink)

however a fine, wouldnt actually help anyone ( rather like fining parents whose 15 yr old refuses to go to school)

not sure of the solution, i think some kind of online voting where people don't actually have to get off their arses might help

foreveroptimistic · 22/05/2009 14:32

I don't agree Fizzpops.

I never used our elderly daycare centre given that I'm not elderly but I still had an opinion when it closed.

If we did have compulsory voting what difference would it actually make? I think compulsory voting would lead to more people voting for parties like the BNP, thats quite a scary thought.

BlueBumedFly · 22/05/2009 14:34

I will always vote but a fine in OTT.

What if you are a single working mum with small kids and/or no car no babysitters etc etc. I am sure there are postal options etc etc but could it be some people just cannot get there?

katiestar · 22/05/2009 14:38

i think it is irresponsible to vote if you couldn't care less who gets in.
First person has a strong opinion and votes for party A.Second person has no opinion and based on the flip of a coin votes for party B.Person As vote is cancelled out.

foreveroptimistic · 22/05/2009 14:40

If people want to vote they will vote. There are polling stations everywhere so people can't use the excuse that it is not possible to get to a polling station.

People don't vote because:

A) they don't exist, I know lots of men who are not registered in the properties they live in because of benefit fraud.

B)They have no interest because Simon Cowell and Katie Price have nothing to do with it.

C)They live in an area where the party in power has such a high majority that they don't see any point.

D) They are sick of the thieving bastards and can't bring themselves to vote for one of them.

BlueBumedFly · 22/05/2009 14:43

I don't agree, just because there are polling stations everywhere does not mean every single person can get to one. Location is not always the issue, availability is.

willowthewispa · 22/05/2009 14:46

I never vote. I'm not apathetic though - I've made an active and considered decision not to vote.

Saltire · 22/05/2009 14:53

Well I don't think there are any SNP candidates near me.

I was told by a council official who was A) calling me a liar and B) harrassing me, that I would be fined if I didn't go on teh ER - I don't understand why it's illegal not to be on it. I understand if you want to vote then you must be, but if someone chooses not to go on it, why should they be forced to, and bullied into it

fizzpops · 22/05/2009 14:55

foreveroptimistic - that is kind of the point although you were not able to use the daycare centre you had an opinion and you voiced it.

I don't agree with compulsory voting either - as I said previously I have missed voting on occasion - I just think that if people really considered what a privilege it was to have a vote then they wouldn't take it for granted. Spoiling the ballot paper is what I suggested to my friend when she didn't know who to vote for.

Tortington · 22/05/2009 15:01

wispa why?

if you thinkt he candidates are all shit, then abstain or spoil the paper

but to ignore the process and the principle of voting is wrong imo

willowthewispa · 22/05/2009 15:03

It's not just that all the candidates are shit, the whole system is shit. It's not democracy and I'm not prepared to legitimise it by participating.

shavenhaven · 22/05/2009 15:06

i know someone that wont be voting because she keeps herself of the electoral role.

she left a load of debt at ther old house and thinks that putting herself on the role will cause the debt collecters to trace her.

i always think its a really bizarre excuse to get out of voting

oliverboliverbutt · 22/05/2009 15:12

not everyone who chooses not to vote is politically apathetic or uninterested in politics.

This blog is from america but I think it sums up a lot of how the non voters I know feel about it.

www.lewrockwell.com/mcelroy/mcelroy37.html

Ivykaty44 · 22/05/2009 15:32

she is right though - the debt companies will find someone with the same name and try to get them to pay the debt. They do this through the ER.

Councils are hopeless and never seem to catch up with none registring adults

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