to not use my vote at the election

[ThatVikRinA22]

bracing myself...

but i dont believe in any of the policies ive not seen so far - ive no idea who stands for what. no one is canvassing in our area and i think politicians are full of shit anyway.

so for the first time ever i dont think im going to vote at all. cant see the point in voting for a party (any party?) when i dont understand what they stand for and dont know what that is anyway.

yes i know what women did 100 years ago to ge the vote etc etc but is sticking a X in a box at random any better than not voting? id have to go eeny meeny miney moe....

for the record when this thread goes tits up im hiding it....and probably name changing

oh and i wont moan when 'so and so' gets in either....if thats an argument someone is already formulating.

I always vote.........but have been known to intentionally spoil my paper rather than actually vote for any of the candidates........

There should be a 'none of the above' option, so we can register our disatisfaction whilst not actually wasting a vote

The idea of not voting just grates on my nerves.

YABU. Vote for the parties whose policies are closest in line to what you think/believe is best and do something to change the party(ies) from within if it's an issue that matters so much to you. Alternatively, why not start up/create your own political party? Not voting is just plain laziness, IMHO, nothing to do with, "Oh, not sure I agree with any policies that I haven't actually bothered reading up on ...".

Why not do some intelligent research rather than wait for all the information (some of which might be true, some of which might be not-so-true-when-you-read-the-fine-print) to be handed to you on a dumbed-down platter?

Yes yabvu if you don't vote. You know you are. People queue for hours in the dust in Zimbabwe and Iran just to vote in an election they know to be rigged , just because they can and should. You should be ashamed if you do not exercise your right that people died for.
Spoil your ballot paper if you really hate them all.

I am going to vote just to feel like I at least have a teeny bit of a say in the world. Having said that YANBU to feel the way you do, I still have no idea who I will vote for because nothing has stood out to me so far, the thing I have heard most about I really dont CARE about no matter how much I tell myself I should!.

asana because i just want the info to be handed to me on a platter and i really cant be arsed to research at all.....yep. thats me to a T.

yes i am so ashamed charlie.

is that what you want to hear? ok then. done!

how is spoiling the paper different to not voting? are the people counting going to "get me"?....

YABU...but you knew that.

Draw a big spunking cock on your paper.

(I did that for the London Mayoral elections and llok who we got. so, actually, don't do that)

Either educate yourself on the main parties (boring I know) or do Ippy-dippy, or vote for your local "joke" party.

Don't not vote. Please.

Sorry, I think YABU. I won't be voting for either of the "big two", but I don't consider that a wasted vote. Democracy becomes a farce when such a huge percentage of voters can't be bothered.

should probably add that I did send a question to a party I was considering voting for and got back the worst reply I have ever seen which seemed to totally ignore the fact I had even had a question so I did decide NOT to vote for them. It wasnt a hard question so there was no need for the rubbish reply!

Zimbabwe hasn't had a high turn out ever really.

generally under 50% at all Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in the last 20yrs

Iran was around 50% turn-out in their last elections

UK has been consistently around 60-70% turnout in all elections since the 1950's

Barring EU ones which are much lower at around 30%

YABU, vote!

Or spoil your ballot paper. It's still taking a position. For centuries women didn't have a political voice, and I think now we have the right to vote we owe it to them to use it.

Just write 'you're all shit' on it, if you want. But don't just not bother.

YABU.

Have a look at the websites for political parties such as (in alphabetical order)

Conservatives

Labour

Liberal Democrats

Green Party

Or not in alphabetical order but not necessarily in order of preference

YABU, and as someone's already said, you know you are. You can't be arsed to even find out what the parties' policies are so you just don't bother. That's just sad.

I understand your point but here I have to vote against one party even though there is nothing that I particularly want to vote for. I just need to know I did something.

But I understand your apathy.

My mum was one of the 'people fought and died so you could fill in blank

but why should people HAVE to go and search online and find out what the policies are.

Remember they want ALL the electorate to vote, many of those don't have access to the internet, or don't know how to use it if they've got it. Or may be unable to literate enough to be able to read and understand the garble they are expected to find themselves

How are those people supposed to make an "informed" decision if they're expected to research all the policies themselves?

Good point whyme2. VicarInaTuTu, if not enough people vote for the most mainstream parties then the door is open for various others. Are you happy with that?

So how do you think they should present their policies ToccataAndFudge?

well canvassing and actually talking to people is generally quite a good start.

We sit here on the internet, full conversant with it and literate, and knowing how/where to find information on their policies, and I htink the majority of us are able to read through those polices and make some sense of them.

"We" are not everyone who is entitled to vote, and those other people that don't have access/ability to get online and research the polices for themselves should not be left in position where the haven't got a fucking clue who is arguing for what in an election.

People who don't have t'internet are not helpless. For example,In Ye Olden Days people actually went to the library (yes, I know, the very idea!)where you can freely read the parties manifestos. God, why do people expect everything to be handed to them on a plate these days?

1. You need to have a library near you (lots have closed)
2. You need to be able to get to the library, elderly, infirm, those wit hdisablities etc (all entitled to vote) may be able to get to the polling station (or do a postal vote), but may not be able to get to the library. I know our local library (which is shite in general anyhow) has been inaccesible to those in wheelchairs for months now as the lift has been out of order!)
3. You need to be literate enough to be able to understand what you're reading.

I believe in ye olden days they used to canvass at people's doors.........I remember as a child my dad standing there on the door step and (in not so many words and not so politely) telling a Tory MP to "go away"

What about TV and radio news?