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

My grandmother was involved with the suffragette movement. She wasn't famous and neither did she chain herself to railings, go on hunger strike and get her name in the newspapers. But she did work hard for the cause and instilled in me the importance of casting a vote and, most vitally, the importance of women casting their vote.

It is difficult when none of the candidates appears to be worth a vote but if necessary, go and spoil the paper. My ex-h once voted for the cat and said it gave him considerable satisfaction since the cat would have made a far better job of representing the people than the buffoons who'd stood for election in our constituency. Since all candidates attend the count and see the spoilt papers, a "none of the above" vote can be a statement worth making.

It is also important to inform yourself so that whatever decision you make has been based on some proper research. At the very least you owe that to everyone who fought so hard to get women enfranchised.

PS. Whoever said that the BNP won't let their supporters forget to vote is right. So not letting the fascist scum anywhere near Parliament is as good a reason as any to get down to the polling station. Well it is to me!

Vicar - as I said on the other thread, as you hope to join the Police, then have a look at the policies of the parties on crime and justice; how they see the Police being used; will they get rid of county forces and move to one UK wide force? Do they want more bobbies on the beat, or do they want them ticking boxes and generating revenue through speeding fines? These are things that will directly impact on you and your working conditions.

I vote on issues of defence, education and the economy and I cannot in all conscience vote for Labour after they have presided over a huge slip in education standards, sent people to fight without the correct kit and ignored what they have been told by those fighting about what they need; and screwed up the economy to the point they have. Sure, I know there will be a defence review if the Tories get in, and I have emailed Liam Fox about things that concern me and had a response which said what I expected. However, the Tories have said they will have a war cabinet that sits regularly whilst Afghanistan is ongoing, and that they can't say what they will do in Defence terms until they've looked at the Foreign policy issues as the two areas are inextricably linked. Joined up thinking at last!

In other areas of our lives, if we don't know something, we make the effort to inform ourselves and find out what we need to know. In the case of the election, and who governs us for the next 5 years, (and this will impact directly on almost every area of our lives,) we have a duty I think to inform ourselves if we can, and to make a choice about the party or individual we vote for.

I would not take you seriously as a potential police officer if you weren't aware of what the parties were proposing to do about civil liberties, or what laws the Government have introduced that impact on our freedoms over the past 13 years. What about misuse of the anti-terrorism laws? If nothing else, this might come up at interview; 'I don't know, I couldn't be arsed to find out' won't go down well; and it doesn't sit well with me either with regards to your apathetic reason for not voting.

I would rather you didn't vote, actually. If you don't really care for any of the parties or know what their policies are, then why should you go along on election day and make decisions that have the ability to impact on other people's lives? I think you're being sensible.

If a lot of people are going along and voting randomly, then that surely must skew results massively.

If you are going to do it, abstain actively. Spoil your ballot paper.

I don't understand the advice to spoil your ballot paper. Who is it making a point to? People who count the votes? Don't they just think that spoiled ballot papers are mistakes? I wonder why there isn't a "no confidence" box to discriminate between people who genuinely can't fill out a ballot paper and those who aren't happy. At least then the message would get through that there's more work to be done educating the voters.

It is enough to make a point to yourself. Although actually, if you are creative with the spoiling - rather than just put a cross in all, or none, of the boxes - nobody at the count will think it is a mistake. I agree that a "none of the above" box could be an interesting experiment but am concerned that it'd just add to the profound laziness some people bring to the serious business of voting.

I really think that you should make it clear that you are unwilling to vote for anyone, rather than you simply can't be arsed. If you don't vote at all the message is that you don't give a shit, whereas the reality is that you do care, but think they're a bunch of conmen.

To give the message that you are disgusted with all parties you need to spoil your ballot paper.

Vicar, you talk about politicians "doing the job to line their own pockets" and people you "don't believe in or trust". If you have enough information to form these opinions, then how come you haven't heard anything about the policies of the main parties?

I campaign for a political party. I deliver leaflets and I knock on doors. I've stood for election a number of times. I live in an area where my party is not in the majority. I work full time. I am not a career politician (the "they" that has been referred to on this thread presumably), like every other party supporter in my area, and we do as much as we can, but we cannot knock on everyone's door inthe run up to the election. We just can't. I stood for election because I didn't like the candidates on offer and wanted to be able to place my cross against a party I supported, even though I had no chance of winning, and to allow other people to do the same. That's how democracy works. There's no them and us. It's us.

tilly thankyou for that link. that is interesting. have bookmarked it for future use.

i will try and answer -

gmtbst - how can anyone not have heard about the expenses scandals which crossed all main parties? i dont live in a hut, i just dont buy papers or watch much tv, but did hear about people claiming expenses for moats to be cleaned. scandal was all over everywhere - unlike their policies.
the politicians that claimed those expenses were not doing that for the country or their constituents, they did it to help themselves.

scaryteacher - i have passed the interview and almost all of the recruitment process whilst I currently work voluntarily as a special constable for another force. i dont agree with any of the policies on policing from the main parties. You (personally?) dont have to take me seriously, for those whose paths cross mine in my active duty - well, this type of conversation isnt very likely to come up - i dont tend to talk politics while putting the cuffs on.

i realise that not everyone is going to agree with me, this is AIBU after all, but im still not feeling the need to justify myself in exercising my right not to vote for someone i dont believe in.

so i went on that link, and it says i should vote lib dem, and they will not say who they will back in the event of a hung parliament. so im back to square one - if i vote for them it means in reality im taking pot luck on either tory or labour - lib dems wont get in. either labour or coservatives will, and while the lib dems refuse to say who they will back i wont be voting.

VicarInaTuTu, YANBU. You have taken a pasting here, but you are together with approximately 40% of the population who don't vote. A large number don't vote because they don't feel the parties represent their interests. Sure some policies they may agree with, but others they disagree with. They don't feel that they should give approval to parties that don't reflect enough of their interests. They also feel disenfranchised by the voting system, where every vote does not count, particularly in safe seats etc.

Not voting is a political statement, it sends the message "a plague on all your houses". It is up to the parties to then find out what the 40% really want and to start offering these policies.

It suits certain politicians to get you to vote so that they can get in on the back of you. Labour's Peter Hain has been trying to make voting compulsory, as is done in Australia. That way they can quote 100% turn out figures and pretend that everyone is happy. The Tories disagree with this, and say that in a free country it is your right not to vote.

It embarrasses politicians when their legitimacy to rule is questioned. They are not able to crow from the rooftops when they have gained power on a low turn-out with the majority of the electorate refusing to back them.

Not voting is a protest vote that embarrasses them, it tells them what the public really thinks of them, and it may one day force them to create a fair voting system where every vote really does count. Only then will they start thinking that every voter really counts and start offering policies that the 40% who don't vote really want. Till then they will continue lecturing us from their safe seats.

YABU

What rot to expect people to turn up and canvass you - can you name a time of day when you are open to having strangers ring your bell and then try to get you to vote for them?

If you have time to MN then you have time to get a basic grasp of what the parties are offering. If you can't even do that then vote green - unless of course you object to the green party, although I don't know how anybody could.

The world doesn't owe you an education on politics, you have to find out for yourself. What a depressing idea that you won't vote becuase they haven't come to your house.

And no it is not a 'protest' or embarrassing to politicians if you don't vote. They'll just assume you don't care about much and are disengaged from your community etc.

funnily enough claig i was asking at work today and found a surprising number of people didnt vote. all for their own differing reasons. not one party appeals to me in this election - i did the survey on tillys link and found that i liked one policy each from a number of differing parties. the overiding result was vote lib dem - and ive explained why im not doing that.

Cat64, its not that i dont get time to read the papers or watch tv, its that i choose not to. i used to read the Guardian, i stopped because i chose to stop. yes my life is busy, i have a special needs child and a couple of jobs - im not sure what your insinuating really or what your interest is in how i spend my time?

some peoples sense of moral indignation and outrage (and bitchiness in some instances) says more about those people than it does about me.

im really quite amazed at the number of people who seem not to like people who exercise their rights not to do what the majority think is some kind of duty. i have no obligation to vote and am actually doing nothing wrong by saying i intend not to.

until i find a political party whose policies i mostly agree with then what is the point of my mindlessly ticking a box when i dont believe it?

how are spoilt papers counted? what are they counted as? ive never seen the election results include spoilt papers or protest votes.

OK then vicar don't vote.

Not sure why you asked us though if it was a reasonable stance if your view is so strong that you are right not to be informed about politics.

sad you think so little of a profound right.

next time you are bellyaching about
nhs
pct/gp
education
roads
bin collection
council tax

remember you dont vote so really have no recourse to complain

oh and spare us the i'll hide it if you disagree with me hissy fits

why are people not reading my posts? is there a compulsion on AIBU to misread everything?

i said i would expect something - a leaflet - something - from any party who wants my vote. so far in my town there may as well not be an election. no leaflet drops, no canvassing, nothing.

and yes actually, if my vote is so important as being portrayed on here then why has no one sent me a leaflet or knocked on my door to explain their policy?

how hard do politicians work? (i tried to engage my MP on disability rights issues in education which is a battle ive fought for 13 years since my now 18year old has been in education) He was a bit shit actually. is once every 5 years a bit much to expect someone to do a leaflet drop or actually talk to me about party policy?

You see I think the onus is on the voter. It's your vote. Surely it matters to you what happens to it? It should matter to you.

Candidates only care about spoilt papers in so far as they check them to make sure they can't be interpreted as a vote for them. That's it. I know lots of people think spoilt papers are a good protest, but I am doubtful about that. Somebody will win the election, no matter how low the turnout, no matter how many spoilt papers. That person will then have the power that our democracy places in the person who gets the most votes in whatever election is being held, whether it's deciding on where to place a park bench or vote on whether or not we go to war. Someone will make those decisions on our behalf. The person with the most votes. That is the point of voting. You can exercise your right not to vote of course. And I shall exercise mine to say that I think you are wrong.

you are right, spoilt papers are a waste of time. The headlines on the day that the election result is announced never mention what the percentage of spoiled votes is. But the headlines always mention what the percentage turn-out was because that is a major factor in determining the democractic legitimacy of the winning party.

Dimbleby and co always hum and haw about what the turn-out figures show and Hain always tries to explain it away. Spoiled votes count as turn-out so they don't register on the politicians' radar. What they don't want to explain is a low turn-out because it shows that they are not meeting the needs of the public.

Google is your friend.

Are there any other areas of your life in which you sit passively awaiting unsolicited leaflets rather than seeking out info?

Are you reading posts properly? Do you know how many households there are in your constituency. And how long it takes to do a leaflet drop to all of them?

ive never moaned about any of those things scotishmummy. the "oh you dont vote so you have no right to complain" argument isnt a good one really seeing as ive never complained.

nothing changes from one government to the next. no matter who gets in your council tax will go up next year.

your schools will be squeezed by the LEAs ever tightening budgets and your NHS will still be run by idiots who waste more money than they save.

swapping sides in the houses of parliament isnt going to change that.

vicar you come across as a bitty princess wanting your arse kissed and opinion feted

maybe that nice man mr griffin will pop by tell you all about decline of britain and what he can do about it

thefallenmaddonna - how come in other elections ive had info?