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

of course you have a right to complain whether you vote or not. Not voting is complaining and sending a clear message that you want change, not the same old same old.

I have no idea. Perhaps there are fewer supporters now. Because although the candidates undoubtedly get out there and press the flesh, it's the grass roots supporters, not career politicians, who do the bulk of the basic electioneering: leafletting, canvassing etc. I'm not doing as much as I did in the last general election campaign because I work full time now. I dare say there are people around here wondering why they haven;t had a leaflet yet. And the reason is because I am marking coursework...

It's not a very clear message is it though? Yes, politicians get questioned about it. But at the end of the day, somebody still wins. You said it may one day bring about change. but I'm unconvinced. Big changes in politics surely happen because somebody takes action, rather than fails to take any.

If they held an election and no one turned up, then there'd be some serious change.

Am only responding to OP and some on this page. We are blooming lucky in that we have some semblence of a democracy in this country; maybe not the best or ideal one but a democracy all the same. One of the only ways of voicing our opinion is through voting in both local and general elections. We all have a duty to understand this process and if that means watching/hearing the news, researching online, reading the gumph sent through the door or answering the door to canvessers then that is what we should do.

OP, I understand your opinion here as I at this point, am undecided as to where I will place my X (after years of knowing exactly where I stand), but you should see it as your civil duty to place it somewhere, even if it's a "best fit". Please investigate and vote, I feel ashamed at times when our low voting rate is publicised, knowing that there are many in the world who don't even get the chance.

Well yes. But that's not going to happen. And meanwhile people who don't vote can be easily dismissed as 'apathetic' rather than principled, and for many, not without some justification.

It's a big enough message to worry them, that's why they want to introduce voting from your couch, anything to make the figures look hunky dory. Failing everything else, if they can't get the figures up, they'll go for compulsory voting to hide the fact that they are not listening to the voice of the people.

TBH claig, I think we should have compulsory voting, but include a "none of the above" category, so that abstainers actually do have their say, rather than appearing apathetic.

vicar,education and health have local political influence.councils have budget and chose how to apportion it.hence postcode lottery about provision.so who is in westminster determines how your local education and health is delivered

council tax does not always rise. some councils have freeze it,others raise.again all based on political allegience

Funnily enough Hain and co don't even say that the voters are apathetic, instead they insult our intelligence by saying that the voters are so satisfied that they don't need to turn up.

See, we're back on the 'they' again.

larks35 we live in a free country. The pompous dictators in banana republics like to swan around maintaining that everyone is happy with their rule and everybody turned out to vote. We are lucky that we are not forced to, we have the right to do as we please and not turn up to endorse parties that we may not believe in, so that they can carry on shafting us with council taxes etc. with the blessing of our votes. Sure they ignore us if they win, put it puts them on the spot and makes them wriggle a little when they are reminded of the turn-out figures. Their self-satisfied proclamations about how everybody loves the Great Leader start to sound a bit hollow. That's what democracy is all about, it keeps them on their toes.

if you think it's not 'they', then you're deluded. The expenses scandal showed that it's one rule for 'them' and one rule for us. You try getting away with expense claoms like that at your work and see what happens. Millions of people have marched protesting issues, huge marches on a scale never seen before. 'They' didn't take the blindest bit of notice. You should listen to Ken Livingstone, a man who probably knows a thing or two about it from the inside. He always says "if voting changed anything, they'd abolish it".

So if marching doesn't work, we vote.

God knows there's plenty wrong with our system, but nothing that will be sorted out by not voting because none of the current parties really appeal to us.

Sorry claig but that is not what happens, whoever wins, wins and the party that wins won't worry about turn-out figures because they know that the 40% (approx) who didn't vote probably wouldn't have voted for them and are therefore grateful to them (you?) for not bothering. Not voting does not keep our politicians on their toes, it keeps them in their jobs because a lot of people who want something different sit back and do nowt. I really think we all have a civil duty to vote, even if we just spoil the paper.

I vote, it's the best we can do. But I don't object to people who don't vote, because that is just as much a political statement. In fact if the turn-out was 10% it would be guaranteed that they would have to bring in real democracy where every vote counts. With turn-out figures that low, the farce would be exposed, and there would be no more endless enquiries and committee meetings looking into proportional representation. It would be a matter of urgency.

They know how to increase the turn-out, provide real democracy with a proportional voting system. They don't want to do it because it would cut their votes, as parties like the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and others would find their votes rocketing as the people believed it was worth turning up to vote. Instead they want to bully us to vote "because it is our duty", knowing that their cosy safe seat system will perpetuate the same old same old.

Well, I'm not about to disagree with the idea of a different voting system

My frustration with OP isn't about a principled refusal to vote.

claig, I agree with pretty much all you've said apart from not voting being a political statement - it isn't and will never be one. If we campaigned and encouraged people to write "non of the above" on their papers and 40% of voters did that, then that would be a political statement but not bothering to even spoil a paper is just doing nothing and has no effect on the outcome.

Spoiling the ballot paper isn't voting. how is it different to not attending the ballot?

i still dont get this spoil the paper thing.

sorry claig, you were taking the hits while i went and answered the phone, i am having considerable trouble with DS college flouting the disability discrimination laws....now if my MP had given a shit when i wrote to him about this same issue a few years ago he might have got my vote.

im not lazy, idle, a princess, indolent or over privilaged, or any of the other things ive been called. i just dont like the choices and to some degree i do expect that a party who wants my vote tell me why i should vote for them, be it by leaflet or talking to me. and i could ask them my questions and ask about disability inclusion in education or policing, but instead im supposed to guess or trust their spin doctors.

like i said - i like some bits of every party policy and not much of others but i dont believe much of it and havnt got that much information, and yes i expect them to give me info if they want my vote. my council tax has never been frozen. its gone up since day one.

politicians like you to think they are acting on your behalf, but who listened on the iraq war? on the poll tax? they kid you that they would do it differently. take the poll tax. massive riots. ended up being called council tax and you pay the same. that happened under two different parties!

i wonder what mark thomas will be doing on polling day.

i really dont see why i should vote if i dont like the choices and dont feel informed about them.

Ah, x posts.

I think, rather than encouraging people to spoil their ballots en masses, a better statement would be to encourage the same number of people to vote for, for example, an independent candidate. Vote for someone.

Ooh - stray s. Sorry.

...and i did the survey which said i should vote lib dem.

explain to me who they will support in a hung parliament.

When i stood as a candidate in a local election, my name and address were published and I had a number of letters and phone calls from people who wanted more information about my views. the election hasn;t been called yet, but the candidates will be in place. find the local party websites and email the candidates. Or wait until the list of candidates is published and do the same. I answered questions put to me, even at 10pm on a Friday after several glasses of wine...

I think the OP probably hasn't analysed her motives fully. Her original post makes it look like she doesn't give a damn. But of course she does, and on many issues, like where she has been to see her MP about disability rights in education. The problem is she has become disillusioned with them all, they never listen. They sweet-talked her when they needed her vote, but when she went back to see them after they got their feet under the table, she found that the door was locked. The manifesto promises were torn up without so much as a by-your-leave. Is it any wonder that she is sick of being shafted and that her and the other 40% want to teach the fat cats a lesson?