Ethics of not voting

[Gnomegarden32]

I live in a very safe Labour seat in a city well known for hating the Tories, ie there is no chance in hell of my constituency turning Tory, especially not this time. If there was I would go and vote Labour.

I am considering not voting as I am just so ANGRY with Starmer and the Labour party - the total contempt for women, the way Rosie Duffield has been treated, the refusal to lift the 2 child benefit cap etc etc. However, it feels very very wrong not to vote, even though it won't make any difference where I live. Just wondered if anyone has any thoughts on this?

There are no other good options to vote for in my area, I've checked...

Btw this is indulgent I know as it doesn't actually matter what I vote - I'm just genuinely interested in people's thoughts on the ethics of not voting as a protest.

Vote for which other party is likely to do best other than Labour or the Tories then.

The smaller the majority the more likely the Labour MP might care about some local issues.

That's a good point, thank you

spoil your ballot paper. spoiled ballots are counted and declared, so IMO it's a better way to register a protest. Staying at home is easily mistaken for apathy.

I didn't know that, thank you

I didn’t vote last time. I haven’t decided whether to this time.

We have the right to vote, not the obligation. I feel absolutely no guilt about not voting in 2019. The choices were bad or worse and my conscience is clean because I did not help either of them.

Women didn’t die so that we would be forced to vote for whichever bugger was least bad.

You do need to vote, even if you go and put a cross in all boxes, so you spoil the ballot paper.
I’m still very much on the fence what I’m going to do, as like you I’m in a very safe Labour seat but I loathe Starmer and there’s no real opposition in this area.

Yes you're right - they died for our right to vote if we want to. I never thought I wouldn't vote but here we are.

In all seriousness, if Monster Raving Loony were standing here, I would vote for them.

At the moment I'm leaning towards spoiling the ballot paper. They'll be wondering who the angry women is in the booth going nuts with the marker pen

I feel that turning up to vote should be a legal requirement and not doing so, shows a total disinterest in our country and the outcome.

Yes, or Lord Buckethead

Maybe set up a party called ‘None of the above’ 🤣

😏

I compeltey disagree. Millions died in t WW1 and WW" in order to retain our freedom!!

Freedome is a CHOICE and that is a fact, so I retain the right as do our citizens to vote or not to vote!!

If you do spoil a ballot paper, the candidates (or their agents) will see it briefly. At the count, they will be called over to review the spoilt ballots. Of course, their focus is to see if any of the spoilt ballots could be counted as a vote in their favour. They might argue, for example, over what counts as a mark that could identify the voter.

Still, they can’t help but skim the comments. I think that if I were going to spoil a paper, I would write my comment in a spiral to force them to read it word by word. I can just see the “huddle” craning their necks as the Presiding Officer holds my ballot paper up in front of them and turns it slowly. 😀

I agree with previous posters that freedom not to vote is as important as freedom to vote. So if you don't want to, you should have that right.

However if you do but just don't like the national party or parties, you could look at it from a local constituency perspective. Sometimes a candidate from a party you don't usually like, or a party you do usually like but feel disillusioned about, can be a good local MP.

Or you could spoil your ballot. If you do spoil, make sure you're clear it's an intentional spoil.

When there's a potential spoilt ballot, staff will try to work out if the voter actually meant to vote for a particular candidate. So I would, if spoiling, write "I'm intentionally spoiling my ballot. None of the above". If you want to give any reasons why, you can add that in after you've written that. In one case, I think it was 2019, two candidates drew but one successfully argued a spoilt ballot was showing support for them..

Spoiling the ballot is pointless, might as well not bother.
The best bet is to vote for the person you want representing you in parliament or failing that the party closest aligned to your needs. Then start writing to your MP about your concerns.

The amount of airtime a party gets on public service broadcasters is related to how well they do in the popular vote.

This means that even if you don't actually win many seats, you might get a lot of airtime granted.

This also means that in practice, whilst it doesn't feel like it, your vote always does matter.

I have only once not voted, and then I read about what happened at Peterloo, which was a catalyst for political reform and ordinary working class men given the vote. Innocent people were killed at a peaceful protest, so I will vote to honour them. If I don’t like labour or tories, I vote for the independent candidate.

Lots of food for thought here - thanks everyone

What LlynTegid said. Protest vote if you have to.

Collectively, by reducing/reshaping the majorities, all the protest votes do send messages. Plus you can continue to voice support for those policies of the candidate you do like and help get more visibility for those issues. More effective than spoiling your ballot.

How would you feel if lots of people did that and the Tories did get in? Just out of curiousity

Of course you should have the freedom not to vote. But I agree it should be a legal requirement to turn up. By all means spoil the ballot, but if you sit around doing nothing it looks like you’re not bothered when actually you have a very valid opinion

If you don’t choose, others will choose for you. You are saying any of them will do.
I haven’t always voted in the Police and Crime Commissioner election. I tend to think that if it weren’t an elected position having a Conservative in the job wouldn’t worry me.
I do think the government and the elected MP make a difference though.
In your position, I would make a decision based on the actual local MP then consider the other options. Write to the MP and explain why you can’t vote for them if you want to do the right thing, which it seems from your emphasis on what’s ethical you do.
I think spoilt ballot papers look a bit unhinged and aren’t taken seriously.