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...

Spoiling you ballot is mildly better than not voting. Even if just for your own peace of mind.

But ultimately no one will care or notice either way.

The only "ethics" about not voting are the fact that you don't get to complain with what happens over the next 5 years.

Admittedly a single vote is demonstrably worthless (that's why if you can't vote because the government cocked up your application, you get fuck all in the way of recompense). However, whoever is in power is quite correctly entitles to point to the 30% non-voters as being happy with whatever the outcome was.

Given that people - especially women - suffered real hardships, criminal prosecutions and persecution for trying to gain the vote, I think there are better ways to use a vote than not using it.

Ultimately it's between you and your maker anyway. No one checks.

Can you decline a ballot in the U.K.? We can hear in Canada - you are handed it and then you give it straight back. They are counted separately from the spoiled ballots.

Plus one for this 👆

My dad drummed it into me (nicely, he was lovely!) when I was younger that I should always vote, no matter who for, and to vote for who I thought would serve my community best. I have always voted Labour, and will do so again this time (hoping they repay my faith and don't cock it up) but spoiled my vote when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader as I could not bring myself to vote for him. I love the whole process of polling day, and the fact that we have the right to be part of the process. Also I have to cancel out H's vote. But that's another matter.

In our area we have Tory,Labour, Lib Dem, Reform or Independent.

our current MP is Tory and to be fair to him he’s a great guy and has done (and continues to) do a good job and he’s well liked in the area, the Labour guy is a genuinely awful human being (who I know really well and have a personal and professional dislike of him) the independent isn’t much better he’s done some dodgy stuff ( but hasn’t impacted me but has impacted other people in our wider area), I’d never vote Reform and never heard anything about our Lib Dem candidate but what little I’ve heard about her she doesn’t seem to be that pleasant either so going on my small part of the UK I’d have to vote Tory as our candidate does genuinely give a shit but I genuinely don’t want to due to his party so I’ve got absolutely no idea what to do.

I am trying to think of “the greater good” but knowing who I’ll be dumped with by doing my civic duty for that greater good is filling me with dread

I’d have to vote Tory as our candidate does genuinely give a shit but I genuinely don’t want to due to his party

The party system doesn't really encourage democracy. Anywhere.

There’s no tradition of doing that and I don’t think it would go down well with the polling clerk.

Look at the Socialist Worker, Independents and the Green Party. Many have policies supporting NHS, working people and are anti genocide. I believe voting is important. Spoiling your vote is preferable to a Labour or Conservative vote- they are both tied to USA and Israel .

I think our recent PCC election was the first election I didn’t bother to vote in. I thought the post of PCC was a waste of money (and the involvement of party politics was inappropriate), I couldn’t support any of the candidates and I genuinely didn’t care who won. Judging by the dismal turnout in our constituency and the comments on the many spoilt ballot papers, plenty of people felt the same. I hope the very low turnout sent its own message.

That said, I think as many of us should vote in the General Election as possible. Could a single vote in a marginal seat prove decisive? The odds of it are infinitesimal. But will the Mumsnet vote make a difference? Yes, it probably will.

Since all polls are saying labour will win, you can happily vote Tory as you’ll only be voting for them to be in opposition, not in govt. Frankly we need them in opposition if the alternative opposition is reform.

Nice try! If you want a Labour government, then voting for the candidate in your area who’s most likely to beat the Tories is sensible tactical voting.

However, voting for the opposite of what you want in order to try and reduce the size of the winner’s majority is likely to backfire. There are a lot of “shy Tories” around.

I posted on another thread about the Remain supporters who feared that a large Remain majority would make the EU complacent, so they actually voted Leave! I remember hearing from one who was furious when Leave won - not with himself for trying to be too clever, but with the polling companies who’d predicted a Remain win.

I would say "surely people can't be that stupid?" But I already know they can. 🤦‍♂️

If you do not vote ,you are in effect saving some one else is better qualified to decide for you.

I would vote - if there are no parties you'd vote for in good conscience, then ruin your ballot paper. This sends a very different message to not voting at all.

Not voting = apathy (or at least apathy is inferred)
Ruining your ballot = you would vote for someone if they were worthy of it, which in turn (you would hope!) would make them interrogate their policies and where they miss the mark.

There was only one woman who died in the Suffragette campaigns, but their terrorist activities killed four men, so really it was men who died for women's right to vote.

Several women were killed at Peterloo so women died for men’s right to vote as well as their own.
Force feeding almost certainly shortened lives as well.

I could have written that post. I can’t even go to vote at the same time as my bloke, watching him put his X in the Tory box would make me too angry!

I understand your frustration.

An alternative to not voting might be to vote for the candidate with the least chance of winning.
If another candidate gets more votes then the incumbent MP might get worried about a reduction of his/her "majority"...

The underlying problem of course is the voting system itself!
^https://www.change.org/MakeVotingMeaningful^

I always vote tactically to best ensure that Tories/reform don't get in

But you shouldn't have to vote tactically...

However, the voting system could be better...

^https://www.change.org/MakeVotingMeaningful^

Write "NOTA" on the ballot slip! 😉

Not voting runs the risk of increasing the chances of winning for your worst choice Candidate...

Quote: "I'm voting Leave because I don't agree with gay adoption"

• a Bedford Constituent...