I care passionately about who will end up in government by the end of this week. Like everyone else my concerns are numerous; at the forefront of my mind is my young child, and the fact that my job relies on funding. If the 'wrong' party for me gets in, my family's life could markedly change. But I still won't be voting tactically in this election, however much I'm told I must choose the "least worst option".
Tactical voting - giving your support to a candidate you don't really agree with just to stop a party you like even less winning your local seat - doesn't sit well with me. That hasn't stopped me doing it in the past though, and I expect lots of you have done the same.
It's a pretty negative way to use your democratic right, and yet the tactical voting message has been promulgated by the media for years - just look at today's front pages. Now there are even online tools that calculate how much - or how little - our vote is worth, depending on whether we live in a safe seat or not. "All votes are not equal", we are told, and it's only the minority who live in marginal constituencies that have the power to change anything.
Even the literature that's pushed through our letterboxes tells us who we should and shouldn't vote for on the grounds that "they can't win here".
This approach is at best patronising, and at worst manipulative. Are we not to be trusted to make our own minds up and use our vote properly? If we pay attention to this kind of negative campaigning we risk voting for change we don't want, and we're damaging our democracy by rejecting the parties who are offering alternatives to the status quo. Anybody asking us to do this can't claim to have our best interests at heart.
On top of this, you can never be sure whether you're throwing your vote away for no reason. Until the results are announced, we don't know how much support a party in your constituency really has. Tactical voters are playing a numbers game without knowing the numbers, and all we have to go on is what we’re told in the media and elsewhere.
Of course, all of this leaves less space for what the parties actually stand for. I think we need to bring this election back what they are promising us. Sites like Vote for Policies let you compare the main parties' policies, in their own words, without knowing which party they belong to until the end.
To me, it feels like a good way of avoiding the political spin and conflicting media stories that make politics so hard to engage with, and it also helped me remove my own preconceptions. We may think we have a natural allegiance to a particular party, but do we actually prefer their policies?
None of this means my preferred party will get elected of course. Disappointment is inevitable for some of us. But at least this way, I can have better information and side with the candidate I feel most closely aligned to - regardless of whether I think they have a chance in my area.
Ultimately, tactical voting prevents us from giving our support to the people who want the same kind of society as we do. The good politicians have a difficult enough job as it is without missing out on credit from their true supporters. I want them to be around when the next election comes, and I want them to know that they are appreciated.
You can find out more about Vote for Policies, and take their survey, here.