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Original poster

Do you like having the right to vote?

24 replies

policywonk · 06/02/2008 12:59

Don't know whether this has been done yet, but today is the 90th anniversary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which gave featherheaded little ladies the right to vote (so long as they were sufficiently aged, but that a whole other campaign).

So, I thought I'd tip my tifter.

OP posts:

donnie · 06/02/2008 13:32

yes I do. I cannot bear it when people - especially women - say they 'can't be bothered to vote'. Many people all over the world are dying for their right to vote. Literally.

Carmenere · 06/02/2008 13:33

Oh Donnie, I am ALWAYS making this bloody point when some idiot says they can't be bothered, it makes my blood boil.

FAQ · 06/02/2008 13:34

Yes I do. I often feel my vote makes sod all difference, but at least once I've ticked the box and posted it in the box I feel like I've had least had a chance to have my say......unlike (as donnie mentions) millions the world over who don't even get the chance.

noddyholder · 06/02/2008 13:36

I am passionate about this too.Also hate when people say they can't be bothered or they can't change anything?!?!?!?!? Not with that attitude they won't

margoandjerry · 06/02/2008 13:38

Yes. And I also hate kneejerk cynicism from people who don't get off their backsides to do anything but want to have a go at politicians for anything they attempt to do.

I have worked with politicians and here's the truth about them (whichever party):

they care enough to do the job
they work a lot harder than anyone else I know
they get flak for having allowances when most normal working people don't have to pay for their own office, stationery, secretary etc

Whenever anyone starts on the whole "they're all the same, what's the point" argument I want to point out that it takes courage and stamina and commitment to sit down in a room with Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley and get those two to agree to work together. Most ordinary people couldn't do it. It takes politics to achieve peace and that's what we have now in Northern Ireland after decades of trouble.

TheFallenMadonna · 06/02/2008 13:39

Hurrah for the vote.

And now we just need to get more people actively involved in politics. Easy for politicians to become a breed apart, which in turn leads to disillusionment with the democratic process.

Get involved!

RubySlippers · 06/02/2008 13:39

absolutely

i vote, and have done since i was 18 for all the reasons all the PPs have said

PrettyCandles · 06/02/2008 13:41

I take my children with me when I vote. Now that they are at school I try to go and vote outside school hours (if their shcool isn't a polling station) precisely so that I can continue to ttake them with me. I'm determined that they should understand that exercising your right to vote is critically important. I don't want it ever to even occur to them, when the time comes, that they might not bother to vote!

SueBaroo · 06/02/2008 13:42

arf. Didn't we do this a while ago. Still not sure that I will, but I have always been very glad of the right.

so I'll give a bit of a cynical hat tip and wander off plotting the political downfall of the Home Secretary.

FAQ · 06/02/2008 13:43

I was hugely proud to vote in the 1997 election (just after I'd turned 18). As much as I now despise the Labour Government it was really exciting to see my vote had contributed to the landslide victory that they got.

I was at boarding school and all of us that were old enough to vote were allowed to stay up as late as we could manage to watch the results coming in on the TV.

GrapefruitMoon · 06/02/2008 13:48

Yes, especially (like a few others on this thread) I'm not originally from the UK - can't quite remember the historical reasons behind it but I do think it's a bit of an honour to be allowed to vote in all elections - under the circumstances.

Original poster

policywonk · 06/02/2008 13:55

What's she done to annoy you Sue (specifically)?

Grapefruit, women were enfranchised in Britain because of their contribution during the First World War, broadly speaking.

Hmm - I think people are entitled to not vote if they think that no-one is representing their views. Do find it annoying when people don't vote because they just can't be bothered/don't care.

OP posts:

FAQ · 06/02/2008 13:56

I have to confess I did spoil my paper in the last local elections round here - didn't want to vote for ANY of the candidates on our ward.....but decided it was better to go and spoil the paper than not to bother at all....

Jackstini · 06/02/2008 13:57

Yes I do - like others it really annoys me when people moan about things but then say they have never voted! (dh included )
Put up or shut up I say....

GrapefruitMoon · 06/02/2008 13:58

I didn't mean why as a woman I am allowed to vote I meant as a non-UK national...

Original poster

policywonk · 06/02/2008 13:59

I think that's an honourable course of action, FAQ

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Original poster

policywonk · 06/02/2008 14:00

Ah right Grapefruit, sorry. Don't know about that.

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Bridie3 · 06/02/2008 14:03

Agree ENTIRELY. And you only have to look around the world to see the wretched state of countries where women aren't allowed to vote to see how important it is.

SueBaroo · 06/02/2008 14:10

PW, the HS is my MP. Gosh, what a lot of abbreviations.

The HS is my MP and we are a SS, so my vote could actually matter, mowahahahahaha!

JingleyJen · 06/02/2008 14:14

I really believe in voting BUT I think the system should be changed.
I think that it should be compulsory to vote if you are elligable but there should be a "none of the above" box for those who wish to make the point that no one is representing their views. spoilt ballot papers arent a good enough measure of how people feel. (IMO)

Very grateful here for all those ladies that made it possible for me to vote!

slug · 06/02/2008 14:35

Well I'm proud to be from NZ, the first country to grant universal sufferage in 1893.

Original poster

policywonk · 06/02/2008 16:32

God, I wish I lived in a marginal seat. I did once, in York in 1992 (a Lab/Con marginal at that), but was an idiot student and so didn't get around to getting myself on the electoral register (not to say all students are idiots, but I was).

Didn't know that slug - respect to NZ!

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suedonim · 06/02/2008 17:03

Great thread. Did anyone hear Gordon B proposing a statue in Parliament Square to commemorate the achievement?

I've always voted (except when disenfranchised by the electoral people ) because I feel if I don't vote I can't complain. I also think people should have to present themslves at the polling station even if they don't actually register a vote. I believe Australia has something along those lines.

Original poster

policywonk · 06/02/2008 17:13

suedonim - yes, was listening to PMQs, which was how I found out about this!

I think the idea of a 'white' vote is a good one - ie, a 'none of the above' option. I think mainstream politicians find it too easy to write off non-voters/ballot-spoilers as disaffected or uninterested. A 'white' vote says - I've bothered to come out to vote, I'd like to vote for someone, but none of you lot represent me. If there are lots of 'white' votes, especially in marginal seats, the mainstream parties might stir their stumps to investigate the issues that concern those parts of the electorate.

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