I just spoilt my ballot paper

[KatherinaMinola]

Anyone else? Anyone else going to?

Existing thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3235775-For-those-who-think-they-may-have-to-spoil-their-ballot-paper

Thanks. I'll post on that one too, but curious to see how many people actually did.

It is what I would be doing ( no election here - we have another couple of years before we can vote unless there is yet another general election)

My GGM was one of the working class women signed up to the Manchester suffragettes and I have always voted, even when it was difficult to decide.

There should be a “none of the above” option

im going to vote labour, despite me being a bit terfy ;) and being a remainer, just because otherwise the wrong lizard might get in.

Yep, will be going before work 👍

@Branleuse, yep!
I didn’t spoil my ballot paper because I don’t think anyone would know why I did it. If there was a ‘nota’ I’d have crossed it.

I spoilt mine. I wrote "A woman is an adult human female not a feeling in a man's head". I thought the more catchy things might go over the heads of those who aren't aware of what's going on.

I wrote "None of the above" and then I wrote a few lines explaining why, Etino. No-one could be in any doubt!

Of course it won't be counted as such - unless there were several similar ones in my constituency - if that's what you mean.

I was going to spoil but my day is busy and I can't be arsed to go out of my way to do it ( bad feminist!). I like what kitty wrote on hers.

Oh go on Grey vote even if spoilt - use it or lose it!

I would have but in my Ward there are a couple of good independent candidates who have worked really hard and are really committed to the area so I was able to vote for them.

Wanderabout. I know I should shouldn't I? It's so depressing to go to spoil and my day sucks enough. If I get five mins later I will though. Bloody feminist guilt

Spoiled mine.

It's such a safe Labour ward, it will never change colour.

My ballot paper will change nothing.

Have some feminist cake too Grey

My ballot paper will change nothing.

Every vote matters.

I won’t be, I need to vote for our independents to get our ‘managed zone’ sorted out. Fuck knows how we’ve ended up with legalised prostitution in Leeds

No election here. Very sad not to spoil ballot.

Spoilt mine too. I put "I'd like to have voted Labour or Green but I can't vote for any party that thinks "woman" is a gender identity, not a biological sex."

Same, Empress.

Do it grey - every vote matters, even spoilt papers.

Marmite27 Have these independents said they will be able to get rid of the managed zone? That would be excellent. Are there any links of groups trying to do this please?

I’m not wasting my vote! I will be voting.

I contacted my local Lib Dem candidate a couple of days ago as she's a working mum with school aged kids and I wanted to give her a chance. I said I might have voted LD but had serious concerns about their position on self ID and also the LGBTLD twitter account. She said she didn't know much about the issues and said she would look into it (I pointed her to Mumsnet) and get back to me, which she did this morning. I was really hoping for some sort of reply that would stop me spoiling my vote. But her reply didn’t really cut it for me.

She said that in terms of policy Lib Dems are clear on implementing the Equalities Act. Their policy making process is “one of evidence based which then is presented to members to vote on at conference”. She said that on a personal level she sees both points of view and she feels face to face conversations help resolve things much better than online. She said there’s no place for misogyny anywhere and women need safe spaces as do trans women. She finished by saying she would follow the debate more closely going forward and thanked me for raising it with her. She also offered to meet with me in person to discuss further, whether she gets elected or not.

I do appreciate her taking the time to look into it and committing to follow the debate going forward, and I appreciate the honesty of her response, but it still feels a bit too sitty-on-the-fencey for me on such a serious issue for women. I want a politician to come out and say they’re 100% committed to protecting women’s rights, safety, dignity and privacy.

What do people think? Don’t know whether to give her a chance - there’s the offer of an open communication line at least - or spoil. Sooo hard to know what to do, as others have said it just feels wrong on some level to spoil a vote, and query whether any attention will be paid to the messages sent, but as a matter of principle I also find it hard to vote when the only options on offer are potentially v damaging to women.

She doesn't deserve your vote if she's so uninformed about these issues, imo. Shame on any woman politician who is prepared to throw her sex under the bus.

I'm in a Tory stronghold, so being a Lab or LibDem voter here is a bit futile anyway. Nevertheless, with a heavy heart, and for the first time in nearly 30 years of voting Labour, I've spoilt my ballot. #spoiltforwomen #noSelfID