I just spoilt my ballot paper

[KatherinaMinola]

Anyone else? Anyone else going to?

well I'm being optimistic, and I don't care if you do think it futile. it us my vote to do what I want with.

Refusing to vote has no impact on the politician who is voted in. They've still won the election

I will know I didn't put them there. No point me voting to keep one out, when the one I vote for, I don't want representing me either.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that, Chicken. I've been active in grassroots politics for about 30 years now, so I know there are various ways of protesting or making a point

I feel so disappointed in women failing to use their vote properly

Marmite good luck with the independents. (I used to go to an open mic session in pub in Holbeck back in the day, know it well, was horrified by the laissez faire attitude of the council when a woman - Dara Pionka - was murdered within weeks of the "safe zone" opening. Safe zone my arse).

I am so so sooooooooo very sorry, I have disappointed you.

I will try to be better woman. promise.

No you're not, there's no need to be facetious.

You obviously think what you're doing is worthwhile, I disagree and I think you're disrespecting the efforts made by the suffragettes by wasting your vote.

I've used my vote properly. I spoilt the paper.

Properly, Chicken? By voting for somebody who has essentially promised to erode the rights of women and girls? Because there's no-one around who has promised to defend the rights of women and girls.

I've informed my MP too, so my point is made.

You obviously think you're in the right. I think you've wasted a valuable right. You can't convince me otherwise. No one will care about your little scribblings on the bottom of a ballot paper. I couldn't be proud of such actions.

Not everyone does what we want them to do.

You expressing your disappointment in women, was designed to what? make them feel guilty because they are women, so should do certain things?

your view on the suffegettes is different from mine. I've already given you my thoughts on that. Neither of us will ever know what their view would actually be. So we do what what each feels best.

"I couldn't be proud of such actions."

You don't have to be. There's a proud tradition internationally, particularly in France, of spoiling ballot papers - rather than just failing to vote which implies apathy - in order to express dissatisfaction with either the process or the choices on offer.

Voting for someone or something I didn't believe in wouldn't be using a 'valuable right'. Candidates need to earn votes.

I don't know why you need to have multiple posts saying the same thing Chicken. And a right to vote in someone who thinks that the reality of my being a woman is no different to any man who feels he is a woman is not a valuable right in my book.

Could people with twitter access tweet pics of spoiled ballot papers for those who are not on Twitter? #SpoiltForWomen and #LocalElections2018

I am currently on 1 week suspension but I am asking my friend to tweet out my paper.

Also, anyone on twitter search for the #SpoiltForWomen and then like/RT the tweets of other people

Oooooooooooooooooooh

A hashtag campaign, that will show them

I've used my vote properly. I spoilt the paper.

Me too.

The little fat pencil does make a lot of noise and there is very little space to write anything but I tried my best.

I understand the cause, I agree with and support it. I just think this is a waste of time when your could use your vote so much more productively.
It saddens me how many pathetic, little nonsense campaigns are being thought up when we need something more unified and productive.

I was still unsure what way I'd go until this morning, usually if I don't have a strong view one way or the other I'll vote for whoever has put forward a female candidate. I couldn't bring myself to spoil my ballot paper. So I voted for the Conservative candidate as the least bad party on women's rights at the moment (😳 I can't believe I just wrote that when their austerity measures have been so bad for women😡) and if he gets in I'll talk to him about the self id concerns so he is aware of the issue if it gets discussed in either the council or conservative circles.

I live in a safe Labour seat so I am able to ruin my paper. If it was UKIP or Tory I think I'd grit my teeth and vote. If labour take a hit in the ballot box maybe they'll listen to our concerns?

I cancelled my membership recently and I was going to vote for them, even considering spending my birthday today canvassing for them. The last week has been particularly taxing for me, especially Labours reaction to the resignation - basically, so what - bye terfs! I'm angry. What else can I do?

I just had a labour volunteer ask me how I voted. He seemed really sweet and disappointed that I said I can't vote labour any more because the AWS issue. This situation is shit. He said that someone else had said that they can't vote labour for the same reason.

That's great, Permission. It means he heard what the other person said, and he heard what you said too, and with luck he'll relay it back to the local branch.

Chicken, if you look at the history of any successful protest movement, you'll see a flurry of what you might call "pathetic little nonsense campaigns" at the beginning. Those "pathetic little nonsense campaigns" are signals, and the beginnings of organizing around what can then become a bigger campaign.

At least the message that women have concerns about the AWS are getting through to some people involved in the Labour Party.

Although I agree this is shit, I've never been so disheartened going to vote 😢

Well Friedchicken why don’t you come with a campaign which isn’t pathetic which we can all get behind rather than post after post trying to make people feel guilty because you personally disapprove of their actions.

Thanks for the sympathy & pep talk

I just wish they would have listened to women without this 'punishment.' I worry that they'll think it was because of anti-antisemitism (which since the AWS fiasco I give more credence to - not just a Parliament plot) How will they know whether it was Brexit/AWS/Anti-Semitsm?