Ensuring our voices are heard during the European elections

[MrsFogi]

I feel extremely strongly about Brexit but have surprised myself by feeling even more strongly about the impact of Self-ID on women's rights. And I believe that the ramifications of Self-ID are much more serious and long-term than Brexit. So, rather than using the European elections to vote based on how I feel about Europe I will be spoiling my vote and making it very clear that this is because I do not agree with any of the candidates'/parties' approach to women and self-ID.

I am aware that simply spoiling my vote will not get my views heard so I am tweeting and emailing all the candidates in my area to let them know. It's clear from the traffic here and on twitter that many more people feel strongly about this than feel able to speak up in RL. This is a rare opportunity to shout from the rooftops at our politicians but we really need to make sure that our spoilt votes are clear (and not counted as a vote for a candidate) and that the parties and candidates know why they did not get our votes.

Its a long voting form so I'll post my work of art later but in the meanwhile I sincerely hope lots of MNers will join me. Here's a
guide about how to spoil your vote guide and if anyone has links to threads discussing the various parties' stances on Self-ID no doubt they would be helpful if anyone wants to send a detailed message to any party but I believe that even short messages to state that they will not be getting your vote due to their stance on Self-ID will get the message over.

Meanwhile and for all.....

This is tricky, worth trying to find out if your local mep candidates are actually GC. My greens are.

I think that even if the candidates themselves are GC I would not be able to vote for them if they are in a party that supports self-ID. Thank goodness for email and twitter.

That is a good point and I really don't know what to do.

This is a good website I've just found:

www.peaktrans.org/gender-criticism-across-the-political-spectrum/

Setting aside the tories ballsing up pretty much everything (from the referendum to actually running the country) can anyone tell me where they stand on self-ID and how they define "women"?

Thanks for that link @Neurotrash, that’s a very interesting site. It’s given me a lot of food for thought as I’m about to fill my ballot.

MrsFogi, you can look up the MN chat with Penny Mordaunt. Totally disheartening and unwilling to engage with any GC views.

I've completed my ballot paper today, I'm furious I have no one to vote for given that politicians do not appear to think that protecting women's rights is a priority. I am particularly disappointed that the WEP has been such a let down.

I emailed the party I was considering voting for and asked for their thoughts on Self-ID.

I explained that if Brexit doesn't happen then I want an MEP that will reject Self-ID if they try and put it through the EU. To be honest I think in a lot of countries are likely to see a wider range of MEPs that do not represent the traditional parties, in the UK as well. These people are more likely to challenge rather than nod along as has previously happened with the majority - I could be wrong tho.

At least OP I think they will get the message as to why you spoilt your ballot 😊 well done.

One of the candidates in my region is a well-known transwoman.

Oh are you in Mad Willy's region? I hope they don't get any/many votes.

Hope so Genderfeelass. I toyed with the idea of also including my thoughts about Brexit but thought I would stick to just the one issue. Unfortunately no one has knocked on my door to ask for my vote....the whole family is under strict instructions to invite them in so that I can have a cup of tea with them.

I don’t agree that spoiling your paper is the best way to use your vote.

These are the EU elections. We are leaving the EU. Some of us are very unhappy about that decision; some of us are very unhappy about the way Brexit has been conducted.

We are leaving, according to the Government and the Opposition. In that case, MEPs we vote in will not be MEPs for long.

I therefore see it as a chance to show what we really think of Brexit. Petitions are dismissed as gamed; March numbers are estimated as smaller, or larger, than we recall.

This is the one chance we have that cannot be dismissed or misrepresented. This is real people voting. It shouldn’t be wasted on party politics.

I always ask myself: “Why don’t they want me to vote?”.
Of course, the answer is: “Because they want their candidate to win.”

Spoiling a vote would need to have a purpose, and as soon as a 'teller' sees it as spoiled it simply goers in the bin marked spoiled, it won't be read, and nor will the MP/whoever be interested in it.
As proposed on other threads, the Brexit issue is 'a 'hair on fire' moment which needs dealing with and almost all other considerations come after.
You should vote for whichever MP/party will get the Brexit mess sorted out quickest even if it does mean 'holding your nose'.
Unless something near miraculous happens, the choice in the UK is 'death by hanging' or 'death by firing squad'.

If there is no one that the OP wants to vote for then spoiling the vote is valid. Some people feel strongly about brexit one way or the other, many don't. By spoiling a vote rather than not turning up the vote is counted if nothing else. It says that the person cares enough to turn up and disagree with what's on offer - that is valid.

Jo Swinson has written about the role of the EU in protecting gay and trans rights. No recognition of the conflict between trans and gay rights?
www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2019/05/jo-swinson-best-way-promote-lgbt-rights-remain-eu

I thought that your vote counts if you had given a clear indication of who you were voting for (see quote in this article: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43983595).

So, in other words, you could write comments on your ballot paper (which would be read) but still have your vote counted.

The best of both worlds?!

The tellers will see your comments, but the politicians won't.

The only way to preserve Women's Rights is by staying in the EU.

Vote for any Remain party on May 23rd.

Choose your battles.......

At least OP I think they will get the message as to why you spoilt your ballot 😊 well done.

Who will get the message? You don't think all the MEP candidates in a region stand around watching every single vote counted, do you? That they'll see OP's ballot paper and go "Well, I always thought TWAW, but that ballot paper has shown me the error of my ways?"

For a start, political epiphanies don't happen like that. Second, each borough council counts their own ballot papers (the result then gets added up centrally for the region) - so it'll be some volunteer party worker from your borough who is the only one who'll see that, and all they'll be doing is checking the ballot paper is correctly put in the spoilt box, not reading the essay that's written on it.

Anyone who's actually done this job (and I have) will know all the party worker will be interested in is that, amongst all that writing, there isn't an "X" hidden in their party's box so they can count it as one of theirs.

Sorry, I know you want to make a point, but this is about the most futile way I can think of of doing so.

Ok, so I've just looked at the parties and people standing in my area and for The first in my life, I have no idea who to vote for. I tended to vote Green Party in EU elections but don't feel I can vote green based on stance on self Id.
If spoiling the ballot is pointless, then what can I do. Not voting hasn't never been an option for me.

They could not give a monkey’s chuff why you spoil your ballot paper, it is simply recorded as spoiled.

There are 5 categories of spoiled paper iirc: blank, too many candidates chosen, marks on paper... none of them says “I deliberately ruined my vote because I believe...”.

Instead, it indicates “Several people in this constituency were too dim to follow the clear instructions on the paper and the voting booth.”

If you vote, and I completely agree that you should, and none of the parties meets your principles, either choose the one that fits best, or abandon party politics altogether and look at the candidates’ records.
Imo, no point at all choosing a candidate who isn’t going to bother turning up, so I’d never vote for the current UKIP MEPs - and that includes those that have deserted to form Brexit.

You may not care about Brexit one way or another - lots don’t - but you might very well care about the dismantling of the NHS and Human Rights that is said to be behind Brexit.
You might be appalled by the climate and environment issues that some parties claim don’t exist.
You might be outraged at a Party that deliberately targets male votes only (I’ve yet to hear of a woman who received a Brexit leaflet).
You might be alarmed by a Party that won’t unveil its policies until after the election.

If your vote is important to you, then it’s worth doing some research into using your vote wisely, rather than effectively giving two votes to those who want to stop you voting.