Coordinating spoilt ballots

[Binglebong]

I know there is a thread about have you spoilt your ballot but this is slightly different.

I'm trying to hold my nose and vote for someone but there is not a single potential MP in my constituency who does not disgust me. I don't want to vote Reform or someone as a protest as it might be seen that they have more support than they do. So the liklihood is that I will spoil my vote.

I know spoilt votes only really get looked at if there is a huge number or if the vote is close. But just in case I was wondering if it is worth having the same thing written on all of them to show that it is a massive issue that is losing them votes. What would you suggest (if you think it is a good idea).
Respect my sex if you want my X is a good one but is it the best?

Its hard not to judge behaviour like this. First world problems. Stickers cost money! It makes no sense that people in poverty would spend what little they had on custom made stickers especially for a ballot paper that will not be counted. It doesnt go food or heat or stickers. If they were going to spoil their ballot they would use what was in the polling booth.

Not all working class people live in poverty. 'Working class' people even have holidays and cars you know. Plumbers and decorators and Joiners take long haul holidays in Florida and Dubai. Some of the children at my daughters inner city school in a very deprived area have Canada Goose coats that cost over £1k, and expensive mobile phones and contracts

I had the stickers made four years ago.....for a variety of purposes. They cost £5 to be made at a local print centre.

I think you real beef is that people are not going to vote Labour because they don't want to endorse the erosion of the protections and boundaries that signal the integrity of women and girls...including working class girls. Nor the way they have sidelined and patronised and closed down their voices.

Depends on what the independent stands for.

So?

The point isn't who looks at an individual ballot slip. The point is that you are being counted in the turnout figures.

You can hand deliver it to a polling station on the day. You don't need ID to do this and can take several at once. So one member of the household can take them all.

£5 is a lot of money when you have none.

As for £1200 Canada Goose jackets on working class children being the norm...

Why does it depend what they stand for? Sounds like this has nothing to do with a supposed concern for ‘wasted votes’

Unfortunately I'm an overseas voter so I can't. Should have voted by proxy.

Erm, because if you don't agree with any of their policy positions you aren't going to vote for them for the same reason that you wouldn't vote for a party whose policy positions you disagree with?

I am aware of that. I'm not claiming to live in poverty. I'm challenging your assumptions that have been formed on the basis of a very narrow concept and definition of 'working class'. A form of identity politics whereby being 'working class' is supposed to say all sorts of things about what you think and believe, about how you act, your values and so on.

I said some children, not that it was the norm. I'd never spend that sort of money on a coat - but clearly some 'working class' people do.

Erm @Floatingvoternolandinsight thinks spoiling is wasting your vote, but whether voting for an independent with no chance of winning is wasted is apparently dependent on what the independent stands for. That isn’t logical.

I see loads of people wearing those jackets with a little badge that says Canada on them. I'm sure they haven't all paid 1200 quid. Presumably rip-off copies are available?

In that case you might as well write Uncle Bulgaria For President on the ballot

Maybe...but where I live there is a Flannels flagship designer clothing department store that sells such items. Designer clothing and expensive watches are a big thing in many working class neighbourhoods where I live, and I imagine everywhere else too. Also expensive beauty treatments/facials and so on. People in working class occupations are driving around very expensive and flash cars....I'm still driving a car I bought 20 years ago.

You could but if people are spoiling as a protest they may as well do something relevant. Just in case, same effort to write Respect my Sex if you want my X as Uncle Bulgaria for President.

I've emailed him about this. Present MP gets the women issue. I've also contacted him about a couple of other things.

I've emailed two of our local candidates. I made my feelings known to the LibDems at the last district council election.

I'd quite like to be more politically active. As it is, I just shout from the sidelines about issues that bother me when I think I can make a difference.

I wonder whether the people who are so vehemently anti spoiling engage in any political activity outside of voting? Maybe if that’s all you do then you are more likely to believe spoiling your one contact with politicians is ‘wasting’ it.

Or maybe they’re all just sad because Labour have failed to convince some of their natural supporters.

I think the truth may well be that some are simply desperate for a Labour win and don't want that compromised. So much intense emotion is now invested in political tribes and other tribal identities. Labour are going to have a lot to live up to, though I suspect when things don't go as hoped it will still be blamed on the Tories.

So much of what is happening here is linked to international movements, events and patterns.......We might live on an island but we're not completely detached from the rest of the world. Ther EU is no longer what it was, either...with shifts and fractures now appearing. All countries/nations have their own individual pressing issues and characteristics to deal with too.

Five years ago I'd have been desperate for a Labour win, even under useless Starmer. The Tories have made a gigantic mess of the country, from Brexit onwards, Boris Fucking Johnson, etc. But now? I don't expect any incoming government to fix the economy and the NHS, clean up the rivers, and stop the war in Gaza (all without putting our taxes up, natch). But here's a thing they could fix. It wouldn't cost a fortune either. But they are more interested in pandering to a small and noisy minority group.

I think the truth may well be that some are simply desperate for a Labour win and don't want that compromised.

This intrigues me a bit, as so many Labour supporters are saying it'll be a landslide / 'super majority' and also that nobody really cares about this issue, that surely they shouldn't be concerned, by their own reasoning?

I did see that the Mail has an 'anti-Labour' tactical voting section online, however, with about 130 seats where it's really marginal. So maybe there is a bit of concern.

I think they'll win, definitely. It's by how much at this point.

I don’t think people should spoil their ballots and have said so elsewhere here. I’m not a Labour voter. I’ve always voted Green, but they’ve gone insane with the GI stuff.

As said above, no-one cares what you write on a spoiled ballot. They only look at whether it’s a valid vote. Someone said that the party observers might notice. Well, they might but they’re not going to care either.They’re focussed on the result of the vote not what a tiny number of people have written on their ballot.

You don’t have to vote for any candidate. I’m using my vote to hopefully stop the worst candidate getting in. I don’t like any of them, but they’re not equally bad. Some are worse than others. Therefore, I’ll use my vote to try to stop the worst party getting in in my area.

I always think of Brexit (I voted Remain). Too many Remainers didn’t bother to vote or spoiled their ballot, and look what happened.

Stopping the worst option getting elected is as valid a use of a vote as voting for someone you like. People are obviously entitled to not vote and to spoil their ballot, but think carefully before you do so and see how the wind’s blowing in your area. This could all go horribly wrong.

Jonathan Pie has something to say about spoilt ballots
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0020m9d

That involves making a decision on who would be worst. I certainly can't decide.

“I always think of Brexit (I voted Remain). Too many Remainers didn’t bother to vote or spoiled their ballot, and look what happened.“

What are you basing this on @BreatheAndFocus because turnout was higher than any general election since 1992 and the level of spoilt votes was around .05% compared to around .3% for GEs

Well, exactly. I think the race is a tie, frankly!