How many eligible voters are not going to turn out?

[QmunkE]

Anyone here eligible to vote and not going to? Any reasons why? What sort of party would you like to vote for?

Tomorrow is the first time I'm going to be able to vote in a General Election. I can't understand anyone not wanting to express their preference for who governs our country.

[sunflower68]

I am afraid I always have a little disrespect for female non-voters.  I wish they could think about the suffragettes and how very far we have come in all the years. 

[kempie]

I can't abide voter apathy but I do believe that there should be a 'None of the Above' box so that the disenfranchised voter can register their dissatisfaction with the choices on offer.

[jenstar]

I read all the "election communications" that came through my letterbox and thought long and hard about it. So I'm voting in the local council election but not in the general election.

[Grunty]

sunflower68 - whilst I have the greatest admiration for those who campaigned for women's votes, there were a lot of other stages, so because of this long struggle, your answer is even more valid.  I think voting is one of the responsibilities of living in a democracy. 

[mike1222]

I just cannot bring myself to vote for liars of any political persuasion, all politicians are liars therefore I do not vote for anyone!

[ianess]

It sounds naive but we should be voting for the 647 people we have the most faith in to do their best for the country, regardless of party.  I remember years ago our local MP was a Tory even though his constituency was predominantly working class but he had a huge following because he was a genuine genleman.  Personally I prefer the single transferable vote system to our first-past-the-post method of "democracy" where one party can get an overall majority with less than 40% of the total vote, leading to dictators like Thatcher and Blair having far too much power.

I also feel that voting, ie using the ballot paper in any way you like, should be made compulsory, with penalties for non-voters.    What say others?

[GuavaHalf]

mike1222 please could you give a example of a politician lying? I mean lying, that it saying something that they know to be untrue.

[jake-the-peg]

Johnathan Aitkin who was a cabinet minister in John Major's government pleaded guilty to perjury and did time for it!

Back to the original question most people who don't vote abstain because they don't think their vote will make any difference - and unless they're in a marginal constituency, they're right!

The only way to get people to vote is to make them believe their vote matters and the only way to make their vote matter is to give them a chance to actually vote for the Government directly and not just a constituency MP 

[QmunkE]

The only wasted vote is a non-vote.

[ludwig]

Let's be honest, taking a high-falutin moral stance 'I refuse to vote for any of them' simply sounds better than saying 'I can't be @rsed to walk down to the polling station'.

[5029]

I would love to be able to vote for one of labour, conservative, lib dem et al.

 

Unfortunately as i live in Northern Ireland I do not have that option

[ICEMANSAV]

I won't be voting and haven't since turning 18. The reasoning being that we have had different governments in charge over my voting ( and non voting ) life and neither rule ( conservative or labour ) have made the slightest difference to my life. So due to the fact that if I choose to vote, all I would be adding is a number to a final figure, it really does not make a difference who is in power. Labour = war ( so what, it hasn't had any bearing on my life at all ). Conservatives = industry and mining etc. again not one iota of difference. So if it is making no difference to my life, why vote? for someone elses life? they have their vote to use!

[ICEMANSAV]

and punishing someone for not voting would not be very democratic would it now!

[GuavaHalf]

Aitkin was found guilty of lying in court. I was hoping for an example of apolitician who has lied during an election campaign etc.

As you can gather I don't belive they do lie as a matter of course. Dismissing all politicians 'because they are all liars' is just a lazy arguement usually from those who have not taken the time to find out what the politicians are really doing.

[stevie21]

If ICEMANSAV had put forward a brilliantly eloquent and well thought out reason for voting Lib Dem as they benefitted him and his family in lots of different ways then no-one would call him selfish : that's the whole idea behind voting. Supporting the party that is best aligned with your needs and ideals.

As politicians generally have a shoddy image of being parasitic and self serving he's perfectly entitled to use the same logic to vote for none of them.

[ICEMANSAV]

Doesn't everyone base decisions that they make on how it effects them? I will never involve myself in something so fragile as a pension scheme and pay for any health care I require. I drive on the roads and pay all the relevant taxes etc. I don't understand your argument that because I will not vote that I am automatically not contributing. It is not a question of being selfish, it is the reason you have been given the right to vote, to make a choice. If my viewpoint ( not a lazy viewpoint at all ) is that voting is pointless then I am allowed to act upon my choice.

Other points you have made i.e. education etc. I have paid taxes and contributed all my working life supporting other people as well as myself like most people. Therefore i reserve the right to do as i please with my vote.

[ludwig]

I'm dead against compulsory voting.
Why should people who are too apathetic or stupid to have an opinion be forced to have a say over who governs the rest of us?
I applaud the non-voters for voluntarily removing themselves from the process and leaving the serious business of electing a government to those of us who give a toss.

[ICEMANSAV]

I have an opinion Ludwig which is why I choose not to vote.

[avis50]

If all the people who say that they don't vote because their vote won't make a difference, actually DID vote, then all those votes put together WOULD make a difference!