Has anyone else decided not

[brenda]

to vote today.?

Have been disgusted at the recent scandals in our political system , that for the only time in my life I have opted out.
This decision does not sit easily with me, when I think how hard a struggle it was to get the vote for women, and part of me feels ashamed for not going.

However on balance I cannot, nor do I want to , on this occasion, support any candidate on the list.

Feel I have to make a protest in the only way I know.

Anyone else out , who isn't going?

[DrFilth]

far away land, ?
if you live in newcastle scotland is not that far away



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[HumNugget]

this is he


http://www.wildlifehotspots.com/titleperu.jpg


I cannot give you any more clues.....


lol!

[whifffey]

Yes that's knobby. Same colour the other end.

[HumNugget]

LOL@noway and whiffy! Seriously where is that hobo these days,is it coincidence that since they've cleaned up cardboard city on the canal and locked up all the criminals and mentally ill folk that grubby hasnt posted?

[noway2]

He was banned 2 nights ago for posting a pic of his knob,but he was back the next day with another knobby name.No doubt he wll be back again.

[saxy_jag]

I used to not vote, but these days I just spoil my ballot paper. I scrawl 'none of the above' across it. I started doing this because, apparently, candidates have to see spoilt ballot papers. I've never found a candidate yet worth voting for, and at least if they see the paper, then they know how I feel.

My mother moans at me, telling me that Mrs Pankhurst and her chums fought tooth and nail so that I could have a vote, and that I'm being irresponsible and ungrateful. The way I look at it, those women fought so that I could have the right to vote, and with that right comes choice.

I had the right to a university education, but that didn't make it my responsibility to get one, although now that I have one, it is my responsibility to use it to the best of my ability.

Likewise, if I vote, it is my responsibility to use my vote wisely. Since voting for the given candidates would, in my eyes, be a pretty irresponsible thing to do, then I don't. Simple as that.

[HumNugget]

Noway,maybe the shame and embarrasment of having his "kidney bean and 2 peas" laughed at andit was too much for him and he went to the joke shop swapped his sword and crusty y-fronts for a david caradine mask and then hung himself in the cupboard?

[jno]

people are permitted to refuse to vote, but I hope none of them ever complains about the people who are elected.

[shanilisa]

my sentiments exactly jno. In South Africa there is a ridiculous level of apathy regarding elections, yet the same people who do not vote whine about the state of the country - no vote, no opinion!

[Quinlad]

Just as important as the right to vote is the right not to vote.

Low voter turn out sends it own message to those up for election - that they're not getting through the the electorate. Spoiled ballot papers or protests votes don't convey the same message.

Personally, I did vote but I think you're well within your rights not to, brenda.

Moreover, you're well within your rights to complain about who gets voted in - by virtue of the fact that they govern you. You've not given up your right to complain by not voting at all. By that logic, the people who voted them in would have no grounds for complaint either.

[redcrx]

saxy_jag, Im not sure if your comment about candidates having to see spoilt papers is true. Certainly it isnt on local and county elections.

[jno]

We do have a right not to vote, Quinlad, but should we? Australians don't. Low turnout doesn't tell politicians they haven't engaged the public, because it happens all the time - more so in European and council polling but even in general elections it's only about 60%.

I think the thing to do is go along, but spoil your ballot paper by putting Xs by all of the names or by none. (Scribbling 'they're all thieving scumbags' on the paper as well may help.) A huge number of spoiled ballots also tells its story.

[brenda]

Thank you for all your replies.Mine was a one-off token gesture.

For whiffey---I didn't just sit on my bum all day yesterday , had a really vicious spring clean.Can't find anything now, but feel better for it. And yes -- I do realise that you were talking about my political inactivity on the day!!

[jake-the-peg]

I used to think everybody should vote.

But I've changed my mind. There seem to be so many people who don't understand the issues or who aren't interested in finding out about them.

What basis would such people vote on? Whether they like the look of them?

Forcing people to vote would turn the electoral process into even more of a personal popularity contest than it is already

[lizzym3]

Why vote? What difference does it make?

The political system in the UK is dead in the water.