I'm not voting for anyone!

[Wrong-Direction]

Because it won't make a blind bit of difference whatever party get in! Lies lies lies & more lies

 

[KZNSeagull]

You should always vote. You will miss it if you ever lose it.

 

[Mowgli37]

Because it won't make a blind bit of difference whatever party get in! Lies lies lies & more lies

That may be, but in not voting you have foregone your right to moan about the way the country is run.

 

[ExmouthExile]

That may be, but in not voting you have foregone your right to moan about the way the country is run.

Show me a party who gives a shit about me and i'll vote for them! To date, no such party exists, and I won't vote for the sake of it.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

How do I decide who to vote for when I distrust them all equal amounts?

 

[rrruss]

I'm not voting because my postal vote papers only arrived in Spain yesterday!

 

[Frutos]

If nothing else, go in and spoil your ballot paper.

At least then you've made use of your democratic right.

 

[Notters]

Show me a party who gives a shit about me and i'll vote for them! To date, no such party exists, and I won't vote for the sake of it.

The Green Party give a shit about the Environment, which like it or not, is where we ALL live. So they give a shit about everyone.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

How do I decide who to vote for when I distrust them all equal amounts?

You read their policies and manifestos and then decide which one appears to have the most sensible ideas in you opinion ?

 

[franks brother]

Because it won't make a blind bit of difference whatever party get in! Lies lies lies & more lies

Because a lot of people died so you can have the freedom to vote.

 

[Monkey Man]

I'm very apathetic about voting today and almost didn't bother. But then I imagined my dismay at UKIP doing well and thought I should do my tiny bit to make that victory smaller.

So I voted Labour. Not sure it will make any difference but my conscience is slightly clearer.

 

[nwgull]

That may be, but in not voting you have foregone your right to moan about the way the country is run.

This. Use your vote, or stop your moaning.

 

[hybrid_x]

The Green Party give a shit about the Environment, which like it or not, is where we ALL live. So they give a shit about everyone.

they make out they do....but they have no policy against central banks or capitalism......so, in reality, they don't.

maybe it can all boil down to something simple like this.

 

[Hotchilidog]

You read their policies and manifestos and then decide which one appears to have the most sensible ideas in you opinion ?

Excellent advice.

 

[Buzzer]

That may be, but in not voting you have foregone your right to moan about the way the country is run.

I disagree. I have no trust in any party and won't be voting. What's the real difference between not voting and spoiling your ballot paper? Why am I allowed to moan about the corruption and deceit as I see it if I spoil the paper but have no right if I don't vote?

Likewise, I feel the same about local elections so won't be voting but thankfully in the General Election I have an MP that I trust to do what she thinks is the right thing and even though I'm against Green policies I happen to think she's a damn fine local MP so will be voting for Lucas. Where does this leave me? Am I allowed to moan about the government but not our council or am I a fraud for voting for someone whose policies I disagree with?

 

[gazingdown]

There is a difference between not voting and spoiling your ballot paper.

If the former, no-one knows why you didn't vote. If the latter then they know you "cared" enough to make the effort but were not happy with the candidates on offer, i.e. you said no to all of them - not turning up does not make the same statement at all, it just says you couldn't give a toss.

 

[Buzzer]

There is a difference between not voting and spoiling your ballot paper.

If the former, no-one knows why you didn't vote. If the latter then they know you "cared" enough to make the effort but were not happy with the candidates on offer, i.e. you said no to all of them - not turning up does not make the same statement at all, it just says you couldn't give a toss.

What's the real difference though? Does anyone in Government sit back and worry about spoiled papers and act upon it? Has any government of any flavour, local, national or European ever acted upon spoiled papers. No, of course they don't.

 

[gazingdown]

I didn't say anything about the government being voted for (there effectively is none until the votes are counted).

If 50% didn't vote, all the parties would guess/claim that they were "their" voters who simply didn't vote (and they'll make up the reasons why).

If the same 50% spoilt their papers, none of the parties could claim it was "their" voters. In fact, there would be quite the political fallout if this happened.

Many people want a "none of the above" option, spooling the ballot paper is effectively this.

 

[Hotchilidog]

I disagree. I have no trust in any party and won't be voting. What's the real difference between not voting and spoiling your ballot paper? Why am I allowed to moan about the corruption and deceit as I see it if I spoil the paper but have no right if I don't vote?

I would argue that by not voting, the parties have no need to address any of your concerns. A low turnout means that parties can target their 'policies/message' to a smaller number of people enabling them to ignore the vast majority of pissed off people. By taking yourself out of the game your interests are of no value to them as you do not play a part in the quest for power.

The more people who vote, the more voters parties have to listen to.

I think there should be a no vote option available to those who do not have a candidate or party they want to vote for and there should be certain turnout threshold for a result to have legitimacy. What ever you think of the candidates in this election the fact is a very small number of voters will end up having a major say in British representation in the European Parliament.

I can understand the disillusionment amongst voters but in my view this current poor and weak political class is the inevitable result of decades of apathy that has lead us to where we are now.

 

[nwgull]

What's the real difference though? Does anyone in Government sit back and worry about spoiled papers and act upon it? Has any government of any flavour, local, national or European ever acted upon spoiled papers. No, of course they don't.

Politicians worry about keeping as many voters happy as possible. Voters being the operative word; they don't give a flying F about people who can't be bothered to go to the polling station once every couple of years.

If you really think that they're all bad then at least vote for the one that you think is the lesser of the evils. Whatever happens, one of them has to get elected, so you may as well try any get the one that you'd dislike the least in power.