Just wrote complaint to the electoral commission

britboy4321

britboy4321

britboy4321

Permabanned
Joined
10 Dec 2008
Posts
4,080
Location
London
Just wrote the below letter to the electoral commission .. I'll let you know if they even bother responding .. I reckon probably not but at least I tried ..

Do you think the below is even a problem?



Dear Sir/Madam

At the last election, in my local polling station (and many others so I've been told) they allowed partners to enter the polling booth together to cast their vote.

I believe that this violates the rights of a person to be able to vote in private. You see what is actually happening is the dominant person in the relationship is telling the weaker person in the relationship how to vote -- and then actually being there in person to ensure the weaker person votes how they have said.

In an exact example I saw in real life, a man and a women entered the booth together, the woman stated (too loud so I heard) she wanted to vote for one party, and the man basically bullied her into changing her mind and stuck around to watch her place her cross against his 'designated' candidate. She had no private vote. Of course she could not have requested a private vote as her fella' would have made her life hell.

Now you must understand the dynamic of the situation. You can not answer 'Anyone can opt to vote on their own if they choose, or together if they choose' as this is simply not possible in a lot of relationships. The dominant person will cause a massive argument if the weaker is technically allowed to vote with him, but tries to choose not to. He'd go nuts - so she doesn't have the guts to even request it.

Hence the weaker person is always voting for whoever the stronger tells them to, not least to stop a fight (as the stronger can check their vote in the booth). If the rules were changed to 'EVERYONE VOTES ALONE' the stronger couldn't make the weaker's life hell (for 'choosing' to vote confidentially or daring to vote the wrong thing), and the weaker person would be able to cast an actual confidential vote.

In most relationships there is a weaker and stronger person. Hence these weaker people need your help -- they need the ruling that they are forced to cast their votes without their partner checking they are ticking exactly what their partner wants.

At the moment, my neighbour informs his girlfriend what she has to vote, then the polling officers dutifully let them both into the booth together so he can watch her do as she has been told (and god help her when she gets home if she doesn't - or requests to cast her vote in private (this should be the polling officer's job). He'll make her life unbearable. So -- effectively, as she doesn't want him to go nuts at her, she doesn't get her own vote -- he gets two.

Do you see the problem? Please let me know you're going to stop this 'someone else is allowed to see your vote' system as it's obviously flawed ..

Thanks,
 
Whilst I can see your point, I doubt anything will come of it.

Also, partners going crazy because their other half voted differently to what they wanted. That's a little odd.
 
I can definately see your point.

I do have to ask why it's taken until now for you to write though, I suspect you may have been taken more seriously if you had written immediately after the event.
 
You explained the obvious and went in to way too much detail.

If you believe there is a problem with peer pressure or a group bias, say that.

Don't tell them about your neighbour and don't end the letter with ultimatum.
 
It is a problem and probaly something they've considered. However voting alone and then lying to your partner about which party you voted for if you're caught out could cause much larger arguments based around trust and respect.

Ideally the weaker party should grow some balls.
 
Benny06 said:
It is a problem and probaly something they've considered. However voting alone and then lying to your partner about which party you voted for if you're caught out could cause much larger arguments based around trust and respect.

Ideally the weaker party should grow some balls.
Click to expand...

Ideally yes indeed.

It'd be nigh-on impossible to find out you lied though I reckon if you are forced to vote on your own -- the entire (rest of the) system is setup around your vote being secret ..
 
I see the problem, it is a valid problem, I didnt even know it existed but I'm sure it probably does in a lot of relationships.

Cut down your example to a single sentence such as "I have seen this occur in practice, overhearing an argument in a booth"

and drop the ultimatum, perhaps rephrase it as "Do you consider this to be a significant issue and would it be possible to implement single-booth only voting?"
 
Well done for actually doing something, no matter how small. Most on this forum, and others, would rather make a thread complaining about it, and then moan that nothing is being done.
 
Rewrite the letter formally (and cut it down to a single, short, to the point paragraph) and you might get somewhere.
 
Rich_L said:
Well done for actually doing something, no matter how small. Most on this forum, and others, would rather make a thread complaining about it, and then moan that nothing is being done.
Click to expand...

Agreed, would help if it were shorter and more formal, but at least the OP bothered to do it. :D
 
Cant really see that much of an issue. If you are that weak that you cannot vote for the party you support then you are going to run into bigger issues in life than a misplaced vote.

If someone is that domineering in their relationship then I think you will create a bigger issue by making their partner vote alone.

If your neighbour knew he was going to be there with his wife then he probably knew he could make sure she voted how he wished. If he knew that he couldnt be there to oversee the vote then he is quite likely to spend a long time 'persuading' her to make the right choice. The second option is going to cause a lot more grief than the first.

Swings and roundabouts mate; at some point we cant protect everyone from things that they are responsible for.

p.s. Who did he make her vote for before I reserve judgement.
 
I would have thought that if somebody had a domineering partner who wanted to determine their vote they'd be using postal voting (where there is no real privacy), rather than being followed around the polling station.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom