Who is a model for global democracy?
Why you should vote
- Thread starter IceBus
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Who is a model for global democracy?
You don't have a choice about paying taxes, you don't have a choice about following all the other laws of the country, if a court issues a summons you don't have a choice about attending that, how is voting different? You still have a choice of who to vote for, including nobody at all, they just require you at least turn up.
I'm completely disillusioned with the entire system. I know that it doesn't matter who you vote for, it's big corporations that make the laws (Digital Economy Act), and not us.
Despite this, I'm still voting. It's one of the few rights our current government hasn't taken away from us yet, and I intend to use it.
Despite this, I'm still voting. It's one of the few rights our current government hasn't taken away from us yet, and I intend to use it.
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Caporegime
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Pweecisely.
My understanding is that, if you spoil your ballot, in the first past the post system, this actually counts towards the incumbent. If this understanding is incorrect, can someone explain how.
Not that it really matters here, Conservatives are an ulta ultra safe bet in our constituency, in every election going back decades, conservatives have had a vast vast majority over anyone else. So not voting wouldn't make the slightest difference to me either way.
As to mandatory voting, forced democracy is not democracy. And they have found in countries like Belgium and Australia that people either deliberately vote for weird stuff or just pick whatever the first person on the list is when they're forced to vote.
Anyway, democracy is a ridiculous system when you think about it, we should be a meritocracy, the best person for the job should be leader, not someone the proles think looks best on the telly.
Not that it really matters here, Conservatives are an ulta ultra safe bet in our constituency, in every election going back decades, conservatives have had a vast vast majority over anyone else. So not voting wouldn't make the slightest difference to me either way.
As to mandatory voting, forced democracy is not democracy. And they have found in countries like Belgium and Australia that people either deliberately vote for weird stuff or just pick whatever the first person on the list is when they're forced to vote.
Anyway, democracy is a ridiculous system when you think about it, we should be a meritocracy, the best person for the job should be leader, not someone the proles think looks best on the telly.
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Soldato
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I'm not voting just to annoy people who care. 
Happy 65th VE day.
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Happy 65th VE day.
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I won't be voting because my vote really is a waste of paper, I live in Nick Cleggs constituency which he one by a landslide at the last election and will walk again this time. The vote is that one sided that the conservatives who finished second last time have not even sent out the usual leaflets all we have recieved is a mass of liberal stuff a tiny labour flier and some gumf from UKIP.
Unless this country introduces some form of PR then some of us really don't have a say at all.
Unless this country introduces some form of PR then some of us really don't have a say at all.
Fingers crossed we get electoral reform. I'd hope(?) the Economy is the first big issue for the new government, but that needs to be close.
Hallam? Same
I have seen such a mental amount of Lib Dem stuff around here, literally about 200 to 1 houses are supporting Lib Dem as opposed to anybody else
All I would say to that is that you can do all of that BECAUSE of the government and the fact we live in a fairly free democracy. If the BNP, or some other facistic party came into power you might not be able to spend time with your friends if they don't meet certain criteria of race/ethnicity. Tyranny relies on the majority doing nothing - and that's exactly the outcome of voter apathy.
I'd ask you one question - if you really don't care that much, why won't you take 10 seconds to put an X on a ballot and vote? If you don't care about the system it is no real skin off your nose, but you've participated in the system.
Oh you have every right to complain - we live in a free society. However, if you don't vote and do complain, you've become a hypocritical idiot - because you've failed to do the one thing you could do to change the outcome of the elections - vote.
If we get a hung parliment electoral reform will be the one thing Nick Clegg requires in exchange for forming an alliance.
Ahhah, I knew there had to be a deep seated reason for it
!One can hope. For all his popular rhetoric, I haven't really heard him give many concrete solutions to a hung parliament.
PR would guarentee his party a say in all future elections and remove this ridiculous situation where they could finish second in the vot but get less than half the seats Labour do. Clegg might be into spouting populist rhetoric but he's not stupid and you can 100% guarentee that if he has to sit down with Cameron or Brown to discuss an alliance the number one thing on the sheet of paper will be electoral reform.
100%? I don't know about that but I'm with you on the reform. I certainly hopes it happens.
This is clearly demonstrated in my neighbouring constituency where in the last election the Conservatives won by .1 of a percent.
Tories: 43.4%
Lib Dems 43.3%
This was a majority of only 347!
Get out there and make a difference people.
Constituencies with such close votes are very few and far bettween most of our votes count for little or nothing.
Well if the 40% of people who don't vote did, then you'd find a lot more of these constiuencies being closer fought.
Everyone says that, then you look at the turnout and realise how many thousands didn't register a vote and wonder what might have been. Also all the more reason to campaign for electoral reform such that everyone's vote counts, no matter where they live.
The turnout really doesn't make that much difference in most seats, in my area if there was a 100% turnout I can guarentee that Nick Clegg would still win by a landslide and there are hundreds of seats like this up and down the country.
My MP will be campaigning for electoral reform on my behalf and hopefully the farsical situation with the number of seats labour get when compared to the % of overall votes they recieve will encourage more people to support electoral reform.
Telling people they muct go and vot for x and y reasons isn't the answer engaging people so they want to vot and feel that voting will make a difference is the answer.
Oh and for anyone going for the spoil the ballot paper approach to not voting make sure you do it very carefully, I have watched counters arguing over which box a giant cross scrawled accross the whole form was closest to so they could assign it. This was in a marginal seat where it actually mattered!
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