voting

[bighairy]

im always interested in peoples views on voting, not on who to vote for, but your reasons behind it.

personally, i have never voted. the reason being- i don't beleive in any of the candidates. all of them annoy me, i know they're lying, and i know they'll make mistakes. so why vote for them?

but a lot of people give me real attitude over this. the say that i am pretty much saying that i don't have an opinion.

but i do have one. my opinion is that it doesn't matter which person i vote for, both will bomb iraq for no reason, both would raise taxes, mis spend my money and make the country a worse place (by the way, im english, so im talking england here).

the only way i can ever see myself voting is if a group like the BNP (british national party) are going to come to power. i would on princible vote against them. as they stand for racism and homophobia, two things i will never understand.

where does everyone else stand on voting?

marku (monkey on a unicycle)

[sneakyimp]

i didn't start voting til after 2000 election. 1 vote in 200 million seemed pointless--still does.

but they do add up...and a vote for anybody is a vote against everybody else. it's not that hard to do. give it a try! they give you a little sticker which says "I VOTED" here.

[Ace42]

The fact that you do not support a majority candidate or someone who you think will get into power should not deter you from voting for them. My MP is outstanding. Yes he is a Lib Dem, so is not part of one of the (until recently) two major parties, however he is a competent politician and always reasonable in correspondance. I think your inability to find a candidate to get behind speaks more about your lack of political interest / motivation rather than a lack of good candidates. If they are *really* that bad, then you should consider standing yourself. You should be a shoe-in if they are that poor.

Have you ever tried contacting your MP? Have you spoken to many of the candidates, or even checked their platforms or manifesto?

www.faxyourmp.com offer an outstanding free service which can help you engage meaningfully with the UK political system.

Voting is your chance to fix what is wrong with the nation (including political reform) - and if you do not want to vote because you do not think it will fix anything, then contact the candidates and tell them what they SHOULD be doing. If none of them agree, then you are either unreasonable or have cornered a niche.