Got through a voting notification for the locals in may, had a think and then realised i can’t vote for any of the main three parties and on the basis of past elections there will only be three candidates to vote for.

What is the point! I suppose i could go and scrawl on the ballot, won’t change anything and doesn’t even seem productive as a protest vote 🙁

May 3rd will see the end of the Lib Dems round our way. Previously they were very strong but all of them that stood in the last council elections got wiped out.

Clegg’s deal with The Devil is going to see them off at a local councillor level.

You either stand yourself, or you vote for the candidate you’d prefer. That may of course be the candidate you least detest, but that’s how it works. Protest votes are, frankly, a bit pathetic. They’re the electoral equivalent of a toddler stamping their foot and bawling about how it’s not fair. Democracy’s about making pragmatioc decisions based on the options available

Plus, in local elections, you really should vote for the person rather than the party. Your looking for a strong administrator: as long as they get the bins picked up on time and the roads fixed, does it matter what colour the rosette on their lapel is?

When it’s time to vote you phone your Mum?

Democracy’s about making pragmatioc decisions based on the options available

and if all the options are crap?

and if all the options are crap?

Make a new option.

Plus, in local elections, you really should vote for the person rather than the party. Your looking for a strong administrator: as long as they get the bins picked up on time and the roads fixed, does it matter what colour the rosette on their lapel is?

This. I’ve just sent an e-mail to my local district councillor, who is a parent at our school and somebody I’ve occasionally chatted to. She also rides a bike. I’d vote for her if she switched allegiance to the SWP or the BNP (though I suppose if she was likely to do that she probably wouldn’t be the sort of person I’d happily have a friendly chat with). As it happens she’s a LibDem, which is a party I personally have no problems at all in voting for given the right candidate.

Now granted, most people probably don’t know their councillor like that – I don’t know our county councillor, but he appears to do a really good job, and is pretty pro-active at engaging with us.

Democracy’s about making pragmatioc decisions based on the options available

and if all the options are crap?

You make a pragmatic decision based on the options available.

Personally I am wholly in favour of a None of The Above vote on all ballot papers. As mentioned above the default is currently the one you least dislike, which has to be wrong. A victory for None of the Above would be a powerful statement to all, and should be an option. However, given the obvious potential discomfort for the smug and self opinionated in our midst I have sneaking suspicion I’ve got more chance of a knee trembler with the Queen.

Personally I am wholly in favour of a None of The Above vote on all ballot papers.

Me too. I was going to accompany it with a drawing of a cock, which may detract somewhat from my powerful political message. Hey ho.

IHN, so basically your in favour of the current setup which is he is crapper than i am, rather than a system which allows the voter the option to say i don’t actually like any of you, so go away and come back with some better ideas.

As for standing, that involves money and time. things that i lack, and i was under the impression that a representative democracy works by having representative politicians?

i was under the impression that a representative democracy works by having representative politicians

😆

IHN, so basically your in favour of the current setup which is he is crapper than i am, rather than a system which allows the voter the option to say i don’t actually like any of you, so go away and come back with some better ideas.

No, I never said it was perfect, I simply meant that it’s what we’ve got so you have to work with the options available. That means picking the person you think is best, which, unfortunately, may well be the person you think is least worst.

I’d probably be in favour of a ‘None Of The Above’ option in principle, but I think it would essentially be pointless.

As for standing, that involves money and time. things that i lack, and i was under the impression that a representative democracy works by having representative politicians?

They represent the people who vote (note, not just the people who voted for them). If you don’t vote, you’ve opted out of representation so you get what you’re given.

You can get tablets on the internet for erection problems ah ! election

Sorry, I should add that ‘represent’ in these terms means to act on behalf of their constituents, it does not mean that they have to have the same income, background, ethnicity etc etc as their constituents.

IHN, so basically your in favour of the current setup which is he is crapper than i am, rather than a system which allows the voter the option to say i don’t actually like any of you, so go away and come back with some better ideas.

It doesn’t tell anyone to do that though
And even if there was a system to highlight it – why should they bother? they only need more votes than the next candidate.
Not voting at all means all sides lose a possible vote, so none of them gains or loses by it
They aren’t interested in chasing none voters, they’re after voters who are undecided or they think they can swing

I should add that ‘represent’ in these terms means to act on behalf of their constituents

Do our elected representatives act on our behalf through? Is that really the way it works?

Surely these guys act according to their party mandate, which is not the same thing.

They represent the people who vote (note, not just the people who voted for them). If you don’t vote, you’ve opted out of representation so you get what you’re given.

as i said, i am not saying i don’t want to vote, i do, and i believe you should vote, but if none of the options is personnally acceptable, then the question is how do you register that fact? How do you vote FOR something rather than AGAINST something?

Do our elected representatives act on our behalf through? Is that really the way it works?

Surely these guys act according to their party mandate, which is not the same thing.

On the big stuff (like the NHS), they’ll generally obey the party line. They will however also be dealing with loads of individual constituent cases.

Plus, it’s important to remember that democracy is about absolving responsibility to our representatives. What we’re essentially saying is “there’s all this stuff that needs to be sorted out, you reckon you know how to do it, so get on with it” not “there’s all this stuff that needs to be sorted out, you need to do X, Y and Z”. We have asked them to make decisions for us during the elected term and at the end of the term we get to judge them on how well we think they’ve done.

It’s not an ideal solution, but it generally works. We wouldn’t be living in a relatively prosperous, stable, peaceful and free country if it didn’t.

As Churchill said, democracy is the worst way of running a country, apart from all the others.

Surely these guys act according to their party mandate, which is not the same thing.

Not necessarily at a local level, my mother was asked to stand as a councillor, which she did successfully, but she asked whether they wanted her to join the party first. Such stories are not uncommon.

Yeah, but was she diled?

diled?

Election Dilema

The BNP once got in by 18 votes. Every vote counts.
Stop the nutters.

We’re living in odd times. For as long as I’ve known, there have been two parties. You voted one or the other…..or the lib dems, which was always a no vote.

Now the lib dems are a semi serious candidate (I know, you scoff, but they have ‘experience’ now…) there seems to be less choice than ever.

Labour, they’ve been dismal for the last fourteen years, eleven months and two days. It’s time the party was disbanded and the likes of Blair, Mandelson and Harman denied the chance to ever be involved in politics again.

I cannot ever vote Tory…it goes against everything I stand for and believe in.

So I voted Liberal two years ago. 🙁

It makes no difference who you vote for, they find a way to shaft you. I’m sure it’s always been the case, but it’s just so brazen now.

Good thread for spotting the whiners.

Personally I am wholly in favour of a None of The Above vote on all ballot papers.

But if None of the Above won, wouldn’t everyone have to go through the whole palaver again a few weeks later? And again a few weeks after that if None of the Above won again? All the while the previous encumbent would have to soldier on as a lame duck representative. That sounds even worse than having to settle for the least bad candidate. Plus it’d further increase the advantage of being a wealthy candidate as you’d be able to keep spending on your campaign for longer.