Blatman Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 20 hours ago, jeff oakley said: People fought and died to get the vote and yet turnout is always pitiful. Whilst I whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment... people fought and died for "freedom" for want of a better, dare I say lengthier sentence. That includes the freedom to decline the opportunity to vote if one so chooses. I do think that voting should be compulsory with a "none of the above" option so that there can be some legitimacy to the result and better rules around how we go about the democratic process, IE with a bit of irony! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 2 hours ago, Blatman said: Whilst I whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment... people fought and died for "freedom" for want of a better, dare I say lengthier sentence. That includes the freedom to decline the opportunity to vote if one so chooses. I do think that voting should be compulsory with a "none of the above" option so that there can be some legitimacy to the result and better rules around how we go about the democratic process, IE with a bit of irony! you misunderstand me on this. I was referring to the men who had to fight to get the vote for every man and women who died fighting for the right. This was seperate to the wars fought for differrent reasons It was only in 1918 that every man over the age of 21 got the right to vote, before that it had been the richest, then it was those who owned a property. Women of wealth got the votes first and eventually all got it but many did die over many years in doing so. It was seen as a great step that each citizen has an equal vote one which we no longer see as a privilege and one around the world people still fight for free elections where everyone regardless gets a vote. If they did put none of the above it might well shock the political leaders just how bad they are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 Quote The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. Winston Churchill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 16 hours ago, Blatman said: I do think that voting should be compulsory with a "none of the above" option so that there can be some legitimacy to the result and better rules around how we go about the democratic process I was just thinking that going down this road or “Abstain” as I earlier posted, while the right way to go, would result in a few people changing their names to None Of The Above, Nun Of The Above (while campaigning dressed as a nun), A B Stain or Abby Stain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 On 30/05/2024 at 20:10, jeff oakley said: you misunderstand me on this. I was referring to the men who had to fight to get the vote for every man and women who died fighting for the right. This was seperate to the wars fought for differrent reasons It was only in 1918 that every man over the age of 21 got the right to vote, before that it had been the richest, then it was those who owned a property. Women of wealth got the votes first and eventually all got it but many did die over many years in doing so. It was seen as a great step that each citizen has an equal vote one which we no longer see as a privilege and one around the world people still fight for free elections where everyone regardless gets a vote. If they did put none of the above it might well shock the political leaders just how bad they are Fair enough, I was thinking about a different fight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 14 hours ago, Captain Colonial said: I was just thinking that going down this road or “Abstain” as I earlier posted, while the right way to go, would result in a few people changing their names to None Of The Above, Nun Of The Above (while campaigning dressed as a nun), A B Stain or Abby Stain. And I just remembered, the option to show contempt for the politicos alrady exists. Spoil your ballot. The number of spoiled ballots is actually read out and logged/registered. https://votingcounts.org.uk/spoilt-ballot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 15 hours ago, Blatman said: And I just remembered, the option to show contempt for the politicos alrady exists. Spoil your ballot. The number of spoiled ballots is actually read out and logged/registered. https://votingcounts.org.uk/spoilt-ballot …which is what I did in 2019, putting a huge cross across the whole thing and writing “No Suitable Party Or Candidate” at the bottom. First time ever and I wasn’t happy about doing so, but at least I made an effort to have my say at the ballot box. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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