Your vote for the 2015 General Election

[october_lost]

I haven't visited a polling station since 2002 or 03, I can't remember when or what it was. Controversially, given the political situation at the moment, if I am registered to vote, I will also be inclined to draw a spunking cock on the ballot.

 

[Corax]

Thankfully I'm in a safe seat, so will be voting Green or TUSC.

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not being facetious or aggressive - but what's the point of that with our FPTP system? Genuine question, not having a go.

As I said earlier, if we had a proper PR system I'd be voting NHA, but with FPTP I don't see the point. Solid Labour constituency, and I'd rather it remain that way than have the blue/yellow turds take it - and those appear to be the only realistic possibilities.

Post this election, I'm wondering if we should push a nationwide drive for a representative form of PR (as opposed to that shit that was offered up in the referendum) - without that, with a few exceptions, voting for any minor party seems to be an utter waste of time IMO.

"Democracy" lol

 

[magneze]

Labour. The Tories were too close in the 2010 election.

 

[Roadkill]

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not being facetious or aggressive - but what's the point of that with our FPTP system? Genuine question, not having a go.

I don't see the point in not voting at all - it just gets taken as either apathy or tacit consent - and I'm not going to vote for my (Labour) MP unless I've reason to think she might be under threat from someone worse, so those are the two most palatable options. Besides, both have the merit of having said the odd thing I actually agree with.

 

[Corax]

I don't see the point in not voting at all - it just gets taken as either apathy or tacit consent - and I'm not going to vote for my (Labour) MP unless I've reason to think she might be under threat from someone worse, so those are the two most palatable options. Besides, both have the merit of having said the odd thing I actually agree with.

Okay, I get where you're coming from. And under a (proper) PR system such thinking would have an impact. More likely to see penguins roosting in my chimney than that though I guess.

 

[redcogs]

Not sure how voting for a different freemarket party will help achieve your goal of a more just and equal society but hey ho whatever floats your boat I guess?

You observe correctly, voting for a freemarket party will not bring the goal of a socially just society any nearer.

But voting in sympathy with the Scottish working class, whose predicted voting intentions (if realised) will kick capitalist Labour well into touch adds a certain frisson to what is a largely ineffectual act.

Of course, those who support Labour's attachment to the profit system will disagree, but hey ho whatever floats your boat i guess.

 

[campanula]

Labour. Lib-dems took Cambridge in 2010 and Julian Huppert, despite claiming to be more left wing than most LD's is just as much a weasel as the rest of them (It was Labour wot done it - cycles yay - sort of sums him up more or less). The greens candidate is just a cynical careerist, there are no left wing choices, so Labour it is.
Ducks and leaves.

 

[DotCommunist]

Labour. Lib-dems took Cambridge in 2010 and Julian Huppert, despite claiming to be more left wing than most LD's is just as much a weasel as the rest of them (It was Labour wot done it - cycles yay - sort of sums him up more or less). The greens candidate is just a cynical careerist, there are no left wing choices, so Labour it is.
Ducks and leaves.

two things I can find at the park lol

 

[Dogsauce]

I'm tempted to carefully draw a spunking cock inside one of the tick boxes, just so the people sorting out the counting might have to argue whether a picture of a spunking cock counts as a valid vote or not.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

I'm tempted to carefully draw a spunking cock inside one of the tick boxes, just so the people sorting out the counting might have to argue whether a picture of a spunking cock counts as a valid vote or not.

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/politics/a960119-Has-he-spoiled-his-ballot

Checked to see what the electoral commission had to say about this, but your missus has got there first (unless two people have had the same idea).

 

[panpete]

i'll either vote green or none at all, cos I'm not sure if the green party are really any good, I will need to read up on them a bit more.
This was a tory seat until last election when lib dems took it. I voted lib dem, but that ended up helping David Cameron and his crew in, as lib dems chose tories to be in coalition with.

 

[krink]

The number of people supporting labour astounds me. Do you all not read the boards?

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

The number of people supporting labour astounds me. Do you all not read the boards?

They give a pretty good insight into the state of any alternatives

 

[Flavour]

The number of people supporting labour astounds me. Do you all not read the boards?

I would bet a lot of money that, articul8 aside, nobody voting labour has any delusions about what a massive bunch of cunts they are and would be in government, but sees them as being ever so slightly, marginally less shit than the tories, and given that there is no alternative, would rather vote labour especially if they live in marginal seats where it may actually make a difference.


In short, the motivation to vote labour has almost nothing to do with the labour party but everything to do with getting Cameron and Osborne out of downing Street

 

[ViolentPanda]

The number of people supporting labour astounds me. Do you all not read the boards?

It's mostly not "support", or even an endorsement of their policies, but a nose-holding exercise because of their belief or hope (both misplaced, in my opinion) that a Labour government will give them a spoonful of sugar with their shit sandwich, rather than the straight-up, as-it-comes shit sandwich the coalition has served them.
Me, I'll be voting Spunking Cock!

 

[stethoscope]

In short, the motivation to vote labour has almost nothing to do with the labour party but everything to do with getting Cameron and Osborne out of downing Street

This pretty much. A couple of years ago I might have voted Green but my opinion of them has rather plummetted. Only Labour have come close in the past to unseating the Tories here, even though whether that can happen again remains to be seen (depending where those 2010 Lib Dem votes go). So, its either Labour (which I realise is a shit choice), or well, its possible I'll spoil.

 

[campanula]

Obviously, I know that parliamentary democracy is a fucking joke but I just don't have it in me to NOT vote. Might be my age - certainly my upbringing, but it feels as though a failure to vote is a sort of failure on my part also. I dunno - it is very much about lack of any plausible alternative whatsoever, and also, Cambridge is very much a marginal seat. If a spoilt ballot was actually counted and considered as a gesture of despair and contempt, then |I would exercise this option, but in the absence of a formal recognition of dissent, I feel I have no choice, really.

 

[tbtommyb]

If a spoilt ballot was actually counted and considered as a gesture of despair and contempt, then I would exercise this option, but in the absence of a formal recognition of dissent, I feel I have no choice, really.

What is the point of spoiling ballots? Is the vague hope that we get to a point eventually where turnout is so low, and so many who do turn up spoil their ballots, that society will suddenly rethink the whole process? Spoiled ballots are generally presented as being from people too thick to tick a box correctly so I'm not sure if the gesture really has any meaning - same with staying at home. Someone recently told me that they thought low turnout was indicative of general contentment with our set up (which is illustrative of that person at least).

 

[brogdale]

What is the point of spoiling ballots? Is the vague hope that we get to a point eventually where turnout is so low, and so many who do turn up spoil their ballots, that society will suddenly rethink the whole process? Spoiled ballots are generally presented as being from people too thick to tick a box correctly so I'm not sure if the gesture really has any meaning - same with staying at home. Someone recently told me that they thought low turnout was indicative of general contentment with our set up (which is illustrative of that person at least).

Not really the same then, is it?

 

[tbtommyb]

Not really the same then, is it?

well it is in that both are an intended protest misinterpreted as ignorance or acquiescence. Low turnout is always presented as low interest and the fault of the voter, not the fault of the selection on offer.

 

[brogdale]

well it is in that both are an intended protest misinterpreted as ignorance or acquiescence. Low turnout is always presented as low interest and the fault of the voter, not the fault of the selection on offer.

Quite possibly, but you described spoiling and non-participation with the binary interpretations of ignorance and apathy, and then said they were the "same". That can't be right, can it?

 

[tbtommyb]

Quite possibly, but you described spoiling and non-participation with the binary interpretations of ignorance and apathy, and then said they were the "same". That can't be right, can it?

No, read again. I said that they were the same because they were both a gesture without any meaning.

that is, the person doing either (in the context of this thread at least) intends it as a protest, but they are both explained away as a failing of the individual, not the system, generally due to either ignorance or apathy, and so they have no meaning as a protest.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Green party, if I can be bothered to waste the shoe leather going all the way to the other end of the street on polling day.

Even if they stand zero chance of winning here, I'd like to see them beat Farage's cabal of twats for national vote share.

 

[SpackleFrog]

I would bet a lot of money that, articul8 aside, nobody voting labour has any delusions about what a massive bunch of cunts they are and would be in government, but sees them as being ever so slightly, marginally less shit than the tories, and given that there is no alternative, would rather vote labour especially if they live in marginal seats where it may actually make a difference.


In short, the motivation to vote labour has almost nothing to do with the labour party but everything to do with getting Cameron and Osborne out of downing Street

Very true - but also at this point that approach may be making it harder for alternatives to develop.

 

[Citizen66]

I'll be voting for nobody. I'd rather cut off my balls and bathe them in vinegar than spend time giving parliamentary democracy my mandate.

 

[brogdale]

No, read again. I said that they were the same because they were both a gesture without any meaning.

that is, the person doing either (in the context of this thread at least) intends it as a protest, but they are both explained away as a failing of the individual, not the system, generally due to either ignorance or apathy, and so they have no meaning as a protest.

Your view doesn't appear to offer many options for those unwilling to engage with, or wishing to protest about, the charade of representative democracy. So you seem to be suggesting that because the capitalist state/media choose to misinterpret the 'gestures' of spoiling or not voting, the only 'meaningful' option is to go along with the process and vote?

 

[campanula]

Very true - but also at this point that approach may be making it harder for alternatives to develop.

Oh, I don't think I can agree with that, Spacklefrog. Given that the alternatives to our usual two-party system have been the hateful UKIP and the feeble quislings, LD, If there was even a glimmer of an alternative which promised social justice and equality, of course I would vote for it. Yes, nature abhors a vacuum but for a better, fairer party to emerge, it takes participation rather than disengagement. It could be argued that a split within the existing ranks has as much chance of creating an alternative as a brand new party to somehow emerge organically from a void. Have not yet had my toast so this probably sounds vague and inarticulate. I also want to express the difference between a spoiled ballot, mere non-parrticipation and the (not possible at present) choice of abstention, also formally counted. If such protests were formally recognised, it certainly does point up a lack of legitimacy and cannot simply be passed off as disinterest or ignorance.

 

[SpackleFrog]

Given that the alternatives to our usual two-party system have been the hateful UKIP and the feeble quislings, LD

Perhaps they have been; in the future there will be others.

 

[Andrew Hertford]

Oh, I don't think I can agree with that, Spacklefrog. Given that the alternatives to our usual two-party system have been the hateful UKIP and the feeble quislings, LD, If there was even a glimmer of an alternative which promised social justice and equality, of course I would vote for it. Yes, nature abhors a vacuum but for a better, fairer party to emerge, it takes participation rather than disengagement. It could be argued that a split within the existing ranks has as much chance of creating an alternative as a brand new party to somehow emerge organically from a void. Have not yet had my toast so this probably sounds vague and inarticulate. I also want to express the difference between a spoiled ballot, mere non-parrticipation and the (not possible at present) choice of abstention, also formally counted. If such protests were formally recognised, it certainly does point up a lack of legitimacy and cannot simply be passed off as disinterest or ignorance.

If the far right can come up with an alternative to the two party system which has the popular support of up to five million people, then why can't the left? Unfortunately it's because all the left ever do is argue among themselves and there just aren't anywhere near five million potential supporters for them anyway.

As for formally recognising abstentions, I couldn't agree more.

 

[butchersapron]

What far right alternative to the two-party system is that? And what five million people?