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Politics
Aaaand it's election day again.
The polling station wasn't open early enough for me to vote on my way to work, so I'll have to go this evening when Mum and Sis do. It's just about the only thing we tend to do as a family.
The bastards have moved our polling station though. It's not so bad for me, but it used to be an easy walk for Mum: we'd take the dog and make it sort of an event. Now it's miles away and impossible for her to do without a car. Lucky Sis drives. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks they've done this deliberately, to discourage people from voting. I'm actually not certain when the information was sent, as Mum always keeps our polling cards "in a safe place", but I found out about the change too late to apply for a postal ballot. I'll have to do that next time, for Mum if not for me.
The thing I dislike most about where I live is what a waste of time it is voting at all. This is one of the safest Labour seats in the country. It's some consolation that our local MP has his head screwed on right about most issues - he's at odds with the party quite a lot. Though I've butted heads with the guy about the insane NHS rules on treating HIV/AIDS in non-citizens - he just doesn't get it at all. But hell, that's just one issue.
But that doesn't matter 'cause this isn't a parliamentary election. So it doesn't matter how I vote. It won't count anyway. I don't think the Green Party are even fielding a candidate here. Plaid will; and the big three.
I'm still gonna vote, though. And to everyone reading this, if you're a Brit: go and vote today even if, like me, you think it's useless. Beacause the election turnout gets lower every time, so if enough people who think it's useless get off their asses and vote - it won't be useless any more!!!
The polling station wasn't open early enough for me to vote on my way to work, so I'll have to go this evening when Mum and Sis do. It's just about the only thing we tend to do as a family.
The bastards have moved our polling station though. It's not so bad for me, but it used to be an easy walk for Mum: we'd take the dog and make it sort of an event. Now it's miles away and impossible for her to do without a car. Lucky Sis drives. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks they've done this deliberately, to discourage people from voting. I'm actually not certain when the information was sent, as Mum always keeps our polling cards "in a safe place", but I found out about the change too late to apply for a postal ballot. I'll have to do that next time, for Mum if not for me.
The thing I dislike most about where I live is what a waste of time it is voting at all. This is one of the safest Labour seats in the country. It's some consolation that our local MP has his head screwed on right about most issues - he's at odds with the party quite a lot. Though I've butted heads with the guy about the insane NHS rules on treating HIV/AIDS in non-citizens - he just doesn't get it at all. But hell, that's just one issue.
But that doesn't matter 'cause this isn't a parliamentary election. So it doesn't matter how I vote. It won't count anyway. I don't think the Green Party are even fielding a candidate here. Plaid will; and the big three.
I'm still gonna vote, though. And to everyone reading this, if you're a Brit: go and vote today even if, like me, you think it's useless. Beacause the election turnout gets lower every time, so if enough people who think it's useless get off their asses and vote - it won't be useless any more!!!
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If you're going to be sarcastic, please at least understand what you're blathering about.
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For me it's more about the future. I don't plan to have children, as you know, but metaphorically speaking I worry about what will happen to my kids if we allow our democracy to slip away. The system we have is a long way from perfect but there are many worse ones.
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And it turned out we are voting today, but for some reason, there weren't any polling cards delivered here!
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Must remember to go vote up the road later today too :)
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Abstaining can also be a statement, I agree. But most people who stay home do so either because they can't be bothered, or because they believe it's a waste of time.
Our democracy doesn't work too well. But to change it, you've got to engage with it. While a vote against Labour may not make a difference directly, your vote will still be counted, and analysts pay attention to the local and national trends. It's not much, but it's something.
A hell of a lot better than the USA where most of the votes cast aren't even actually counted: elections are decided on exit polls which are so easy to fix it's unbelievable that they think they live in a democracy.
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The most important one - the Presidential election - isn't. One candidate conceeds the election when the freaking media decides he has lost. IIRC Kerry pledged he wouldn't do that during the last campaign, that every vote would be counted, but in the end that's exactly what happened.
As for the other US elections, they tend not to hit the news over here in the same way, so no, I don't know for sure.
I'm well aware of the American fondness for democracy, though. I find it highly ironic when all the evidence is they don't have one.