Election Thought

[andrewducker]

Many years ago there was a Spitting Image sketch which explained the reign of Tory evil for 16 years - people would go into the polling area full of determination to vote the right way, and then their cheque book would whisper into their ears and persuade them to vote Conservative.

I have a feeling something similar will happen today.  Only, all the people who were going to switch from Labour to Lib-Dem will find that they have somehow voted Labour, because voting Lib-Dem is a wasted vote.  This despite the fact that if everyone who _wanted_ to vote Lib Dem did so, they'd be the next parliment...

If there's a better reason to believe in Proportional Representation than this election, I don't know what it is.

Comments

[laserboy.livejournal.com]

I guess we have to just vote for who we want and trust that the system works. The other way lies the Sith Lords & Jedi massacres...

I've already voted this morning and it was a simple, non-strategic decision uncoloured by whatever spin the parties have been putting on things over the past few days. (Apart from Tony Blairs ridiculous editorial in the Independant).

What bothers me is that my parents are on holiday and hadn't organised a postal vote or proxy or anything. Ah well, 2 less votes for Labour at least.

[andrewducker]

I assume youy voted Conservative :->

[laserboy.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying Michael Howard is a vampire, but the last time someone put a cross in his box he turned to dust and blew away in the wind.

[I think that was from 'Have I Got News For You'] :-)

Course I didn't vote for Them.

[0olong.livejournal.com]

I guess we have to just vote for who we want and trust that the system works. The other way lies the Sith Lords & Jedi massacres...

Or possibly voting reform, if we don't trust that the system works and somebody actually does something about it...

[laserboy.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Certainly for todays election, we'll have to trust in the system we have and then work within it to have a better one for next time, rather than not bother voting (or revolt).

[the-mendicant.livejournal.com]

Lib Dems have our vote - we've been out leafleting for them and I'm going to be an official observer at the count this evening

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

Official observer! I'm mad with jealousy. :-) How did you land this plum role?

[the-mendicant.livejournal.com]

When I leafleted for them, I was invited to a meal this evening, then asked if I would like to go on to the count afterwards, was quite easy! Also I said I wanted to join the party as a member, but can't do this during an election for some bizzare reason!

[broin.livejournal.com]

"If there's a better reason to believe in Proportional Representation than this election, I don't know what it is."

All the other elections.

The idea of voting strategically seems hollow and dishonest to me. Gordon and I had a terrific conversation about that one time. Seemed downright alien, compared to the PR system and 'vote for whoever!' in Ireland.

[stillcarl.livejournal.com]

We have PR in New Zealand, but I still vote strategically. The stratagy's different though. For instance, if there's two or three minor parties near the 5% threshold needed to put members in parliamentt, I might vote for the one polling the lowest as opposed to the one I prefer the most in the hope it'll get them in and thus have a parliament leaning more the way I'd like it than if they didn't.

[0olong.livejournal.com]

if everyone who _wanted_ to vote Lib Dem did so, they'd be the next parliment...

Do you think this might help explain why Labour quietly and shamelessly backtracked on its 1997 manifesto commitment to a referendum on Proportional Representation?

What puzzles me is that people haven't kicked up more of a stink about that. There's been plenty of hand-wringing about so-called 'voter apathy' - where what they really mean is of course disengagement from the political process - but bugger-all real progress made on getting people engaged in the process again. Shouldn't the Lib Dems (and democrats of all stripes) be making more of a point of saying 'you promised us proper democratic reform in 1997, eight years later we still have a First Past the Post system, and no sign of a referendum. What the Hell happened?'

[redshira.livejournal.com]

What scares me is that my brother and sister (aged 19 and 20) are voting Conservative, on the highly spurious grounds that a) they don't want Labour in any more (ok, fair point there) b) Michael Howard is of Jewish descent so they naively think this will get rid of antisemitism, the little idiots c) My sister "read on some websites" that "the younger LibDems are neo-Nazis and I couldn't forgive myself if I gave the Nazis a leg-up into power".

I was left screaming WHY DO THEY LET PEOPLE LIKE YOU VOTE? in a highly undemocratic manner. I am a source of shame to the family in so many ways, and my being a LibDem voter only adds to that.

[kelly-lesbo.livejournal.com]

I'm a younger Lib Dem and member of the party and last time I checked I was fairly anti-nazi. In fact Lib Dems are the most pro gay rights, least worried about immigration and most concerned about eco-social problems outside of the Green Party.

Strange new breed of Nazi's these.

If she voted Tory as an anti-nazi vote I will give her my "Dumbest Sheeple" award...she gets a special badge and a dunce hat.

[redshira.livejournal.com]

Yeeeess. I think I need to direct her towards this post. She did indeed vote Tory.

[kelly-lesbo.livejournal.com]

Aw bless. I don't really mind sheeple if they stay out in the fields, eating grass and rutting just as long as they don't do silly things like vote without understanding what they are voting for.

Most sheeple can be quite cute with their programmed patterns of behaviour and response. It would be best if we could section cities or even whole countries into those for the sheeple and those for actual people so there's no tension between the two.

I love seeing animals in wildlife parks, but I don't really need to live in the parks with them as it causes distress to both them and myself.

[redshira.livejournal.com]

You're...extremely cool. May I friend you?

[kelly-lesbo.livejournal.com]

Friend away although my dark side may alarm you!