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Not Apathetic

Tell the world why you're not voting - don't let your silence go unheard

They're not voting because...

I cannot. I am denied the democratic...

I cannot. I am denied the democratic right to vote for the last 27 years! Why? you ask. Because I am German, living since 1978 in the UK. I cannot vote in Germany, because I have left the Fatherland, and when you leave, unlike in the UK, you cannot vote. Since only recently I could note vote for a local representative for the EU government. I am appalled to know that British subjects who have chosen a live with no UK taxes have the right to decide who governs and taxes the people living on these isles,including myself. The same holds for people from the Commonwealth, i.e. people like myself foreign nationals, but have the king/queen given right to vote. I am also appalled by the fact that there are people who have the ability to vote, won't because of difficult choices. That's what the best choices are all about! You could give Blair the chance to lead us by the nose again to Iran (American pronounciation, please), you can decide to give up everyone's freedom (but we don't have anything to fear from ID cards as we all are clean as a whistle, and government computers never make mistakes). You can follow Howard's "Shut the doors, I'm in" policy! How many generations do you have to count back, until you have imigrants in your family? And how much can you believe the new Robin of Sherwood, wanting to give to the poor and elderly, taking a stance against the war.
Choose and vote, otherwise, for until the following election, you cannot utter a word aginst the next government, whoever they may be!

Reinhard Magiera
Leeds

written 25th Apr 2005

Responses

Gavin replies: You have laid out a good list of reasons NOT to vote there..! If you dislike all of the parties equally, surely you have a right to criticise the government even if you do not vote. I could vote Green in the certain knowledge that they would not get in - would that give me any more right to complain about the new Labour government? Why? I knew my vote was pointless.

I do think people should vote, especially young people such as myself, because otherwise none of the parties will bother to consider us, favouring those that their statistics show them are likely to vote. But it does all seem like a waste of time. All the main parties have the same policies - why bother choosing between different flavours of spin?

written 25th Apr 2005

Miss Dipsy replies: A vote for a party that won't get into government isn't a completely wasted vote; firstly because theres always a chance that in your local area they might win and therefore get a seat in parliament (thus providing a small check on the government's power), and secondly, even if they're obviously not going to win in your constituency, its kind of encouraging for both the party & other potential voters if they get a healthy number of votes. If a party hardly get any votes in a constituency, they might not bother fielding a candidate there next time, thus closing another option off to voters. On the other hand if they get a fair amount of votes, come next election they can say "look, we got all these votes last time, we're a credible threat to the other candidates" and people who worry that their vote might be wasted will be more likely to vote. I know that's quite a long term view, but people should be thinking about the long term when they vote/don't vote, otherwise we get trapped in the stupid cycle we're in now, with "spin politics", soundbites, supposedly apathetic voters, and a general sense that its all a waste of time.

written 26th Apr 2005

Adam replies: Are you serious?

Denied the democratic right to vote? You're German! Why not let everyone have a vote? Let's see how the rest of the world wants to run our country.

Move back to Germany and vote there, become a British citizen and vote here, or just accept your position. The only person 'denying' you your vote is you.

written 26th Apr 2005

About Not Apathetic

NotApathetic was built so that people who are planning not to vote in the UK General Election on May 5th can tell the world why. We won't try to persuade you that voting is a good or a bad idea - we're just here to record and share your explanations. Whether ideological, practical or other, any reason will do.

A lot of users would like us to mention that if you spoil your ballot paper, it will be counted. So if you want to record a vote for "none of the above", you can.

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