Anyone of voting age who doesn't vote, or spoils their ballot paper,
becomes the official scapegoat of the nation.
No more blaming immigrants/hoodies/the elderly/the unemployed/fat cat bankers or whoever for what's gone wrong, we can ask unite and persecute this self-identifying group of smug wankers. Send them to jail, deport them, force then to perform unending community service, or just feel good knowing that there's an acceptable group to look down upon.
Oh, and remove them from the electoral register - this is a one way ticket.

The same fate can be meted out to UKIP/Green voters, too.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 23 Apr 2015, 20:45, 18 replies)

Are we allowed to not vote because we just can't be bothered to go to the voting station?
I might not bother out of sheer laziness, but I wouldn't smugly pretend that I'm making some kind of stand against the system.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Thu 23 Apr 2015, 20:48, closed)

I'll give everyone a licence to kick you.

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 7:34, closed)

Thats a big goat
45,597,461 Registered voters
6,000,000 not registered (e)
51,597,461 total number of people eligible to vote.

29,687,604 total number of valid votes.
21,909,857 who did not vote.

from gov.uk stats for 2010
(rikku_dreamer, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 2:47, closed)

Good.
Those stats don't say much for the legitimacy of our current democracy, do they?
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 7:35, closed)

oh, I don't know.
Seems to me that the 22 million or so non voters made an arguably reasonable democratic choice to leave it up to people who cared.
(haberman is singing in the changes, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 9:33, closed)

I know it's an utterly ridiculous idea
but maybe if the political parties

1. came up with their own manifesto ideas rather than copying each others
2. stuck to the promises they make in their manifesto
3. stopped trying to pretend there's a huge difference between the parties
4. put us in a position where there's a choice to be made between them

then more people might actually bother to vote?
(manwiddicombe is thinking of something witty to add here, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 6:19, closed)

Voting for a smaller party would let you off the hook.
So long as it wasn't UKIP or the Greens.
Stop trying to shift the blame away from yourself.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 7:37, closed)

Really Really Really
This
(andythepieman Is surfing the waves of indifference on, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 10:21, closed)

The MP for my area has been the MP since I was born
even if there was 100% turnout and all the current non-voters voted for someone else, the current MP would STILL retain his seat - he's had 50% of the vote for 30+ years.

So what is the point in wasting an hour at the voting station trying to prevent the inevitable?
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 8:47, closed)

^This

(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Fri 24 Apr 2015, 9:31, closed)

^ Not This
:-)
(haberman is singing in the changes, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 9:36, closed)

"Everything is terrible, why won't someone else sort it out for me?"

( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 10:13, closed)

I don't see how that quote bears any relation to anything I said

( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 10:22, closed)

Totaly this ^^
I grew up in an area like that. I think last election he had a 50,000 majority. Or something similarly Oxfordshire like.

At least since living in Brighton I have actually seen my local MP change!! (Not that that means anything)

Thankfully I'm not in the middle of the city where the student idiots voted Green and then all fecked off back home to mummy so didn't have to deal with the mess!!
( Batter Pudding Hurler is a figment of your imagination, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 20:34, closed)

So we're forced to choose between one of four "legitimate" parties with identikit policies?
I agree on the compulsory voting thing, but I'd go further and count all the spoiled ballot slips. The proportion of spoiled papers vs actual votes would be used to decide remuneration for MPs for the next parliament.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Fri 24 Apr 2015, 9:24, closed)

Even without the kippers and the hippies, there's still more than 4 parties.
Start your own, if none of them suit, or at least start harassing the candidates.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 10:12, closed)

I'm just going to do a big ole poo in the polling booth

( $$ ✅, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 9:48, closed)

Satire lols.

(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Fri 24 Apr 2015, 15:30, closed)