Topic: YOUR VOTE

[betula]

Polling day today and I went to vote.

It occurred to me That not one politician from any party has knocked my door
for a chat about who to vote for.We have not even had a leaflet.

When I went to vote it was so dull compared to how we used to carry on years ago.

I can remember on voting day the different parties knocking the door offering you lifts to the polling station,even if it was a short distance away,I can remember my Mum taking them up on this offer and I was so embarrassed as it was only round the corner.Voting day always had a sense of occasion.I t was dull today.

I always vote as previous generations of women fought hard for women to be able to vote.I feel that is the very least we women should do.

This apathy is so strange.

Just a thought. :)

[caroline7758]

No election for us today.

[bupster]

Only a local election for us, not much fun. General elections are much more enjoyable. Who's staying up to watch the London results even though they don't live there?

[betula]

Yes I would like to see who wins.

I used to fancy Ken when we were both much younger ;D

Boris should be good for a bit of fun,but oh dear handling that budget?Scary thought :)

[bupster]

And he's looking more and more like the sheep off the Woollies adverts  :D

[valmarg]

I always vote at general elections, because if I had been alive 100 years ago, I would not have been entitled to vote.  It is because of the suffragette movement that women have the vote.  I know I'm a bit old fashioned, but if they had not protested as they did women would not have been granted the vote.

I think the 'voter apathy' at the moment is down to the EU.  What's the point of electing an MP to Westminster, when everything is overridden by Brussels?

valmarg

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

Scarey thing about Boris - as he was born in America, I reckon the Lord mayor election is just a stepping stone to being elected President of the United States  :o

[twinkletoes]

 ;D ;D ;D
twinkletoes

[tonybloke]

my wife's granny was a suffragette, her and a few of her mates pushed the mayors car into the river!

[Lauren S]

1893 - New Zealand is the first country to give women the vote

1750 to 1832, Britain was ruled in the following way :

Only men with money and property rights could vote

No women regardless of their wealth could vote

The House of Lords could overrule any law passed by the House of Commons

Only men could be in the Houses of Commons and Lords

The move for women to have the vote had really started in 1897 when Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union of Women's Suffrage. "Suffrage" means the right to vote and that is what women wanted

1918 Representation of the People Act gave women of property over the age of 30 the right to vote – not all women, therefore, could vote –but it was a major start.

1928...Women over 21 were given the right to vote - giving women the same voting status as men.

1970...Voting age dropped from 21 to 18

Lauren

[froglets]

Valmarg & Lauren - I'm with you & that's why I always vote.  1928 is only 80 years ago.  Neither of my grannies had the vote until they were in their 30's, I've always felt it important to vote however difficult it was to decide or get there.  Thanks heavens for postal voting.

[saddad]

Not been yet but will be Don't forget the struggle of working men in the 19th Century to get the vote for men... some of the Chartists in the 1840's wanted votes for men and women but decided to go at it one stage at a time......
 :)

[gonz]

We have not even had a leaflet.

Betula

The only leaflets we have had are about 20 from the Green Party!!! 

[katynewbie]

 ;D

Yep. I have been to cast my vote, it may only be local, but that's democracy for ya.
My elderly mother got a lift a few years ago from one of the parties to the polling station. When she got inside she voted for the opposing party...

DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE ELDERLY VOTER!

 8)

[saddad]

That's the advantage of a secret ballot Katie...
 ;D

[redimp]

I always vote at general elections, because if I had been alive 100 years ago, I would not have been entitled to vote.  It is because of the suffragette movement that women have the vote.  I know I'm a bit old fashioned, but if they had not protested as they did women would not have been granted the vote.

I think the 'voter apathy' at the moment is down to the EU.  What's the point of electing an MP to Westminster, when everything is overridden by Brussels?

valmarg

Why is turn out for EU elections even lower then?  I always vote for the same reason that you ladies always vote.  If apathy takes over, then politicians may just say why bother with elections - and with id cards and everybody's details being stored centrally, if we were to get an unscrupulous government, total control would be so much easier to achieve.  I think that the apathy is a result of the death of ideology - both the main two parties are both similar shades of grey and with Nick Clegg as leader of the Lib Dems, he is turning that party exactly the same.  The electoral system is desperately in need of change, not tinkering with internet and postal voting.  Voters need to think they are in control and that they can change things.  There has to be some form of PR - my preferred choice would be a constituency based preference voting system - larger constituencies based around 5-6 of the old constituencies with 5-6 MPs each.  Then the final outcome would better reflect voting patterns, but the single issue dangerous parties like the BNP/Respect would still find it difficult to make a breakthrough.  It would also more than likely give everybody a preferred MP.  If you are a Tory in a solid Labour constituency or Labour in solid Tory constituency, who do you go to if you have a problem?

[valmarg]

And then of course RC there is the electoral boundaries commission.

We moved into this village in 1973.  We were politically in the Staffordshire Moorlands Council.  We paid our rates/polltax/council tax to Staffordshire Moorlands.  Come the 1997 general election, thanks to the boundaries commission, we were dumped into Bill Cash's Stone constituency.  We feel we were disenfranchised by this move.  Stone has nothing to do with the levying of our council tax, spending, etc.

I think the boundaries commission should be abolished.

valmarg

[redimp]

The boundaries commission is subject to gerrymandering by whoever is in power.  When Labour in power, some borders magically shift to make more Labour constituencies and vice versa when the Tories are in power (btw I keep typing Tories because it is shorter)  Trouble is, with a mobile population, there needs to be some readjustment of boundaries from time to time - it just needs to be totally free from political interference.

BTW - Bill Cash - what a horrible little man he is!!  BTW - that is not political, there are lots of nice Conservatives on all wings of the party - it's just that Bill Cash ain't one of them.

[Mr Smith]

 Only ever had one politician to knock on my door unfortunately for him he did not come from my side of the fence also I was in the middle of my tea  ;)

[powerspade]

where`s Guy Fawkes on the ballot paper? they missed him out again