Should voting be made compulsory
Should voting be made compulsory

Poll: Should voting be made compulsory

Total Members Polled: 179

yes: 39%
No: 57%
I can't be arsed to vote.: 4%
Author
Discussion

colonel c

Original Poster:

8,054 posts

269 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all

Despite all the media hype, the turnout was still less than 70%. The remaining non voters could have made a significant difference had they voted.



so leaving electoral reform aside. Should voting be made compulsory in the
UK?













5

Fittster

20,120 posts

243 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
As some one who objects to representative democracy (I can make my own decisions thank you), why should I be forced to vote?

WorAl

10,877 posts

218 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
With Fittster here I'm afraid, plus it's the only true way to show how much you actually want rid of a st government IMO. They are all the same so whoever gets in the country will not change for the better.

Carfiend

3,186 posts

239 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Only if there was a none of the above option.

Tangent Police

3,097 posts

206 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Yes. You should and there should also be a "get rid of all of them" box.

Dracoro

9,032 posts

275 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
colonel c said:
Despite all the media hype, the turnout was still less than 70%. The remaining non voters could have made a significant difference had they voted.
Or made no difference, especially if they voted in line with the rest of the population......

Anyway, it's a good thing as I suspect a lot of non-voters would, if forced to vote, vote for Labour......

colonel c

Original Poster:

8,054 posts

269 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Carfiend said:
Only if there was a none of the above option.
In effect a spoilt paper is just that.

WorAl

10,877 posts

218 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Dracoro said:
colonel c said:
Despite all the media hype, the turnout was still less than 70%. The remaining non voters could have made a significant difference had they voted.
Or made no difference, especially if they voted in line with the rest of the population......

Anyway, it's a good thing as I suspect a lot of non-voters would, if forced to vote, vote for Labour......
Do the Labour haters on here actually think the country will be any better if someone else gets in? It's going to be a sthole from now on, no-one is going to be any different, they are all out to line their own pockets, they couldn't give a st about the country or the people, non of them will make anything better for the vast majority.

randlemarcus

13,646 posts

261 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
colonel c said:
Carfiend said:
Only if there was a none of the above option.
In effect a spoilt paper is just that.
No it isn't. A spoilt ballot paper is simply a paper that doesn't count towards anyone's score. It's not a positive rejection of the status quo.

MKnight702

3,435 posts

244 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Do I think voting should be compulsory? Good God no.

Yesterday at work we had one of our cleaners in the office, she honestly said she had no idea who was Prime Minister, had absolutely no interest in the news let alone politics and when pressed said that if she did vote she would probably vote Labour because her Dad did. I bet Emily Pankhurst is really glad she put in all the effort.

Gaspode

4,167 posts

226 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Tangent Police said:
Yes. You should and there should also be a "get rid of all of them" box.
Does this mean you are in favour of anarchy, or despotism?

Fittster

20,120 posts

243 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Gaspode said:
Tangent Police said:
Yes. You should and there should also be a "get rid of all of them" box.
Does this mean you are in favour of anarchy, or despotism?
I'm up for anarcho-capitalism, certainly a very interesting form of rule.

From wiki:

Anarcho-capitalism is an individualist anarchist[1] political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state and the elevation of the sovereign individual in a free market. In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services would be provided by voluntarily-funded competitors such as private defense agencies rather than through taxation, and money would be privately and competitively provided in an open market. According to anarcho-capitalists, personal and economic activities would be regulated by the natural laws of the market and through private law rather than through politics. Furthermore, victimless crimes and crimes against the state would be rendered moot.[citation needed]
Anarcho-capitalists argue for a society based on the voluntary trade of private property and services (including money, consumer goods, land, and capital goods) in order to maximize individual liberty and prosperity. However, they also recognize charity and communal arrangements as part of the same voluntary ethic.
Though anarcho-capitalists are known for asserting a right to private (individualized or joint non-public) property, some propose that non-state public/community property can also exist in an anarcho-capitalist society. For them, what is important is that it is acquired and transferred without help or hindrance from the compulsory state. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians believe that the only just, and/or most economically-beneficial, way to acquire property is through voluntary trade, gift, or labor-based original appropriation, rather than through aggression or fraud.

Anarcho-capitalists see free-market capitalism as the basis for a free and prosperous society. Murray Rothbard said that the difference between free-market capitalism and "state capitalism" is the difference between "peaceful, voluntary exchange" and a collusive partnership between business and government that uses coercion to subvert the free market

colonel c

Original Poster:

8,054 posts

269 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
randlemarcus said:
colonel c said:
Carfiend said:
Only if there was a none of the above option.
In effect a spoilt paper is just that.
No it isn't. A spoilt ballot paper is simply a paper that doesn't count towards anyone's score. It's not a positive rejection of the status quo.
All spoilt ballots are counted though. So at least voters can deliberately spoil their ballot paper and are able show some sort of disapproval of all the candidates.

jeebus

445 posts

214 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
WorAl said:
Dracoro said:
colonel c said:
Despite all the media hype, the turnout was still less than 70%. The remaining non voters could have made a significant difference had they voted.
Or made no difference, especially if they voted in line with the rest of the population......

Anyway, it's a good thing as I suspect a lot of non-voters would, if forced to vote, vote for Labour......
Do the Labour haters on here actually think the country will be any better if someone else gets in? It's going to be a sthole from now on, no-one is going to be any different, they are all out to line their own pockets, they couldn't give a st about the country or the people, non of them will make anything better for the vast majority.
Well said, I think some people think the tory's are going to save us, and that's not the case, now I hate labour with a passion but im not naive enough to think if the tory's get in life will be all old school quattro's and duran duran back in the charts. The next few years are going to be ste imo and i think whoever gets in next will soon be out at the next election.

Vipers

33,506 posts

258 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Carfiend said:
Only if there was a none of the above option.
Agree, would be interesting how many choose not to vote. I don't understand politics, don't want to, what I do think is that who ever gets in will bend the truth, and they are all a bunch of crooks.




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dern

14,055 posts

309 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Anyone who doesn't vote if they can is just being lazy. If your intent is to say "none of the above" then that view should be registered in a way that can be recorded as being a distinct view from the halfwit who just can't be arsed.

Anyone who says that all the parties are the same and/or that voting won't make any difference is an idiot.

CooperD

3,187 posts

207 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
It's a free country. You should have the right to vote but not be forced to vote. Perhaps there are some people out there who don't like any of the candidates in their area. When I went to vote yesterday there was a woman arguing with the Polling station staff that she didn't want to vote for any of the candidates on that ballot paper as they weren't from the party she wanted to support. I think she may have been a BNP supporter as they didn't stand in our area but the other 5 main parties did. If you forced people to vote then I feel there may be a lot more spoilt ballot papers.

Raify

6,556 posts

278 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
Some countries (Chile for example) fine you if you're registered to vote, but don't cast one.

WorAl

10,877 posts

218 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
dern said:
Anyone who says that all the parties are the same and/or that voting won't make any difference is an idiot.
Oh my fking god, you've been brainwashed, do you really thing that the people who sit in a big hall and wave bits of paper at each other and shout "booooo" like children actually give a damn about you or the countries benefits? They couldn't give a toss, they are just here to make as much money as they can for themselves in the next 4 years until the next election where they may get voted in and they can do the same for the next 4 years.

It's utter bks what they tell you and you're stupid enough to believe it. no wonder the country is in the state it is.

Vipers

33,506 posts

258 months

Friday 7th May 2010
quotequote all
dern said:
Anyone who doesn't vote if they can is just being lazy. If your intent is to say "none of the above" then that view should be registered in a way that can be recorded as being a distinct view from the halfwit who just can't be arsed.

Anyone who says that all the parties are the same and/or that voting won't make any difference is an idiot.
OK, can I join the "Lazy, halfwit and Idiots" club then laugh

You'l be saying we should all watch football next?


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