Election 2010

Well, tomorrow’s the big day here in the UK, when we, the people, get an opportunity to really have our say. I’ve deliberately avoided election talk on this blog up until now, because I’m not really into politics in any big way. But it does interest me, as it should, especially at election time.

I’m not going to try to influence how you vote, that’s your choice and down to your conscience. But, perhaps I would like to influence whether you vote. For quite some time I was of the opinion that it should be mandatory to cast a vote, as long as there was a legitimate method of casting a non-vote, ie “none of the above”. But I’m not sure I still hold that opinion. We live in a democratic country and should have the right not to vote if that’s how our conscience leads us.

However, I don’t think we have the right not to vote because we just can’t be bothered. People fought and died, in the not too distant past, to win us all the right to vote as equals. If we choose not to use that vote because we genuinely don’t believe any of the candidates we can vote for are worthy of it, that’s fine. But if we choose not to use that vote because we just can’t be bothered, then I think we are dishonouring our recent ancestors.

I came across this interesting video on Vimeo. “On the streets of East London, volunteers take the public seriously, investigate preferences and whether voting is considered a duty. The responses are salutary.”

Please, don’t let apathy stop you from using your vote tomorrow.