I Voted
Today, I voted. I’m in the middle of a house move, I have a cold, I’ve not been sleeping well and I had a website to finish building that needed to be done before I lose internet access for a week or two, and I’m knackered. But still, I voted.
Registering to get my vote was actually more of a fuss than the act of voting itself. I awoke one morning a few weeks ago, reading the BBC news website as I dripped from the shower, and discovered that the deadline for registering to vote was, er, in nine hours time. Well, thanks! One frantic Google later, followed by a quick print job and a run into town, and I was registered. I’d have been really annoyed if I’d missed it, because this election is one I feel quite strongly about.
I wanted to vote. Irrespective of the outcome, irrespective of whether my chosen party (the Liberal Democrats, naturally) had a chance of winning. I wasn’t looking at this as an opportunity to change government because our electoral system doesn’t work like that. I was looking at this simply as an opportunity to say to the government “I disagree with what you do, with what you stand for, with how you behave and with what you say. Here are the people I believe in. That’s all.”
The Liberal Democrats will not be forming a new government tomorrow morning, but that’s not why I voted for them. I know they can’t win. I know that by voting Liberal, there’s a chance that the tories will win when the anti-tory vote is split. I recognise the risk and I accept that risk because I refuse to play the game. I refuse to tactically vote, to vote for someone that I fundamentally disagree with. I will not support the lesser of two evils. If the electoral system does not register my vote, if my vote does not matter then that’s a shame, and I wish that it wasn’t the case.
My vote matters to me.
Ah, so close!
I was registered to vote without even knowing it, but it meant going back out after work which just seemed like so much effort for something that really wasn’t going to matter anyway.
In that case I’ll just blame you for the Liberals losing Weston-Super-Mare.
I voted and I refused to give my electoral number to the shady looking characters outside the polling station.
I also voted, though in my case voting with my ‘conscience’ (such as it is) did not clash with the tactical element, luckily enough.
Interesting to see that Galloway managed to depose King in Bethnal Green & Bow – now there was a campaign that didn’t reflect especially well on Labour.
Yep, I voted too. I knew it wasn’t going to usurp the Tory stronghold over where I live, but as you said Paul, it was more of a vote against the Tory/Labour manifestos. So you can guess I went liberal too.
I didn’t give my polling number either to the dodgy old people outside, after being told the parties use this information to work out who actually votes and then target them harder with their marketing campaigns in the future. My girlfriend forgot my advice and gave her number when she voted earlier. Oh well, I’ll look forward to her onslaught of letters, phone calls and visits.
I thought it was nice to see Kilroy almost losing his deposit, and the UKIP party managing to lose 337 of their deposits at a cost of £168,500.
OK.
Let me begin by stating that I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Haine’s rejection of tactical voting. I put my ‘X’ next to the Labour candidate’s name in my constituency of Upminster, yesterday afternoon and I would hate to have to say that I did so solely because I was not prepared to take the risk splitting the ‘left-wing’ vote. No. I voted the way I did because I wished to wake up to a Labour government.
Mr Haine, however, seems to view his vote as an opportunity to make a point, to show Mr Blair who is boss. Well, fine – it’s his vote and he can use it any way he pleases.
I am disturbed, however, by his individualist approach to his constitutional rights:
“I recognise the risk and I accept that risk because I refuse to play the game. I refuse to tactically vote, to vote for someone that I fundamentally disagree with. I will not support the lesser of two evils. If the electoral system does not register my vote, if my vote does not matter then that’s a shame, and I wish that it wasn’t the case.”
It worries me that Mr Haine is prepared to risk a Conservative government so that his point can be made. It also worries me that so many of my contemporaries share his point of view.
At present, voting for the Liberal Democrats is on a par with owning a diamond, or eating organically-grown traceable produce – it is a pleasant luxury that can only be enjoyed by the few, lest the lifestyle we have all become accustomed to should become untenable. It angers me that people like Mr Haine were able to bask in their self-righteousness throughout this campaign while others gave up the luxury of a conscience to provide the cushioning buffer of Labour votes that allowed Mr Haine to make his stand without risk.
“My vote matters to me.”
Indeed.
Udo: So, you agree with my rejection of tactical voting and then complain that I wouldn’t vote tactically. I can’t really win there, can I?
I vote Liberal because I want a Liberal government, and the only way the country will ever see a Liberal government is if enough people vote Liberal. If that means going via another Conservative government then so be it – we’re not going to get there by giving up all hope every election and just voting Labour.
Labour, and Labour supporters, have complained consistently that Liberal voters risk ‘letting the tories in by the back door’. Well, the Labour party has had eight years to implement some form of electoral reform that could prevent this, hasn’t it? In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland we see proportional representation and yet for general elections they still rely upon the antiquated ‘first past the post’ system because when it works in their favour it delivers them a substantial majority. They’ve had their chance, it’s a bit rich to then complain when the system works against them.
I’m a Labour-Liberal defector myself – by Udo’s argument the worst kind of self-righteous scum, no doubt (Paul has always voted LD, as far as I’m aware).
Let’s leave aside the War element for the moment, and look at other policy issues. Problem is that at present, in manifesto rather than historical terms, the Liberal Democrats look like a better option for the left-wing voter than the Labour Party, despite certain concerns (the right to strike issue for key workers, for example). I do firmly believe that (thanks to the fundamental ideological split in the party over Europe) the Conservative Party has some real problems, so that they’re unlikely to get back into power for another eight years or so – perhaps more.
…by which I meant that I don’t see them getting in via the back door – they’re a broken party at present.
I notice that Howard has said he won’t be fighting the next general election on the grounds that he’s getting too old for it. I’ll be interested to see who comes next – I always got the impression that Howard only became leader because the party were desperate for someone recognisable and passionate and didn’t have anybody else left.
It’ll be Kilroy, just you wait. Or perhaps the Crazy Frog.
Admittedly, there has been a ‘rock and a hard place’ element to this campaign. I think pointing out a certain circularity in my argument is justified and I agree that we can’t just keep voting a government in time and time again, to keep the conservatives out. Also, I had no idea Mr Haine was a life-long Liberal voter – the pride he seems to take in having voted while tired lead me to take him for a recent convert to “The Best Alternative Party in the World… Ever!”.
This was my first time voting and, as such, the Liberal Democrats had as much chance of getting my vote as any of their rivals. They failed to do so for the very attribute I highlighted above – self-interest. They presented themselves as a party you could wear with pride – a kind of ipod of the electoral system – and, as such, I found them lacking in anything but the most populist and ephemeral kind of credibility.
Similarly, I would suggest that though there was great artifice in Blair’s ‘it’s done now, let’s move on’ attitude to Iraq, we shouldn’t forget that the Liberal Democrats will have taken the same kind of advice on how to run their campaign. I find it naïve in the extreme to assume that their stance on the war in Iraq, cannabis resin and so on hasn’t been carefully constructed to appeal to a certain type of voter – a voter that new Labour have failed to convert.
And this is where our ideologies diverge. I believe that what remains of the ‘left’ is being bought off with notions of ethical slaughter and blood free organic food and, in this campaign at least, the Liberal Democrats saw fit to jump on the bandwagon to increase their share of the electorate. To my mind, that makes the party as duplicitous as any other, Blair-driven war or no. Because of this, I cast my vote in favour of a party that implemented a war that has lead to the deaths of thousands.
In my defence, I would say this:
I cross the road to avoid charity-workers, I laughed when Princess Diana tragically lost her life, I constructed a joke about double-glazing when the twin towers fell and the Pope was still warm when I started sending humorous text messages to my friends. Though I’m sure many good right-thinking people on the left did likewise, I would consider it a monumental act of hypocrisy on my part to pretend to vote on an issue of ‘morality’. Furthermore, I considered it irresponsible to cast my vote for an unconvincing political party on a ‘Lets give ‘em a go’ basis.
That’s it. I’m not trying to convert Mr Haine (it would, after all, be a little late for that) but, rather, I’m trying to highlight the issues that will always alienate a ‘left-wing’ voter like myself. If the Liberal Democrats wish to convince me of their effectiveness, I suggest they cease painting that big smile on capitalism and call off plans for the Drum ‘n’ Bass night they were clearly hoping to hold around the base of it.
Udo: I’ve heard a lot of talk of “the libdems are really this, and you’re all deluded” surrounding this election – mostly from Labour and Conservative supporters, but I’m unconvinced. Every party puts a certain spin on their policies to appeal to their favoured group of voters, but that doesn’t mean they’re inherently evil.
What I do consider questionable is voting for a party that has consistently lied over the last 8 years, because you don’t want the party that has 18 years of experience in consistently ruining the country back in power.
Bugger that – I voted for a party that seems to be interested in actually trying to make the country a little bit better. If that means another term from one of the interchangeable bullshitters, then so be it, but with enough of us to vote for the other guys, maybe next time they’ll have a chance.
The libdems may turn out to be just as bad, of course, but at the moment I can’t see them being any worse. At the very least, I’d quite like to give them a go at proving it one way or another.
This is the part where we get to mock the Brits who mocked the Yanks who reelected Bush Jr.
It’s like fucking deja vu, but with cooler accents.
I just noticed that the title of this page is “I Voted joeblade”. Hell yeah.
whilst it has nothing to do with voting, did you know your website is one of the few which actually looks good in 16 colours? (except for the background of this box, anyway). And where are you? I’m too cheap to text you back, come online some time.
“Your website is one of the few which actually looks good in 16 colours.”
Well, it barely uses any colours at all so it’s not much of a surprise.
Why would you worry about how good it looks in 16 colours anyway?
Exactly. I’m pretty sure that even back in 1993, we had at least 256 colours.
Clarie is having hardware issues. Plus, only having 16 colours brings her closer to Jesus. It’s that whole ‘suffering’ thing.
Could Jesus only see in 16 colours?
Yes, and he could also smell fear.
smelling fear is a good talent to have, unless it smells revolting. seeing in only 16 colours though must be depressing (no offence Clarie)
It’s only coz I’m too lazy to open up my box and find out what graphics card I have so I can download a driver. Don’t worry about the Jesus thing, Paul is just obsessed. And you get used to it, after a while.
Paul: I’m off work on the 27th. My time is yours.
You get used to 16 colours I mean, not Paul’s obsession with Jesus. But that too, I guess
I think I could get more used to Paul’s obsession with Jesus (although that does depend on the type of obsession) – I could never get used to 16 colours.