| Turnouts for Elections to the European Parliament | |||
|
|
Great Britain (%) |
Northern Ireland (%) |
United Kingdom (%) |
| 1979 |
32.1 |
55.7 |
32.7 |
| 1984 |
31.8 |
63.5 |
32.6 |
| 1989 |
35.9 |
48.4 |
36.8 |
| 1994 |
36.2 |
48.7 |
36.8 |
| 1999 |
23.1 |
57.0 |
24.0 |
| 2004 |
38.5 |
51.7 |
38.8 |
Source: Electoral Reform Society
The voting turnout illustrated in this graph is a national disgrace with more than two thirds of the British voting public engaging in Il gran rifiuto, the great refusal.
This refusal to take responsibility is inherent in our society partly because voters are disengaged from politics and see voting as a waste of time; what’s the point when you have no control over what happens once representatives are elected. And partly because large numbers of voters have no idea what government is and what it does; little education on this subject is evident in our schools.
Until 1999 the FPTP system was used, since then it has been the List PR system. In 2004 Conservatives and Labour combined polled under 50% of the vote; 8,115,773 (Lab & Cons) compared to 8,327,627 (all other parties).
Of the others, UKIP were particularly successful; with just under a million less votes than Labour they nabbed 16% of the seats. Conservative and Labour MEPs however managed to snaffle 61%, suggesting that the List PR system is not all it is cracked up to be though it is undoubtedly better than FPTP.
Thomas More said tacet consensit! By silence, one gives consent. If we do not spread the word and get practically everyone in the country voting we will, again, be giving our consent to government by misrepresentation.
‘The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.’
Dante
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I will not vote for an institution that does not pass audit 13 years on the trot.
It is fake. It is not real. Just like Saddams Ba’ath Party, it matters not whether you actually vote or not, they still claim victory with 99%.
I will not play their game, I will not put one drop of ink on paper to be part of this charade. I will not partake in any way in this sham Parliament. I am above this. I do not need them and they do not need me. But I will not be silent. I shall use my voice, which they cannot control instead of my vote, which they can.
If they truly wish to hear my voice, they need only give me a vote on the Lisbon treaty. Until then, they are deaf and the voter is mute.
Old Holborn, by not voting you could be seen to be adopting the ‘they also serve who only stand and wait’ stance but surely it is easier to promote change from within. If voters who want a referendum all refuse to vote you will be in no position to force a vote on the Lisbon Treaty. You must be pleased we still have some freedom of choice though.
There is no freedom of choice.
The EU Commission consists of 27 people, none of whom are elected by anyone. They are appointed and have the power to make and change laws that everyone in Europe must abide by.
Your vote tomorrow will not change this. You will still live under laws made by 27 unelected people in Brussels. If you do not obey them, you will still go to prison.
These 27 people control everything in Europe. What you eat, what you earn, where you live. Your taxes, your transport, your savings, your property, your career, your pension. Your very liberty is in the hands of 27 unelected commissioners.
They are a mixture of appointed communists, convicted criminals, nepotists, perverts, fraudsters, cronies, bankers, aristocracy, lawyers, censors, authoritarians and Fabians
If you choose to vote Labour, Conservative or LibDem tomorrow, you are voting for the Status Quo. Nothing will change. There will still be a huge layer of control over your life that you cannot change. I challenge any reader to show me where a single MEP has changed anything.
If you choose to vote at all (and many will not), then you can vote to keep things the same or you can vote to keep things the same.
Which is why I will not be part of this sham. I will not play their games when they pay no attention to the result. Not one of the unelected commissioners will lose their job because not one of them was ever elected. It will make no difference at all.
I will be spoiling my ballot tomorrow as I can’t find a party that will adequately represent me. If I just don’t vote then my rejection of the parties represented on the ballot will be merged in with the people who ‘just can’t be bothered with it all’.
Old Hoborn, i think you need to vote for someone who feels like you,
that the EU is unjust and who can maybe change it from the inside.
(i’m not sure who, as ukip and other ‘anti eu’ partys seem to be making them selves right at home and don’t appear to be challenging anything).
How else is it going to happen, ignoring them is just letting them carry on. By not voting you are giving them a sign, that every thing is fine by you and nothing needs to change.
‘Evil prevails when good men do nothing’. These are not my words of course but they might as well be. Not voting is not the way to maintain democracy it is the beginning of the path to its destruction.
You make several extremely good points, some might call you a cynic were it not for the fact that most of what you write is true. You have every right to waste your vote but if you choose to do so then why not do it for a reason, if you feel no one represents your views, do something better than voting; stand for election. When did aligning yourself with the lazy, inactive and stupid ever achieve anything? Get out and vote, just not for the ConLab.
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