Why should Prisoners be Denied the Vote ?

I think I might be alone on this one, but I think prisoners SHOULD be allowed to vote.

Deep down within me it just does not seem right that we have a society that locks people up and then stops them from any participation in the democratic method of choosing how our society is run. I'm sure that how despots and dictators behave i.e. lock up your opponents.

I'm being a bit extreme but what are risks to our society by allowing 80,000 extra people exercise their vote, Will society crumble ? or would allowing prisoners to engage in the vote perhaps add to the chances of a prisoner rehabilitating and become more aware of how a society operates.

Prison is for 2 things, safety of the public and punishment. Is loss of liberty not enough punishment ? Does removing the vote add anything to the severity of punishment ?

Removing the vote from prisoners simply distances them from the rest of us and does nothing to prevent any of us from being a victim of crime.

I Vote therefore I Whinge

Last post on my own voyage of voting in the local elections.

In my own ward the incumbent Conservative has retained his seat with a turnout of 33.8%. I am not surprised.

As all the candidates failed miserably to engage with the residents of the ward, two thirds of my neighbours could not be arsed to vote. Frankly, I despair with all of them.

The Council remains under Conservative control but I am encouraged that a new independent candidate has been elected. Clearly if you mount a campaign you can make a difference.

My conclusion is that I am perfectly entitled to give my councilor and the council as much grief or praise as I see fit. I voted.

I'm Voting in the Wrong Election

So later today I will exercise my vote. I try and make it the only exercise I do.

I was not doorstepped last night, no more leaflets have arrived at the house and I am none the wiser as to who I will vote for.

My current thinking is confused.

I really wanted to vote on local issues however by doing this I should dismiss the Labour and Lib Dem candidates as I don’t know what they stand for.

However, I do not support the policies of the Conservatives and Green's with any conviction.

I believe that my local council would be best served without a dominant party ( currently 3/4 Conservatives ) and that a broad representation of political views would better serve my community.

I am entertaining a warped standpoint that if a was to vote for the Lib Dems or Labour then there is more chance of them making a better effort next time. It may be possible to stretch this logic so that if the Conservative vote is significantly down then there is a chance of the Government altering course. Clutching at straws probably.

I live in hope that of being engaged at the polling station.

I am of course looking forward to the results especially the national picture.

My predictions :-

Tory vote down big time.

Lib Dems do better than predicted.

Labour do well.

There will be a clear concentration of Tory votes in the south/ south east of the country and the further north you go the less the Tory vote. this will be the most significant aspect of this election in the medium term.

Every party leader will claim to have done well.

Boris will be out but oh so close.

That the French election outcome is in fact much more important to us all in the UK.

Lets see ! Please vote.

To Vote or not to Vote that is the Question

A facile title because I am still going to vote but as yet I still have not made my choice.

I have not made my choice because i am still trawling the online world to find any compelling information to guide me.

I have still found absolutely no information on the Labour or Lib Dem policies.

Google gives me nothing and as a last resort I visited both the local rags websites.
Both offered me search engines to search for information and both sites came up blank as to any information about the local election.

Frustrated and pissed off is my natural disposition but this is really serious.

What if this was your first ever vote ?

What if you worked away and wanted to use a postal vote ?

How can you make an informed choice ?

I am living in hope that somebody may canvass my vote on the doorstep tonight or outside the polling station tomorrow.

I am so envious of London voters and the vast amounts of coverage they can access.

Please vote tomorrow.

Still Going to Vote

My ambitions to exercise my vote on Thursday continue.

Last night I spent further time trying to fact find so I can make an informed choice.

I resorted to the latest edition of the local rag as i thought this may contain useful information. A list of candidates was printed along with an interview ( part of a series apparently ) with the local Conservative party leader setting out their policies. Nothing else.

I did a further search on twitter and in fact found a member of my local council ( not my ward ) promoting ( again ) the Conservative position. First bit of local politics I have found.

A troll through the Green party website found a list of policies.

Still cannot find out anything more about the labour or Lib Dem candidates.

So my current position is that the Conservative party are ( and I use this term loosely ) giving me the most information upon which to make my vote.

A search on the 2011 vote for my ward shows that there were candidates from ratepayers, UKIP, and the BNP at the last election but not this time. This may be reflected by the fact that the Conservative candidate in 2011 was elected by ( just ) more votes than all the other candidates combined.

I still have no idea as to the Labour or Lib Dem candidates policies or a profile for any candidate other than the conservative.

Google provides reporting of many a squabble at local council meeting but is silent as to the candidates.

It does seem incredible in the current age that I am having such a hard time in obtaining basic information to make an important choice.

" Fight the battles you can win " is often sage advice but it seems to me that 3 of the 4 candidates have stood for election on no other basis that it would have been " bad form " not to have a candidate. Which sucks.

I continue determined to vote.

I'm going to vote on Thursday

I'm going to vote on Thursday.

Given the nature of this blog, I'm sure this is no surprise to anyone.

But at this relatively late stage I have no idea who I am going to vote for.

Obviously I have my own political leanings but should I follow them ?

Should I exercise a protest vote against the current government ?

Should I vote strategically to keep or disrupt the balance of power on my local council ?

Should my vote be based on a specific local issue ?

I can tell you that in 15 years of living at the same dress only once has my doorbell been rung from a doorstep canvasser ! and that was a while ago.

So, can I draw the conclusion that non of my local candidates are worth voting for because they cannot be bothered to doorstep me ? Probably not because I have not been bothered to go to any public meetings ( if there have been any because I have not been advised of them either ).

I've had the odd leaflet through the door but that’s not really listening and debating with me is it ?

Everyday out of curiosity I do a search on twitter for my local town. its an interesting search and I always find out something new. But I can tell you now there is no political or social debate going on. I find this so sad.

My vote is up for grabs and no one seems to be putting any effort into getting it.

So over the next few days I hope to update the blog on my progress to make an informed decision to exercise my democratic rights.

I will vote regardless of the apparent apathy of my local candidates to earn my trust.

30% of UK Electorate will not to vote !

The Hansard Society has just published their annual report on engagement of the UK electorate with politics.

Its depressing and scary.

The BBC has a good summary here.

To summaries the BBC report keys points :-

"

• 42% of people said they were interested in politics - down 16% on 2010 and the lowest figure since the audit was first carried out
• 48% of people said they would definitely vote if a general election was called tomorrow - down 10% from last year and again, the lowest figure in the audit's history
• 30% said they were unlikely or absolutely certain not to vote - up 10% from 2010
• 24% of people believe the current system of coalition government is working "reasonably well" - a fall of 7%
• 56% agree their involvement in politics locally could bring about change, but only 38% actually want to be involved

"

The single most shocking finding is the decline in people willing to exercise their democratic rights and vote.

Compare this to the first round of the French Presidential Elections which had a turnout of over 80%.

In recent times the turnout for UK general elections had risen,

Can we draw any conclusions from the fact that voter disillusion in France results in high turnout, whilst in the UK the same disillusion drives down the vote ?

Could it be that in the UK the " engagement " between our elected representatives and citizens is so broken that significant numbers of people consider that it is a waste of time to vote ?

Simply, the answer is yes !

If true, the social disengagement millions of people from our government can only lead to disaster and social breakdown. Remember the riots of summer 2011 ?

There is no easy answer but it starts with effort, by everyone to win back the trust in an essential relationship. So if you are an elected representative, ignore the spin doctors, ignore the spads and engage with real people. Face to face is good, twitter is good etc

I wish that on every ballot paper there was a " none of the above " option. If every candidate knew that that they could all be rejected its a different voting model.

And if you don't vote then you are a Twonk !