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Why you should vote
May. 24th, 2009 09:05 amThe expenses scandal has led to fear that people will react by not voting in the elections on 4th June. I think that demonstrating your displeasure with greedy politicians and their ducks islands, trouser presses and mock Tudor beams but not voting is a rather bad idea. Let me explain why. The main reason is that elected politicians don't really care whether you vote; they care whether you vote for them. Politicians aren't really that bothered by the turn out in elections other than how it impacts upon how likely they are to win. When you hear politicians worrying about turn out, they're usually actually worrying about the turn out of people who usually vote for them being lower than the turn out of people who usually vote against them. In their heart of hearts, they'd prefer to win an election on 50% turnout than lose an election with 100% turn out. They really don't lose sleep feeling hurt that their constituents didn't love them enough to make it to the polling station.
Another problem with the not voting plan is that no one can tell whether you didn't vote as a carefully thought out protest against MP excesses, or because you're lazy, or forgot that there was an election, or you're a JW, or it was raining, or Eastenders was too good miss. This leads people to come up with a related plan: spoiling their ballot. This is also not a very effective form of protest. The candidates don't see many of the ballots in the count. Your thoughtful essay on why you are shunning the electoral system this year will probably be glanced at by a little old lady for just long enough for her to ascertain whether it could be interpreted as a cross in one of the boxes and never be seen by any of the candidates. They will just receive a total of the spoiled ballots, but again this will not differentiate between spoiled ballot protests and people who are too much of a numpty to be able to work a pencil.
So, you ask, what is the best way to show your displeasure in an election? Vote. Vote for the candidate or party you dislike least. Politicians will pay attention to this as it is likely to impact upon whether or not they win more than low turn out. The same number of politicians will be elected on 80 or 8 percent turnout but if you make a habit of voting for the politicians you dislike least it will provide an incentive for politicians to act to make you dislike them least. However, vote for the person you dislike least, not the candidate whose party just happens to have not been implicated in the expenses scandal by virtue of not being in parliament. It's tempting to vote for one of the smaller parties on the grounds that surely they couldn't be worse than the larger parties, but that view exhibits a startling lack of imagination about how bad a political party can be. This is particularly important in the European elections because a party will only need 10% of the votes (note 'votes' not 'electorate') in the South East region to get a seat. So before you put your cross next to the Rainbow Sunshine party or the Norfolk for the Fen Dwellers party just take a moment to think how much you trust them with access to all of the expenses available in Strasbourg. Duck islands might not sound so bad after that.
Another problem with the not voting plan is that no one can tell whether you didn't vote as a carefully thought out protest against MP excesses, or because you're lazy, or forgot that there was an election, or you're a JW, or it was raining, or Eastenders was too good miss. This leads people to come up with a related plan: spoiling their ballot. This is also not a very effective form of protest. The candidates don't see many of the ballots in the count. Your thoughtful essay on why you are shunning the electoral system this year will probably be glanced at by a little old lady for just long enough for her to ascertain whether it could be interpreted as a cross in one of the boxes and never be seen by any of the candidates. They will just receive a total of the spoiled ballots, but again this will not differentiate between spoiled ballot protests and people who are too much of a numpty to be able to work a pencil.
So, you ask, what is the best way to show your displeasure in an election? Vote. Vote for the candidate or party you dislike least. Politicians will pay attention to this as it is likely to impact upon whether or not they win more than low turn out. The same number of politicians will be elected on 80 or 8 percent turnout but if you make a habit of voting for the politicians you dislike least it will provide an incentive for politicians to act to make you dislike them least. However, vote for the person you dislike least, not the candidate whose party just happens to have not been implicated in the expenses scandal by virtue of not being in parliament. It's tempting to vote for one of the smaller parties on the grounds that surely they couldn't be worse than the larger parties, but that view exhibits a startling lack of imagination about how bad a political party can be. This is particularly important in the European elections because a party will only need 10% of the votes (note 'votes' not 'electorate') in the South East region to get a seat. So before you put your cross next to the Rainbow Sunshine party or the Norfolk for the Fen Dwellers party just take a moment to think how much you trust them with access to all of the expenses available in Strasbourg. Duck islands might not sound so bad after that.