warrenm2

It really beggers belief just how stupid this Government is

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4648095.stm

Or as one wag puts it - "I dont vote - the Government might get in!"

OllyK

Clueless, the fact that the turn out is so low due to dis-intrest or lack of a suitable candidate doesn't seem to get through. I wonder what would happen after the first compulsary vote and 60% potentially vote "none of the above"

ajm

Why don't they just admit it and say they want to fine everyone who didn't vote for them! (Most likely the same people, ironically, who are already being raped for tax the most)

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Seeing politicians love quoting statistics. It would be great if 100% of the population voted....then there would be undenyable proof of how unpopular all of the parties are

unclebuck

Why don't they just admit it and say they want to fine everyone full stop.

Jap2Scrap

*****

TheBigMan

Only vote if you know what you're voting for......

10 questions, if you fail (therefore do NOT know what you are voting for) you lose your right to vote as your vote will be purely an im-balance.

BOB.T

W4nkers!

Surely it's your democratic right to not vote if you can't be arsed? Why can't they just naff off and leave us alone?

OllyK

Nice, another tax, I mean fine to add to the list. Seems if you can't get away with raising taxes, you just introduce some silly law that people won't abide by and then you fine them for non-adherence, brings a whole new meaning to stealth tax.

TonyG

Perhaps a better approach would be to use the carrot rather than the stick - if you turn up to vote, you get, say a tenner.
Oh, that would never work would it...

Brendan Hughes

Before or after tax?

TheBigMan

After tax you'd be actually voting at a loss - AND you get finger printed and strung up for a crime you didn't commit.

Much like the A-Team - poor b&st&rds.

Holy Ghost

well it's a system that works for the aussies and they regularly get a percentage turnout in the mid to high 90s and it has honed and improved democratic expression there if commentators are to be believed. plus, having a "none of the above" category allows you to make a clear, counted, electorally valid and published statement that tells all political parties that a) they are pants, b) they're totally out of touch and c) you don't want what they're selling.

i like it. bin the postal vote farce and let's have it. if you don't like the government, then revel in telling them and have them read the shocking truth of their unpopularity writ large in the next day's newspapers.

can you imagine how many MILLIONS of people would vote "none of the above" if compelled to by such a scheme? that's heady stuff man!

warrenm2

er they already do vote none of the above - by not voting - you just get fined for not doing as the government orders you to - no matter how convenient or not it may be

Jap2Scrap

What happens if you're not on the electoral register and weren't figured in the last census?

Just asking like

OllyK

I think, you are breaking the law, but I could be wrong. Expect to be deported any time soon!

Jap2Scrap

Ahhhhh.. somewhat like that advert that I cannot remember what it's for.. with the guy claiming to be from Hong Kong, etc. 'The person concerned' would never be THAT lucky

the moose

Not quite the case. Not voting might mean "none of the above" but can also mean "I thought xxx would get in anyway" or "I prefer xxx to yyy, but I prefer countdown to either".

If, even in the voting booth, people can't make a choice between parties, then the politicians would take notice. At the moment they can just shrug it off as "well, they like us anyway, they just knew we would cream it".

OllyK

Lol - think it was a beer advert

Holy Ghost

yes BUT, the figures for abstentions and spoilt ballot papers aren't published because they don't count as the system stands. ergo, they have NO meaning and do not send any sort of message to anyone about how disconnected a large portion of the electorate is.

the whole point of this idea - and why the aussies brought it in - was to quantify and give shape to electoral dissatisfaction so that it could be addressed. by all parties.

under such circumstances where you have as much as 40% of voters publicly state "you're cr@p" and have that published by the electoral commission, well that's potent and sends a potent message to policy makers.

i abhor blair's government like the plague but this is actually a good idea, adapted from a country - australia - that has a long and incontrovertible track record in doing things well.

do you see what i'm getting at?

carl

If we implement this system, in the words of Spike Milligan "one day the don't knows will get in..."

What would happen if "none of the above" won some of the seats?

unclebuck

Yes, I just wonder what New Labour are getting at. We are inevitably being set-up for something.....

warrenm2

Lol - do you think they dont know this already?! They may be sly, devious, lying, back-stabbing(if youre lucky - think Peter Mandelson!), power grabbing low life - but theyre not totally stupid!

Holy Ghost

fair point.

as long as they keep the ballot box, reset postal voting to how it was, then for once i can't see anything disturbing in this despite NL's near-perfect record on lies, subterfuge, corruption, vote-rigging and authoritarian self-interest. abstention, cynicism & apathy are a problem for all parties - made worse by the genetic negativity of the UK media - and our system as a whole. it needs to be sorted.

the "mandate" of an election result is important: if that mandate shrinks to a point where it has no credibility (already for english voters), then that is very dangerous for long-term parliamentary health. a key part of the "none of the above" theory is that it helps politicians get a grip on voter dissatisfaction and understand why they are misreading what people want.

when you know - in terms of geographically-specific & constituency-specific hard data - that say 40% of voters think you're all a bunch of *****, you can start asking the right questions of the right people. it gives the politically disenfranchised and the disappointed a voice that is heard. abstention & spoilt ballots do not give you that voice, data or insight.

as leader of the house, hoon's job encompasses some politically-neutral interests and diminishing electorate enthusiasm is one of them.

looking at oz, their political climate is considerably more vibrant and less jaded than ours.

that having been said, i want to see the small print and i'll read it very carefully.

anyway, i've bored myself rigid ...

DazW

iTrader: (1)

I kinda like the idea of the lazy & the ignorant subsidising my tax bill!