The Poolie Bunker

Where do I vote against being forced to vote?

In Australia they have had fines for people who don't vote for decades now, so if you don't want a fine I assume you vote for somebody you don't want to vote for, that's real progress. If they put a box saying "none of the above" that would be better surely.

who gets fined when we are not allowed a vote on the leader of the country.

who gets fined when we are not allowed a vote on the leader of the country.

You don't get two votes Accy

Bev Turner off Gb news said people who refuse to vote should be fined £10.

The stupid bitch.

Going over old ground again, i am sure I don’t need to remind you, the leader of party you vote for becomes the PM, iI doubt many people voted for Labour at the last G.E. because Starmer was the leader.

i,m not too sure nowadays. think its the media that have pushed the party leader above the importance of the party so we got sunak v starmer last time out. that gives more reason for a new election if that winner who became prime minister either dies, resigns or gets booted out. doubt anybody who voted starmer really expected to get what they did. if he was a footballer his name would be danny johnson.

People voted to get the Tories out and TBF I don't think the majority who voted Labour knew at what place on the political spectrum Starmer stood.

Why do you address everyone like you’re speaking at a public meeting…and making no sense into the bargain.

Maybe there are things I dont understand but what is wrong with people getting off their arse and voting? If they have some deep rooted hatred of all things political they can spoil their ballot paper if they feel that strongly. With the use of postal votes people dont even have to get of their arse. I would be delighted if someone could explain what the objection is to actually voting?

If we live in a free country , we surely have the right not to vote.
What if none of the candidates are worth voting for..do you get a none of the above option…and if we have a ‘none of the above’ option, why go to all the bother of turning up to prove..as surely not turning up is saying ‘none of the above’…l?

Agree fully with you there Snowy, we have the right to vote, we cannot be forced to do so, that is our right.

I would love a by-election where no one turns up to vote in protest of all the candidates and what they stand for.

I was surprised at some of the comments on an article I read on the matter this morning, ranging from "I haven't voted for years and they can't make me (imagine if everyone had that attitude) to people saying "they can fine me £1000 but I still won't vote"
I get the impression that some people don't know where they stand on the political spectrum or maybe they agree with different parties attitudes to different issues therefore have no specific allegiance to one sole party.

Compulsory voting has never been part of the UK electoral system.

Then the by-election would be won by the person with the biggest number of sycophants registered in the constituency

Aussies are compelled to attend a polling station on election day and make a mark on a ballot paper, but depending on where the mark goes it can amount to a 'none of the above option.'

"The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, under section 245(1), states: "It shall be the duty of every elector to vote at each election".

Under the Electoral Act, the actual duty of the elector is to attend a polling place, have their name marked off the certified list, receive a ballot paper and take it to an individual voting booth, mark it, fold the ballot paper and place it in the ballot box."

The only requirement is to “mark” the ballot paper. It doesn't say you have to vote for any candidate, only that you must mark it. It isn't unclear whether whoever wrote this law assumed that marking it would automatically mean you were voting for somebody or not. But as long as you make some kind of mark on the paper, you are not breaking the law."

The first couple of times I was old enough to vote in England I make a point of turning up to the polling station and writing SMASH THE STATE on the ballot paper. Might do it again next time

Precisely. As I said above, if you dont like any of the candidates you can spoil the ballot paper which is the equivalent of saying none of the above.

Not turning up could be interpreted as saying "none of the above" or alternatively it could be interpreted as sign of feckless bone idleness.

To be fair, there have been no one worth voting for for over 40 years,
We have had a choice of two Parties on a see saw and the Lib Dumbs, the voice of the smug middle class..hovering but useless.
Give us the candidates and we turn up, but the present shower aren’t worth the walk to the polling booth.

i,d say at one time i could have been put into that group. right wing on some issues but left on others. on top of that in many areas you get candidates from all the major party,s from miles away from the area with the only local being a pointless independent. voting is like a lot of things in life, once you stop doing it the harder it is to start again.