40% turn out, only a third voted for AV. Well done Britain, that's screwed us out of having a decent electoral system for about another 30 years. I hope you're proud.
*scowls*
I'm narked and people are stupid. So, to cheer myself (and you guys up) I looked at a couple of posts by notintheface. One shows Jaimie Reyes mother and the other shows Lois kicking ass in a wedding dress, with a champagne bottle.
Jesus. 40% turn out. With results like that this nation doesn't deserve a decent elctoral system or a decent government.
*scowls*
I'm narked and people are stupid. So, to cheer myself (and you guys up) I looked at a couple of posts by notintheface. One shows Jaimie Reyes mother and the other shows Lois kicking ass in a wedding dress, with a champagne bottle.
Jesus. 40% turn out. With results like that this nation doesn't deserve a decent elctoral system or a decent government.
4 comments:
Well, I think the response to the AV is more complicated that a simple rejection of electoral change. I have friends who voted no, because they thought it was a miserable compromise. I voted yes, and still thought it was a miserable compromise.
I also think the Yes campaign was dreadful- I got nothing from them and in fact saw no publicity telling me to vote yes. All I got was the official card, which I thought was really poor, and the no vote info. All the official card did was explain how the system worked; it gave nothing on why change was good or bad (and surely this could be done in a balanced way?) Instead it told us to look out for info from the 'yes' and 'no' campaigns.
And, to be honest, while I understand AV is fairer the FPTP, I still don't know why it should be the electoral system of choice. To me there are several better options- why did we decided on AV?
And, I think if your confused or don't have a vested interest one way or another, it is legitimate not to vote. WHile I prefer people to spoil their ballot to mark protest or a feeling of lack of choice, I think we shouldn't assume that people not voting means they don't care. It can mean a sense of dislocation from the political process- and it's the parties jobs to get them involved in that process.
As ever, FA, you are far more considerate and sensible than me.
I agree AV is a miserable compromise. But I think it would have been better than FPTP. Obviouly, many people disagreed. Personally, I want some form of PR, but it doesn't look like we are ever going to get that.
O was very surprised that only 30% of the ppl who voted voted to yes to AV. I had expected it to be much closer than that.
I also got no publicity from the yes and no campaigns. The only stuff I saw was on the internet, from the yes to av people mocking the no campaign.
I'm not sure that I agree that it is ever legitimate not to vote. While I don't think people should be forced to vote, I think we have a real problem with the turnout levels at election time and that they should be increased, somehow. I just don't know how to do that.
I appreciate that a lot of people do feel disengaged and disenfranchised with politics, but I don't hold with people not having a vested interest in who their MP is.
Having said that, I think pretty much everyone I know who doesn't vote does so because they don't care or they can't be arsed to learn about the different options. That irritates me.
Hence, my cross words in the post.
The only propaganda we got around here was for the no vote as we had an entirely Tory council. Its now mainly Green, so that's something.
There also seems, from the opinions in our local paper, a feeling among voters of protest voting no because they resent the LibDem/Conservative alliance.
Protest voting is an idiot concept that got us this government in the first place. Grrrr.
Long and the short of it is that I agree that there was no real positive campaign for AV. This makes me curiously suspicious.
The question is: how long until his increasingly disaffected party finds a sword for Clegg to fall on. At this point I don't think Compo and Foggy would vote for him.
Glad I was able to cheer you up!
We had the same problem in the US last November.
http://stars-and-garters.blogspot.com/2010/11/election-night-on-bizarro-world.html
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