The Thinking ‘Kat: Using Your Voice
I recently spotted a post by Citizen Tom that inspired me to write this one. Whilst I may fundamentally disagree with the nuts and bolts of his post, one thought did occur to me: it is important to vote.
I get why some people prefer not to vote at all. It may feel that within any given moment, all the options are poor, and you may regard every candidate as awful. However, voter apathy skews the outcome. Low turnout can lead to an imprecise measure of the public mood. Assumptions can carry serious consequences.
As a hypothetical example, let’s say it was assumed that Labour would comfortably win the next UK election, based on polls and predictions. What if enough people bought into this, and a lot of them shrugged their shoulders and didn’t go out to vote? Meanwhile, passionate Reform supporters would be hitting the ballot boxes, and suddenly they’re gaining a lot more seats, maybe even triggering a hung parliament, or possibly even winning power.
I would consider such a scenario to be disastrous, and it would also not reflect the overall will of the British people, yet if enough people decided not to vote, for whatever reasons, that scenario is also plausible. A failure to use one’s democratic power is an opening to possibilities that might be deemed unsavoury and unfortunate, and complaints about the outcome in such a scenario would seem meaningless. If you have not exercised your right to vote, you can have no complaints about the outcome!
So, I would always suggest getting out and voting. I’d urge people to do so during local elections, referendums and of course, general elections. If you choose to stay home instead, do not moan about the result, and especially about what happens if you feel the country moves in the wrong direction in the wake of that result.
‘Kat Comments