What it is to REALLY VOTE !!!

Elyzabeth

Elyzabeth

Member
Location
Bristol, England
How about having real elections where you can vote for the person you want to elect ?

Putting an X in the box for the political patty you want to" chose the candidates for you" is elementary third world voting !


Just sent in my early ballot to America, I was given a book with backgrounds on the people I was voting on, so I could make an informed choice, and also I voted ballot propositions,(with pro/com arguments in a booklet) I voted on:

!) if new drugs should be given to terminal patients who want them before they are fully tested

2) Raising the salary of the local legislative state officers

3) amendment to the constitution to reject unconstitutional Federal actions


Supreme court Judges ( for our state)

and many others, It takes me at least 45 minutes to study the issues and background of the people I'M, voting for.


THAT IS WHAT VOTING IS !!!
 

I am very much aware of politics.. (can't you tell?) It's not just at election time either... it's everyday... all year round.. I will be early voting in our Illinois midterms. I have a booklet that was sent to me detailing all the special initiatives on the ballot.. and will know what I intend to do once I get into the voting booth. I must admit to having sketchy knowledge about all the Judges... who can know about all the judges? There's page after page of them... In this case I vote my party. Because I am in agreement and would want judicial decisions based on my ideology.
 
We do that too; look at the by-election in Clacton last week.
People voted for the man, even though he had changed paties, because he was considered a good local MP.

A good MP tries to help all his constituents, whatever party they vote for.
 

I vote in US elections and UK. But I only get ballots for the US for the general election for prez.

As a dual citizen I also got to vote in the Scottish independence referendum. And as a member of the Labour Party I get to vote for the leader.
 
Vivjen said:
We do that too; look at the by-election in Clacton last week.
People voted for the man, even though he had changed paties, because he was considered a good local MP.

A good MP tries to help all his constituents, whatever party they vote for.
Click to expand...


There were also people in Clacton that said................they voted for UKIP because the Tory MP had done nothing for the area:shrug:................make of that what you can.:lol:


For those that don't know the UKIP candidate had defected from the Tory party.
 
For those who have not voted in a UK election:
it consists of one page with about 5 boxes,
and you put an X in the box for THE PARTY you want to elect..
the PARTY then decides who it will choose.

Lucky people in the "by election"
( elections held when a person leaves office by choice or circumstances)
.... you actually got to vote for a person !!!

I vote in both election as a proud citizen of both countries,
however the voting in the UK does not allow people any real choice and it extremely primitive...
any new, or third world country has the same "mark the box system"
however they are usually voting for a person at least !!!
 
Wow, Elyzabeth, I wouldn't like that. Here the party preselects the candidate (and there are some problems with this process) and we know who we are voting for, as well as whether they are party endorsed or independent candidates. We also have a preference system so we number the boxes in order of our most to least preferred candidates. If no candidate wins an outright majority (50% +1) then preferences come into play. The aim is to elect the most preferred candidate without having to have a runoff second election.
 
Elyzabeth said:
For those who have not voted in a UK election:
it consists of one page with about 5 boxes,
and you put an X in the box for THE PARTY you want to elect..
the PARTY then decides who it will choose.

Lucky people in the "by election"
( elections held when a person leaves office by choice or circumstances)
.... you actually got to vote for a person !!!

I vote in both election as a proud citizen of both countries,
however the voting in the UK does not allow people any real choice and it extremely primitive...
any new, or third world country has the same "mark the box system"
however they are usually voting for a person at least !!!
Click to expand...

Actually that is not quite true, I can only speak for Clacton.........some people voted for the man and some voted for the party.

It may seem primitive to you but it suits me also we don't have to vote for any particular party, we can vote for the candidate that we think can serve both the area they are going to represent or serve the country best......................I always vote for the candidate whose policies I like best and am not affiliated to any particular party, and oh by the way, at the last general election, in my area we had 12 candidates to choose from.

So to say there are 5 boxes and you put a cross in the box for the party you want to elect is not quite true.

I look forward to your criticisms about the UK way of voting again next May at the next general election.
 
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Thanks for the clarification Bee. I was wondering about all the movies I've seen where the poll results are declared publically, and the candidates are standing there waiting for the winner to be announced.
 
Yes, thanks, Bee. Can't remember how many we had to choose from last time in this area but it's not a standard number. The candidate is pre-selected by his or her party and we get information leaflets prior to elections telling us about each candidate, also in the local papers and you can view their websites online.
 
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It is only recently that that name of the party that the candidate is representing has been on the ballot form...
 
Then there is this from my area......

Jeffrey William Titford (born 24 October 1933, West Mersea, Essex) is a British politician who served as leader of the UK Independence Party from 2000 until 2002. He served again as interim leader in September to November 2010 following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch. He was also a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 1999 to 2009.
He had been at various times a member of the Conservative Party (for whom he was a local councillor), the New Britain Party and the Referendum Party. He was the most successful Referendum Party candidate in the 1997 general election, winning nearly 10 percent of the vote in Harwich. However, later that year he joined the UKIP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Titford
 
Pam said:
Yes, thanks, Bee. Can't remember how many we had to choose from last time in this area but it's not a standard number. The candidate is pre-selected by his or her party and we get information leaflets prior to elections telling us about each candidate, also in the local papers and you can view their websites online.
Click to expand...
This is indeed true. The point is though, both here in the UK and the US, although it may help to know something about the man or woman you are voting for [in your area] we can never be sure totally about them. it doesn't matter though, as it's more important to get the 'party' in that you want, rather than the candidate.
 
What I meant Bee, was that names were there, but now they put Labour etc on the ballot paper; previously this was not listed..although everybody knew!
 
Elyzabeth; I am obviously living in a different third world country to you.
i have never voted for a party, and then had a candidate selected, in 40 years.
i have always voted for a person; knowing which party he/she represents; and many of the smaller parties do not have candidates in each seat; such as the Greens.
 
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I vote for my party... Not because I am following blindly... because when looking at the issues, I don't find anyone in the opposing party worthy of my vote.. I have studied the Republican platform.. I have studied the webpages of the candidates.. and STILL would not vote for any running Repubican. There is nothing wrong with being a party voter, if you know the issues and agree with your party. Why should I split my vote when I find I don't agree with what the opposing party says? Now that's not to say I agree 100% with the Democratic platform.. but it much more closely mirrors my ideology than anything or anyone on the Right. I'm not splitting my vote just so I can stand up and "I vote for the man not the party". Not when I don't agree with anything they say. So I guess I do vote for the "Man"... it just so happens the Men/women I vote for are Democrats.
 
Same here, QS, I always vote for the Democrat Party, and would never vote Republican because I keep up with the issues and on the whole I think our Country is better off with Democrats in office.
 
Question; do you in US have many fringe parties?

We have Monster Raving Loonie Party as an example; basically one can stand for election under any legal banner by getting 12 ( I think) people to support one's nomination, and paying a deposit.
less than a certain % of the vote; the candidate loses their deposit.
 
Vivjen said:
Elyzabeth; I am obviously living in a different third world country to you.
i have never voted for a party, and then had a candidate selected, in 40 years.
i have always voted for a person; knowing which party he/she represents; and many of the smaller parties do not have candidates in each seat; such as the Greens.
Click to expand...


Precisely Viv.
 
QuickSilver said:
I vote for my party... Not because I am following blindly... because when looking at the issues, I don't find anyone in the opposing party worthy of my vote.. I have studied the Republican platform.. I have studied the webpages of the candidates.. and STILL would not vote for any running Repubican. There is nothing wrong with being a party voter, if you know the issues and agree with your party. Why should I split my vote when I find I don't agree with what the opposing party says? Now that's not to say I agree 100% with the Democratic platform.. but it much more closely mirrors my ideology than anything or anyone on the Right. I'm not splitting my vote just so I can stand up and "I vote for the man not the party". Not when I don't agree with anything they say. So I guess I do vote for the "Man"... it just so happens the Men/women I vote for are Democrats.
Click to expand...

Same here. There has never been a Republican I would vote for because I disagree with their policies. I have always voted Democrat. And I now vote in the UK and always vote for Labour. I became a member of the Labour Party in 2010 after the election which gave us this disastrous coalition.
 
But, don't you want to choose the person that you think will do the best job???

True a lot of research needs to be done in an American type of election..

.. but just to vote for a party ???

Here, the "party line vote" estates that you are voting for the ideas and not the personality..

However are not some individuals more capable then others???
 
Elyzabeth said:
How about having real elections where you can vote for the person you want to elect ?

Putting an X in the box for the political patty you want to" chose the candidates for you" is elementary third world voting !


Just sent in my early ballot to America, I was given a book with backgrounds on the people I was voting on, so I could make an informed choice, and also I voted ballot propositions,(with pro/com arguments in a booklet) I voted on:

!) if new drugs should be given to terminal patients who want them before they are fully tested

2) Raising the salary of the local legislative state officers

3) amendment to the constitution to reject unconstitutional Federal actions


Supreme court Judges ( for our state)

and many others, It takes me at least 45 minutes to study the issues and background of the people I'M, voting for.


THAT IS WHAT VOTING IS !!!
Click to expand...

I am trying to learn more about the candidates through Senior forum, and how I'm pointed to different sites, but also, I love the background books, the pros and cons of the issues. I really couldn't vote without at least those, but I am trying hard to follow, which I know you do as well from your post Elyzabeth, everyday now with the issues, whos running, what they are standing for. I can't tell if folks are lying to get elected, so I just have to trust my gut instinct for the most part.
 

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