I VOTED!

[kerk_hiraeth]

 
   I have voted in every election since 1983 ( I was year too young to do that part of trying to stop Thatcher get in in 1979 ) and just over half an hour ago I finally achieved my ambition to be the first to vote wherever my designated polling place was located. 

   I am a Liberal Democrat and I voted for Scottish Independence. 

   I voted SNP in the constituency vote. 
   I voted Liberal Democrat on the regional list. 

   I am proud to say I will never vote Tory. 

 

 

   kerk 

Comments

[trepkos]

I would hate to see Scotland go, but I think it would be the best choice for Scotland.

[andrewducker]

Yay!

(I hope your votes don't cancel each other out when it comes to parliament passing a referendum bill)

[kerk_hiraeth]

Actually got to speak to John Swinney. I told him I was going to vote SNP & Lib Dem because, even though I was a Liberal Democrat I had come to believe in Independence as the only credible route back to Europe, but couldn't decide which way round was the right choice for independence; wanted to register my support for my party too. He replied that the way I ended up voting was the better option (actually pretty much what I think I would have decided I think; especially since there was no chance of a Liberal Democrat finishing ahead of the Tory).

Personally I feel the Single Transferable Vote is the best electoral method. Last I saw suggested that the SNP will likely end up somewhere between 61 & 68 MSPs with about 50% of the vote.

Nearly hit someone a couple of weeks ago when they were almost strutting; proudly stating they had never voted in their life. All I can see when I think ot that is people getting shot by their own governments for asking for that right, and the immense lines; always of black voters in the US today and in South Africa when the first truly free elections took place in South Africa.

Last time I came that close to violence was when I was a teenager and wanted to wrap a chair 'round my father's head. Managed to traumatise myself for a couple of days and the sense of joy that came over me after I left the polling station had more to do with a reaction to that than to finally achieving a long held ambition.

kerk

[andrewducker]

STV is definitely better than AMS.

Not sure what the result would be if we had used that in Scotland, but I'm sure it would be more equal!

[ex_peasant441]

I did smile at your excitement at being the first to vote. That was my dad's ambition for many years. I have tried to carry on the tradition since he died, although I do give way to anyone trying to catch the milk train, since it is only a whim not an actual pressing need to be first.

Some questions for when you have time and if you have the inclination, because I am interested in the political beliefs people hold and the underlying structures of what they believe, not just the top result that comes from that.

What advantages do you feel STV has over AMS? What disadvantages would STV then have compared to AMS and FPTP? If I seriously challenged you with a large cash prize to explain why FPTP was better for elections, could you steel man an argument or would that feel so against your morals that you would refuse to do it? I'm interested in steel manning. I'm interested in if people ever do it as a useful mental exercise or if they don't do it because they find it somehow distasteful or otherwise objectionable, or if it has just never occurred to them to try.

Not voting and being proud of the fact is normally a statement that the person believes that the whole system is corrupt and abstention is the best way to undermine it. The idea is that the inevitably corrupt politician who gets elected cannot claim to represent you if you did not set foot in the polling station. The people who believe this may not be able to articulate why they feel this, they are working on instinct. They are normally responding to a sense that all politicians who stand for election are so separated from them by class and outlook on life that true representative democracy becomes impossible, and once elected those people become inevitably corrupted by power and social association with other corrupt people. Ok, so you have said that you felt a violent anger when a person challenged your belief in democracy by stating they had never voted. Imagine you were in a social situation where not just violence but even argumentative disagreement was not possible, and you had to talk to such a person for a lengthy amount of time in as calm and polite a fashion as you could manage. What pitch would you make to them to try to persuade them that democracy was worth their while? What do you think you would learn back from them in return?

Finally, you said you are proud to say you will never vote Tory. My instant assumption from that is that you are not just stating a fact as you believe it but are also signalling a strong tribal allegiance to your friends. You are making a pitch for social acceptance in the political circles you move in by putting up the equivalent of a rosette. Now, imagine that the Tories were the only party offering support for a cause you really strongly believe in, a clear cut black swan event such that voting Tory became the logical choice for you. You will have to pick your own imaginary example. Imagine that you had decided you would therefore vote Tory. Can you imagine that you would explain what you were doing to your friends and why, or would you vote Tory in the secrecy of the polling booth and never say so? What I really want to know is how strong your tribalism to your friends is compared to how strong your belief is in particular causes. You have stated that you made the decision to vote SNP even though you consider yourself a Liberal Democrat, so you are clearly willing to be public in this case, how far would you stretch that? If you were voting Tory would you attempt to lead your friends to make the same decision as you or would you accept their collective verdict in public whilst going against it in private?

I hope you don't mind me asking these questions. I have been thinking a lot about tribalism in politics and what it actually means and the ways people go about expressing it. Your post got me thinking about it.

[elisi]

I am proud to say I will never vote Tory.
QUITE RIGHT TOO.

[a_phoenixdragon]

Go you!! And I can see where this would have been tough, but it sounds like you voted your conscience and that is the way it should be.

*HUGS*