Pledge “spoiltvotescount”
"I will spoil my ballot paper for the local elections on 4th May by writing 'None of the above' and donate £10 to 'Make My Vote Count' at www.makemyvotecount.org.uk but only if 100 other local people will do the same."
— Trevor Clarke, Disenchanted voter (contact)
Deadline to sign up by: 4th May 2006
11 people signed up, 89 more were needed
Country: United Kingdom
Place: London (view map)
More details
This will register an active protest at the futility of what a local election vote means in reality, and distinguishes from the apathetic non-voter.
This pledge is now closed, as its deadline has passed. You might be interested in these other pledges:
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Comments on this pledge
Current signatories (
= they've done it)
Trevor Clarke, the Pledge Creator, joined by:
- Mark Sugrue
- john the blaster acid master
- Josh Lee
- Patrick Joseph Anthony Cullinane
- William Finnerty
- Suzon Forscey-Moore
- Sir Arthur Grebe-Streebling
- Phil Egan
- Harriet Chandler
- 2 people who did not want to give their names
And even if you are an independent minded councillor who wants to speak on behalf of their electorate, they are either reported to the Standards Board and reprimanded, or barred from the meetings that they have an interest in. (Christopher Booker's Notebook, in the Sunday Telegraph, has been reporting on this recently). The system is all wrong but with the tacit consent of the people.
I said earlier that it is difficult for an independent to attract 100 votes. It would seem to be even more difficult to attract more than a handful of pledges, just to vote for 'None of the above'. (The donation part is not important, if that is the issue).
Oh, and before the Pledgebank people comment on that, yes, this is being publicised by a variety of means.
Therefore, I will vote Green.
The Greens have done a great job of getting candidates out this time, and Green votes will scare Grey politicians for real.
The strapline is 'Strength in Numbers'. At the very least, just click on their link to show support, if the view is that spoiling a ballot paper is not effective. (In small numbers, it wouldn't be).
If the Green vote rises steadily and significantly, but nothing gives in the Establishment, I'll certainly consider joining a mass ballot spoil.
From http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2503
"Greens are fielding 1,294 candidates on these elections including 567 in London. We currently hold 70 council seats and our aim is to increase this to a 100. Gains are expected in Norwich, Watford, Manchester, Oxford, Bristol, Stroud, Kirklees, Sheffield, Camden, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham and Merton."
I think that's worth supporting.
What I think would be a good idea is to get "None of the above" as an official option on the ballot so that option can be logged and stop politicians claiming that people don't care. If the government wins by 'n'% of votes thats one thing, but its something entirely different if that can be held up in the light and its shown that the people that voted form them is a tiny fraction of those that don't want them, which the current system doesn't cater for :(
Ste
John Cross
Webmaster
MVC West Sussex
While there are valid arguments both for and against this, it is worth highlighting this particular extract, as food for thought:
'Under the institute's plan, electors would be offered a "none of the above" choice or could simply spoil their papers. Ben Rogers, from the institute, said he believed forced voting would improve British politics.
At the moment, the main parties simply give up on people who do not vote and concentrate their efforts on the "core vote", he said. "If you had compulsory turnout, then the core vote would turn out anyway and the political parties would have to spend much more time persuading people to vote for them."
There may not be much in the way of pledge support for spoiling the ballot paper, by writing 'none of the above' or whatever, but it now appears to have influential support for the future. And for the same intended aim as when starting the pledge. I'm happy enough with that.
From the local councillors I have met I fully believe them to be (in the main) totally committed to improving their community - you seem to only espouse an unfocused belief that the community doe not need improving.
I would suggest you develop your argument before trying to get others to support it.
The bottom line is that Ivan is among the hard core of voters for a local election, that represents a minority of somewhere between 30 to 40%. Is that acceptable democracy?
Once elected, too few councillors will vote against their party, even if in disagreement, or if a decision is against their residents interests. If you have a situation of a significant majority for the ruling party, they win every time, on a decision made by unelected officers and a cabinet of just 8 or 9 members.
There is an increasing body of evidence to show that many people are disillusioned with party politics, especially at a local level. And on a first past the post system, this makes it difficult for small parties, or independents, to get representation. The party propaganda literature often bludgeons the point that it is only us or them and anything else is a wasted vote.
If people vote on one local issue that is to their favour, it is not a blank cheque for that political party to do whatever they want for the next four years. Yet they will always claim, spuriously, no matter how unpopular, a democratic mandate to push anything through. So called consultations are often a charade, for show purposes only.
The point of this is to tap into the 60 to 70% that will not be voting, and seek a distinction between pure apathy and a protest vote to express disillusionment with the present system.
Simple but Very effective!
If I were in your Locality, I would Sign...