| Voting in the UK
Since last week's elections, I've been reading a lot of comments (on here and elsewhere) along the lines of "oh Labour is shít, this government is crap" etc. And it struck me - how many of these same people actually bothered to vote at the last election?
Several countries - such as Belgium and Australia - have compulsory voting and there are fines for those who do not vote, though there are valid excuses such as being taken suddenly ill, or not mentally capable of voting. I believe that there should be compulsory voting in the UK for several reasons, not least that politicians can better gauge the mood of the electorate and because it require active citizenship. It might also stop people moaning about the system of government (fat chance...).
If there were compulsory voting, there would have to be an "abstain" or "none of the above" option, with the number of abstentions recorded and reported. |