Today is the day!
Thursday 6th May 2010, the day of the General Election in the United Kingdom. The day on which those eligible to vote have the opportunity to express their opinion and political will, but how many will? My friend Lee Smallwood in his blog wrote a post about a conversation he overheard that went like this;
I’ve only voted once before in my life. Not going to vote this time as I might as well just put all the candidate’s names into a hat and draw one out because I think they’re all as f*****g bad as each other.
I am sure many other people share that opinion of our politicians and it is one that is easy to form. In my time of being able to vote there have been few times when there has not been some form of political scandal in the news. However, the problem with abstaining, not voting is that you are silently and passively allowing those very same people to get into office and shape the political, legislative and macro financial environment in which you live. It is no good becoming vocal about how poor the Government and their policies are after the election, if you couldn’t be bothered to vote; you had your chance to air you opinion, your vote is your voice.
Just think of the difference that everyone of those non-voters might make; in marginal seats they could seal the decision, in ‘safe’ seats they might change the political landscape. However, they will only do that if the take responsibility, take action and vote. “Today is the day”.