subject: May General Election - Is Your Vote Safe? [print this page] If youre voting in the original way, in other words by attending your local polling station, putting an X by the name of your chosen candidate, posting your marked card into a ballot box and heading home, youll no doubt be assuming that that ballot box keeps your vote secret and safe.
Youd hope anyway, and youd hope that you can find your way to the polling station easily too who knew thered be so much more to an election than just a bit of political canvassing? A local or general election is a stationers dream, with A boards and pavement signs galore, each pointing the way to the place where you can supposedly make a difference to how your country is run, are they the only ones that really benefit?
But does the ballot box matter at all? In reality does a Labour Government differ that dramatically from a Conservative Government? Or a Liberal Democrat Government from the Green Party? Ok, so that last one probably would shake things up a bit but the point is, if you picked a year in recent history and thought about what had happened in your life during it, whether the Government during that year was Labour or Conservative would probably have had no noticeable impact at all, in fact you might not even be able to name that government!
So it would seem that the only people who truly benefit from these political shenanigans are the politicians who win power and those lucky enough to be providing the display equipment, canvassing leaflets and ballot boxes perhaps there should be a Stationery Party?
So if you havent registered for your right to postal vote and youre going to make the effort to head down to your local polling station, look out for the stationery party. No doubt led into battle by the A board, ruled by the ballot box and kept in order by the snap frame. If this all sounds a little farcical, perhaps instead of wasting your right to vote or voting for whichever party your parents voted for, you should seriously consider which party will make a difference and which represents your views. The alternative might just be that the Stationery Party stands at the next General Election.
