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US election
As someone who lives in a small country with only one time zone I find it odd to think that it's possible that someone in Hawaii could know the outcome of the Presidential election before they've even voted in it.
I've voted in every General Election (General Elections are for the national government, as opposed to Local Elections which are for County or Parish council members) since I turned 18 and became eligible to vote. Voting isn't compulsory here (unlike in countries such as Belgium and Australia) but I believe strongly that if you have a vote, you should exercise it. Even if you don't agree with any of the options presented to you, go along and register your protest by spoiling your ballot paper. After all, if you can't even be bothered to turn out and vote, what right do you have to complain about who gets elected?
Where I currently live my vote counts for almost nothing - although we are close to the city, our village falls within a large rural constituency that is overwhelmingly right-wing and Conservative while my politics are quite a long way to the left of centre - but I still turn out and vote. It's my right, and my duty, and it's *important*. And if I don't like what my MP (Member of Parliament) is doing I can take him to task for it with a clear conscience, because even though I didn't vote for him, I did take the time and make the effort to go out and cast my vote.
So please, please, if you have a vote this Tuesday, and whatever your politics, go out and cast it (if you haven't already). Be part of what's being decided for your country, not just a passive onlooker.
I've voted in every General Election (General Elections are for the national government, as opposed to Local Elections which are for County or Parish council members) since I turned 18 and became eligible to vote. Voting isn't compulsory here (unlike in countries such as Belgium and Australia) but I believe strongly that if you have a vote, you should exercise it. Even if you don't agree with any of the options presented to you, go along and register your protest by spoiling your ballot paper. After all, if you can't even be bothered to turn out and vote, what right do you have to complain about who gets elected?
Where I currently live my vote counts for almost nothing - although we are close to the city, our village falls within a large rural constituency that is overwhelmingly right-wing and Conservative while my politics are quite a long way to the left of centre - but I still turn out and vote. It's my right, and my duty, and it's *important*. And if I don't like what my MP (Member of Parliament) is doing I can take him to task for it with a clear conscience, because even though I didn't vote for him, I did take the time and make the effort to go out and cast my vote.
So please, please, if you have a vote this Tuesday, and whatever your politics, go out and cast it (if you haven't already). Be part of what's being decided for your country, not just a passive onlooker.
no subject
Here in the UK every household gets a registration form once a year (usually late Fall/early Winter) to fill in to confirm how many (and which) registered voters live at an address (we can also register any time during the year, but most people do it when they get the reminder). Even though the voting age is 18, we have to register anyone in the house who is 16 or over. Which means that this time next year we'll be registering DS on the electoral register (and how old does that make me feel???), even though he won't get to vote for a while.
There has been some discussion here recently about changing the law to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote - at first thought it seems like a bad idea, but the fact is that any 16 or 17 year old still in full-time education (which most are these days) is attending compulsory citizenship classes, which almost certainly means that they would be better-informed about the issues than very many older voters.