Conservative majority in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport: 523 Conservative majority in Plymouth Moor View: 1026 Funny how that figure almost matches the number of people in Plymouth who have not received their ballot papers, isn't it?
Not as funny as the 23/26 thousand odd voters who could not be arsed to turn up and vote in the respective constituencies in 2015.
Between 2010 and 2015 the Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency turnout increased by over 4000, which is an extra 10% - Tory majority: 523 Between 2010 and 2015 the Plymouth Moore View turnout increased by around 800, which is an extra 2% - Tory majority: 1026 The only constituency that has seen a drop in its turnout is South West Devon - Tory majority: 20109 Funny how it seems people really can't be arsed to vote when they know the Tories could put a rosette on a broom and still get a five-figure majority.
Funny how people "really" cannot even be arsed to vote to at least try and put that hypothesis to the test.
As I've said before, if there was a 'None of the above' option, many more people might vote. If 'None of the above' won, all candidates could be barred from standing in the subsequent by-election.
You may recall that I have proposed that voting should be mandatory, and "None of the above" goes on the election ballot slip.
I could mention the essential undemocratic nature of our electoral system... Regardless of the majority of the seats the Tories may or may not win tomorrow, they will not get a majority of the votes (or anywhere near it). The current "majority" Government was elected by 37% of the votes in the last election (smaller if you consider those who didn't vote). Yes we can chastise those who don't vote, but a lot of people know it won't make any difference, and that hardly makes people engage with the political process. I will vote though it will make no difference whatsover in my particular constituency.
You say x-many voters couldn't be arsed to show up, yet it doesn't occur to you why that was. Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport Labour gained 4000 votes Lib Dems lost 8000 votes (roughly 80% compared to 2010) Turnout still increased Plymouth Moor View Labour lost 600 votes Lib Dems lost 6000 votes (roughly 75% compared to 2010) Turnout still increased South West Devon Labour gained 2000 votes Lib Dems lost 9000 votes (roughly 75% compared to 2010) Turnout decreased In other words you are seriously wide of the mark on this, because it was the Lib Dem voters who couldn't be arsed to turn up - and that was hardly a regional thing as that happened on a national scale. So if you want to criticise members of the electorate for not turning up in their thousands, then either you need to chastise the entire Lib Dem support for being fickle, or you need to grasp that maybe there was a reason the Lib Dem voters felt disenchnted with their party so they stayed away.
This premise is a fallacy. The electorate is supposed to be equally distributed amongst the constituencies. Therefore with a 100% turnout, the will of the electorate is irrefutable in each constituency : somebody gets > 50% of the vote or they are not the new MP.
It is difficult to make it mandatory. My postal voting form will be sitting on my door mat in Ashford and I am stuck in Africa. The only way that I could vote is if I could do it electronically, and that would cause havoc. Accusations of Russian interference etc., NHS/British Airways style computer crashes. Some people are also too sick to vote, although I bet Diane Abbott makes it to the polling booth. My mother suffered from Alzeimers for the last three+ years of her life. She didn't know what day it was let alone whether or not there was a general election and even if she did she would have been asking questions like, 'there's no Harold Wilson on the voting form, why not? I like him'.
My mother couldn't vote in the last election as Jeremy Hunt was trying his damdest to get me working on a eulogy. Well, not Jeremy Hunt personally, but guilt by association and all that...
All you are showing is that you really don't get it. A voter who does not turn up tells the politniks NOTHING. But they allow several lies to perpetuate. Classics such as 'our "core" voters would have turned up and voted if they felt it mattered' etc. If every voter who hates whoever for whatever reason, turns up and leaves their ballot slip empty, but writes why they have left the slip empty, is sending the message loud and clear.
The only way to make the electorial system fairer is to have a French Presidential style election in each constituancy. In other words, have a primary where anyone can stand and then have a run off between the top two from the primary if no candidate recieved more than 50% of the vote in the primary. Long winded but fairer and more representative.
Statistically, what percentage of the electorate do any of these things apply to in any given voting year ?? Call them the impossible voters (IV) . Do you think IV is going to be much closer to 0 than 50% ?? Do you think the nation at the very least should be ensuring the minimum turnout is 100 - IV ??
You would have to take a lot of other situations into account. Say for instance my daughter was taken into hospital on voting day, I would say Fek the voting, I'm staying with my daughter. If my car broke down 50 miles from home, I wouldn't be paying for a taxi so I could vote. If you want to make most people vote, open the polls for a week and publish a 'league table' every day. Then people who don't like the current result might become arsed.
Feel free to put whatever "situations" you wish into that list. All that matters to me is the value you give to IV. Then we can discuss whether statistically that matches reality.
Taken straight from the front page of The Daily Excess. http://newsthump.com/2017/06/07/jer...rrorist-ira-jihadi-state-in-your-back-garden/
I hope the men are fully clothed in burka, as with some of the fauna in my back garden if they get pricked then septicaemia may await.
Where do we put the 'dont want to vote because they are all as bad as each other brigade'. Also how does one enforce it? Fine or imprison people like the Poll Tax? Disenfranchise offenders? Nah, you can't do that. Give people a 2% rebate in their income tax if they vote. Might work but the socialists would accuse the government of picking on the old and infirm and people who can't afford to run a car in order to get to the polling station.
