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Voting In The European Elections – Where Was The Heart?

It’s not yet quite known what the total voter turnout was on last week’s European elections – though if rumour is anything to go by, I believe it was somewhere around 36%. While I could get myself entangled in the disappointing apathy of our society when it comes to these things, this isn’t my intended purpose of this article. What I do wish to talk about, however, is the nature in which many people do cast their vote; in particular, the lack of heart that goes into it.

While the opportunity to vote is and should be a basic right of every individual in any society, it should still by no means be taken for granted. And yet it is taken for granted in many ways…simply by the reasons and purpose we attach to the act of voting. The idea of the vote at one point, I’m sure, was to generate a fair, sound, legitimate and transparent picture of how citizens wish for their country to be run….or how specific regions and localities ought to be run. And while I’m aware this is probably twisted somewhat by the popular feeling that its like choosing “the best of a bad bunch”, I still can’t help but conclude that a large proportion of votes are cast apathetically or tactically these days. Which distorts the results of any election even further.

Here are some common phrases or concerns I hear uttered by various people around election periods, some of them during this last week.

1. “I won’t bother voting for x party because they’ll never get in.”
2. “I won’t bother voting at all because nothing ever changes.”
3. “I’m not sure who to vote for so I’ll vote for whoever my partner/friend/parents vote(s) for.”
4. “I’ll vote x party if it means that y party won’t get in.”

Okay, the first one…a sound argument, of course, and not without truth. It tends to involve the likes of the Green Party; the English Democrats; the Liberal Democrats and other minority parties. But is this really a reason to not vote for a cause you truly believe in? If nobody ever votes for the little guys, then how do the little guys have a hope of becoming the big guys? And how can we, as people, honestly say we stood true to ourselves and did our bit for society?

Allowing improbabilities to dictate our actions and our thoughts simply makes us a slave to the problem, and diminishes all hope of ever finding a cause. A vote also then becomes redundant, or at best weakened, as its use allows another party to take it by default. Already the outcome has been skewed. Furthermore, small victories such as the Green Party’s securing of four seats in the Liverpool City Council are proof that voting does make a change. FYI, they are now the locality’s official opposition. Let this be food for thought.

The second utterance marks an attitude that is highly prevalent in our culture. Again it is not without reason, but it remains unfortunate that things have become this way. The mindset in itself is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If someone fails to take action when the opportunity for action comes along, then of course nothing is going to change! And if the outcome was indeed less than favourable, would this person want to admit that they were partly the cause of it? For contrary to what many people like to think, there quite simply is no such thing as ‘inaction’. A wasted vote is just a loss for one party and therefore a gain for another. It’s one way or another; there is little room for apathy.

I for one cannot help but suspect there is a large portion of votes that go un-cast in the small town where I live. All of our council members happen to be Labour, making for a rather unbalanced view on things. Somehow this has been the case for the last four years at least, despite gapingly large, undeniable holes in Labour’s ability to follow through, which I won’t go into here. I voted Lib Dem – the only other standing party – simply as an attempt to integrate some more balance into my local politics. I’m perfectly happy to believe that Labour’s serial win again this year could by all means be legitimate. But I can’t seem to shake this nagging suspicion that not enough people used their vote, or indeed used it wisely. In my view, a default win may as well be no win at all.

The third point needs little explanation, I’m sure. To form the basis of our vote on that of somebody else’s is just plain dumb. Yet I’m sure its something most people have been guilty of at some point; yours truly included, back in my younger years. I am happy to say now though that that is no longer the case, and eliminating this bad habit is simple enough – it all comes down to education. Educating oneself, and forming real reasons behind our actions, is one of the best duties we can do for ourselves.

The fourth utterance on that list may not often be said out loud, but I have no doubt it is a common thought process. This habit of voting tactically so as to scupper another party’s chances (namely Labour vs. Conservative) is neither resourceful nor anything to be proud of. Of course we do it because we feel that we are perhaps pushed into a corner, forced to choose the lesser of two evils. Both are large, domineering parties with extensive power-holds, but if much of their support is hollow or misplaced, how can we really be sure of their ability to do right by society?

This latest European election has caused me to wonder more than ever what would happen if we all voted simply from our hearts, rather than try and sway probabilities and likelihoods in our perceived favour. We all want more politics to be more honest, but that honesty needs to start with the voters. If we leave out the heart, we leave out the honesty.

Yes, it’s an idealistic view, but as I like to think..not entirely ridiculous. And not impossible, either. Let us see this latest election as a test run, and reconsider our motives now, before the General Election comes along. Otherwise who knows whose webs may ensnare us.

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