The 'didn't vote' thread

Elessar

Anyone else not vote in this general election? I honestly have no interest in politics at all and haven't the foggiest about any of the candidates in my area, never even heard of half of them. I do vote in general, with issues I care about i.e. constitutional changes, but politics? Nope. No interest.

I got a stern talking to from family earlier and put on a guilt trip about it, but I'm sticking to my guns. Anyone else not bothered?

thomas anderson.

Didn't bother either. Felt that there was no one to vote for. Why give my vote to someone who I don't believe in?

irishgrover

Elessar wrote: »

Anyone else not vote in this general election? I honestly have no interest in politics at all and haven't the foggiest about any of the candidates in my area, never even heard of half of them. I do vote in general, with issues I care about i.e. constitutional changes, but politics? Nope. No interest.

I got a stern talking to from family earlier and put on a guilt trip about it, but I'm sticking to my guns. Anyone else not bothered?

Of course its a democracy and I must respect your decision, but I really don't like it. I think people should go to the bother of educating themselves and using their vote if at all possible...

Your Face

Can't vote - working.

Dinny Byrne has Angina

Elessar wrote: »

Anyone else not vote in this general election? I honestly have no interest in politics at all and haven't the foggiest about any of the candidates in my area, never even heard of half of them. I do vote in general, with issues I care about i.e. constitutional changes, but politics? Nope. No interest.

I got a stern talking to from family earlier and put on a guilt trip about it, but I'm sticking to my guns. Anyone else not bothered?

It's your fault.

It's very easy for a man of average intelligence to formulate an opinion based on his impression of several political candidates running for election.

Your duty, as far as I care, is to inform yourself.

It isn't for the State to rush to your education and exhaust its own resources in informing you personally.

There is plenty of information in the public sphere, should you wish to avail it.

Don't expect anyone to come to your defence. It's probably just as well that people of this mentality refrain from voting.

NIMAN

I would have rarely voted in NI when I lived there, but have always voted since I moved to Ireland to live.

Despite what you feel about politics, and many find it boring as hell, I still think you should use your vote. If you don't I firmly believe you have no right to moan about politicians after the event.

I would like to see an Aussie system introduced here, where you are fined if you don't vote.

HeidiHeidi

Your Face wrote: »

Can't vote - working.

For 13 hours straight, without a break?

I hope I never see any of the usernames here who admitted not caring enough to vote complaining about the state of the country/government/politicians for however long the next administration lasts.

(FWIW, I think it won't even get off the ground, we'll be back here within the next six months!)

StewartGriffin

Brave men and women of 1916 died for your vote. Now you have made that whole Rising thing a hollow sham.
I hope you're happy. They might cancel the 1916 celebrations now, all because of you.

:mad:

NIMAN

I think its sad to see final voting levels around 60% in a GE.

Thats 4 out of every 10 people eligible to vote couldn't be bothered to get off their arse and go to the polling station.

Those numbers could make a massive difference in how a country is governed.

zurbfoundation

I always vote or at least spoil my vote if I am not sure what to do - bit I'm put of the country this time

Elessar

Dinny Byrne has Angina wrote: »

It's your fault.

It's very easy for a man of average intelligence to formulate an opinion based on his impression of several political candidates running for election.

Your duty, as far as I care, is to inform yourself.

It isn't for the State to rush to your education and exhaust its own resources in informing you personally.

There is plenty of information in the public sphere, should you wish to avail it.

Don't expect anyone to come to your defence. It's probably just as well that people of this mentality refrain from voting.

:rolleyes:

I have no interest in the State or anyone else 'rushing to my education'. I can inform myself if I want to. I simply do not care about the subject matter.

rawn

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

For 13 hours straight, without a break?

I hope I never see any of the usernames here who admitted not caring enough to vote complaining about the state of the country/government/politicians for however long the next administration lasts.

(FWIW, I think it won't even get off the ground, we'll be back here within the next six months!)

Maybe his work and his polling station aren't within a lunch - breaks travel distance?

StewartGriffin

Dinny Byrne has Angina wrote: »

It's your fault.

It's very easy for a man of average intelligence to formulate an opinion based on his impression of several political candidates running for election.

Your duty, as far as I care, is to inform yourself.

It isn't for the State to rush to your education and exhaust its own resources in informing you personally.

There is plenty of information in the public sphere, should you wish to avail it.

Don't expect anyone to come to your defence. It's probably just as well that people of this mentality refrain from voting.

Damn right Dinny. Me and you are twice the man he is.

Your Face

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

For 13 hours straight, without a break?

I hope I never see any of the usernames here who admitted not caring enough to vote complaining about the state of the country/government/politicians for however long the next administration lasts.

(FWIW, I think it won't even get off the ground, we'll be back here within the next six months!)

I pay an unreal amount of tax on my over-time.
So mark my name because I'll complain if I feel like it.

Zaph

If someone can't vote because of circumstances then that's fair enough. But if you choose not to vote then please excuse me if I tell you I couldn't give a rat's arse about your opinions on the government and what a crap job they're doing.

dark crystal

Part of me thinks if someone can't be arsed to inform themsleves about the people making all the decisions that affect their lives, they're better off going nowhere near a ballot box.

Personally, I'd rather have some control than just be a passenger and complain about the person at the wheel afterwards.

PowerToWait

NIMAN wrote: »

I would like to see an Aussie system introduced here, where you are fined if you don't vote.

The more I hear about their laws, the more a totalitarian shîthole it seems to me.

Keane2baMused

Would anyone here advocate people voting for the sheer sake of it?Why vote for the sake of voting? If you have no clue about politics or hold absolutely no faith in any of them, I think it's insane to go with the 'vote anyway' mentality.


Ah sure it'll be grand they said, just choose someone they said.

I would rather those individuals didn't vote than going with whoever mammy/daddy/granny says to choose or randomly picking.

physioman

Didnt vote. Vote independent... Pointless. Vote any of the top four... There all the same. Whoever gets voted in wont get rid of irish water. Germany and imf own us.

Akrasia

There's still 10 minutes left get to the polling station and draw a giant penis on your ballot

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR

My name is URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jnf9GILjFM

cailinardthair

Couldn't get home to vote...to far away from work and didn't register in time for postal....first time ever since I was old enough to vote....

strelok

Zaph wrote: »

If someone can't vote because of circumstances then that's fair enough. But if you choose not to vote then please excuse me if I tell you I couldn't give a rat's arse about your opinions on the government and what a crap job they're doing.

i take it you'll not be complaining about president trump in 2017?

VickieVexed1

If someone chooses not to vote, that's their decision...and thankfully they have the freedom to make that choice.

Even though I have become disillusioned with politicians in recent years, if I didn't make the effort to vote, I feel I would be letting down the women who went through hell to ensure all future generations of women were given that right.

But each to their own.

StewartGriffin

Voting for the sake of it when you have no real clue why you are voting is not just dumb it's also dangerous.

At the moment, and it has been the case for many years, the electoral field in Ireland is so level that a vote is really nothing more than an exercise in peoples constitutional rights. This blandness of political ideology is not a bad thing. When it gets more extreme you get to the level of Trump v Sanders, or more radically, Extreme right wing V extreme left wing. So we shouldn't really complain about our boring candidates because it means we are in a good place.

For referenda it is important to vote if the topic is important. For our general elections, your vote doesn't really matter. If candidate A doesn't get in, Candidate B will, and it will make no difference to this country because the wheels of government will keep turning thanks to the Civil Servants who have always turned them.

The people who give out to those who don't vote, are generally just fools, especially those who drool at the mouth and proclaim that you have forfeited your right to have an opinion about anything.

If the choice was between Hitler and Stalin these fools would still turn out to vote for one of them.

NIMAN

PowerToWait wrote: »

The more I hear about their laws, the more a totalitarian shîthole it seems to me.

Yeah cos being forced to go to your local polling station once every 5 years would be such hard work.

Akrasia

strelok wrote: »

i take it you'll not be complaining about president trump in 2017?

Nope, cause it's hard to complain when you're a pile of incinerated ash after he starts a nuclear war against Mexico 15 minutes after getting the codes

Benteke

Don't blame people for not voting, Politics in tis country is on it's knees no party can be trusted

FG - The party that says it's not your fault but you have to pay for it anyway

FF - The party who brought the county to it's knees

Lab - The party who supports slave labor, Jim Larkin would be turning in his grave

SF - Their is no gangland apparently and Slab is a good republican

Ind - Just a bunch of FF heads who are out for themselves

as for the rest give them a calculator they would not know economy figures if it smacked them in the face

Irish politics is a joke and I for one will not vote to support it

Mena

Didn't vote. Not allowed to as my company transferred me to an international office.

I did drink beer and wine at half the price you lot pay though. Horses for courses I guess...

bigdaddy2010

physioman wrote: »

Didnt vote. Vote independent... Pointless. Vote any of the top four... There all the same. Whoever gets voted in wont get rid of irish water. Germany and imf own us.

Your right. We don't control the country anymore. Politicians are puppets to germany and imf

nehe milner skudder

Zaph wrote: »

If someone can't vote because of circumstances then that's fair enough. But if you choose not to vote then please excuse me if I tell you I couldn't give a rat's arse about your opinions on the government and what a crap job they're doing.

if you pay tax i think you can complain regardless of voting or not. the way governments get elected here is antiquated and they don't get held to account on all their lies.not pissed at any party in particular.they are all pimples on the same arse.

nehe milner skudder

dark crystal wrote: »

Part of me thinks if someone can't be arsed to inform themsleves about the people making all the decisions that affect their lives, they're better off going nowhere near a ballot box.

Personally, I'd rather have some control than just be a passenger and complain about the person at the wheel afterwards.

ive informed myself that i don't trust any of them

Earthhorse

People have every right not to vote and every right to complain about the Government afterwards. Having said that, I find it hard to believe that you can't find one candidate that you prefer over others or, to put it another way, one candidate that you like the least.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

nehe milner skudder

StewartGriffin wrote: »

Voting for the sake of it when you have no real clue why you are voting is not just dumb it's also dangerous.

At the moment, and it has been the case for many years, the electoral field in Ireland is so level that a vote is really nothing more than an exercise in peoples constitutional rights. This blandness of political ideology is not a bad thing. When it gets more extreme you get to the level of Trump v Sanders, or more radically, Extreme right wing V extreme left wing. So we shouldn't really complain about our boring candidates because it means we are in a good place.

For referenda it is important to vote if the topic is important. For our general elections, your vote doesn't really matter. If candidate A doesn't get in, Candidate B will, and it will make no difference to this country because the wheels of government will keep turning thanks to the Civil Servants who have always turned them.

The people who give out to those who don't vote, are generally just fools, especially those who drool at the mouth and proclaim that you have forfeited your right to have an opinion about anything.

If the choice was between Hitler and Stalin these fools would still turn out to vote for one of them.

best post I've read in a long time

c_meth

nehe milner skudder wrote: »

best post I've read in a long time

Worst one I've read...

Elessar

StewartGriffin wrote: »

Voting for the sake of it when you have no real clue why you are voting is not just dumb it's also dangerous.

At the moment, and it has been the case for many years, the electoral field in Ireland is so level that a vote is really nothing more than an exercise in peoples constitutional rights. This blandness of political ideology is not a bad thing. When it gets more extreme you get to the level of Trump v Sanders, or more radically, Extreme right wing V extreme left wing. So we shouldn't really complain about our boring candidates because it means we are in a good place.

For referenda it is important to vote if the topic is important. For our general elections, your vote doesn't really matter. If candidate A doesn't get in, Candidate B will, and it will make no difference to this country because the wheels of government will keep turning thanks to the Civil Servants who have always turned them.

The people who give out to those who don't vote, are generally just fools, especially those who drool at the mouth and proclaim that you have forfeited your right to have an opinion about anything.

If the choice was between Hitler and Stalin these fools would still turn out to vote for one of them.

Well said mate.

StringerBell

NIMAN wrote: »

Yeah cos being forced to go to your local polling station once every 5 years would be such hard work.

Forcing someone to vote seems to be kinda contrary to the entire process tbh

Totofan99

Couldn't vote because I'm stuck in hospital. And I'm pretty bloody annoyed about it too.

As for those who couldn't be bothered, shame on you. You could put about 20 minutes aside, do a bit of research on your candidates and pick a few that you'd give a preference to. It's easier than ever to do this. The RTÉ website had short, one minute videos of almost every candidate in the country explaining briefly what they stand for. And there's smartvote.ie, another great resource.

Zaph

strelok wrote: »

i take it you'll not be complaining about president trump in 2017?

And exactly what has an election in another country got to do with whether or not people exercise their right to vote here? While the guy is a class 1 fruitcake and deserves every ounce of scorn and ridicule thrown at him, unless any of his policies directly impacted me somehow what would I have to actually give out about?

Benteke

The men and women of 1916 would not vote for this shower of vultures in fact they would be ashamed to see what they died for

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

josephryan1989

Elessar wrote: »

Anyone else not vote in this general election? I honestly have no interest in politics at all and haven't the foggiest about any of the candidates in my area, never even heard of half of them. I do vote in general, with issues I care about i.e. constitutional changes, but politics? Nope. No interest.

I got a stern talking to from family earlier and put on a guilt trip about it, but I'm sticking to my guns. Anyone else not bothered?

You have the freedom to be clueless. It's a free country.
But how you could not take an interest in politics or inform yourself about the candidates in your constituency is beyond me.
Grow up and start taking an interest in what's going on around you.
Do you ignore weather forecasts or know how to read the time? For me that's how dumb not taking an interest in politics is like.

Mint Sauce

Your Face wrote: »

Can't vote - working.

What, for 14/15 hours? I'm sure even if you were at work for that long, your employer would have to let you leave to vote if you wanted too.

Your Face

Mint Sauce wrote: »

What, for 14/15 hours? I'm sure even if you were at work for that long, your employer would have to let you leave to vote if you wanted too.

I d rather put food on the table.

The Bishop Basher

Patww79 wrote: »

Never registered as I really just don't care about doing something that won't make a pick of difference. Probably wouldn't take long to read up on what they're falsely promising this time round but I don't see any of them as worthy of a vote, they're all just stealing a very good living.

its because of this that we get stuck with the same ****e rebranded over and over again. Get out and register a protest vote if nothing else. We have an aul lad here who runs every time. He hasn't a hope of getting a seat, ever, and he gets a vote from me every time.

You have a voice and you get few enough opportunities to use it. If we all sit at home and refuse to vote for something different how will anything ever change. Our moaning just becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Totofan99

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Not exactly. Did you check it out? It gives you candidates views on lots of things, for example, climate change, public transport, cannabis legalisation, rent allowance, health, education.

And 10 or 20 minutes? Really?

Mint Sauce

Your Face wrote: »

I d rather put food on the table.

But were you doing a 14-15 hr shift that prevented you from attending? Again, if you were, you should still have a right to leave if you wish.

StringerBell

Having the right to vote is great, having the right to refuse to vote is also great, wouldn't have it any other way.

I have no interest in the general election this time around any more then I did last time tbh and didn't bother. I learned as much about every candidate in my area and none of them appeal to me at all, nor do I think it makes a blind bit of difference. Whoever gets in will either be in government/supporting the government and since I have some pretty big issues with current government policy that is no good for me. If I vote for someone, an independant, or someone who is going to be in opposition they can get me sweet **** all also. This is also the problem with voting in Ireland to a large degree.

It is the general election, national issues should be at the core, but it is always local politics that rule the roost. I am no exception to that, I have no faith in the government to do anything of use on a national/international level and considering my county has been ignored and fallen to ruin in the life of the government I have no faith in them to be of any benefit to me on a local level.

Then you have the two main parties who are at this point practically identical at this point, one of them is going to be the major party in the next Dail, and the other may end up propping them up, how ****ed up is that? Labour are going to take a thrashing even though they were not actually as bad as Fine Gael, though they did sell out a lot of core party commitments so thats fair enough really.

Sinn Fein are great at pointing out whats wrong, sure we can all do that. Ask them to come up with a coherent plan for the future and you start to get into a bit of trouble really though don't you.

I'm rambling on here, so I'll just say long story short, no matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.

We will have our course decided for us by Europe, nothing new there.

OldMrBrennan83

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