Vote For … Something … !

Hmmm …

You know, I’ve got to confess, I almost forgot to mention in a post, yesterday, that today is your last chance to register to vote for the upcoming election on May 5th.

And that was even after heading into Brentwood, yesterday, just to double check that I was on the Electoral roll!

D’Oh … !

But that’s not necessarily why I was going to post, though …

You see, I’ve got to confess, I just had an idea in the shower …

Ahem!

Remember, yesterday, that I’d written, briefly, about how I’d come to feel that a ‘None Of The Above’ option could be a good thing: and that more could be done to improve voter turn-out.

Something literally occurred to me in the shower.

I live near a station.

Well …

I live not far from my polling station …

And not far from Brentwood railway station.

I’m sort of lucky, in that regard.

But that got me thinking.

In the past, one of the reasons I skip voting, some years, is because the polling stations are out of my way.

But it occurred to me that would still be the case if I were commuting into London.

Unless the polling station was at the railway station.

That way, commuters could vote on their way home, and not have to worry about going out — to somewhere inconvenient — just to do a chore.

OK, you’d probably need to organise something along the lines of the current Postal Voting registration: in other words, you register, in advance, that you’ll be voting at Commuter Polling Station A, rather than Regular Polling Station B.

And, granted, the people that run polling stations will have an extra amount of stations to run.

But …

Well …

MPs of all political stripes have been saying that one or another form of vote is ‘Fairer’ than others.

But also have a chance — during parliamentary or council votes — to abstain.

Not something, thus far, politicians seem willing to grant to you and me.

Is that fair … ?

Fairer Voting …

Hmmm …

You know, I’ve GOT to admit, Adrian, bless him, has a very good point that’s occurred to me to ask about.

One I’m fairly certain’s going to be argued about, by ALL shades of politician.

And one I’m not sure will boost voter turn-out, either, but that’s possibly a whole other issue.

Actually, that possibly is: I’m sure you — as I — have seen or heard all sorts of stories in the news about low voter turn-out at elections, voter apathy, and how shows like Big Brother, Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor regularly get better turn-outs.

And I’m sure you’re also aware that last years General Election saw such a huge number of people wanting to vote, that polling stations couldn’t cope.

God, there’s probably all sorts of answers, there.

But maybe insisting that Polling stations open for half an hour longer would help, there.

And maybe having more of them is another: I know there’s plenty of times I’ve simply not bothered, purely on the basis that the station concerned was out of my way.

««•»»

But, at any rate, the one thing I know Adrian’s always mentioned — half-jokingly, but in the tone of voice that suggested there’s a serious point to think about* — is something the pair of us first saw on the film, Brewster’s Millions.

A ‘None Of The Above’ option.

Seriously, nobody campaigning for or against AV, on May 5th, has mentioned it.

I can’t see why, instead of politicians complaining about voter turn-out, we have the option of formally abstaining.

After all, when you think about it, politicians are applying — to us, their bosses — for a job.

We can either let one politician per ward or constituency have have it.

Or, with a None Of The Above option … ?

Force a re-run, with a fresh set of candidates, if we don’t like the ones standing.

Fairer votes, anyone … ?

»»•««

Just as a quick thought … ?

I actually went ask used Facebook’s Question feature: I asked “Should Britain have a ‘None Of The Above’ option, whichever voting system it chooses on May 5th?”.

So far … ?

Of the 10 people who’ve answered the question — six of whom aren’t known to me — 8 have gone for ‘Yes’.

They’d go for it, in other words.

Nice to know.

* Which is possibly the point of a good joke: that there’s a serious point to consider, sneaked into your thoughts, along with the punchline …