Use Your Vote

The London Mayoral Elections are today, and it is important if you are 18 and eligible to use your power and vote. Now, I am not here to tell you whom to vote for, in fact, you should never let anyone do that voting is a very personal decision, but I am here to encourage you to vote.

Voting is very important and not just in the big elections such as, who will be the next Prime Minister, it is important we vote in smaller elections too and today I am going to give you five reasons why it is important to use your vote:

Every Vote Counts.

You might think that skipping your vote won’t make a difference. “It’s only one vote” you might say to yourself, but what if 1000 people think the same way, what if 10,000 do? There is only a very small difference between the winning party and their opposition in some elections so, every vote does count.

You won’t know unless you try.

You might live in a place that you think has a safe seat. Maybe it is notoriously Tory or maybe Labour are the ones who have been in power there for the past 10 years, but you can’t get complacent. Elections are unpredictable and just because one party has dominated in the past you cannot guarantee it will stay this way. Moreover, maybe you aren’t happy with the party consistently in power where you live but think there is no point making a change. If this is the case you really won’t know unless you try, there might be countless other people feeling the same way and your vote could be that push they need to make a change.

Decide who makes the decisions you care about.

A lot of people say they aren’t interested in politics or it does not really concern them, but this simply is not the case. Politicians make so many decisions about our lives and it is important you try and get someone who aligns with your views in a position to make a change. On another note, you might not want to vote because you don’t like any of the people but with this in mind, you can take the person out of the scenario and vote for the policy, not the people. I understand this might seem hard to do but if you investigate the party’s policy you will likely find out which one most suits you and your beliefs.

People risked their lives so you could vote.

Suffragettes protested and, in some cases, risked their lives to give future women the right to vote. We are lucky enough to live in a world where, in the UK, if we are over 18 and registered, we can vote so it is important we exercise that right, not just for ourselves but for all the women who came before us and fought for us to be able to have a say in the decisions made.

Here are a few dates for you to bear in mind with regards to the change in laws for voting rights:

• 1867 - Representation of the People Act (the second Reform Act) extends vote to urban working men meeting property qualification.
• 1918 - Representation of the People Act extends vote to all men over 21 and most women over 30.
• 1928 - Representation of the People Act extends vote to all women over 21

Spoil your ballot.

So, this is less of a reason you should vote and more of an alternative. It was reported that over 74,000 people in the UK spoilt their ballot in the 2017 General Election. This means over 74,000 people went down to the ballot station on election day and did something to make their paper not count, this could have been voting for all the parties, not voting for any and just handing in a blank paper, writing a message, or even inputting personal information which would make it void. You may be wondering what the point of this is and that is, the statement it makes. If you just stay at home and do nothing people will just assume you can’t be bothered or don’t care but if you make the effort to go, there and not vote that says something. It makes a stand and shows you are not happy with the current options. Now, I am not telling you to do this but simply highlighting how important it is to use your voice. You are lucky enough to live in a place where you are being asked for your opinion, don’t miss out on that chance, make your voice heard.