USE YOUR VOTE!!

 

As I have grown up the one thing that has been banged into my brain by school and my family is to always use your vote. In the United Kingdom, voting is not mandatory, you don't need to vote and many in fact don't. However, this is not the case for all places around the world. In Australia, you have to vote, you get no say in the matter or you pay a fine of $20. There are definitely advantages to making voting obligatory but there are also some disadvantages. However, I believe it is important for everyone as a citizen should educate themselves on each parties ideology and register to vote for any election being held, no matter what country you live in.

I decided to write this post when I found out about the General Election that was announced on the 18th April 2017 for June 8th 2017. In no way, will I be convincing you to vote for any party. This is not why I am writing this post for. The main aim is to however for me to persuade you to register to vote, if you havent done so already and to actually take time out of your day on Thursday, June 8th 2017 to vote.

 

35% of people who registered to vote in the 2010 General Election in fact never voted. That is a staggering percentage of people not exercising their right. That 35% could change the demographics of the vote massively. These people no doubt would be the ones who will moan when the winning party is announced. However, in my point of view they do not have the right to sit there and disagree because they could have helped and there could have been a completely different outcome. 

Many young people, 18-24 year olds do not vote. Many have no opinion, many do not feel they are powerful enough, many don't know enough about the parties. When I hear this, it baffles me. In today's time there is a thing called Google. This can help you out a lot. Type in a political party followed by ideology. There you go you should find out the aims of the party. Google what type of legislation and what they have done whilst the party has been in power. Read the mail that comes through your door before an election before just chucking it in the bin. 

 

Look at the grey! The amount of young people not voting is horrendous! This shows how powerful 18-24 year olds can be but it's just not happening. This needs to change. If you are a young person in this age range, use your vote! You are a lot more powerful than you think and especially if you use your vote. I cannot push this enough. As a 17 year old who will not be able to vote in this election, I urge you to use your vote. Once upon a time, many citizens did not have the vote and boy would they wish to have been in your position many years ago. To just automatically get the choice to vote.

 

Back in the early 20th century, only the rich could vote. Then it was only men that could vote and the Suffragists and the Suffragettes fought hard for equality in voting. It is debatable how much they contributed towards getting the vote but they put a lot of time and effort out to fight for the vote and  you cannot deny that. 

I also want to quickly mention that no one should be judging anyone on who they vote for. No one should be singling people out unless they are known for hating on specific people, for example nationalities, ethinicity, religions etc... Be kind, have conversations with people about the election, listen to their side and educate yourself. However, be aware for biased information coming from people or from newspapers, especially newspapers. 

I can only ask you to register to vote and actually go to the polling station. It is your choice at the end of the day but it is one that I believe to be the wrong choice if you decide not to vote. Use your vote for your voice to be heard.