This week we’ve had the referendum on whether to change the voting system here in the UK. We’ve also had local elections in some parts of the country, including the Cotswold district.
This is the first time since becoming old enough to vote (18) that I have been able to use this right.
So, on Thursday, I did just that. I went along to our local polling station (the Rugby Club on the Whiteway) on the way home from college on Thursday afternoon.
There are lots of people who don’t vote on the basis that they don’t care, don’t like any of the candidates, or don’t have time to vote – and we also all remember last year when there were a few problems with people going to vote last minute, and some people were not able to vote!
But going to vote in Cirencester at 14:20 BST, I was the only one there (apart from the people running the polling station). I went in, followed the signs marked “way in”, gave my name & address, took my ballot papers, went to put a cross in the box, and put the ballot papers in the ballot box.
I was home by 14:25, so my guess is that it took 2 minutes to go and vote…
And yet more than half the country didn’t vote at all on Thursday!
Given how long it took me to vote, I would certainly agree with the commonly held view that if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain when decisions you don’t agree with are made.
