Decision Day

No matter what I think about our choice of political parties, today it's really important I exercise my right to vote. People have died so that I may, so it's my way of saying thank you to them. For once it's an exciting time for me personally to be voting. I'm in a new constituency (one of just four in England) and for the first time ever in my voting life the result isn't cut and dried because today, Chippenham is considered to be a marginal seat.

Since we moved here 22 years ago, our polling station hasn't been a conventional one. For most people it'll be at a local school or hall. When we lived on the other side of town there was nothing like that close by, so we voted in someone's house. It was really weird to get your voting papers in the kitchen and then move into the lounge where the voting booths stood amidst the sofa and squashy chairs.

It was the same when we moved here 11 years ago. At first we voted at the back of the local supermarket, amongst all the sales graphs and details of the week's promotions. Today it'll be in the county's mobile IT unit, a converted bus parked in the supermarket car park. It adds a little excitement to the election process, but I'm rather envious of Nigel, who'll be casting his vote in his local pub. Now if that was more widespread, I don't think the media would be talking so much about voter apathy would they?

Comments

  1. Hermes6 May 2010 at 08:52

    I vote in a local Church, though it is mainly used as a community centre now. Only a few minutes walk, so I have no excuse.

    ReplyDelete
  2. K M Kelly6 May 2010 at 09:20

    Just off to cast my vote right now - we're a labour tory marginal so could go either way.

    I very much agree with you about exercising my right to vote :-) Especially since us women only got the vote in the 1920's!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joan7 May 2010 at 02:51

    I can't agree with Kate more...in the US women peacefully picketed the White House for the right to be counted in a vote and were jailed and literally beaten or tortured in a variety of ways as a result. How barbaric!

    We must never forget our suffragette sisters who fought for us and this right...go VOTE! and be counted and proud.

    ReplyDelete

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