General Election - Who will you vote?

marco murphy

is this ok to do this?

I picked this forum because I'd guess most people post here and I cant make a poll on politics forum.



Who will you vote for?

Time Magazine

Why no Greens or Independents? Surely if the PDs and Sinn Féin are included the Greens should be too.

marco murphy

oops.

Cant edit poll, can someone edit?

in the mean time i suppose use ''other''

Im voting Fine Gael as I think Fianna Fail have really stagnated over the last couple of years and a fresh approach is needed!:)

Ruu_Old

Greens and Independents added to poll.

Dragan

I don't vote, i never have and won't do so until a candidate runs that actual inspires my vote.

I don't get the whole "pick the best of a bad lot" scenario.

marco murphy

Thanks RUU.


If anyone has a particullar problem with any or all the parties maybe you could take time to explain why.

Personally, I would not vote Fianna Fail/PDs because of their systematic downgrading of my local hospital.

And selfish I know, their slowness on broadband.

I can see the PD's losing their seat in Galway.I know members of the YPD in NUIG and they reckon the PD vote has collapsed there.

Wertz

Sinn Féin/Green party

Before I get a torrent of abuse about being a shinner, they're about the only ones at local level who do any good for the local area. I don't particularly like their past exploits and some of their economic policy is questionable, but since they won't be forming a government that's not really an issue.

FF/FG/PD? All the f*ckin' same as far as I'm concerned....I have time for labour to an extent but I rarely hear the local candidate mentioned.
Last general election I voted greens and they got damn all support....probably be a little different this time round.

event

Dragan wrote:

I don't vote, i never have and won't do so until a candidate runs that actual inspires my vote.

I don't get the whole "pick the best of a bad lot" scenario.

i presume you never complain about the government then, or how the country is run?

Dragan

event wrote:

i presume you never complain about the government then, or how the country is run?

Why not? I have had several conversations with local TD's about issues that i have had and feel should be brought to there attention. I always find them to be friendly and willing to listen but very little will normally get done.

I don't vote for people who don't inspire my vote....if they can inspire the vote of others and gain office then fair play to them.

I have certain issues with aspects of the government and the way the country is run.....but last time i checked so did pretty much everyone who actually votes....so if you gonna try and tell me that voting "because i can" is going to solve my issue then your sadly mistaken.

It's not that i'm not voting because i don't want to....i would very much like to think that someday a candiate will run who i will be happy to vote for.

If other people want to vote symbolically for people the don;t even like then so be it.

Not my cup of tea.

Rb

I haven't decided yet as I haven't had the chance to read up, but it most certainly will not be Fianna Fail.

JayRoc

Voting is a privilege a lot of people don't have.
It's also a civic duty- if you don't think someone should be in government then vote against them. People aren't alone in having difficulty finding a candidate who floats their boat, but most in this situation will simply use the opportunity to do their best to avoid the people they dislike most getting into government.
The system isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than a lot of people have (and we what we used to have, not so very long ago).

Not to get at any one person, but must finish by saying I agree that someone who doesn't vote has no right to any opinion about how the country is run.

marco murphy

I know the poll hasnt ignited here, but not only here, Sinn Fein seems to be in the lead. I doubt that will be the case in the General Election but how and ever.

Dave!

Dragan wrote:

I don't vote, i never have and won't do so until a candidate runs that actual inspires my vote.

I don't get the whole "pick the best of a bad lot" scenario.

What's not to get? If you don't vote, then you don't get a say in the election at all, but democracy will continue without you. You just don't get counted.

If you vote for the best of the bad, then at least that'll mean you're 1 vote less likely to get the worst of the bad, as a government.

I don't know who I'll vote TBH. I won't vote FF or PD, because of how badly they squander money, and I don't trust Bertie at all since the recent scandal involving getting money from businessmen.

FG and Labour... I can't bring myself to vote FG while Inda is the leader, he would embaress us internationally -- worst leader ever. I haven't read Labour's manifesto so I'm not really up on their policies.

Sinn Féin have made alot of changes and have given up on the armed movement, so if I approve of their policies then I could vote for them.

I don't know much about the Greens' policies, so I'll read up on that.

Do the Socialist Party have anybody running in Dublin SW?

Dragan wrote:

If other people want to vote symbolically for people the don;t even like then so be it.

It's not symbolic, it's pragmatic. You're the one who's taking the symbolic approach as if your not voting for anybody makes a difference in the election.

is_that_so

Dragan wrote:

Why not? I have had several conversations with local TD's about issues that i have had and feel should be brought to there attention. I always find them to be friendly and willing to listen but very little will normally get done.

I don't vote for people who don't inspire my vote....if they can inspire the vote of others and gain office then fair play to them.

I have certain issues with aspects of the government and the way the country is run.....but last time i checked so did pretty much everyone who actually votes....so if you gonna try and tell me that voting "because i can" is going to solve my issue then your sadly mistaken.

It's not that i'm not voting because i don't want to....i would very much like to think that someday a candiate will run who i will be happy to vote for.

If other people want to vote symbolically for people the don;t even like then so be it.

Not my cup of tea.

Tbh you don't have a right to criticise something you refuse to be part of. There are social responsiblities incumbent on all of us and waiting till "the right kind of person comes along" is abnegation of those responsibilities. Sneering at people who are wrong-minded in your opinion is not the way to go. The right to vote has been hard-won.

imp

I would argue that those who decide not to vote still have a right to complain. Surely you shouldn't be required to vote if you think all the candidates are ****? By voting for anyone you're advocating their policies, giving them your support to be in government.

People who vote for a party that doesn't manage to get in to the government will often say (about said government) "Well I didn't vote for them". Neither did anyone who consciously decided not to cast a vote.

Bar any of my local candidates making complete u-turns in policy or some other unforeseen circumstance, I'll be spoiling mine.

Mossy Monk

not decided yet but Fianna Fail can go **** themselves. thats a certainty

Wertz

Semi-OT....anyone know if we're using e-voting booths this time around or are they just siting someplace still costing us all money?

Time Magazine

Wertz wrote:

Semi-OT....anyone know if we're using e-voting booths this time around or are they just siting someplace still costing us all money?

No, e-voting has all but been scrapped.

Except they haven't been scrapped, so yes, they're sitting there costing us money.

DonJose

SF are getting my vote, then FG. I haven't seen so much money wasted in my life by the current government, hundreds of millions wasted on a bridge that cost less than 20m to build, hundreds of millions on a health payroll system that doesn't work and on and on and on...

whiskeyman

shame on yee all for not doing it yet...



I'll say the Greens to avoid bannage...

connundrum

JayRoc wrote:

Voting is a privilege a lot of people don't have.
It's also a civic duty- if you don't think someone should be in government then vote against them. People aren't alone in having difficulty finding a candidate who floats their boat, but most in this situation will simply use the opportunity to do their best to avoid the people they dislike most getting into government.
The system isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than a lot of people have (and we what we used to have, not so very long ago).

Not to get at any one person, but must finish by saying I agree that someone who doesn't vote has no right to any opinion about how the country is run.

If everyone were to be made vote i.e. with the threat of jail/fine then I dread to think of what way the country would end up.

Think of it, would you rather a 50% turn out who are interested in politics and have a somewhat educated view on how the country should be run or a 100% turn out where 50% will randomly pick a candidate because he/she has nice hair, eyes, complexion.

And as a citizen you should be able to have a say in the running of the country, whether you vote or not. What if you were to turn 18 at the end of this year? Will your view be excluded from public meetings, will your TD not listen to you etc untill you vote years later?

DublinWriter

Dragan wrote:

I don't vote, i never have and won't do so until a candidate runs that actual inspires my vote.

Same here. I choose to exercise my right not to vote.

The people who say "you must vote! people died for your right to vote!" drive me nutz.

It's a bit like going to McDonalds and being made to feel bad just because you didn't like the look of anything on the menu and didn't make an order.

Smellyirishman

DublinWriter wrote:

It's a bit like going to McDonalds and being made to feel bad just because you didn't like the look of anything on the menu and didn't make an order.

It's more like starving, being in the middle of nowhere and McD's is the only source of food. After seeing the menu, you deciede to starve to death instead of picking the best of a bad bunch.

It was probably the best choice in the end though.

Mushy

I'm going for Greens

is_that_so

Well we get the government we deserve = food-poisoning. TBH guys if you are not going to vote don't post. There would be much gnashing of teeth if you couldn't vote.

ferdi

i will be voting....for yore ma.

Guy:Incognito

Wertz wrote:

Sinn Féin/Green party

Before I get a torrent of abuse about being a shinner, they're about the only ones at local level who do any good for the local area. I don't particularly like their past exploits and some of their economic policy is questionable, but since they won't be forming a government that's not really an issue..

Why vote for them if you dont agree with their policies? what happens if a ot of like minded people like yourself end up voting them in?


Personnally I'm voteing FF, my family has never been as well off, so as long as that stays that way I'm happy. Selfish? maybe, but looking after others isnt going to get me far.


The opposition parties are great with all the election promises they are coming out with. If it's to be believed, as long as FF isnt voted back in, we'll all be paying no tax, getting everything for half nothing, have the best healthcare system in the world, end poverty & criminality and there will be no deaths on the roads

imp

is_that_so wrote:

Well we get the government we deserve = food-poisoning. TBH guys if you are not going to vote don't post. There would be much gnashing of teeth if you couldn't vote.

Being forced to vote for somebody you don't want in government is as bad as not being allowed vote for somebody you do want in government, imo.

I take it you'd rather somebody vote for a candidate whose policies they didn't agree with than not vote at all? Would eeny-miney-mo suffice?

brianthebard

DublinWriter wrote:

Same here. I choose to exercise my right not to vote.

The people who say "you must vote! people died for your right to vote!" drive me nutz.

It's a bit like going to McDonalds and being made to feel bad just because you didn't like the look of anything on the menu and didn't make an order.

I vote, but I agree with what you are saying. To the people who said you should vote to show you don't agree with the candidates put forward-where's the none of the above option on the ballot? Get off yer high horses.

stekelly wrote:

Wertz wrote:

Sinn Féin/Green party

Before I get a torrent of abuse about being a shinner, they're about the only ones at local level who do any good for the local area. I don't particularly like their past exploits and some of their economic policy is questionable, but since they won't be forming a government that's not really an issue..

Why vote for them if you dont agree with their policies? what happens if a ot of like minded people like yourself end up voting them in?

I agree, it may be a case that a party or particular party member is a good rep at local level but you have to judge them on what they are running for, not what they have or haven't done. ie Just because one party member does a good job doesn't mean you should ignore all the other party policies you don't agree with.