What happens to a "non" vote?

keefg

Was chatting to someone today who told me that if a person does not vote in the coming elections.....then their vote will automatically go to the current government.

Is that true? I just thought if 2 million people in the country were elegible to vote but only 1.5 million did actually vote then just those 1.5 million votes would be counted and divvied up between the parties.

Can anyone clarify what happens to the "non" votes?

cheers.

thebman

lol no but it would explain a few things wouldn't it?

Scofflaw

keefg wrote: »

Was chatting to someone today who told me that if a person does not vote in the coming elections.....then their vote will automatically go to the current government.

Is that true? I just thought if 2 million people in the country were elegible to vote but only 1.5 million did actually vote then just those 1.5 million votes would be counted and divvied up between the parties.

Can anyone clarify what happens to the "non" votes?

cheers.

It's not counted! Not for anybody. If things worked like that, the sitting government would be re-elected every time.

cordially,
Scofflaw

keefg

Cheers guys

I knew that couldn't be the case but this guy was so convincing he had me doubting myself.

The_Minister

This has come up before.

Is there some real-life troll running around telling fibbs about I Irish electoral law?



Because if there is....
*narrows eyes*

bmaxi

I think generally the opinion is, if you disapprove of the Government and you don't vote at all, then you are not voting against the Government. This, should they be re-elected, could be construed as a vote for. Guilt by apathy, if you like.

Dalfiatach

It's a myth that FF spread any time they are struggling. It's just not true. If you don't vote then you don't vote and it isn't counted.

BUT.

In a sense, not voting ends up being a passive endorsement of the status quo. Because the hardcore supporters of each party will come out and vote regardless, and with a lot of non-voters they end up with a higher percentage of the actual vote cast. A few numbers might help explain this one cos it does look a bit odd:

Say the electorate is 100 people. Only 60 of them actually vote, and they vote as follows:

FF 25
FG 20
Labour 10
Greens/SF/Independent 5

FF, with 25 of the 60 votes cast, end up with 42% of the actual votes cast (and thus roughly 42% of the seats). But only 25% of the total electorate (25 out of 100) actually voted for them. So the 40 people that sat at home have ended up giving FF almost twice the seats and influence that they should really have.

Assuming of course that the 40 who didn't vote would have voted for anyone but FF, but the point remains. By taking yourself off the pitch you hand over control of the game to the people who stay on it.

Not voting "because shure der all de same" is a passive way of artificially boosting the power and influence of the established parties with their hard core voters who will vote for their party no matter what.

The_Minister

Dalfiatach wrote: »

It's a myth that FF spread any time they are struggling. It's just not true. If you don't vote then you don't vote and it isn't counted.

How would this story benefit Fianna Fail?

Surely it would benefit the opposition?

Dalfiatach

The_Minister wrote: »

How would this story benefit Fianna Fail?

Surely it would benefit the opposition?

It takes waverers off the pitch. If someone is humming and hawing between the two camps and you give them an excuse to stay at home ("sure me vote will be counted anyway") then you can rely on your core vote.

It could backfire badly of course if you try this line on a dedicated ABFFer, but most of the electorate aren't that fired up about politics, are always on the fence, and any excuse to stay at home on a wet Thursday will do them. Well, up until this election anyway!

This time it might backfire spectacularly but I remember FFers using this line a lot in Dublin in the late 80s elections to keep fence-sitters away from the polls. You don't want waverers actually voting, God knows where their votes might end up. Best to rely on the auld core vote, ye see.

Old habits die hard.

spank_inferno

keefg wrote: »

Was chatting to someone today who told me that if a person does not vote in the coming elections.....then their vote will automatically go to the current government.

Can anyone clarify what happens to the "non" votes?

cheers.

No thats not true at all
But what is true is that if you close your eyes as you drop your ballot paper in the ballot box the vote counts double!

Borstal Boy

Dalfiatach wrote: »

Not voting "because shure der all de same" is a passive way of artificially boosting the power and influence of the established parties with their hard core voters who will vote for their party no matter what.

I was under the impression that a high turnout was usually good for FF. I'm sure I've heard that a number of times from different sources.

InFront

That was possibly more true in previous circumstances, but anyway I think he is referring to this practice only aiding all of the established parties and a stagnation in Dail composition

Joey the lips

The logic of the vote going to the goverment is based on this! If the goverments supporters come out and they will then by logical reasoning those who dont come out and vote are contributing to the goverment getting back in!

See as said there supporters will come out!

Thats the logic!

O'Coonassa

bmaxi wrote: »

I think generally the opinion is, if you disapprove of the Government and you don't vote at all, then you are not voting against the Government. This, should they be re-elected, could be construed as a vote for. Guilt by apathy, if you like.

What if your objection and reason for not voting is the entire political system? It's like the whole douche or turd thing off South Park, if you go out and vote you're putting corrupt incompetants into power. Guilt by voting, if you like.

bmaxi

O'Coonassa wrote: »

What if your objection and reason for not voting is the entire political system? It's like the whole douche or turd thing off South Park, if you go out and vote you're putting corrupt incompetants into power. Guilt by voting, if you like.

That as they say is a whole different ball game.
You are right of course and it is to the eternal shame of the electorate that they continued to return the likes of Haughey, Burke and Lawlor, among others, to the Dáil even when questions were being asked of their character. Conversely it could be argued that if the no-shows had turned out on polling day they may not have been elected. Who knows?

McCruiskeen

I've always been of the view that if you're not inclined to have any interest in the state of the nation, best not to vote and let the people who actually can be bothered to vote to take care of things.

Basically, if you're too lazy, apathetic or too simple to vote, then you don't deserve your vote.

So no harm done by people who don't vote. We are letting the more informed, intelligent and energetic sector of society decide things.

I am aware that the argument, "well, look where that has gotten us" can now raised, but I do not consider this directly relevant to the argument.

Scofflaw

OP has been answered - non-votes do not go to the incumbent party, they are simply not counted.

/thread

moderately,
Scofflaw