5 Websites for Those Undecided on Elections

So, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you’ve no doubt had advertising and YouTube videos and flyers and endless news reports thrust in your face about the Snap General Election. Whilst some can’t wait for the big day and to get deep into the analytics of the seas and the party atmosphere as the counts come in, there’s others like me that can’t wait to plonk it in the box and have it over with (in the hope nobody else will try to engage me in discussion). And then there’s some, that just aren’t sure.

Now whilst there’s plenty of people urging you to vote (and I still say you should) and a smaller set saying you should read up, make an informed decision and have your say; there aren’t many answering the big questions of What if I don’t care? or What if I don’t trust any of the politicians/parties standing? or I don’t know who to pick! What do I do?

Now the government tried to quash this back in 2004 with this advert:

 

Others have merely said become informed or glossed over these points, leaving fence sitters forced to choose randomly, be influenced by what their family/peers want or just not turning up at all.

With that said, here are a few sites with some suggestions based on what people are saying if you’re still not black and white as the paper you’re marking in tomorrows big poll.

 

Find Out Who’s Already In

The website TheyWorkForYou is a free to use directory of all the current MPs representing constituencies and will highly likely be running for re-election again. Simply pop in your postcode to get their profile up. It will show you what party they’re a member of, stats of their career and details on their interests in politics as well as what they’ve voted for during their time in the commons. That way with a few quick tidbits of info you’ll get an idea if your MP is a good fit for you.

Find Out the Competion

Who Can I Vote For is a great little simple tool that works in a similar manner to TheyWorkForYou. Again, pop in your postcode, and it will pull up your assigned polling station, a list of polling events and the current candidates standing. You can drill down into said candiates too with simple facts on their CV, popular statements, who they’re aligned with and links to the relevant manifestos if you’re interested.

Watch the Scoreboard (But Don’t Be Influenced!)

If you want that satisfaction of knowing what the rest of the country is doing, check out the BBC election microsite, this is where the latest feeds and opinion polls are coming in, live results will be shown and discussions had. There are of course many other sites to choose from, but the reliability of this site updating dynamically and having lots of pretty colours tends to make it easier on the eyes.

Throw Caution to the Internet!

If you’re a fan of Buzzfeed style quizzes, then Political Compass is an old verteran at telling you where you lie on, well, the Political compass. It’s free to use and totally anonymous with 6 pages of Agree/Disagree scale questions. After that you’ll find what side of the  left/right wing line you apparently are on cross referenced alongside your lean between liberal and authoritarianism. It won’t decide your party for you, but using these terms with a pinch of salt against your research may provide a little inspiration.

Don’t Like Any? Then Don’t Vote For Any (But Still Vote)

Many people feel pressured into picking because Britons are conditioned to follow the instruction of cross in the box carefully, lest your vote “not be counted”. People also say that you’re not really voting or may as well have not shown up if you’re sat on the fence.

This isn’t entirely true. Yes, if you leave the paper blank, make it unclear or cross 2 boxes, your votes won’t count for either party associated, but instead be counted as spoiled (or in the case of not putting anything at all, blank voting). This is a great tactic if you choose none of the listed candidates with people drawing anything from question marks to flowers to rude stuff. Unlike not voting at all, which is doesn’t count against anything other than turnout due to the ambigious nature of you not voting, blank votes and spoiled votes are still a choice and a valid vote.

This option also works for refurendums. If you only have 2 options and can see arguments either way, don’t feel forced to choose one or the other. Voting blank or spoiled means you’d rather abstain or pick the 3rd door. This is how I personally got around the EU Refurendum. I preferred to Remain, but didn’t agree with everything in the camp, so chose neither option.

These apparently only affect 1% of the total ballot, but if enough people do it that are unsure or unhappy with the options presented, the politicians will have more sweat on their brow at this protest message than total silence. If you sound interested in this, then take a look at Vote or Vote NONE or blank voting on the Voting Counts website, which will tell you more about this phenomeon.

Just be careful where you pick the 3rd door option though outside of politics, particualrly if it involves narrative contradiction:

 

Conclusion

I don’t like politics to be honest and after endless amounts of refurendums, elections and big stuff happening I’d be quite happy to be left alone for 5 more years. But whether you’re a UK policy pusher or a cave dweller, do yourself and the kingdom a favour and rock up, state your name and do something with that bit of paper (even if it’s just fold it in half) and pop it in the black box. That’s it then, done and you’ve used the #PowertoDecide with whatever decision you made.

Mike

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