Feminister SnowdropExplodes sends in this story about voting in the UK, who says, “I figure the exercise of democratic rights is as important, and much the same, in either country!” We agree:
My first time voting was in the 1997 General Election, which is famous because it was the landslide that brought the Labour Party to power after 18 years of right wing Conservative party rule. In the UK, it’s a legal requirement to be registered to vote (but too many people still let it lapse, or never bother to get registered). Registration is done by address, and there’s no “party affiliation” involved, so it was enough for me to let my parents fill in the form for everyone them living in the household.
However, because I was going to be at University when the election took place, I did have to make a personal effort in order to be able to vote: I needed to get an absentee ballot form, and do the paperwork for that myself.
As I said, 1997 was the year that the Conservatives were kicked out of office, and there was a lot of excitement at the prospect. However, there were already concerns about the rightward drift of the Labour Party, and the conception of the “New Labour project” by Tony Blair.
On Election Night, I stayed up all night watching the results come through. The thrill of finally seeing the back of the Conservatives was incredible, and I, with my first ever vote, felt like I was a small part of that triumph. I was disappointed when my MP was not unseated, but the area where I live is staunchly Conservative, and he was very safe indeed. Even so, as dawn broke the next day, I went out and it seemed like a new dawn was coming over the country as well. As it turned out, of course, “New Labour” turned out to be Old Conservative in disguise, and the excitement turned to disillusionment within a month or two. Nevertheless, my memories of my first time voting centre on the fact that it did end up with toppling the old, rightwing regime – much as we can hope that in November, the old rightwing regime in the USA will also be toppled!
I can only hope.
In other news, Greg Palast has a new project coming out soon, a voting guide that covers “the Six Ways They’re Stealing the Election – and the Seven Ways you can Steal It Back.” Keep up with the site in upcoming days for an available download at Steal Back Your Vote.
IF YOU HAVE A STORY TO SHARE email fauxrealtho at gmail dot com with “VOTE” in the title. You still have through early October to get registered to vote in the 2008 presidential election.