Whatever the right or wrongs in people's eyes, i have never voted in the near 32 years i've been allowed. I have an opinion and because of that, i just don't vote. I don't even want to protest vote, i personally see no point in it.
Anyhow. I have received a numerous letters from my local Council culminating in a warning of an £80 fine if i refuse to register. Having had a letter from the same Council telling me that if i didn't register, i would lose my right to vote, a fact i accepted until today.
Does anyone know if i can refuse outright, even have the right to refuse?

I'm not after the right and wrongs of not voting, just validity of my question.

Cheers.

I refuse to believe there are that many people out there that can't spell. Too f**king lazy, that's what I think.

You are not legally required to register to vote, but your local authority has the right to impose a penalty on you if you fail to do so:-

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Now, how bonkers is that?......

A stairway to Heaven and a Highway to Hell give some indication of expected traffic numbers

'Do what you want, you tedious cnuts' is what comes to mind every election when people start to bang on about spoiling ballots etc. Same self righteous cnuts who bang on about their choice not to show solidarity after terrorist attacks or take part in other online campaigns.

I suspect that if you lived in a dictatorship you would want the right to vote.

I think that they want you on the electoral role so they can calculate budgets / services required to cater for the people they are serving.
Is is that difficult to do ?

Have a look at this :

The law makes it compulsory to provide information to an electoral registration officer for inclusion in the full register. The details you are likely to have to provide are your name, address, national insurance number, nationality and age.

The full register is published once a year and is updated every month. It is used by electoral registration officers and returning officers across the country for purposes related to elections and referendums. Political parties, MPs and public libraries also have the full register.

It is also used by local authorities for their duties relating to security, law enforcement and crime prevention, for example checking entitlement to council tax discount or housing benefit. It may also be used by the police for law enforcement purposes. The courts use the register to summon people for jury service.

It can be sold to government departments to help in their duties such as the prevention or detection of crime. They can also use it for vetting job applicants and employees if this is required by law. Credit reference agencies are allowed to buy the full version of the register so that lenders can check the names and addresses of people applying for credit and carry out identity checks to help stop money laundering.

It is a crime for anyone who has a copy of the full register to pass information from this register onto others if they do not have a lawful reason to see it.

So it's not just about voting.

Edited by Willo (28 Nov 2015 10.31am)

Our system of voting is an improvement on Burma, definitely, it returns one of two parties, in my lifetime of 44 years, that have prioritised business interests over that of voters, and essentially rigged the electorial boundaries to their own favour, in a system where one party can return 8% of the vote, and win 12 seats, whilst a party that polls 18% of the vote wins one seat.

So appreciate it, not really, its not really a democracy when only about 60% of the votes actually matter.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
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