I suppose this thread's for the people of voting age. And the people in countries that hold 'democratic' elections.

When you vote, do you always vote for a representative of a major party?

If so, is that because you trust the party, or because you trust their representative, or is it just because there's nobody better to vote for?

If you had independent candidates to vote for, would you consider voting for them?

Have you had independent candidates in your area before, but you didn't know anything about them / you hadn't even heard of them until you saw their names on the ballot paper?

Do you feel misrepresented by 'party politics' or do you genuinely feel that one of the major parties adequately represents you and your beliefs?

I'm curious.

I voted for conservative right-wing party in last elections here, they were in power since 2008; too bad they've lost popularity (PM to be more exact) and gained so much hate when all that financial crisis thing came, because old soviet-era-communists under the "socialdemocrats" name spent way too much money on random shit, so there was no money left to keep up the living standards in pre-crisis level.

If not them, Lithuania could be in the same situation like Greece now, with lazy idiots making riots while still getting too much money from Germany. Go to do some arbeit, people with no television.

Yes, others would say "OOH, THE PRIME MINISTER TOOK AWAY OUR WAGES, ALSO OUR TAXES ARE SO HIGH I CAN BARELY AFFORD BLACK CAVIAR AND MOET&CHANDON EVERY MONTH, I'M GOING TO EMIGRATE TO NORWAY OR UNITED KINGDOM WHERE GOVERNMENT WILL TREAT ME WITH RESPECT", but people here should understand that these measures were applied for the future wellbeing.

More to OP, I don't know how it is in more politically developed countries with probably stronger views of independent candidates, but here it is usually not-so-successful businessmen who just want to make some PR out of "ELECT ME - NO MORE TAXES AND A NEW BMW FOR EVERYONE" or some radical with nazi symbolic on their ties.

Kev, it's probably more of a case of no one else would vote for an independant, so it's sorta like "throwing" your vote away as no one else will vote for them (or not enough to matter).

That said, there have been a few noted exceptions around here in BC. Historically, our elections have been dominated by our Liberal, Conservative and NDP parties (centre-right, right, and centre-left respectively), but our last Provincial election, I think 2 "Green" candidates got seats in our Provincial Parliament which is fairly significant.

In my country independent guys are prohibited because it's the best and easiest way of the drug lords to put someone they like or someone that works for them in the government

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

Kev, it's probably more of a case of no one else would vote for an independant, so it's sorta like "throwing" your vote away as no one else will vote for them (or not enough to matter).

Yeah that old chestnut is all that's needed for an elite few to control the government for generations.

Quote from TexasLTU :

I voted for conservative right-wing party in last elections here, they were in power since 2008; too bad they've lost popularity (PM to be more exact) and gained so much hate when all that financial crisis thing came, because old soviet-era-communists under the "socialdemocrats" name spent way too much money on random shit, so there was no money left to keep up the living standards in pre-crisis level.

If not them, Lithuania could be in the same situation like Greece now, with lazy idiots making riots while still getting too much money from Germany. Go to do some arbeit, people with no television.

Yes, others would say "OOH, THE PRIME MINISTER TOOK AWAY OUR WAGES, ALSO OUR TAXES ARE SO HIGH I CAN BARELY AFFORD BLACK CAVIAR AND MOET&CHANDON EVERY MONTH, I'M GOING TO EMIGRATE TO NORWAY OR UNITED KINGDOM WHERE GOVERNMENT WILL TREAT ME WITH RESPECT", but people here should understand that these measures were applied for the future wellbeing.

More to OP, I don't know how it is in more politically developed countries with probably stronger views of independent candidates, but here it is usually not-so-successful businessmen who just want to make some PR out of "ELECT ME - NO MORE TAXES AND A NEW BMW FOR EVERYONE" or some radical with nazi symbolic on their ties.

With the corruption rampage as it is now, there will be no future wellbeing. I'd rather be in Greece now. Screw the world, waste everything and enjoy life. If taxes were lower and paychecks higher, we would at least live easier until the inevitable happens.


I actually vote for random people, because why the hell not? Life sucks scum f**k anyway.

Quote from chanoman315 :

In my country independent guys are prohibited because it's the best and easiest way of the drug lords to put someone they like or someone that works for them in the government

....... Uh.......really?
How many candidates or appointees of the PRI get a second paycheck?
No. I think that the independents are prohibited because the PAN and PRI would lose money. As much as they try to hide it, La mordida still exists there.
I'm an American. I know how this works. It's just that our parties here are a little better at covering their tracks and concealing their corruptions.
Here in the US of A, there's lots of talk about how term limits will put a stop to that. I believed in that too until I see what that does for your country.
I think that independents are prohibited in your country because it's the best and easiest way to STOP the cartels. And it'll keep the money train from rolling in on the PAN and PRI.
Here in our country independents are prohibited from getting office by money.
I heard of a guy (a Bush kid) was given 5 million dollars for a campaign warchest for a spot that didn't pay more than 75 thousand a year.
This was some minor position. Sorry can't remember what it was. some sort of commissioner?
But if the major parties throw that kind of money for a minor position, how could an independent possibly get very far? Sure, there's a couple of indy's in congress and in local governments, but they are pretty much limited to what they can do. It's the two parties and whoever pays them that runs things here.
Another way to limit the power of the cartels is to get the two parties here to stop the drug war they created. In my neighborhood, we had 5 cartel related killings in two years.

So, as a result, you get the best democracy that money can buy.

Here's an idea, limit spending to 100,000 per candidate. That is policed !
Have an election system that allows third parties to get a result, ie: MMP.

Till you reform the election system, you'll keep getting the same old.

The idea of democracy is that the people decide, not the corporations or the bankers. And, strangely enough you cannot expect/rely on politicians changing the system, they are there because of the current system.

Democracy relies on the people actually caring enough to make it work. Most people don't.

You get the system you create and deserve. Thats why most 'democracies' are in fact dictatorships.

Uncapped political donations means status quo remains.

Just want to point out something that is in Estonia and how politicans use it..


When you go working somewhere, monthly salary will look like this:

Brutto 1000 eur
Neto 788.64 eur

This means, we pay 21.6% for taxes, pretty low, cheap and happy country blablabla


Now the hardcore thing. When you go working somewhere, employer already counts all fees on your name.

Employer pays for you 1340 eur
Brutto 1000 eur
Neto 788.64 eur


So this means we earn 1340 eur, we get 788.64 eur and we pay taxes 41.1%

lol great calculation

The time of the political so called 'elite' will come to an end in around a generation from now. People are just realising that there are other options. It helps when all the main party's are preaching the same politics really.

The age of internet cannot be bought (yet) by the usual media propoganda, therefore people are free to watch what they want and not be brainwashed any more by the traditional media.

Quote from Racer X NZ :

Till you reform the election system, you'll keep getting the same old.

Which is why I was thinking a viral campaign to elect an indepedent house for the purposes of pushing through electoral reform might be worth attempting.

Look at how many Brits will happily register themselves as Jedis.

Quote from AlienT. :

The age of internet cannot be bought (yet) by the usual media propoganda, therefore people are free to watch what they want and not be brainwashed any more by the traditional media.

Yeah I think it could be a good way to do it.

There may only be two parties in the US, but its not like they never change. I think Republicans know their days are numbered if they continue to try to legislate social issues. They need to become libertarians or they will fail the people who strongly believe in their economic policies, but can't stand them making fools of themselves on issues that affect only a miniscule minority (>2% of the population is homosexual). Not to mention that Republicans like to poke their big missile dicks all over the world instead of eliminating all foreign aid and pulling out of the WMF, EU, NATO, etc. and letting nations succeed or fail by their own means. Maybe if Europe had to completely fund their own anti-ballistic missile shield they wouldn't be so smug about how much we spend on the military comparitively.

Democrats have not yet faced the fact that their social programs create generations of people who have no mental or social faculties to live outside of the government dole. The uneducated are owned by the government as much as they are a manufactured product of policies and institutions designed to breed a voting base who can never turn away from them. No country except the US could afford to keep this up as long as we have. Even Sweden is starting to see the negative effects social welfare in that there is simply no difference between working and not working except...the amount of work you have to do. We live in a welfare state where a family making no money gets paid thousands more every month each time they spawn a baby, which of course is as often as possible for as long as possible. There is no punishment for this atrocious behavior, only rewards from these policies that prolong poverty forever. Children who grew up in a family that purposefully couldn't support itself are supposed to grow up to know how to support a family? Where is the logic?

I would love to see more Libertarians in government, even if they call themselves Republicans. They understand that success or failure in life depends entirely on one person, yourself. If you are a likeable person your community will want to help you succeed, if you are unlikeable people will never want to do business with you. If living day to day required working hard and being an honorable and trustworthy person, a lot of people now wouldn't be able to cope if no one cared about what kind of treatment they think they are entitled to. I would support a political party that did away with all forms of welfare, tax breaks, or subsidies. It's no coincidence that when the remaining jobs in a poor economy require you to work or have a skill in four years the ranks of the 'disabled' increase to be larger than the populations of entire countries in Europe. It cannot go on, and the current sociopolitical climate is exactly the opposite of what it was when we were almost miraculously high-achieving as a nation.

tldr; voting for an independent is a waste of a vote, work instead to improve the party that most closely matches your views.

In my last local election the only manifesto I received through my door was an independent. I didn't vote for him because I read his manifesto...

In national elections I am a floating voter, I'm not above tactical voting - but the big 3 are hard to distinguish, I can't tell them apart. I would probably vote green but there's no local candidate because theirs is the only manifesto that isn't damaging to our society or economically unsound.

I do have lots of ideas on Parliamentary reform but my MP has already told me quite clearly that he doesn't think gay people are part of society and do not deserve representation or equality so I havnt bothered making suggestions or even detailing the damage to my business sector and GDP impact that the current royal mail privatisation would cause.

Needless to say, if an indipendant stood who would at least hear me out then there is a good chance I'll vote for them.

I did as much research as I could the first time (and last to date) that I voted. I ignored party when looking at the canidates and looked more at what they said and claimed to stand for.

I did vote independant for President, and I did for my House district. I split Democrat and Republican mostly on the rest, but a little more Republican.

I'm hard headed. Even if my vote doesn't change the result of the election, at least I'm working to make an (I) on the ballot a meaningful vote some time in the future..

I think your point Becky is right for everyone. It isn't a gay issue, rather it's a human issue in that most politicians feel the same way about everyone. Except the rich, who they always listen too.
They really don't care. And that is the problem with the current electoral system for most countries.

A: You could ask politicians to change the system to make voting fair - ROFL !

B: You could look at the voters clearly pointing out what will happen if the system isn't changed.

C: You could do nothing because ' Nothing will change the system '

D: You could try to change the system from within, good luck !

In NZ we found that B worked well.