gothwalk | Voting Day

Today is voting day in Ireland, with three different ballot papers - the
referendum on citizenship, the European Elections, and the Local Elections.
I was in bright and early at our local polling station, although when I got
in, I stopped in considerable confusion. The last place we lived, over in
Harold's Cross, had a huge hall, with one single sad looking table where
you picked up the ballots and had your name crossed off. Today's was a much
smaller hall, with around nine tables crammed in, all categorised by
address. Says something about voter turnout from one area to the next.

There was some confusion as to where on the lists my name was, but
eventually, it was found, and I got to do the voting thing.

There are people out there now scratching their heads and asking "I thought
Drew was an anarchist? What's he voting for?". Well, I am indeed an
anarchist. But this country isn't an anarchy, and its population, with the
general maturity of twelve-year-olds, is not going to be ready for anarchy
at any stage in my lifetime. And in the meantime, I am not about to let the
lunatics run the asylum. They voted in Fianna Fail last general election
(Conservatives, name means "Soldiers of Destiny"), giving us the slimiest
git of a Taoiseach we've had in some time.

So I vote for the best of a bad lot (usually Labour, since I can't stomach
the Irish Green Party). I do wish there was a "none of the above" box,
sometimes. Or something like in email, where you can mark a particular
candidate as spam. I still think representative democracy is a bad system,
but I think that about any system of government.

And I went for a No on the referendum, too. There was a guy standing near
the station here yesterday handing out leaflets with the pleasant
benediction of "Ireland for the Irish!". I thought of him as I dropped the
"No" vote in the box. Wanker.